You don’t have to be involved with my parents. Not if you don’t want to be. Yes, you’re the father,but you aren’t my boyfriend or husband. My family is my problem.”“I do,” he said, before he even realized what he was saying. “I do want to be involved. With all of it.We’re talking about really making this work, about making a . . . I don’t know if we’re talking about afamily, not in the traditional sense, but we’re in this together, right?”“I guess.”“That means I get to help you with parent things, and other unpleasantness. And you have to knowmy brother.

Heartbreak was the worst. It was worse than a cord wrapped around the wheel on you computer chair.

Are you okay?”She looked up, her eyes glistening. “I just . . . I . . .”“Hey.” He stood up and rounded the picnic table, sitting next to her on the bench. He wrapped hisarm around her, the feeling of her, so warm and female and way too tempting, sending a shock ofpleasure through him. “Hey, don’t . . . don’t do that.”“I’m pregnant. It’s a pregnant thing,” she said.“I’ve never seen you do it.”“I don’t often.”“I can tell.

So I’ll see you tomorrow then.”“Yeah.” His heart rate picked up. She really did make him feel more like a kid than a grown man.Although the desire she made him feel was certainly a man’s desire. “Do you want to have lunch withme tomorrow?”“Lunch?”“Yeah. A picnic. I want to show you this place

But she didn’t pull away from him. If anything, she seemed to sort of melt against him. It was thefirst time she’d willingly accepted something from him without getting stiff and defensive andgenerally annoyed

Yeah.” He touchedKelsey’s arm and felt a shock, like static electricity. But this went deeper, beneath his skin. “I’mgoing to go see what Cade needs. See you later?”She licked her lips, the action sending a different kind of electricity down south. What a time for hislibido to make a reappearance. “Yeah. See you later

He flexed his fingers and fought the urge to put his hand on her stomach. It was a possessivegesture, and he felt a little bit possessive

Hi.” He turned and saw Kelsey standing in the door of the kitchen, looking . . . Well, she wasglowing. That pregnant woman glow, maybe? Or just the sun hitting her face at the right time. Eitherway, she looked hot, and he noticed

He found himself fighting the urge to reach out and take her chin between his thumb andforefinger. To tilt her head so that she had to look at him. So that her lips were so close to his a slightmovement would—

Kelsey breathed in deeply. “He asked me to stay.”“Here?”“Yes.”“For how long?”“Until . . . until I want to leave, I guess. But he doesn’t want me to go yet, and . . . I’m thinking ofaccepting the offer.”“Now he sounds like he’s proposing marriag

Tupperware? I don’t know. That’s what my mom did.”“Well, my mom had to bring bigger containers for food when the family ate outdoors. But she usedthis when she and Dad . . .

She swallowed, her eyes dropping to his lips. And he knew she felt it too.

He relaxed his hands, lifted one and tucked a strand of wispy blonde hair behind her ear. She didn’tmove; she only looked at him. He wondered if she felt it too.

Kelsey laughed and the sound moved through him, made the hairs on his arms stand up, made hisheart beat faster