Six Shades of Romance

by Darling, P. K.

  “It’s none of your business.”

  “What?” He thrust his hand into his hair, mussing it. “It’s not my business if you’re sick?”

  “No. We’re just f—sex buddies, right? Is that what it is? I’m sick so I can’t be available to you now that you’re in the mood and have time? So sorry, but it’s. Not. Your. Business.”

  “Sex buddies? What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Maybe I’m tired of being available to you whenever you want me to be.” Caroline bit out, her nerves on edge. This wasn’t going the way it should at all.

  “Whenever I want you to be? And whose idea was it to keep our relationship a secret?”

  “Well, it looks like it worked, didn’t it? You’re going to Japan or Beijing or somewhere with your promotion, aren’t you? You sure wouldn’t have been up for a vice presidency if the powers that be had known we were sleeping together, that’s for sure!”

  “What the hell are you talking about? The ‘powers that be’ don’t give a damn who sleeps with who as long as we make a profit every quarter. And as far as the job is concerned, I’m only one of a dozen up for that position and I’m not sure I want it anyway.”

  “Are you crazy? That job is perfect for you.” Caroline realized they were standing in the middle of the room yelling and she took a deep breath. “Look, do you want to stay for a drink or something or are you just here to yell at me?”

  “I want to stay, damn it, if you’ll quit bitching at me.”

  “Well, get used to it. I’m not in the mood to be sweet and light today.”

  “Fine. Let’s have a drink and maybe we can make sense of all this trash you’ve been talking.”

  Caroline bit back a response and headed to the refrigerator. She removed a beer for him and a pitcher of juice for her. She poured a half glass of water then added enough juice to lightly flavor the water. It was something she’d been able to keep down when she was stressed and she sure couldn’t risk making a bathroom hurl run right now.

  She carried the beer into the living room where he stood glancing around, his hand in his pants pocket.

  “How did you know where I lived?” She handed him the drink and sat on the couch with her own.

  He looked at her and arched his brow. “I work for the same company, remember?”

  “Oh, right. Why are you here, though? Anyone could see your car.”

  “So? You’re sick. I’m a conscientious boss who wants to check up on you.” He dropped onto the couch beside her and leaned his head back on the couch. “Besides, I don’t care.”

  She looked at him and then realized how tired he looked. “When did you get back?”

  “This morning.”

  “And you came here? Why?”

  He swiveled his head toward her and looked at her for a minute before answering. “God knows. Look, I’ll get out of here so you can rest.”

  She reached out to stop him as he straightened, “No, don’t. I’m sorry I’m such a bitch today. I’m just tired too, I guess.”

  He covered her hand with his and nodded. “Okay. What do you want to do?”

  She thought of several things she’d like to do but one of the most appealing things right now was to talk, or not to talk with him. Just to be with him would be great.

  “Truthfully?”

  “Yeah,” he took a sip of the beer then placed it on the table in front of him and took her hand in his.

  “I’d love a nap right now,” she admitted with a sheepish smile.

  “God, me too. Do you mind if I sleep with you?”

  “I’d love it.” She stood and held her hand out for him. As they walked down the hall she realized, other than on those passion-filled weekends, they’d never slept together, really slept. She toed off her sandals as he took off his shirt, then together they pulled the top cover off the bed. She lay on her side and he grinned at her. “So you sleep on the outside of the bed?”

  “Yep.” She snuggled into the pillow and grinned at him.

  He clambered over her legs and lay down behind her on the double bed, his feet extending over the edge. She lifted her head and eyed his feet as they dangled.

  “I didn’t realize how tall you are.”

  “The bed in the cabin is a king, longer.” He murmured as he spooned her with his body, his chest against her back and his hips tucked in against her behind. He put his arm over her to cup her belly and she grabbed his hand and cradled it in hers. She hummed at the warmth at her back and closed her eyes. This was nice.

  Chapter Two

  Caroline woke slowly, warm and comfortable. Even in her drowsy state, she knew he was there, behind her, holding her. His hand cupped her stomach, a warm weight against her.

  “Hey, you awake?”

  She covered his hand with hers, content with her life, “Mmm.”

  He shifted against her, his erection evident against her ass. She wriggled against him and got a growl in response. His hand tightened against her and pulled her onto her back. As she gazed up at him leaning over her, Caroline wondered how she’d be able to say goodbye to him when he moved on up to his new job.

  He nudged her top up to bare her stomach then leaned over to kiss her stomach. Caroline held her breath as his lips caressed her. “You’re so soft here.” His mouth began a descent toward her lower belly then stopped abruptly.

  He raised his head and replaced it with his hand. As he grazed his hand over her belly and the slight bump that had formed over the past few months. He gazed at his hand for interminable moments then turned his eyes on her.

  “Caroline?”

  She shot up off the bed and stood at its side for a minute before sprinting into the bathroom. As she crouched over the toilet emptying her stomach, she was vaguely aware of him behind her. Water gushing through the faucet alerted her of his intent, then a wet washcloth appeared in front of her. She plopped onto the floor, the washcloth covering her face, partly to cool and comfort and partly to hide.

  “I’ll meet you in the living room,” his quiet voice cut through the silence of the room.

  She wanted to hide longer but made herself go into the living room where he sat in an easy chair, his elbows on his knees and his face toward the floor.

  “You know?”

  He nodded, his eyes still downcast. She walked over and perched on the edge of the sofa and waited. They sat in silence until he leaned back and cast his eyes toward the ceiling. “You’re pregnant.”

  “Yes.”

  “Were you going to tell me? Were you going to include me in any decision making?” He looked at her, his eyes hard, yet something lurked behind the steel, a pain she didn’t want to acknowledge she’d caused. “What were you thinking?”

  “You have the promotion ahead of you,” Caroline tried to keep her voice calm though she wanted to cry out against the pain she felt, the pain she was causing him. “Knowing about the baby might influence your decision.”

  “No kidding. And what about you? Obviously you decided to keep it,” he looked toward her stomach then away again. “So, you’re going to make up a lover to cover yourself at work? Or would it be something more cosmopolitan like artificial insemination?”

  “I’m going to give it up.” She murmured.

  He stood abruptly and faced her, “The hell you are.”

  “Look—”

  “Look, nothing. You’re not giving away my child.” His voice rose and she could see the effort he made to keep his temper in check as he paced around the tiny living room before coming to a standstill in front of the bay window that overlooked her small fenced in back yard.

  “Talk to me.”

  “Why?” He kept his back to her. “You chose not to talk to me about this. Why should I give you any consideration in this matter?”

  When he turned to her any sign of the lover was gone, replaced by a cold mask of fury, maybe even hate. “I need some time alone but I’ll be in touch with you. Or my lawyer will.”

  He left with her si
tting, stunned.

  She sat for several minutes before getting up and pouring the beer down the drain along with the remainder of her drink. As she did she tried to think of what to do. Any effort on her part to talk to him right now would be futile, he was angrier than she’d ever seen him and a little hurt too, by the way he’d looked at her.

  Maybe if she got information about adoption and any other possibilities, she could present it to him and make him see reason. She retrieved her laptop and booted it up before opening a spreadsheet. After several minutes, she had columns and numbers ranging down the page. Coming to a halt, she reread the information before her hands fell into her lap.

  “What the hell am I doing?”

  “You’re approaching this like it was a business problem, not a baby,” his voice sounded tired but firm behind her and she turned from her seat at the dining table. He leaned against the open door of the condo, his eyes intent on her.

  “You’re back.”

  “Yeah. I didn’t make it past the driveway.”

  She stood and closed the computer before advancing to the sofa again and sinking down into its cushions. He followed her and sat beside her. “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?”

  “I didn’t realize it until you had left for China. When I found out, I wanted to wait til you came here, then I decided if I had a plan in place before I told you –”

  “Again with the prospectus approach?”

  She shrugged, “It made sense at the time. I didn’t mean to leave you out of the picture, or to made a decision without you. I just know you and if you knew about the baby you wouldn’t take the promotion, wouldn’t advance your career.”

  “Caroline, I don’t want the promotion to the far east. If I got it, I’d be living there, not here, not near enough to see you.” He looked down at his hands, clasped between his spread legs then his gaze took her in, encompassing all of her. “I don’t want to lose you. Or the baby.”

  “But I don’t want to pressure you into anything.”

  “Where is the pressure? You’ve all but eliminated me from the decision making process.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He took a deep breath then released it. “Look, can we start over? How far are you?”

  “Eighteen weeks.” Her hand automatically covered the small mound of her belly.

  He followed the movement of her hand and she thought his eyes got a bit moist before he looked down again at his hands. “Do you want to give it away? To put it up for adoption?”

  “No! I just didn’t see it being possible for me to raise the baby alone, not with you—”

  “Not with me in the same company, eventually being around and maybe seeing you with your child? My child? Damnit, Caroline, I still don’t know why you think I wouldn’t want a child with you.”

  She popped up to her feet and started to pace around the room. “I wasn’t thinking logically, for once, okay? I’ve been terrified that if you find out you’ll make a rash decision and refuse the promotion, then be resentful of me and the baby about that. I’ve worried that you’ll want the baby, but not me, I’ve worried that you want to continue things the way they are and will see the baby as a hindrance, which would make me hate you. I’ve been worried that you don’t love me enough to have a family with me.”

  “Hold it, take a breath.” He stood in front of her, bringing her frantic pacing to a halt. “I come to this office at least three times more often than any other office in my district. Do you know why? Because I miss being with you, miss having you in my life. As far as not wanting the baby, I’m here, aren’t I? I want you and the baby, but only on one condition.”

  “What?” She turned moist eyes on him.

  “You go out with me, tonight. On a true, honest to God date, in front of the whole town. We admit we’re an item and we date.”

  She sputtered a laugh. “I think it’s a little late for that, don’t you?”

  He smiled and shook his head, “We started this whole relationship backwards. We had the sex and now, the pregnancy. Let’s shuffle it a little and do the dating then the marriage, what do you say?”

  Her heart thumped at the mention of marriage but she turned a brilliant smile his way. “Where are we going so I know what to wear?”

  Epilogue

  Caroline looked into the full length mirror and twitched a pleat into place on her ivory dress. “I should have made him wait til after the baby was born.”

  Henry chuckled as she stood behind her, zipping up the wedding dress. “And risk him kidnapping you? I doubt Wes’s heart could take waiting too much longer. Besides you’re due in two weeks, it’s close enough.”

  “I know, but I look like I’ve swallowed a watermelon.”

  “You look beautiful and you know it, young lady.” Henry bussed a kiss on Caroline’s cheek as Caroline accepted the bouquet her weepy mother handed her. Over the last several months life had been a hectic ride of doctor appointments, redoing her condo and dates with Wes. He’d made the radical decision to relocate to Hillsboro and she’d become the breadwinner for a couple months while he started a new firm of his own. Sure, it would be a risk, but he seemed happier now with her and their baby.

  The day they’d found out she was expecting a boy, Wes had cried along with her and that evening, he’d asked her to marry him. Though she tried, she couldn’t put him off any longer, so now, courtesy of her mother and Henry, she was having the wedding of her dreams, complete with the right man.

  She took a deep breath and swallowed against the lower back pain she’d fought all morning. “Whoa, I shouldn’t have taken that walk yesterday, I guess.”

  “Why, honey?” Her mother fussed with her hair, tucking a stray curl behind the jeweled clip that held it up.

  “I just have a bad backache.” Caroline pushed her hand into her back in an effort to relieve the ache but with no results.

  “A back ache?” Henry came to stand beside her and stare at her in the mirror. Caroline’s mother also turned her eyes toward her.

  “Yeah, all morning.” Caroline looked at both women who now wore smiles. “What?”

  “I think we need to start this wedding a few minutes early.” Henry turned to go out of the ante room and into the chapel proper.

  “Because—”

  Caroline’s mom wiped a stray tear from her eye and then cupped Caroline’s cheek, “Because if you want to be married before your baby comes, you had better get started.”

  The End

  About Kate McKeever

  Kate McKeever was raised in the southern highlands and started writing at an early age. She is published in sweet and spicy romance as well as in paranormal romantic suspense. Kate’s ambition is to keep writing and continue to entertain and supply more happily ever afters.

  Website: www.kate-mckeever.com

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/kate.mckeever

  One Last Thing…

  We loved writing this so much that we are looking to write another themed story in near future, if you would like to sign-up to our newsletter then click on this link:

  http://eepurl.com/TsGw9

  When you turn the page you will get the opportunity to rate the book and share your thoughts through Facebook and Twitter. If you believe your friends would enjoy this book, we’d be honored for you to post your thoughts and if you could post a review.

  Take care,

  Penny, Jamie, Lee, Kate, Andrea and Darby