Borrowed Baby Read Online Free Page A

could turn to. His sphere of acquaintances contained only bachelors. There was no kindly captain's wife to take his niece to, no friendly neighborhood mother to offer her services.
    Unless...
    He thought of the woman with the carload of children he had stopped yesterday. Didn't she live close by? Maybe she could be prevailed upon to help. He knew he was grasping at straws, but he was three steps past worried, on his way to desperate. What was her address? He wished he had given her a ticket, then at least he'd have her address in his book.
    It took him several minutes to remember. When he did, the feeling of triumph quickly dissipated as he realized that he was going to have to ask a stranger for help. But there was no other way.
    He made up his mind just as Casie began to whimper again. "Okay, kid, I think I might have found someone to take care of you, at least for today. Maybe I can find your mother by tonight."
    Holding the infant seat in place to keep it from tipping again, he rose and began to leave. He turned, noting that Casie's wide blue eyes followed him. As the distance between them grew, so did her whimpers, until a wail burst forth. Griff crossed back to her. The whimpering subsided. ''Look, I'm just going to get dressed, okay?"
    But as he began to move away, Casie started to cry again.
    He sighed in exasperation as he ran his hand through his hair. "Not okay."
    He hesitated for a moment, then shrugged, defeated. He scooped Casie up, infant seat and all. "Okay, but keep your eyes shut, you hear? Otherwise, you're going to wind up getting an education and seeing things that you've got no business seeing for at least another twenty years." He looked down at the wide, innocent blue eyes. She seemed to be listening to every word he said, even though he knew that was preposterous. "Maybe longer."
    With a sigh, he lugged the infant seat and Casie back to his bedroom.

    * * *

    Liz had just bounced out of bed and had poured her first cup of life-giving coffee from the preset coffee machine when she heard the doorbell ring. She glanced at the kitchen clock on the wall behind her. No, she wasn't behind schedule. Someone was early. But who could be calling at six-thirty in the morning?
    Hurrying over to the front door, she looked through the peephole and saw a policeman standing on her front step. The policeman. What was he doing here at this hour? And how on earth did he know where she lived? He must have remembered her address from checking over her license. Had he changed his mind about giving her a ticket? Could he do that?
    Liz quickly undid the lock, her curiosity consuming her. It intensified when she saw the baby he was holding.
    He wasn't prepared to see her like this. Griff forgot what he was going to say. When she opened the door, Griff's eyes involuntarily slid over Liz's slender body. She was wearing a football jersey that obviously hadn't once belonged to the biggest man on the team. More than likely, it had belonged to the smallest. The navy blue jersey barely skimmed the tops of her thighs. Firm thighs from what he could see. Probably kept in shape dashing after that gang of boys of hers.
    She was a lot taller than he expected her to be, but then, he had only seen her sitting down. Her honey- blond hair was loose, framing her diamond-shaped face. She looked like the cheerleader type. Not just any cheerleader. Head cheerleader. It wasn't that she looked empty-headed or vain, just perky, incredibly perky, considering the hour. If he hadn't known better, he'd have thought that she was lifted directly from a soft drink commercial and deposited in front of him.
    He found himself uncomfortable around her and wasn't certain if it was because he had to ask a favor of a stranger or because she was decidedly under- dressed for the occasion and he was having a very basic, very male reaction to her.
    Startled though she was to see him, Liz was aware that the policeman was giving her the once-over. She wondered if she