Sweets to the Sweet Read Online Free

pacing by the window a half hour later, wondering exactly what would make a beautiful woman with turquoise eyes seek a divorce in the middle of a pregnancy, when he heard a low, throaty chuckle. Laura was standing at the receptionist’s desk, juggling the baby, her purse, the diaper bag and a checkbook. The lines of strain and tension had disappeared from her face. Her smile was radiant, and a sassy brightness lit her eyes. She radiated vibrancy.
    Suddenly, he knew exactly why he’d waited for her.
    Tucking the magazine under his arm, he strode toward her. When she turned, that smile encompassed him. Or he wanted it to. “The baby passed her checkup?”
    “With flying colors!”
    He tried to look surprised. Reaching for her bag, he asked, “What did the doctor say?”
    Her smile suddenly wavered. “I just realized—you really didn’t have to wait for me.”
    “Forget it. It’ll only take a few minutes to get you home.”
    As they walked out to his car, Owen could barely keep from chuckling. Laura’s expression was rueful. “He claims Mari’s the healthiest baby he’s seen in ages.”
    “And—”
    “And he told me to quit worrying.”
    “And—”
    “And,” she related dryly, “he told me to stop reading baby books, let the baby cry occasionally, and drink a glass of wine every afternoon.” She settled into his car and announced, “I am not going to let Mari cry, and I’m definitely not going to drink wine while I’m nursing her.”
    Owen hid a grin. “I’m certainly glad we came all this way to get the doctor’s advice.”
    “He also told me to try to wait a whole week before I come back again. Owen, you can quit trying to look deadpan. It’s perfectly all right to laugh at me. I laugh at me. Maybe I wouldn’t overreact quite so much if I knew something about babies…but I don’t.” Her eyes softened as she stroked the baby’s cheek. “And Mari’s everything to me. She’s all I have.”
    Owen’s hands suddenly tightened on the steering wheel. Her tone was light, the statement simple, but he heard pain from somewhere, an ocean of it. He studied her quietly as they drove. At first glance, she was simply a young woman holding a baby, surrounded by diaper bags and purse and blankets.
    There was more to Laura than a first glance revealed, though. The fierce love she had for her child, the mask of control she wore over those fragile features, the emotional shadows he saw in her eyes. When she caught him studying her, he smiled. Lord, she was beautiful.
    Laura smiled back. Owen—he hadn’t told her his last name—was making her damn nervous. An hour ago, she’d definitely needed a hero; she’d been a basket case. But no more. Surely he could see she was fine now?
    Imposing on him went utterly against the grain. Pushing herself on any man went utterly against the grain. She’d done that once, for the space of a three-year marriage. Once, she might have believed that nothing could dent her faith in herself as a woman. Peter had, in the space of five minutes. Irrevocably.
    “Laura? What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing.” She stared at the tree-lined streets of Ridgefield. “Absolutely nothing, now.”
    Although New York was only an hour away, there was no hint of the bustling metropolis here. Restored eighteenth-century homes were nestled amid trees and leafy privacy; roads curled through hills and valleys. Laura could feel Owen’s eyes on her as he turned up the steep drive to her beautiful place, and she felt a rush of pride. Now you can see. I was never a waif, Buster, just a lady in temporary trouble.
    This was hers, all hers and Mari’s. At the top of the hill, surrounded by woods, stood a Cape Cod–style cottage. Behind it, wood hyacinths rambled down a ravine to a splashing silvery creek below. The grass in front of the house was a tiny bit overgrown, and there were still packing crates on the porch, but a woman fresh out of the hospital could only do so much, and Mr. Sexy Businessman