Read Online Rogue Stallion by Diana Palmer - Free Book Online Page A

beginning?” he asked her gently. “These are big decisions that need thought.”
    While Jessica looked on, stunned by the tenderness in McCallum’s deep voice, Amy began to warm to him. “I don’t know if I’m pregnant, really,” she confessed slowly. “I think I am.”
    “Shouldn’t you find out for sure, before you wind up in a marriage neither of you is ready for?” he asked evenly.
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Then the obvious next step is to see a doctor, isn’t it?”
    She grimaced. “My dad’ll kill me.”
    “I’ll speak to your parents,” Jessica promised her. “They won’t kill you. They’re good people, and they love you. You’re their only child.”
    “I’d just love to have a baby,” Amy said dreamily, looking at Ben with fantasy-filled eyes that didn’t even see his desperation, his fear. “We can have a house of our own, and I can get a job….”
    McCallum looked hard at Jessica.
    “Let’s go over to your parents’ house, Amy,” she said. She had McCallum firmly by the hand again, and she wasn’t about to let go. “I’m sure DeputyMcCallum won’t mind coming with us,” she added, daring him to say no.
    He gave up plans for a hamburger and fries and told his stomach to shut up. Resignedly, he helped Jessica into his car, and they followed the teens to Amy’s house.
     
    “It wasn’t so bad, was it?” Jessica commented after the ordeal was finally over. “She’ll see a doctor and then get counseling if she needs it. And there won’t be a rushed marriage with no hope of success. They didn’t even blame Ben too much.”
    “Why should they?” he muttered as he negotiated a right turn. “She’s the one with dreams of babies and happy ever after, not him. He just wants to finish high school and go on to veterinary college.”
    “Ah, the man’s eternal argument. ‘Eve tempted me with the apple.’”
    He glanced at her musingly. “Most women can lead a man straight to bed with very little conscious effort. Especially a young man.”
    She lifted her eyebrows. “Don’t look at me. I’ve never led anyone to my bed with conscious effort or without it.” She stemmed the memories that thoughts of intimacy resurrected.
    “Have you wanted to?”
    The question, coming from such an impersonal sort of man, surprised her. “Why…no.”
    “Have you let the opportunity present itself?” he persisted.
    She straightened her skirt unnecessarily. “I’m sorry I made you miss your lunch.”
    He let the subject go. “How do you know you did?”
    “Oh, you always go to lunch at eleven-thirty,” she remarked. “I see you crossing over to the café from my office.”
    He chuckled softly, and it wasn’t until she saw the speculation on his face that she realized why.
    “I wasn’t…watching you, for God’s sake!” she blurted out, reddening.
    “Really?” he teased. “You mean I’ve mistaken that hero worship in your eyes all this time?”
    Her dark eyes glared at him. “You are very conceited.”
    “Made so by a very expressive young face,” he countered. He glanced at her while they paused at a stop sign. “Don’t build a pedestal under me, Jessie,” he said, using a nickname for her for the first time. “I’m not tame enough for a woman like you.”
    She gaped at him. “If you think that I…!”
    Incredibly, he caught the back of her head with a steely hand and leaned over her with slow, quiet intent. His dark eyes fell to her shocked mouth and he tugged gently until her mouth was a fraction below his. She could taste his minty breath, feel the heat of his mouth threatening her lips. She couldfeel the restrained passion in his long, fit body as it loomed over hers.
    “You’re afraid of me,” he whispered into her mouth. “And it has nothing to do with that bad experience you had. It isn’t the kind of fear that causes nightmares. It’s the kind that makes your body swell hard with desire.”
    While she was absorbing the muted shock the words produced, his