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Marriage For Baby
Melissa McClone
A tiny bundle that needs them… Jared and Kate are separated when they find themselves guardians of an orphaned baby. The one hitch is, for them both to be guardians, they have to stay married! A marriage of convenience seems the only option…. To be parents of convenience!Soon they have to pull together for the tiny baby in their care and the spark that had gone from their relationship is reignited. Can this baby help them to heal their hearts and ensure they have a marriage worth waiting for, a marriage finally for keeps?
Marriage for Baby
Melissa McClone
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
For Virginia Kantra and Tiffany Talbott,
talented writers and friends extraordinaire.
Special thanks to Ceci and Robert Kramer.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
COMING NEXT MONTH
CHAPTER ONE
STANDING on the sidewalk outside the lawyer’s office, Kate Malone stared at the double glass doors. She still had a few minutes until her appointment. No reason to rush inside.
She raised her face to the cloudless, blue sky. The spring sunshine heated her cheeks. Sun kisses. That’s what Susan called them.
Susan.
The unusually warm April temperature reminded Kate of their college graduation eight years ago. She had approached the proceedings as a necessary step, one more thing to mark off her To Do List on the way to the top, but not her best friend, Susan. Unlike Kate, Susan had relished every moment of the drawn-out ceremony in the sweltering ninety-degree heat. She’d bounced across the stage, tossed her University of Oregon diploma box in the air and twirled around.
A smiled tugged on Kate’s lips. Susan always lived life to the fullest. Or rather…
Had lived.
Until a driver fell asleep at the wheel and collided head-on with Susan’s car two days ago here in Boise, Idaho.
Tears stung Kate’s eyes. Grief slashed through her. How could Susan be dead? Susan, so full of life, so full of love. Susan, with her adoring husband, Brady, and their cute baby, Cassidy…
All three had died in the crash.
Kate swallowed, hard.
No. She couldn’t lose control now.
She didn’t have a tissue. Or the time.
She needed to hold herself together during the meeting with Susan and Brady’s attorney. Once Kate checked into her hotel, she could fall apart, but not until then.
Squaring her shoulders, she pushed open one of the doors to the law office and stepped inside. A blast of cool air hit her. Goose bumps prickled on her arms. The sight of the empty receptionist desk deflated her resolve. Her composure slipped a notch. Now that she was inside, she wanted to get this over with.
“Kate?”
The familiar male voice made her stiffen. Jared. She wasn’t ready to face him. Not now. Possibly not ever. And yet she found herself turning in the direction of his voice.
As Jared rose from a leather club chair, her breath caught in her throat. He wore a tailored gray suit and the multicolored silk tie she’d given him for his thirty-first birthday.
Five years ago when Brady and Susan had introduced them, Jared Reed had been a twenty-something single woman’s fantasy. He’d gotten only more handsome. Kate’s heart thudded. She wished she still didn’t find him so attractive.
His square jaw and slightly crooked nose—from a snowboarding accident when he was a teenager—gave his face the right amount of rugged character to offset his long lashes and lush lips. She couldn’t believe how much his hair had grown in the last three months. Normally he went for the short, corporate cut, but the wavy, carefree style suited him better.
Not that she cared.
Much.
His hazel-green eyes met hers. “How are you?”
“I-I’m—” Her voice cracked. Tears blurred her vision. Oh, no. She didn’t want him to see her like this.
Kate blinked. Once, twice.
“I’m so sorry, Katie.” He was at her side in an instant and brushed his lips across her forehead. “So very sorry.”
At the best of times, she struggled to remain indifferent to him, but his tender gesture and simple, yet sincere words shattered her defenses. She sunk against him, breathing in his familiar soap and water scent, drawing in the welcome comfort of his hard chest.
Stop…now, logic shouted.
Get away…now, common sense cried.
But Kate didn’t want to listen. She didn’t care if her actions went against rational thought. Jared understood what she was going through. He was going through the same thing.
“I’m sorry, too,” she choked out. “It’s so…”
He wrapped his arms around her. “Horrible.”
She hugged him. “I keep thinking it’s a mistake or I’m going to wake up and it’s all been a bad dream.”
“Me, too,” he admitted. “As soon as I heard, I called your office. They said you were out of town.”
“Boston.”
“I didn’t want to leave a message.”
“I wouldn’t have gotten it.” She closed her eyes. Not being alone felt so good. “After my assistant phoned me with the news, I turned off my phone.”
“A first.”
“I hope I never have to do it again.”
He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “So do I.”
She stared at him. “I’m sorry I didn’t think to call you.”
“You wouldn’t have been able to reach me. I was in San Francisco. My boss had me pulled out of a meeting and relayed the message.” A corner of Jared’s mouth lifted. “Besides, I didn’t expect you to call, Kate.”
She flinched. “Why not? Brady was your best friend.”
“Susan was like a sister to you. How old were you when you met?
“Seven.” In a foster home. Kate’s first. Susan’s third. That had been so long ago. They had come so far.
“Seven,” he repeated. “You have to be devastated.”
Devastated didn’t begin to describe the anguish ripping Kate apart. She felt as if a part of her had died, too. She inhaled slowly.
Jared’s arms tightened around her, and she found herself resting her head against his chest, a foreign yet familiar position. “It’s okay to cry, Katie.”
She fought the urge to pull away. But she couldn’t. Not when she relished the feel of him, of the steady beat of his heart beneath her cheek.
“I’ve cried.” Kate didn’t want to sound defensive. It was the truth. She had cried. More than she would ever admit. She just didn’t like crying in front of others.
“I spoke to Brady a couple of weeks ago,” Jared said.
“Susan e-mailed me a picture of Cassidy on Thursday. She promised to send more.” But those pictures would never arrive. The baby girl would never grow any bigger. Kate smothered a sob. “I can’t believe they’re gone. Why them? Why now?”
“I wish I knew.”
“Me, too.”
But thinking about what she’d lost hurt so much. Too much. She’d rather think about something else. Someone else. Jared.
Kate curled the ends of his hair with her finger. It had never been long enough to do this before, and she liked the extra length. He brushed his hand through her hair, his fingers sifting through the strands, the way he always had. She nearly sighed.
It was as if nothing had changed between them. Kate knew that wasn’t true, but she wasn’t ready to back out of his arms.
For now she could pretend the past didn’t matter and ignore the future. She could do that because she needed Jared. She needed his warmth, his strength, him. And a part of her hoped he needed her, too.
He cupped her face with his left hand. She noticed the gold band on his fourth finger. Her ring finger felt conspicuously bare. She curled her hand into a fist.
“Mr. and Mrs. Reed?” a female voice asked.
Jared turned his head. “Yes?”
A cute brunette with short, curly hair and dangling gold earrings stood next to the receptionist’s desk.
Kate backed out of his embrace. “Actually I’m—”
“My wife. Kate Malone,” he interrupted, a slight edge to his voice. “I’m Jared Reed.”
Kate recalled the long discussions about her not taking his name. He had claimed to understand, to accept her decision. But he hadn’t. Not really. She shifted uncomfortably.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Malone. Mr. Reed.” The woman picked up a thick manila file from the receptionist’s desk. “Don Phillips is running a few minutes late. I’ll show you to his office once I drop off this folder.”
“Thank you,” Jared said.
As the woman walked away, Kate bit her lip. “Why didn’t you tell her the truth?”
“Because with or without your wedding band, you are still my wife.” His gaze hardened. “At least until the divorce is finalized.”
The receptionist led them down a hallway and motioned to an office at the end. “Don will be right with you.”
“Thanks.” Jared hoped the atmosphere in the office would be more comfortable than that of the lobby. But knowing Kate, he wasn’t going to hold his breath.
The woman smiled. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“We will.” He was tempted to ask the friendly receptionist to stay until the lawyer joined them. That might ease the tension between him and Kate. Not to mention the silence. Kate hadn’t spoken to him since he’d mentioned the word divorce. His jaw clamped. Maybe she’d forgotten she was the one who filed.
No. That wasn’t fair.
She’d lost her best friend and goddaughter. She was in tremendous pain. Who knew what was going through her beautiful, blond head?
Kate sat in one of the chairs opposite a large mahogany desk. With a posture that would make a charm school proud, she looked poised and in control as she studied the diploma hanging behind the desk. Not surprising really. Kate kept her emotions under a tight lid, and hated showing any sign of weakness.
Or at least had until today when she entered the law office on the verge of tears. She had looked so lost and alone. The sadness on her face had clawed at his heart.
Jared sat in the chair next to her and extended his hand. “You okay?”
