He rolled her onto her back and bent to kiss her. She opened for him immediately, and he explored her mouth, savoring the familiar sweetness that had always been Katie. Her fingers reached for his belt and unfastened the buckle. She worked the button, then lowered the zipper. Her small hand reached inside and found his hardness.

She encircled him with a gently firm grip and moved up and down. Her touch brought him instantly to the breaking point. He had to put a restraining hand on her wrist.

“Not yet,” he murmured, still kissing her. “I want to be inside of you when I lose it.”

He stroked her back, then her hip and rear. He lowered his head and kissed her breasts, nibbling and licking until she was gasping again. He took her face in his hands and kissed away the last traces of tears. She opened her eyes and gazed at him.

“I want you,” she whispered. “But this time we have to use protection.”

Her words froze him in place. He played them over in his mind and realized their significance. They hadn’t used anything the last time they’d made love. He wasn’t sixteen anymore so he didn’t carry a condom in his wallet with the unrealistic hope of getting lucky. He hadn’t had a steady relationship in a couple of years, so he hadn’t much thought about pregnancy.

Jack rolled away and sat up. He reached into his nightstand drawer and found an unopened box of condoms. As he drew out the square package, he couldn’t help wondering if Katie was already pregnant. Could that have happened with just one time?

He waited for the fear and horror to flood him and take away his desire for her. Nothing happened. He carefully probed his mind looking for concern or panic, but there wasn’t any. Until Melissa had walked out on their marriage, he’d always assumed he was going to have a bunch of kids. Then she’d left and he’d promised himself to never fall in love again. Which meant he wasn’t likely to get married. Therefore he had no children in his future.

He’d thought he’d made peace with that idea…until now.

He wanted to put his hand on her belly and feel a child moving inside of her. He wanted to plant his seed in her again and again until she had no choice but to make a baby with him. Romantic love might not last, but caring about a child was different, wasn’t it? Couldn’t he-

“Jack? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re awfully quiet. We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

He looked at her and saw the questions in her eyes. She wasn’t giving him an out because she’d changed her mind but because she was afraid he had. His gaze lowered to the swell of her belly. Was she already pregnant? He found himself hoping so, despite the problems that would create.

But instead of saying all that, or even addressing her statement directly, he stood and peeled off the rest of his clothes, then slipped on the protection and joined her on the bed. She opened her arms to welcome him. As they kissed and he entered her, he once again had the sense of coming home.

She was wet and tight around him. Each thrust was perfect. His head filled with questions and confusion. He didn’t want a relationship so how could he want a baby? Katie was trouble, Katie was-

His body took over, shutting down his mind. He moved back and forth, unable to think about anything but the glory of their lovemaking. She wrapped her legs around his hips and drew him in deeper. She tilted her pelvis toward him and pressed her hands on his rear, urging him on.

He felt her tense. She broke the kiss to stare into his eyes. He watched her mouth part as small gasps escaped her lips. Then her head tilted back and she moaned his name. At the same time her tightness quivered around him. The muscles there contracted in the most erotic massage, pushing him to the edge and throwing him off the side.

He gave one last deep thrust and groaned his release. Every part of him gloried in the sense of spilling himself into her. He buried his head in the curve of her neck, breathing in the scent of skin.

She held him close. Slowly their heartbeats returned to normal. Eventually they found their way under the covers. When Katie had curled up next to him, her head on his shoulder, she sighed.

“I have a request,” she whispered in the dark. “I need you not to say this was a mistake. I can’t hear that right now. I feel raw and vulnerable and I think that would break me in two.”

He didn’t know what their intimacy had been, but he knew it wasn’t a mistake. It felt too right to be that.

“Whether you like it or not,” she continued, “we have a relationship. We’re involved with each other. I don’t know what it means, but there it is. For the most part I’m okay with it. My big concern is Shane, who is already bonding with you. That’s scary because you keep talking about how you don’t believe in love and how can I explain that to a nine-year-old boy? He won’t believe that it’s just about you and has nothing to do with him.”

Jack had been prepared to join in the discussion, but her words about Shane left him speechless. The boy had bonded with him? Jack had thought they were friends, but he didn’t think his opinion mattered one way or the other. He felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders and found it wasn’t all that unpleasant.

As for him and Katie having a relationship, he wasn’t sure. Did they? Could they? He meant what he said-he didn’t want to get involved. It had only ever led to heartache…at least for him. He was tired of being left.

“I seem to have stunned you into silence,” Katie said.

He touched her cheek. “I don’t have any answers right now,” he admitted.

“You don’t have to. Just think about what I said. We can pick this up later.”

Then, to his amazement, she closed her eyes, sighed deeply and fell asleep. Jack held her long into the night. He listened to the sound of her breathing and wondered if he’d been given another one-way ticket to hell or a chance to make things right.

Katie hummed while she made breakfast the next morning. She hadn’t gotten more than a couple hours of sleep, what with Jack waking her up shortly before dawn so that they could make love again, but she didn’t mind. Being in his arms, making love with him, felt so incredibly right. He was all she’d ever wanted in a man. Her life might be falling apart, but Jack made her feel as if she could handle everything. She was wildly in love with him. Unfortunately she didn’t know what he was thinking.

He seemed so determined to keep himself at an emotional arm’s length. He was comfortable sharing his body, but what about his heart?

Footsteps sounded in the hall. Katie looked up, expecting either Jack or Hattie, but her visitor turned out to be Nora. Her good mood vanished like so much mist.

Jack’s sister walked into the kitchen and headed for the coffeepot. She poured some of the dark liquid into a mug and took a sip. Katie continued cooking bacon, waiting for the other woman to make the first move.

“I saw you leaving Jack’s place this morning,” Nora said without preamble. “I know you’re sleeping with my brother.”

Katie thought about defending herself. She thought about politely telling Nora it wasn’t her business. Then she realized she was tired of doing what everyone else wanted and not what was right for her.

“Sleeping is a slight exaggeration,” she said sweetly. “I mean if you figure in the time we spend together, percentage wise, very little of it is spent in actual sleep.”

Nora’s dark eyes narrowed. “You know what that makes you, then.”

Katie turned off the pan, removed it from the heat and faced Jack’s sister. “Yes. It makes me confused. It makes me wonder if I’m crazy, falling for a man who’s been burned before and is reluctant to commit again. I worry that I’m not doing the right thing for my son. And then there’s the whole family issue. He has some difficult relatives who want nothing to do with me. So why am I bothering?”

“Oh, I suppose I’m the difficult relative,” Nora said. “What did you expect? That I would be happy?”

Katie stared at the tall, pretty brunette in front of her. While Katie had grown up small and stayed petite, Nora had the lean body and long legs of a dancer. Her thick dark hair was always stylish, her makeup always perfect. By contrast Katie felt rumpled and short, which wasn’t fair.

“I have a news flash,” Katie said, tired of trying to make peace. “I’m not responsible for what my brother did to you. I’m sorry he broke your engagement, but it’s not my fault. Yes, he was a jerk. I suspect my father had something to do with what happened, but I can’t be sure. David never told me the details. But the bottom line is he’s married to someone else, he’s been married for years, and it’s time to get over it.”

Nora’s mouth thinned. “Easy for you to say,” she snarled. “You’ve always gotten everything little thing you want. Life is just perfect for you. Sweet Katie Fitzgerald. Just snap your fingers and the boys come running. Now you’ve decided you want my brother. Well, don’t for one second think I’m going to be happy about it. However, I’m not like you and your family. I won’t butt my nose in where it doesn’t belong.”

Katie blinked. She couldn’t possibly have heard correctly. “You think my life is perfect?” she said, so shocked she was barely able to speak. “My life? Would this be the part where I had to leave the ranch because my father was tormenting my son? Or maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been a single mother for nine years, trying to do right by Shane and being completely clueless most of the time? Or is it the fact that the last man in my life wanted me but not Shane and expected me to choose?” She planted her hands on her hips. “As for being sweet, let me tell you I hate being short and blond. People assume I’m a bubblehead. And I don’t give a damn if you don’t like me, because I don’t like you, either. You’re tall and skinny and have great hair. So get out of my face.”