Read Online A Man for the Summer by Ruby Laska - Free Book Online Page A

something out of it—but that doesn’t have a thing to do with the fact that it shouldn’t have happened.”
    Yeah. Right, that was it. “It shouldn’t have happened,” he said, warming to his topic. “And now we need to talk about what’s next.”
    The twirling stopped. Her hand slowly lowered, her curls springing back into the uncontrolled mass.
    “What’s next?” she said quietly. “Nothing’s next. I mean, you have my everlasting gratitude, and you’re welcome to sit here and drink coffee all morning, and then I’m sure you have to get back to your research and your book and all.”
    Griff was silent for a long moment. With all that hair in her face, he couldn’t see her expression, but he noticed that her shoulders were quaking slightly.
    “Uh uh,” he finally said. “No dice. Not until we find out if you’re, you know.” Pregnant. With his child.
    “Hey, if you think I’m going to come after you with child support demands or something, you can forget about that right now. I’ll even sign something, if you want. You don’t owe me anything. Really.” Junior met his eyes and forced her lips into a smile, but it wasn’t much of one. Griff sank back down into his chair, and glared at her.
    So she wasn’t planning on coming after him. Fine, he supposed that made it all okay for her; she could go ahead and raise her child and pretend she’d found it in the cabbage patch. She could forget all about Griff and get on with her life.
    But if she thought he’d walk away without a care in the world, then she was seriously deranged. Griff had no intention of fathering children. Ever . He knew what they were like—pure hell, if his parents’ attitudes were any reflection. It was no wonder he was an only child. He’d been too rambunctious, too noisy, too demanding, too dirty , and his parents never let him forget it. Having a son had given his mother migraines and his father indigestion.
    Only Ruby ever seemed to really enjoy his company, but she left every day once dinner was in the oven. In fact, Griff charted his childhood days by Ruby. When five o’clock came, she gathered up her old shiny leather purse and left, and the big house was unbearable empty for Griff until she came back.
    And that’s just what Junior wanted him to do—leave. Leave without even knowing if he was ducking out of some kid’s life. Anger simmered in his gut. Griff had never shirked an obligation. And he never would.
    “It’s not that,” he said, “though you can be damn sure I would pay what I owe. I don’t take my responsibilities lightly. Even when I don’t have any choice in the matter.”
    He regretted his bitter words immediately. She looked like he’d struck her, her body stiffening and her shoulders sagging. Not all of it was her fault. She wasn’t the one who’d taken his childhood and made him vow never to do that to anyone else.
    “What I mean is that I intend to know if I have fathered a child,” he said. “After that, we can deal with whatever happens.”
    Junior sighed. “If you really feel you have to know, okay,” she said. “I’ll call you.”
    The way he said child, you’d think he was talking about a natural disaster. Yes, he was shocked—Junior supposed any guy would be. But it was clear how he felt about the situation.
    Well, what had she expected? And why should she care? Either she’d discover she was pregnant in a few weeks, or not, but either way, Griff Ross was on his way out of her life as quickly as he’d found his way in.
    “Not good enough.” Griff was shaking his head at her, his jaw set. “I want to be sure. Not that I don’t trust you, but, it’s clear, I don’t really know you.”
    “What, you want to watch me take a pregnancy test? Come on, Griff.” Just her luck to get stuck with the only man she’d ever met who seemed not only to have values but to insist on conforming to them. “Even if I just told you what you want to hear, would that be so bad? I already