The Baby Surprise / The Father for Her Son: The Baby Surprise. Cindi Myers

want him so much that she couldn’t think about anything else was … terrifying.

      She ordered her trembling legs to move and stepped toward the door. “Good night.”

      Zach watched Paige slip back inside the house, and it took every ounce of his willpower not to follow. But he knew that what he needed right now was space—distance from the far-too-tempting woman who had him all tied up in knots.

      Damn. He never should have kissed her.

      If he hadn’t, he’d still be in the fantasy stage of wondering if her lips were as soft as they looked, if her taste was as sweet as he imagined. But the wondering had been driving him to distraction, and so he’d stopped speculating and started kissing—and the jolt of heat had seared him right down to his toes.

      Chemistry between a man and woman was an unpredictable thing. Sometimes it was there, sometimes it wasn’t. He’d been attracted to other women before, and he’d learned that sometimes the chemistry sparked and sometimes it fizzled. With Paige, it was positively explosive.

      A man had to be crazy to walk away from that kind of heat. Except that, in this case, Zach was all too aware that his efforts to stoke the flames between them could very well result in his getting burned.

      And as much as he wanted Paige, he wouldn’t do anything that might jeopardize his relationship with the daughter he’d only just found. If he hadn’t already done so.

      Because while he’d told himself it was “just a kiss”—and told her the same thing—they both knew it was a lie. There was nothing “just” about the kiss they’d shared. It wasn’t a simple touching of lips that was over and done. No, the kiss they’d shared had been a prelude to and a promise of so much more.

      And she’d been an equal participant in the kiss. Yeah, maybe he’d started it—but within a few seconds, she’d been just as involved in the lip-lock as he and making just as many promises.

      Thankfully, he’d learned a long time ago about the dangers of trusting in a woman’s promises, and he wouldn’t let himself get sucked in again.

      Ever.

      Paige had promised Zach that she would think about going to California with him, but the more she thought about it, the more she was sure that traveling across the country with him wasn’t a good idea. Unfortunately, she wasn’t prepared to share with him the real reason for her apprehension—namely, that she had a hard enough time resisting temptation in her own backyard without giving him the home-field advantage.

      But by Monday, Zach was really pressing for a response to his invitation, and when Paige continued to hedge, he asked, “Is it because I kissed you?”