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Whenever I do something wrong, I get caught.”
    His mouth thinned in exasperation. “That’s ridiculous.”
    Libby shook her head. “No, it isn’t. My mother’s wild—really wild—but no matter what she does, how outrageously she acts, she never has to suffer the consequences. I, on the other hand, always do.”
    Realizing from his skeptical expression he still didn’t believe her, Libby elaborated. “At seven I stole a gum ball—one little pink gum ball from the corner grocery store when I was visiting my dad—and I got caught. My dad was so angry he sent me back to my mom early. At thirteen, a girl handed me her cigarette to hold in the school rest room and that’s when the principal marched in. I was suspended and sent to another school. In college, I went skinny-dipping in the college pool with a bunch of girlfriends one Saturday night, and I was the only one caught totally nude by the local police. Is it any wonder I stayed a virgin until I was twenty-six?”
    She sighed, picking absently at a fuzzy ball on the yarn. “That, and the fact that the men I met were usually simply interested in meeting my famous mother. But with you, I felt…special. Hah! So much for trying to be ‘wild and free,’“ she said bitterly.
    Del eyed her intently. “Is that what our making love was to you? A chance to be wild and free?”
    She nodded. “Instead, I made the biggest mistake of my life.”
    About to reach for her again, he paused, his brows lowering over his eyes. “You think this baby is the biggest mistake of your life?”
    “Not the baby,” she admitted. He relaxed a little, only to stiffen as she added, “You. You’re the mistake.”
    Scowling, Del put his hands on his hips. “What’s wrong with me?”
    “Well, to begin with, you’re exactly the sort of man my mother always gets involved with.”
    Del had no idea what type of man Libby’s mother liked, but instinctively he knew he didn’t appreciate the comparison. “I am not,” he denied.
    “Yes, you are,” Libby answered, primly folding her hands on the bulge of her stomach. “To begin with, you don’t want to get married. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard Christine mention it and you certainly made it clear enough before we.got involved. You said your type of job makes marriage an impossibility.”
    “It does—for a real marriage. For goodness’ sake, I’m out of the country ten months out of the year. But we don’t have a choice. You’re pregnant and I’m willing to live up to my responsibilities by marrying you.”
    “Thank you, but no thank you,” Libby said grimacing. “I’ve made one mistake—I certainly don’t intend to make another. I would never marry a man simply because he feels obligated. In fact, you’re not the kind of man I want to marry at all.”
    “Why not?” Del demanded, his scowl deepening.
    Libby held up her hand to count off on her fingers. “You’re the kind of man who prefers an affair to marriage. The kind of man who is never around. You’d be a poor risk as a husband, and you certainly don’t seem like father material. I want a man who is steady, family minded and dependable. A man who has an eight-to-five job and comes home every night.”
    “And just where do you think you’ll find this paragon?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe in Lone Oak,” she said, disregarding his sarcastic tone. “Which is why I want to keep your identity as the baby’s father a secret. People have accepted me here. and I like that,” she admitted gruffly, smoothing down a wrinkle in her jumper. “If they know I slept with you—after only knowing you a couple of days!—their opinion of me is bound to change.”
    “They’d understand-”
    “No, they wouldn’t. And I refuse to take that chance.”
    He scowled. “Are you saying you no longer want a physical relationship with me?”
    She took a deep breath. “I’m saying I don’t want any kind of a relationship with you at all.”
    For some reason, that