Whatever, he’d finish up these cabinets, and then he would no longer have a reason to show up at the bar. It was for the best, he told himself. He didn’t need to be involved with someone he would end up hurting in the end. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that there had been something more in that kiss. Never mind. She was probably convinced he was some sort of creepy stalker, anyway. She was better off without him. Definitely. She’d told him how badly she’d wanted her baby; she clearly wanted to be a mother someday. That was the deal breaker. He should have backed off right then. He was better off, just trudging along alone.

Sure he was.

A child’s wailing caught his attention, and he went to open the door between the kitchen and the bar. A mother was desperately trying to calm her distraught son. Annika walked around to the front of the bar, holding a bubbly pink drink in a plastic to-go cup. She knelt down to the child, offering the drink and speaking quietly to him.

The little boy sniffled and his chest heaved, but he eyed the drink. Daniel found himself smiling as Annika handed the Shirley Temple to the little boy. She had a way with kids, that was for sure. He was frozen to his spot as Annika leaned against the bar and waved goodbye to mother and son.

Bobby was drying glasses behind the bar. “You’ll make a great mom one day.”

She turned to face him, and Daniel’s heart skipped a beat at the look of joy on her face. “I certainly hope so.” She grinned at Bobby, then caught Daniel watching her.

Heat blazed through him, powerful and unnerving as he caught her gaze. Her eyes hardened as her smile faltered, and she busied herself with collecting used glasses. Daniel noticed that she still had a small bandage on her left hand, but the splint was gone. The dressing looked fresh, so he was confident it was clean and without infection. Had the infamous Sajan re-dressed it? Jealousy, green and ugly, boiled in him for a moment. He shook his head. He had no right to be jealous. Annika was not his.

Daniel took his cue and turned back to his work in the kitchen. She would make a great mother one day. A pit formed in his stomach as he shut down the whisperings of what could have been.

He would never have her.

Because he would never be a father again.

CHAPTER TWELVE

ANNIKA