My One and Only(4)

Cooper would let her see a lot more than his underwear if she’d only take him seriously for once. Disheartened but not defeated, he said, “You’re never too old for a sleepover.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she replied before spinning away to become the doctor in charge once again.





Chapter 2

Heaven help her but the man was hot. If Cooper Ridgeway had been harmless back in high school, at this moment, he was anything but. Not that he hadn’t always been a flirt—he’d simply never turned his talents in her direction. And even if he had, she’d have laughed him off, same as she’d done just now.

A few extra muscles didn’t change who he was. As much time as she’d spent in the Ridgeway household, they might as have well have been brother and sister. Not that she felt very sisterly toward him today, but that was nothing more than hormones. As a doctor, Haleigh knew better than anyone that women were preprogrammed to respond to the kind of physique that Cooper clearly worked hard to maintain.

Very hard. He could have stepped right out of a mechanic-of-the-month calendar.

And she’d been going solo in the bedroom for more than six months, which meant her libido was on high alert. If he were anyone else, she might take him up on that sleepover offer, but they shared too much history for her to use Cooper to scratch an itch. He deserved a nice girl-next-door who would give him a comfy home and a pack of dimpled, green-eyed babies.

In fact, she couldn’t help but wonder why he was still single. Surely there was a girl in Ardent Springs who knew a solid catch when she saw one.

“How are we doing?” Haleigh asked Jessi, who was staring at her infant with a combination of shock and awe.

“I can’t believe she’s finally here,” the young girl said. “She’s so beautiful.”

Black hair streaked with bright red highlights hung over the right side of Jessi’s face, while the left side had been buzz cut, giving her an edgy, punk rock look. Smudged black makeup outlined bright blue eyes that didn’t carry near enough age or experience to deal with the responsibility in her arms.

“What’s her name?” Cooper asked, stepping close enough to look down on the little cherub sleeping against her mother’s chest.

“Emma,” Jessi said softly. “Emma Rose Rogers.”

“A pretty name for a pretty little thing.” Cooper ran one finger gently over the baby’s head, and a pulse beat rocked Haleigh’s womb.

What the hell was that? In more than four years of delivering babies, she’d never felt the slightest urge to have one. In fact, thirteen years ago, she’d taken extreme measures to avoid being in Jessi’s current situation.

But one glimpse of Cooper Ridgeway going all soft over a newborn and her maternal clock wakes from dormancy?

No freaking way.

Clearing her throat, she attempted to move this scene along. “Jessi, I need to know who to contact to let them know you and the baby are here.”

The new mother’s smile faded. “There’s no one to call.”

“What about your parents?” Haleigh asked. “I’m sure they want to meet their new granddaughter.”

Jessi shook her head as she pulled the sleeping baby tighter against her chest. “No.”

What did she mean no? The girl hadn’t fallen out of the sky. And she surely hadn’t gotten herself pregnant.

“What about the baby’s father? Don’t you want to call him?”

“Bobby doesn’t want anything to do with me and Emma,” she said with a tight jaw. “He says he has plans and he isn’t giving them up for a kid. When I refused to get an abortion, he got pissed and took off.” Tucking the blanket around her daughter, she added, “Doesn’t matter anyway. We don’t need him.”

This scenario sounded way too familiar, except back in the day, Haleigh had been the one with the plans. Having a baby would have ruined everything. She couldn’t have gone to college with a baby in tow. And she sure as heck couldn’t tell her staunchly Catholic mother that not only had her daughter had sex before marriage, she’d been stupid enough to get pregnant.

Haleigh gave herself a mental shake. Jessi’s story wasn’t remotely the same as hers.

“Real men don’t walk away from responsibility,” Cooper stated, repeating the words he’d once spoken to Haleigh. “Tell me where to find him and I’ll teach the little pecker a lesson.”

He’d made a similar threat thirteen years ago, but then he hadn’t been much of a threat to the class jock, and Haleigh hadn’t wanted to see him get hurt on her behalf. Today, she had no doubt Cooper could beat the stuffing out of anyone stupid enough to take him on. She almost wished she knew where to find David Stapleton now.