Page 4 of Surprise Baby for Mr. Fischer

Heat crept along my cheeks. “I was checking out your ink.”

He laughed. “Okay. That was honest.”

“I’m a straight shooter.” I shrugged. “There’s no sense in being otherwise.”

“I like that.” He gave me another half-smile as we made our way onto the beach.

My sisters rushed to my side. All of them swarmed me, forcing my hand from his. Even though I knew nothing about this man except for his first name, disappointment spread through me.

I missed his touch.

With one last look and a quick wave, he turned and strode away.

CHAPTER TWO

Lincoln

My fingers still tingledfrom holding her. I’d never had such an immediate attraction to a woman before. It was as though my body had recognized her on a deeper level.

Shit! Why did I give her my middle name?Very few people still called me that. In an effort to distance myself from my parents, I went through a phase after they died where I only wanted to be called by my middle name. While it was unlikely I'd see her again, I hated the lie that had rolled off my tongue.

The sand shifted beneath my feet with each step I took, slowing me down and squishing between my toes. I focused on that physical sensation, using it to help push away thoughts of her.

I dropped down into my beach chair, intending to go back to the scripts I was reading before being interrupted by a fiery redhead that didn’t actually need to be saved. Our conversation replayed in my head. She hadn’t appeared to recognize me, and the sense of anonymity felt good in a world where my privacy was diminishing.

Most parents shielded their children from the paparazzi to protect them. Mine did it because they didn’t see me fitting into their celebrity lifestyle. My parents rarely took me out to their parties, so the media leapt at the chance to photograph me.

Now my acting career was taking off and fame was growing. The constant barrage of attention, which I hadn’t thought would bother me, did. As my star grew brighter, more people were entering my orbit because of what they assumed I could give them.

A vision of the luscious, redheaded mermaid popped into my head again.

She had treated me like I was a regular guy. The way she’d challenged me and hadn’t watched what she’d said was a turn-on. It was a welcome change from having people kiss my ass. For a brief second, she made me believe in the possibility of finding a relationship where I could be myself.

A tingling sensation crept up the back of my neck.

There was no good reason to look where I saw her last, yet before I could stop myself, I did just that. I craved another glimpse of her, but she was now effectively hidden behind the women that surrounded her.