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Her words were enough to fire up the anger again, anger he had yet
to deal with. It had bubbled away under the surface all night. He slid his
hand into his back pocket and grasped the wrinkled piece of paper
between two fingers, dragging it out and waving it at her. What about
you? You weren t just going to use me, you set out to steal from me.
Madison shook her head to try to clear her thoughts. What on earth
was he on about? She took the square of paper from his extended hand
and opened it up. When she saw what it was, she gasped, her face hot
with embarrassment. Her makeover plan. She d forgotten all about it.
How had Jake ended up with it?
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So what about that, Madison? You didn t want a man in your life.
You just wanted to steal some poor sucker s sperm so you could have a
baby. Only in this case, I happened to be the gullible idiot you were going
to use. Jake. Possible sperm donor.
She closed her eyes briefly as he spat out the final notation on the
makeover plan as if it left a dirty taste in his mouth. The plan had ceased
to matter as soon as she d realized she was falling in love with him. She
crumpled the list in her hand and tossed it onto the floor.
Jake, I wrote that bit about you being a possible sperm donor before
I got to know you. After that, I knew having a baby wasn t the all-
important thing I d thought it would be. I wanted a real relationship with
you. She clasped her trembling hands together. You got inside me,
behind the defenses I d erected to protect myself. Not as a stud or a man
to impregnate me, but someone I
Any chance you could already be pregnant, Madison? After all, you
did wake me in the middle of the night and instigate a bit of one-on-one
before I was fully awake. You didn t give me time to use protection. So
what was all that about if not getting pregnant?
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. She stared at him
like a stranded fish before she had the presence of mind to clamp her jaw
shut. A splinter of pain shafted through her, like a knife being driven into
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her heart.
It wasn t like that, she whispered through dry lips. It was a spur of
the moment thing. I never even gave protection a thought until this
minute. The hurt turned to anger. And damn you, Jake, you were just
as much a part of that little interlude as I was. Don t make it sound like I
rolled over and helped myself. Getting pregnant had nothing to do with
it.
Yeah, right, you can tell yourself that, but I know the truth.
Jake, you re wrong.
Like I m wrong about your other stud?
Greg?
No, the bozo I saw you with at the French restaurant downtown. He
cut her off as she tried to speak. I saw you, Madison, and I heard you
talking about wanting to have a baby boy first. At least you had the
goodness to be upfront with him, instead of trying to con him that you
cared.
Madison was at breaking point. She couldn t handle much more of
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this. Not without saying something she d regret, or at the very least,
dissolving into tears. After Clifton she d vowed no man would ever reduce
her to a sniveling mess and she d already broken that self-imposed rule
with Jake.
She edged around him and stomped out the living room toward the
front door. He trailed after her. Get out, Jake. I ve had enough. We ll talk
about this when we ve both calmed down a bit.
Jake slammed past her, tossed a final barb at her over his shoulder
as he stepped off the porch. You want to talk, go find the kid. He
paused. Hang on a moment, it s not talk you re after, is it? It s a baby.
Have to tell you, babe, alcohol and sex don t always mix. Kinda dulls the
performance somewhat.
He grinned, but Madison saw it more as a look of scorn.
Tell you what, he said, why not go to your fancy stud from the
restaurant the other night? At least he seems to know the score.
He turned and walked away into the dark. Madison had no idea
where he d parked his car. She hadn t seen it when she d driven up. His
parting words reverberated over and over through her mind. Her fancy
stud? She didn t know whether to laugh or cry. She did neither.
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But that was Clifton the Crud, she whispered.
CHAPTER 20
Madison dragged in a deep breath of the fresh sea air as she stood
before the front door of her mother s new home. The wedding was still
two day off, but Bart had convinced Rosa to move herself and her
belongings across to his house and allow the new manager of Blue
Harbor Retirement Home to take up residence in her old unit.
A small grin twisted Madison s lips. Well, that was Bart s excuse
anyway, and Rosa was quite happy to go along with the pretence. She
was glad for her mom, but visiting her had become an exercise in tactical
maneuvers.
Twice now, she d literally run away when she d seen Jake s distinctive
car parked out the front. Today seemed to be her lucky day; the red
convertible was nowhere to be seen.
Despite the warm night, a shiver slid down her spine and
goosebumps broke out on her arms as thoughts of Jake tumbled through
her mind. The sound of the waves on the beach behind the house should
have soothed, but all it did was remind her of their aborted picnic and its
aftermath.
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The spicy scent from the ginger flowers in Bart s garden floated on
the night air, reminiscent of Jake s aftershave. She shook her head. How
pathetic she d become. This had to stop.
She pushed her shoulders back and released her breath on a shaky
sigh. Hand raised, she stepped up to knock on the door. Suddenly, the
door opened with such force she stumbled back a step.
For a moment, she thought it might be Jake. Her pulse kicked up a
beat and her hands started to shake. Heat streaked through her body,
driving downwards and pooling between her thighs. Her panties grew wet
and her clit throbbed as memories of Jake s spectacular lovemaking
rolled over her.
The breath wheezed from her throat when she saw her mother in the
doorway, hands on her hips as she glared at her.
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