The Cowboy and His Baby by Sherryl Woods

years.”
    â€œThat’s it, isn’t it?” His gaze narrowed. “You’re just doing this to get even because I left town and you had to face being pregnant all alone.”
    Melissa regarded him sadly. “No, Cody, I am not trying to get even. I’m just trying not to compound one mistake by making another.”
    He seemed thoroughly taken aback by the realization that anyone—and most especially the woman who’d always adored him—would consider marrying him to be a mistake. Obviously his ego hadn’t suffered any during their separation. It was as solid as ever.
    She reached across the table and patted his hand. “It’s nothing personal.”
    He stared at her. “How can you say that? I think it’s pretty damned personal.”
    â€œOnce you’ve had time to think it over, you’ll see that I’m right,” she assured him. “Obligation is a terrible basis for a marriage.”
    This time when she stood and reached for Sharon Lynn, he didn’t resist. He pocketed the ring and stepped out of the booth. “I’ll take you home,” he said, his voice flat.
    Melissa directed him to the small house she’d been renting for the past year, since about a month after Sharon Lynn’s birth. Cody showed no inclination to get out of the pickup, so she let herself out. She hesitated for a moment with the door still open.
    â€œI’m sorry, Cody. I really am.”
    He didn’t look at her. “I’ll call tomorrow and we’ll work out a schedule for me to spend time with my daughter.”
    The chill in his voice cut straight through her. For the first time she wondered if she had made a terrible mistake in alienating him. Even though she knew in her heart that her decision was the right one, the only one to be made under the circumstances, perhaps she should have found a way to be more diplomatic about rejecting him.
    â€œFine,” she said. “Whatever works for you will be okay.”
    She closed the door and started up the walk. An instant later she heard the engine shut off, then the slam of the driver’s door behind Cody. He caught up with her before she could even make it to the front stoop.
    Before she realized what he intended, he hauled her into his arms and kissed her so hard and so thoroughly that her head spun. Then, as if he suddenly became aware of the child she was holdingor possibly because he figured he’d made his point, he released her.
    â€œGive her to me,” he said. “I’ll carry her inside.”
    â€œCody, she’s fine,” Melissa protested. She didn’t want him inside, not when her knees were shaking and her pulse was racing.
    â€œI said I’d carry her,” he repeated, plucking her neatly out of Melissa’s arms. “Open the door.”
    Following her directions, he made his way to the baby’s small room. Angrily shrugging aside Melissa’s offer of assistance, he fumbled with his daughter’s clothes. He scanned the room, picked out a nightshirt from a small dresser, changed her, then laid her down gently.
    Only then did a sigh shudder through him. His hand rested for a moment on the baby’s backside.
    â€œGood night, sweet pea,” he murmured, his gaze riveted to his sleeping daughter as he backed toward the door.
    The sight of Cody with their child, feeling his pain and his longing as he’d tucked her in for the night, had shaken Melissa. She was leaning against the wall outside the room, trying to gather her composure, when he finally emerged.
    His gaze caught hers, burning into her. “It’s not over,” he said quietly. “Not by a long shot.”
    Trembling, Melissa stood rooted to the spot, staring after him long after she’d heard the truck’s engine start, long after Cody had driven away.
    Cody was right. It wasn’t over. More than anything, she feared the struggle between them for their