The Baby Bargain by Jennifer Apodaca

was the woman
     he couldn’t forget. What he hadn’t told Sienna was that he could never be the man
     she wanted. There were things locked inside Adam, trapped there, that he couldn’t
     talk about. He actually could not say the words. His throat would close up, strangling
     him with guilt if he tried. He was that screwed up. The only time it came out was
     his nightmares.
    But Sienna didn’t know that, no one did. And looking around the house, he realized
     that when he made love to Megan, he didn’t want it to be here, where ghosts and guilt
     haunted him.
    …
    Megan slipped through the country club’s French doors leading to the patio to call
     Bridget, her best friend and babysitter when her mother wasn’t available. She sucked
     in a breath of cool air, tinged with damp chlorine from the well-lit water feature.
     People milled around by the heaters, holding drinks and chatting.
    Quickly, she made her way across the flagstones to the intricately designed wrought-iron
     fence. She slipped her phone out and made the call. A few minutes later, she’d spoken
     to Cole, telling him she loved him. Bridget was in the middle of reading his favorite
     books to him. They were fine. She was spending the night, so Megan didn’t have to
     worry about what time she got home.
    Megan put her phone away. For a moment she stood there, her hands on the waist-high
     fence, a light breeze fluttering the slit skirt of her long gown around her legs.
     The moon shone down over the lush green grass of the golf course. She thought of Adam.
     The way he kissed her, touched her…his tenderness had punched through her old anger.
     For the first time, she understood he gave her what he had to give, with a sweet intensity
     that had rocked her right to her very soul.
    She sucked in a deep breath. He was truly haunted, and this town…her…they hurt him
     in a way she couldn’t grasp. He had come back from war with a new edge, tougher and
     more brittle. What was the right thing for her to do? Let him go without telling him?
     Give him the freedom he needed from his past? She knew he hated Raven’s Cove, had
     always wanted to escape it. Now he was selling the house, his last tie. If he never
     knew about Cole, he would finally be free of the town. But that wronged both Adam
     and Cole, and she knew it. But if she told him, then what?
    She knew he wouldn’t stay in Raven’s Cove. Cole would be shuffled between them with
     long car rides or trips on a plane. Growing up in two different homes.
    Her throat tightened. She loved her baby so much, she wanted to protect him from any
     possible pain. But that wasn’t realistic, was it?
    “Dr. Young.”
    She startled at the voice behind her, and her stomach clenched. Nathan McCray. He
     wore a tux and too much arrogance to suit her. He was part owner of the country club,
     and the golf course, which was named after him. “Mr. McCray, it’s very nice of you
     to come tonight.”
    “I like your mother’s ideas for the town. I’m supporting her campaign.”
    Megan didn’t know where this was going. Did he think he could use his support as more
     blackmail? “Thank you. I know my mother appreciates it.”
    He looked around, then back at her. “Look, Dr. Young, I was angry last week in your
     office. I said things I shouldn’t have, and I’m sorry.”
    “For the bribe or the threats?” The words were out of her mouth before she thought
     about them.
    “That wasn’t a bribe.” He frowned at her as if she was a child. “That was a fee for
     your expert testimony. You misunderstood.”
    “Okay.” She didn’t trust the man, but she didn’t need him for an enemy, either.
    “I still disagree with your assessment of Celtic Fire, but I was wrong to lose my
     temper that way. I hope you’ll accept my apology.”
    “Of course.” She didn’t know if he was sincere or if this was a new tactic. “As long
     as you understand that I won’t lie under oath.”
    He sucked in his lips for a