If the guy loves your kid...

If you're like me that's all it would take. Well, assuming he's a good person and there's some major chemistry happening. In every book I've written there's a child who's critical to the love relationship. In Trust No One my heroine is a single mother of a child with developmental delays. Sophie and Nathan meet under false pretenses: when he discovers she's using a fake identity to hide from someone, he decides not to reveal that he's a PI searching for her stepbrother—which leads to her kidnapping him at gunpoint. At this point in the book they've cleared all that up and Sophie is beginning to trust him, but they're on the run. They've taken refuge at Nathan's sister's house, and he has just returned with information that requires them to hit the road again.

Sophie was holding Max on her lap, spooning scrambled eggs into his mouth, when Nathan walked into the kitchen. He looked exhausted. Strung out, like he'd been up all night taking drugs.  The circles under his eyes were darker, whiskers covered his jaw, and his hair was a mess.

            He was so appealing she stopped breathing and just stared at him.

            The Bannister twins, Ryan and Lizzie, were strapped into booster seats, and began clattering and calling, "Unca Nafan! Unca Nafan!" Nathan bent down and kissed the tops of their heads, but his eyes were on Sophie and Max. Kat walked into her brother's arms and held him tightly for a moment. Still, his eyes held Sophie's.

Max stretched an arm out to him and said, "Boodie."

The smile on Nathan's face when he looked at her son stripped away all remaining defenses she had built to protect her heart. He rounded the table without saying a word and picked up Max off her lap. "How ya doin', Sport?" he asked, and kissed his eggy cheek. Max slapped his hands on Nathan's cheeks, wanting to play their game. Nathan puffed one cheek out and Max tried to slap it before he switched. Sometimes he let Max win and other times he switched around on him, getting the little boy all excited and bouncy. Max wasn't quite up to bouncy at the moment, so Nathan let him win.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sophie could see Kat taking in the whole scene, a small smile on her lips.

"Are you okay?" Sophie asked. "Want some scrambled eggs?"

Nathan shook his head. "We need to go," he said quietly.

Fear clutched at her throat. "Can I finish feeding Max?"

"Finish fast," he said.

            Do you like books where one or both of the characters have children, or do they detract from the story?

—Ana