The Heart's Game (The Kelly Brothers, Book 4) by Crista McHugh Page B

her.
    He didn’t ask her anything more about the baby, and she was grateful for that. She’d tell him more about the surrogacy later. No need to rock the boat too much in one night. Right now, all that mattered was that he knew she was pregnant with someone else’s child and still wanted her, and that was enough to calm her worst fears.

Chapter Nine
     
    “Whoa! Look out!” Dan jumped between Jenny and the rambunctious Lab that galloped toward the tennis ball that had landed behind them. Visions of Jenny being knocked to the ground and trampled filled his mind. Every fiber of his being screamed that he had to protect her and his baby from the eighty-pound dog that was on a collision course with them. He grabbed her hand and spun her out of the way just as the dog raced past them, leaving splatters of mud in his wake.
    Once the danger had passed, anger replaced his panic. How dare the dog’s owner throw the ball in their direction? Couldn’t he see that Jenny was pregnant?
    He shook the mud from his hands and turned to glare at the dog’s owner, only to see a man and young boy jogging toward them.
    “Sorry about that,” the man said. “Caden got a little too excited and didn’t look where he was throwing.”
    Dan opened his mouth to lecture the man on keeping a closer eye on his son and dog, but Jenny’s laughter silenced him.
    “It’s okay,” she said, smiling as though the boy had thrown flowers at her instead of the ball. “Part of the danger of coming too close to the dog park.”
    Dan wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her close and reassuring himself she was uninjured. When he realized he’d made a big deal out of nothing, his anger ebbed, and he forced a weak smile on his lips. “Hopefully he’ll be more careful in the future.”
    “No question about that.” The man ruffled his son’s hair before grabbing the ball from the Lab’s mouth and hurling it into an empty patch of grass. The dog bolted for it, followed by the father and son.
    He watched them go, and a strange urge tugged at his heart. In a few years, that could be him, playing at the dog park with his child. Would he be as laid back as that father? Or would he be like he was now, cautious and fearful?
    “Are you all right?” Jenny asked, jerking him from his thoughts.
    “I was just worried about you and the baby.”
    She placed a kiss on his cheek. “I’m not made of glass, you know?”
    “No, but you are pregnant.” And even if she wasn’t, he’d probably feel the same way. Jenny was so small, so delicate in his arms that he worried he’d crush her if he held her too tightly. And yet, even during their roughest sex, she never showed any sign of breaking. “Sorry, just being overprotective.”
    “It’s sweet.” She gave him another quick peck and looped her arm though his, indicating she was ready to resume their walk.
    The last few days had been cold and rainy, much more like the weather he’d expected to find when he moved to Seattle. But the weak November sun had finally made appearance through the thick gray clouds, and Jenny jumped at the chance to get out of her condo and take a walk in Marymoor Park. Their path took them along the leash-free dog park, where dozens of pups played in the wet grass with their owners. Memories of the carefree days during his childhood filled his mind as they strolled along.
    “Maybe I should get a dog,” he mused.
    Jenny stopped and turned to him. “What brought that on?”
    “I was just thinking back. My brothers and I always had a dog to play with growing up. It’s one of the happiest things I can remember.”
    “Are you saying your childhood wasn’t happy?”
    He furrowed his brows as he tried to figure out why she’d asked that. “I grew up in the middle of six brothers. It was always loud and crazy, and the dog seemed to fit in with all that.”
    “I didn’t ask about the dog, Dan. I was asking about you.”
    He stared at his hands, opening and closing them into