father.
He deserted him, remember? ' 'Like your father deserted you? ' She
didn't answer the question. 'I'm never going to get married. It would
be too much of a complication.'
'Do you have any idea how difficult it's going to be raising Caleib on
your own? ' 'We'll get along.' Cole stared into the fire for a long
while, thinking about Jessica's circumstances. She was too young to
hold such opinions about men and marriage. 'Not all men leave. '
'Most do.'
'No, most do not, ' he argued. 'You've got guts, I'll give you that,
but you have to be practical. You're a fine-looking woman, and men are
going to want you.' You were made for loving, he thought, but didn't
add. He didn't want to give her the false impression that he was
interested. Granted, he was interested in making love to her and knew
it would be a night he would never forget, but he wasn't interested in
marriage.
'What makes you think I need help raising Caleb? ' she asked.
He ignored her question. 'I like the color of your hair.' The
compliment startled her. 'You do? Most men don't like brown hair. '
'Where did you get that crazy notion? When a man first notices a
woman, he isn't looking at her hair anyway.'
'Then what's he looking at? ' Cole smiled. 'The whole package. We
take in every curve from the neck down.' She blushed and had to keep
herself from laughing.
'You shouldn't be talking like this.'
'Like what? I simply answered your question. Your hair isn't brown,
by the way. It's cinnamon.' She didn't like being the focus of his
attention. It was wrong of him to try to fill her head with sugared
remarks that weren't true. She wasn't a fine-looking woman, as he'd
declared. She was a plain, sensible one.
'Why haven't you married? ' she asked.
'I never wanted to, ' he replied. 'Besides, in my line of work,
marriage is out of the question.'
'But why haven't you wanted to? ' she prodded.
'I don't like the idea of being tied down. I don't want any strings.
' She nodded agreement. 'I understand. I don't want any either. '
'You're too young to be set in your ways.'
