Read Prince Charming in Dress Blues for Free Online

interesting man, she thought, as she unbuttoned her nightgown and bared her breast. He’d seen her through the most incredible, terrifying night of her life with a sense of calm that had eased her own fears. But he’d run from the sight of her nursing the baby he’d delivered.
    Then Jordan’s little mouth clamped around her nipple,and Annie’s mind emptied. Sensations crowded her, and she hugged every one of them to her: her child’s small warm body cuddled close; firelight dancing around the room; the wind driven snow pelting the windowpanes; and the comforting knowledge that John Paretti was in the next room.
     
    It wasn’t embarrassment that had chased him out of the room, John thought from the kitchen’s shadowy doorway. He’d seen women nurse babies before. Heck, there were enough Paretti cousins to populate a small country. He’d grown up surrounded by nursing women. This was something entirely different.
    Something he figured would be best left unidentified.
    But a tightening low inside him warned that ignoring it wouldn’t make it go away. And not putting a name to it didn’t change a damn thing. Ridiculous, he argued silently with himself. All right, so she’s beautiful. And strong. And incredibly brave. She also just had a baby. John lifted one hand and scrubbed it hard across his face.
    Man, he was some kind of dog, he thought. He had to be. Otherwise, why would he find the sight of Annie breast-feeding her baby so damned erotic? Hell, he’d been alone too long. What he needed was to get back into the dating pool. Find himself a nice, warm body to cozy up to. Unfortunately, the only warm body he was interested in was out there in the main room. And she wouldn’t be cozying up to anybody for at least six weeks. Even then, he thought, she probably wouldn’t be interested in dating a man who’d already seen her at her most vulnerable.
    Probably for the best, he told himself, deliberately turning his back on the private moment Annie was sharing with her new daughter. He moved into the kitchen, opened the pantry door and stared blindly at the mountain of supplies Pete and Lisa kept on hand. Yeah, for the best. He wasn’t looking for anything permanent, and a woman who’d just had a child wouldn’t be looking for anything temporary.
     
    “Laughing at me is not productive.”
    “I’m not laughing at you,” John told her around a fresh burst of chuckles, “I’m laughing with you.”
    Sure. She believed that. “Do I look like I’m laughing to you?”
    He sobered instantly, then gave it up as his lips twitched again. “Guess not.” He took a deep breath. “Sorry.”
    But he didn’t look the least bit apologetic. And if she wasn’t feeling so frustrated, she might not have blamed him for laughing. But as it was… Annie huffed out a breath of air, fluttering the bangs on her forehead. Staring down at her still-naked baby and the makeshift diaper she could not, for some reason, make fit, Annie wished futilely for one of those neat little disposable jobs.
    But the snow was still blowing outside, as it had been since the night before, so a trip to the local market was out of the question.
    “You’re getting better,” he said in a placating tone.
    “You’re not a very good liar,” she told him on a sigh. Ordinarily, not a bad trait in a man, she thought. However, right now she could have used a comforting little lie.
    “That one really wasn’t too bad,” John said, and she slid him a long, slow look out of narrowed eyes.
    “Gee, thanks.” Good-looking, charming and a master with a dishtowel diaper. Was there no end to the man’s talents?
    “You’ll get the hang of it,” John assured her, apparently unfazed by her glare. “Just remember that the object of the whole business is to actually cover the baby’s bottom.”
    “Very funny,” she muttered, and bent to fold the dish towel one more time. Jordan lay still on the bed, blinking her hazy blue eyes at the ceiling as if trying