“Not for that. For taking care of me.”
“That’s my job,” he said softly. “You’re carrying my baby, remember?”
“I remember.” She swallowed the small pang of disappointment at his response. Of course that’s why he was concerned. She could lose the baby. “Have you talked to the doctor?”
He nodded. “He wants to keep you for at least two days, give your system a chance to recover. Then he’ll evaluate and decide what to do.”
“What does that mean?” she asked apprehensively. “I’ve got to get back on my feet. I have to work.”
Ryan shrugged. “You can ask him when you see him tomorrow. I’m just the messenger. Oh,” he said, “you’re scheduled for a sonogram in the morning.”
A sonogram? She knew she’d have several eventually, but when she’d called to make the appointment for her first prenatal checkup—which wasn’t until next week, come to think of it—they’d told her they probably wouldn’t do one until eight weeks or so. Simply the way her doctor liked to do things, the nurse said.
“Why is he going to do a sonogram now?”
Ryan hesitated. “I think he wants to be sure the baby’s okay. Apparently, dehydration can be a problem.”
Dear heaven. She felt tears rising. What if something had happened to the baby because she hadn’t insisted on seeing a doctor last week? “Oh, Ryan,” she whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“Hey.” He squeezed her hand. “Let’s not panic yet. He assured me it was just a precaution.”
“Will you come with me when they do it?”
From the way his face lit up, she could see that she’d pleased him. “Of course.”
The sonogram wasn’t what she’d expected. It was far, far more. When the technician slapped a cold, tingly goo on her stomach and began to run the equipment, a little thing that looked almost like a shrimp swam into view. “There he is,” said the woman. “Turning backflips, lively as you please.”
Ryan was holding her hand. He increased the pressure until her hand hurt, but she barely noticed for the awed delight racing through her.
Then the technician said, “Uh-oh!”
“What?” Ryan spoke at the same time Jessie did, and her feelings mirrored the apprehension in his voice.
But the lab worker was laughing as she pointed to the screen. “Look.”
As they watched, something flickered on the black-and-white screen behind and to one side of the shrimp. The technician moved the sonar wand to one side and suddenly, Jessie realized what she was seeing. “There’s another one!”
“Twins?” Ryan sounded shocked.
“You bet.” The technician was grinning. “Two of the little guys in there doing the backstroke. Congratulations times two!”
“Twins.” Jessie said, echoing Ryan. Did her face hold the same stunned expression of shock that Ryan’s did? “I never dreamed there would be more than one.”
“I take it you two weren’t in treatment for infertility,” the technician said. “We see a fair number of in-vitro moms in here with multiples.” Then she pointed to the screen again. “But those siblings usually are fraternal. You know, from multiple eggs being fertilized. It looks like these two little ones share a single placenta. So you’re going to have identical babies.”
Later, after Jessie had been transferred back to the bed in her hospital room, they stared at each other. “Twins,” she said. “I can’t believe it.” Her feelings were mixed. Having a child had been something she’d wanted so badly—but, she now realized, she’d wanted it on her terms. One baby, one easy pregnancy, nothing that would interfere too dramatically with her life and her work. Now here she was, stuck flat on her back in a hospital room, with a business that sorely needed her attention and not one but two babies growing inside her.
Two babies! The thrill that had come on the heels of the technician’s words returned. If only she didn’t have to worry about how she was going to manage two babies and expanding her gallery, she’d be ecstatic. Oh, Ryan’s money could purchase the best in child care, she was sure. But then her babies would be taken care of by strangers. She wanted to care for them herself. In fact, she was a little shocked by the maternal possessiveness that seized her when she considered hiring help.
“I can’t believe it, either.” Ryan’s response broke into her chaotic thoughts. “There are no twins in my family. Are there in yours?”
The questions snapped her out of the fog she’d been in. “I don’t know,” she said slowly. “Nobody ever mentioned family. I don’t even know if my grandparents had any relatives. My mother wasn’t a twin—that I know of.”
Ryan’s eyes softened and she knew he was recalling her childhood. “Did they leave any personal papers or anything that might have family history?” Then he sat down beside her on the bed. “I don’t suppose it matters, though. The reality is that we are going to be the parents of twins.”
She gauged his expression. He didn’t appear to be having any negative thoughts.
He stood up and began to walk around the small room. “When you get out of here, we’ll get married. You can move in right away and then—”
“Whoa, horse,” she said. “That wasn’t the deal. We get married at the end of the first trimester.”
Ryan looked impatient. “Why wait?”
She lifted her chin. “There are still eight weeks to go. Who knows what could happen. Hasn’t this—” she waved wildly around the room “—taught you anything?”
His face was a thundercloud. “Nothing’s going to happen.”
“You don’t know that.”
He sighed, pushing back the sides of his suit jacket and stuffing his hands in his trouser pockets. “It just seems silly to wait. I hate the thought of people counting backward on their fingers to figure out which came first—the engagement or the embryo.”
She almost laughed. But he was so serious. For the first time she realized how much the idea of having children out of wedlock bothered him. And it made her question the arbitrary time limit she’d set for this marriage. Was she really worried that something might happen to her baby? Babies, she corrected herself. No. This pregnancy might not be a laugh a minute so far but she had a good feeling about it.
So why was she really waiting? She’d accepted the idea of marriage, had even begun to look forward to creating a real family for her children. And then there were the other aspects of it—she was attracted to Ryan. She was more than attracted, if she could face the truth. His touch made her insides shiver. Just the memory of the way he’d said, “I can promise you passion,” got her all hot and bothered and wondering exactly how it would be to share a bed with him, to run her hands over every hard, muscled inch—
“Are you ignoring me?” His voice sounded distinctly combative.
“No.” She studied his face, dark brows drawn together, blue eyes glaring at her over that straight, uncompromising nose. He probably had shaved this morning, but already his jaw was shadowed with dark stubble that gave him a rakish look. “We can get married now if you like.”
His expression changed to one of blank shock. “What? Why?”
She shrugged, smiling. “You’re right. Nothing’s going to happen. Why wait?”
He came toward her then, his eyes leaping with blue flame. “I’m not going to ask you if you’re sure, because I’m afraid you’ll say you’re not.” He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned toward her as she sat, mesmerized by the look in his eye. He cradled her cheeks in his hands, his big fingers sliding into the silk of her freshly clean hair and cupping her skull. “Thank you,” he murmured as his mouth brushed over hers.
She inhaled sharply at the first intimate contact. She was reclining against her pillows but she instinctively lifted her hands to his shoulders and his lips settled onto hers as easily as if he’d done this a million times. He tested and tasted her, gently molding her lips with the warm, supple pressure of his, his tongue flicking at the corners of her mouth. She shuddered beneath the sensual onslau
ght, and a small moan escaped from deep in her throat. As the sound registered, he angled his head and parted her lips, sliding his tongue between her teeth to explore the moist depths of her mouth. She sank against him, forgetting everything but the magical sensations roaring through her at his touch—
“Whoops!” said a nurse’s voice. “Looks like everything’s fine in here!” A giggle faded as the door slowly closed, and Ryan lifted his mouth a fraction.
He was breathing heavily; she could feel her own heart pounding.
“Jess,” he said in a deep, hoarse voice, “marriage is going to change our relationship. Are you ready for that?”
“Ryan,” she said, equally seriously, “unless I’m mistaken, our relationship changed more in the last minute than it has in twenty-some years.”
He chuckled, and his breath was hot and sweet on her face. “You don’t hear me complaining.” Dipping his head, he pressed one brief kiss to her lips, then gently took his hands from her face, letting her hair slip through his fingers. “I have to leave now. In the morning I’ll make arrangements for a ceremony. Do you want a church? A minister? Justice of the peace? As long as we’re married, I don’t care how.”
“I don’t care, either,” she said. “I know you’d like to get it done, so whatever’s fastest is fine.”
“If you weren’t in that hospital bed, I’d be glad to show you fast,” he said, and she shivered at the blatant sensuality glowing in his intense gaze. Then he touched her lips with one long, blunt finger and swung out of the room, leaving her shocked at his frankness, flustered at the thought that they might be married in just a few days, and aching for him to touch her again.
Five
Just before noon the next day the door to Jessie’s hospital room opened and Ryan came in. He had a large white box tied with pink and blue ribbon beneath one arm and as he came toward her, he set it on the bottom of the bed.
“Hey, there,” he said. He loomed over her and caught her chin in one hand, kissing her briefly. “How are you feeling today?”
“Good.” She wished he’d lingered over that kiss the way he had last night. The thought had her clearing her throat. When was she going to get used to his touch? This ridiculous meltdown of all her circuits that happened every time he put his hands on her had to stop. Concentrating on his question, she said, “They might take the IV out today. I’m actually having a soft diet for lunch.”
He made a face. “Yuck.”
She made a face at him. “It beats not eating anything.”
“You have a point.” He hitched up his suit pants and sat on the edge of the bed, facing her. “I made some calls this morning. We could get married in two days.”
“Two days!” She’d assumed there was a waiting period but apparently that wasn’t so. “All right,” she said cautiously. “I guess we might as well go ahead if I’m out of here by then.”
He laughed. “Now that’s what I call a ringing endorsement.”
“It’s just…I’m having a little difficulty keeping up with everything.” She pleated the sheet with her fingers. “The doctor told me this morning that he wants to see how my body reacts when they take me off the antinausea drug. If I start to feel sick again, he’ll prescribe something that should help, and I’ll be able to go home.” Then she sat up a little straighter. “What’s happening at the gallery?”
“I just came from there. Penny and Melissa are working, and Penny has someone else named Jil on the schedule.” He looked questioningly at her and she nodded, satisfied. Jil and Melissa were both part-timers who knew the merchandise and the artisans behind them well enough to speak with confidence. “Penny wanted me to tell you she sold four pieces of the Ramirez collection and one of the beaded crystal bags this morning and that sales have been steady.”
“That’s good news,” she said. “Emanuel Ramirez is a Southwestern artist who designs silver jewelry. He’s sent me some really stunning things.”
“Where did you find him?”
“One of my friends was in Arizona and saw some of his work. She was so impressed she called me. She has a good eye and she’s found successful items before, so I flew out and met Mr. Ramirez and brought back some samples to see how they’d do in Boston.” She couldn’t prevent the satisfied smile. “I can’t keep the stuff in stock.”
“You enjoy what you do.” He was studying her face.
“I do. It’s exciting to find new artists and new items that are unique. A lot of my clientele is tourists, of course, but I also have a growing number of people in the area who come in on a regular basis for wedding and birthday gifts. I’ve been thinking about looking for some distinctive baby gifts when I expand.” She forced herself to ignore the little voice that said, If you can get a loan. “I think they would be a hit.”
“Speaking of baby gifts,” he said, reaching for the large box he’d brought in, “why don’t you open this?”
“What is it?”
He shrugged. “I thought the first gifts our babies received should come from me.”
Working the ribbon over one corner she slipped the lid off the box. Clouds of pink and blue tissue obscured whatever was inside. Carefully she lifted the tissue out of the way. Two stuffed toys, white tiger cubs with wide blue eyes, were nestled side by side in the remaining tissue. One was reclining; the other sat up. They had golden chains around their necks with faceted crystal hearts dangling from them.
She pulled them from the box and stroked the soft fur. “They’re adorable,” she said. “We’ll keep one in each crib. They can watch over the babies for us.”
He smiled indulgently. “There’s something else in there.”
Her senses went on red alert at the tone in his voice. Slowly, she set the stuffed animals to one side and reached back into the tissue. Her seeking fingers found a small box, and she withdrew it from the larger container. “Ryan, if this is what I think it is, you don’t have to—”
“Shh.” He laid his finger against her lips. “You know me well enough to know that nobody makes me do anything I don’t want to, Jess. Just open it.”
The little box was wrapped in glittering gold paper with a white bow. She tore away the wrapping to expose a black velvet box. Slowly, she exerted the pressure necessary to flip open the hinged lid. The ring inside was as spectacular as she’d feared.
It was composed of diamonds, one very large round-cut center stone with four small diamonds lining the band on each side. It was beautifully, classically cut and the stones caught the lights and shot shining sparks in all directions as she tilted it from side to side. “Ryan, this is incredibly lovely,” she said. She intended to add that she couldn’t keep it, but he forestalled her with a gentle hand over her mouth.
“Thank you, Ryan,” he said. “I’ll cherish it forever.”
Her breath huffed out in a chuckle beneath his hand before he withdrew it. “But I can’t accept it,” she said seriously.
“Of course you can.” His eyes were a deep sapphire today and they pinned her beneath a level stare. “You’re going to be my wife, the mother of my children. Someday you can pass this ring down to one of our children.” He leaned forward and took her upper arms in a light grasp. “Do you have any idea how happy you’re making me?” His voice was intense, his eyes more so.
She hesitated.
“Please, Jess,” he said, “don’t make too much of this. You’re beautiful. I want to give you beautiful things.” Gently he took the ring from her and slipped it onto her finger.
“You think I’m…beautiful?” She had to clear her throat. “I thought you’d see me forever as the skinny, knock-kneed little kid who drove you crazy following you and Emily Preswick around when you were twelve and I was ten.”
He smiled. “You were a pain in the butt that year, I’ll grant you. But yes, I do think you’re lovely.” His smile faded and he brushed her cheek with surprisingly tender fingers. “Your skin feels like silk to my touch. You have roses in your cheeks again and your eyes are sparklin
g. Your lips…” His voice faded.
She shivered. He was looking at her mouth now and there was no mistaking the expression on his face. Slowly he leaned forward, cupping a hand around the back of her neck and drawing her to him as he set his lips on hers.
He wasn’t tentative this time, though his mouth was gentle. Seductive. Warm and firm on hers, growing hotter and bolder, sweeping aside all her rational objections. He slipped his free hand around her back and pulled her against his chest, and her pulse leaped as her body, clad only in the silky pajama top he’d brought her from home, met the broad planes of his chest.
Her hands came up, clasping the heavy muscles of his shoulders, and he parted her lips, his tongue dipping deliciously deep, sweeping exploratory circles in her mouth until she met and answered his demand with forays of her own. His hand slid from the back of her neck to circle the base of her throat, and her pulse leaped as her breasts tightened in sensual hunger. But he didn’t touch her there, didn’t move his hand lower. He merely brushed his thumb against the racing pulse in her neck, over and over again, as he thrust his tongue into her in a shockingly intimate imitation of lovemaking.
Finally, he tore his mouth free, sliding it down her throat to nibble a path across her collarbone. “Jess,” he murmured against her skin. “I want you.”
“I know.” Her fingers were in his hair, caressing the silky strands. “This seems so odd.”
“Not to me.” He drew back, then stroked his palms from her shoulders to her elbows and back, slowly savoring the soft flesh with an absorbed look on his face. “What could be better than marrying your best friend, with whom you just happen to share incredibly hot sex?”
“We aren’t,” she reminded him.
“Yet.” He sounded confident. “We will. And it will be hot enough to blister the paint off the walls.”
“Could get expensive.” She deliberately reached for a lighter tone.
He grinned, making his dimples deepen and her stomach contract. “Good thing I’ve got that covered.”
Billionaire Bachelors: Ryan Page 8
