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silence.

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    Lorelei James
    Lord, she was easy on the eyes. An earth goddess in a floaty turquoise dress, which exposed her swan-like neck to perfection. A scarlet sash tied around her waist brought his attention to the sexy curve of her hips. Be-ringed bare toes peeped out from beneath the jagged skirt hem. Her auburn hair was longer, curling near the bottom of her full breasts, but it suited her gypsy image.
    Kade cleared his throat and met her wary gaze head-on. “Is it true, Skylar? Do we have a baby?”
    Her response was a long time coming. Finally, she nodded.
    “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    “I tried to, Kade. I called your parents’ house. You weren’t there. I was told you’d moved. I didn’t know where. I didn’t know if you’d care.”
    Rather than snap bullshit at her, he expelled a frustrated sigh. “That means you didn’t get my letter?”
    Her green eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What letter?”
    Shit. “I sent you a letter about a month ago. Tellin’ you I was comin’ back. Askin’ if we could let bygones be bygones and start over.”
    “Start over as in… Start dating?”
    “Uh. Yeah.”
    “I didn’t receive any such letter.” She squeezed her eyes shut for a second. “What else did it say?”
    Her expression clearly said she thought he was lying. He had sent the damn thing.
    It’d taken him nearly a week to pen a few lousy paragraphs. “We can talk about all that later. Right now, I’d like to see my daughter.”
    “She’s sleeping.”
    “I don’t care. Wake her up.”
    Skylar’s mouth opened. Then closed. “I’ll be right back.”
    That had to be the longest, most excruciating minute of Kade’s life. His whole body shook. He even had to lock his damn knees to keep them from quaking like a newborn 24
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    Tied Up, Tied Down
    colt’s. Sweat dripped down his spine and soaked the waistband of his jeans. He clenched his teeth and his fists.
    Just when he thought he couldn’t stand the wait another second, Skylar appeared.
    She approached him cautiously, holding a bundle wrapped in a fluffy yellow blanket, nestled against her lush breasts.
    Kade couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t take his eyes off that tiny bundle. Lord. It was so damn small. How could there be a living, breathing human baby in there?
    When Skylar sidled up next to him and peeled back the blanket, revealing a sweet, perfect, beautifully pink face, Kade had a moment of utter pride and joy before his vision dimmed.
    He swayed and everything went black.

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    Lorelei James

Chapter Three
    Terrific. One glimpse of his fifteen-pound baby daughter and the big, tough cowboy had passed out cold. Skylar rocked Eliza side to side, waiting for Kade to come around on his own. She was half afraid to rouse him because he might come up swinging, as the McKays were rumored to do when backed into a corner.
    Finally, he groaned. “What happened?”
    “You fainted.”
    Kade pushed to his knees. “Can you blame me? Ain’t every day a man learns he’s a daddy.”
    Huh. No macho posturing. No excuses for his swooning behavior. That surprised her. “You okay?”
    “I guess. Good thing I gotta hard head.” He rolled to his feet and snagged his hat.
    “What’s her name?”
    “Eliza.”
    “Eliza what?”
    “Eliza Belle.”
    “No. What’s her last name?”
    “Ellison.”
    “Like hell. That’s the first thing that’s gonna change.”
    “Kade—”
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    Tied Up, Tied Down
    “Give me a second to think.”
    The more Kade paced and muttered to himself, the more nervous Skylar became.
    Suddenly he stopped and was right in her face. “Fine. We have a baby. You can change her name the same time you change yours. We’ll get married.”
    “What!”
    “Married. As in you and me are gettin’ hitched as soon as possible.” He looked down into Eliza’s face and the hard line of his mouth softened.