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into the bathroom to clean up the mess in there. She was beat. And she really didn’t want to deal with Jack on top of that, she thought, bending to collect dirty clothes and towels. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and groaned. Her hair was coming out of the ponytail, she didn’t have on a stitch of makeup, and her shirt had baby food all over the shoulder.
    Some “I can handle everything” impression, she thought. She dumped the clothes in the laundry hamper and slipped into her bedroom to run a brush through her hair and change her blouse. It smelled, anyway.
    When she stepped out of the bedroom, the aroma of moo goo gai pan made her mouth water and she walked toward the living room. Something more than maternal instinct made her pause at her daughter’s room. She heard Jack’s voice, soft and deep, like the distant rumble of thunder. Gently she pushed open the nursery door.
    He was leaning over the crib, stroking the baby’s back. “No, I swear to you, princess, nothing is ever going to hurt you. I’m here for you, even if Mommy doesn’t want it. I’m not going away. And I’m going to protect you. You can count on it.”
    Melanie’s throat tightened.
    “I’ll slay your dragons for you, princess. I give you my word of honor.”
    Tears burned in Melanie’s eyes.
    “And if she’ll let me, I’ll slay Mommy’s, too.”
    Melanie swallowed hard and tried not to notice the flutter of her heart. Quietly Jack lowered the side of the crib and bent to kiss Juliana’s soft brown curls. The night-light illuminated his features, fierce, and loving.
    Her daughter had a champion, Melanie thought, backing out of the room. Whether she wanted it or not. But that didn’t mean she had to like it. And it didn’t mean she had to marry him just because he wanted it. She and Juliana had done just fine without him. She slipped into the living room and sank onto the sofa. She didn’t want to doubt herself, her capabilities.
    When he came out, he paused at the edge of the hallway, his hands on his hips. Tipping his head back, he took a long cleansing breath and let it out, smiling as he did. He hadn’t noticed her yet. He looked as if he was measuring himself against the responsibility of fatherhood. She understood that. The day she’d learned she was pregnant with his child, she had done the same thing.
    He met her gaze, like an arrow shooting straight toward a target. “Hi.”
    “Hey,” she said. Lord, he was devastating to look at, she thought. In fitted jeans and a black T-shirt that flowed over every contour of his chest and arms, she wanted only to run her hands over that body. A body she’d had only one night to learn.
    He moved toward her and her heart skipped an entire beat at that sexy hip-rolling walk of his. Did the man even know how powerful he was? Maybe he did, she thought as he slid down onto the sofa beside her.
    His face was inches from hers, his gaze making a slow prowl of her features, the neckline of her blouse. Her breasts tightened in instant reaction.
    “You keep looking at me like that and we won’t be dining on Chinese takeout,” he said softly.
    “I’m starving,” she said, and knew she should have kept her mouth shut.
    “Me, too. But I’m only hungry for you.”
    Melanie felt herself turn to mush. “Jack, don’t.”
    “What? Don’t be honest? Don’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about you?”
    “This isn’t helping.”
    “Denying isn’t helping,” he said, and leaned closer, his mouth a fraction from hers.
    She could feel his breath on her lips. Almost taste him. And if memory served her, and it did, he tasted great. She leaned, and an instant before his mouth crushed hers, the phone rang.
    She lurched to get it before it woke the baby.
    “Hello,” came out on a croak and she had to clear her throat. “Oh, hi, Michael.”
    Jack’s blue eyes narrowed dangerously, and Melanie thought that between her disappointment at the interruption and the stupidity