Then, without warning, he said they were over and she’d been blindsided and desperately hurt. As long as he was playing father and insisted on being in her face, she was vulnerable to all the emotional harm he could do her. But she was probably borrowing trouble. How long could Joe’s fatherly devotion last? Based on the collective experience of the Carpenter women, men didn’t stick around. Kate hoped that would be the case with Joe.

He was the only man who’d ever made her break her rule and it had gone badly. He’d left her heart in pieces and she didn’t want to give him another shot at destroying what was left.

While he had one hand on J.T.’s belly to hold him in place on the changing table, Joe used the other to fold up the dirty disposable diaper and stuff it into the container. He pulled a clean one from the stack on the shelf, applied powder, got the gizmo on right side up and pressed the tabs in place.

“Mission accomplished.” He grinned at the baby, who smiled and squealed and kicked his legs.

Had it only been a week since he’d fed his son for the first time? Seven days that had forever altered his center of gravity. This child was the most important thing.

Joe had changed shifts with one of the other chopper pilots so his days off coincided with Kate’s. Fortunately it had worked to the other guy’s advantage because Joe hadn’t wanted to pull rank. It was his helicopter company, but being the boss from hell didn’t inspire loyalty. The change had worked out pretty well. He and his brother never saw each other and the company was more successful than his father had ever imagined.

He wondered if his dad would be proud of him. Now that he was a father, Joe wondered about a lot of things. And he was learning a lot about the importance of routine in child-rearing. It seemed mornings were the best. J.T. was happy and so was Kate. After breakfast, the baby played, and when he got crabby it was time for a nap. Then it was lunchtime and a trip to a nearby park, weather permitting. Pretty soon it would be too hot. By that time Joe figured he could take the baby to his place in Spanish Trails. The pool would cool them off. He’d teach J.T. how to swim. There were so many things he wanted to teach him. Baseball. Cars. Girls.

About girls…Every time Joe thought of Kate a wave of lust shot through him—primitive and powerful. Not just because she was beautiful. She had a tender way with the baby that blew him away. And when he looked at her mouth…All he could think about was kissing her to see if she still tasted as sweet and sexy as he remembered.

But giving in to the temptation was counterproductive. They shared a child and he was struggling to find a foothold in fatherhood. It didn’t take top secret intel to know that Kate wasn’t overly keen on him being around. His reaction to the fact that she’d talked to his brother hadn’t helped.

He’d seen her surprise, the questions and doubts. The thing was, it had surprised him, too. He didn’t care about his wife cheating on him with his brother. Not any more. But something about Kate in the same room with Preston Morgan had made his blood boil. And he knew she was watching him. One false move and he was out of there. Or at least she’d try to get him out.

He snapped the onesy and pulled on the tiny denim shorts. “Your old man is getting the hang of this, pal.”

In response, J.T. waved his arms, and when his hands accidentally bumped, he became totally absorbed in his fingers. As if he’d never seen them before.

“Come on. Let’s go see your mom.”

Joe lifted the boy into his arms and walked back to the living room where Kate was folding clothes.

“Hi, big boy,” she said smiling.

“I’m going to assume you mean J.T.,” he teased.

“What was your first clue?”

“The tone.” Not once in the time they’d spent together had she called him big boy and if she had, there would have been a sultry, sexy sound wrapped around the syllables.

The pink in her cheeks told him her thoughts were following a similar track. “He looks happy now,” she said, changing the subject.

That was okay with him. It was stupid to think about the past, let alone bring it up. Neither of them wanted to go there. But every time he saw her, there was no stopping the visions of tangled legs and twisted sheets. His brain circuits overheated and the comments he kept in a mental holding pattern flew out of his mouth.

Joe set the baby on the blanket in the middle of the floor and handed him a rattle, which he grabbed and stuck in his mouth. Talking about their son was safe territory. He sat down beside him, at Kate’s feet. She reached into the laundry basket and pulled out a small garment.

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