Protecting Their Baby

by Sheri WhiteFeather

  Lisa nodded, and Cathy clapped her hands like a kid. Nelson frowned at his jumbo shrimp.

  Finally he said to Lisa, “Are you all right? You don’t seem well.”

  She looked up at him, then over at Rex, who sat next to her. He’d promised to stay close, and he was. But clearly she didn’t know how to respond to Nelson. This dinner was taking its toll on her.

  Rex gave her an out. “If you’re not feeling well, we can go.”

  “No, it’s okay.” Apparently she was willing to stick it out for the investigation. “Sometimes I get a little tired from the pregnancy.” She lifted her fork in a show of steak-and-mushroom support. “But the food is good.”

  Below the table, Rex put his hand on her thigh, letting her know what was about to happen. He figured this was a good time to get the ball rolling, especially now that Chatty Cathy was quiet, too.

  Rex said, “There’s another reason Lisa isn’t doing well. Someone has been threatening her and the baby.”

  Cathy gasped and said, “What?” and Nelson leaned forward, exhibiting what appeared to be a concerned gaze. He was either a genuinely nice guy or a psychopath in sheep’s clothing.

  Rex explained, leaving out a few pertinent details about the doll. He did the same thing with the e-mail. If Cathy or Nelson accidentally mentioned any of his omissions, their guilt would be clear.

  “I’m so sorry,” Cathy said to her boss. “How could someone do that to you? And why?”

  “I don’t know, but Rex is trying to find out.”

  “I’m never going to be Snow White for Halloween again.” Cathy gave a shudder. “She was my standby costume when I couldn’t think of anything else to be.”

  Lisa glanced at Rex, silently acknowledging that he’d been right about the other woman dressing up as Snow White. Rex wished that she wouldn’t have glanced his way, but it was too late do anything about it. Nelson caught the look and zeroed in on the truth.

  “Do you suspect us?” he asked.

  Before Rex could respond, Cathy shoved at her boyfriend’s shoulder. “Oh, my God. That’s an awful thing to say. Why would they think we did it?”

  “Because I’m a computer systems analyst and you resemble Snow White.”

  “That’s true.” Rex spoke honestly, taking a different route than he’d originally planned. Nelson was too astute to fool. “You did cross our minds.”

  The other man blew out a tight breath. “Well, it wasn’t us.”

  “Maybe it was just you or just her.”

  “It wasn’t.” Nelson got defensive, a natural reaction for someone being accused of something he claimed he didn’t do.

  “Then provide some alibis, and I’ll check them out.”

  “Fine. We’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

  “Yes, we will.” Cathy looked mortally wounded by what was taking place. If her story checked out, Rex would apologize. Lisa already looked ready to apologize. She was staring morosely at her plate.

  At this point, Rex didn’t know what to think. “Where were you last Monday, between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.?” The hour in which Lisa had been in his office and the doll had been left in her car.

  “I was on a plane,” Nelson said quickly. “Returning from Las Vegas. I attended a software conference that weekend.”

  His alibi would be easy enough to check. “And you?” Rex asked Cathy.

  She got flustered. She wasn’t sure where she’d been until she checked her electronic day planner. Then she said, “I took the puppy to get his second set of shots.”

  “At what time?”

  “Ten o’clock.”

  “What about after that?”

  “I went to the Glendale Galleria to shop. I took Barker with me. In one of those little doggie purses.”

  “Did you buy anything?”

  “No, but I was there for hours. I had lunch at the Mexican place in the food court. That’s probably where I was between one and two.”

  Probably wasn’t good enough. Rex would be headed to the mall tomorrow.

  “Satisfied?” Nelson asked.

  Not particularly, Rex thought.

  Nelson got up and grabbed his girlfriend’s hand. They hadn’t finished their meals, but they were leaving.

  “Don’t expect Cathy back at work,” he told Lisa.

  After they were gone, Lisa looked at Rex, her eyes clouding with tears.

  “We should go, too,” she said, pushing her half-eaten steak aside.

  He nodded. She was wrung out, tired and confused. She looked as if she needed some sleep.

  Lisa couldn’t sleep. At half past twelve, she climbed out of bed and headed to the kitchen for a cup of warm milk. All she wanted was for this case to get solved. All she wanted was her old life back.

  As if that were possible. Feet bare, she padded down the narrow hallway. Her life was changed forever. The baby, Rex…

  Rex. His name brought her up short. There he was, working on his laptop, the glow from the screen casting shadows on his strong-boned face. Next to him was a bottle of beer.

  Lisa suspected that he preferred the living room to the guest room because small spaces made him feel boxed in. She on the other hand liked to be cocooned. Held close, kept warm.

  Not a good thing to think about right now.

  She considered going back from whence she came, but he sensed her presence. Like a lone wolf, he lifted his head, nostrils flared.

  Too late to flee.

  The ritual began. His eyes on her; her eyes on him.

  She imagined that she looked vulnerable in a blush pink, ruffle-hemmed nightgown, with her hair swept away into a barely there ponytail, too-short tendrils framing her cheeks.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” she said, cutting into the quiet.

  His gaze was still riveted to hers. “Me, neither.”

  She tried to glance away, but she couldn’t seem to break the connection. He lifted his beer and took a swig, wetting his mouth.

  She hoped her nipples didn’t harden. When the moon slipped past the window, she wondered if it was making her gown transparent, if he could see the outline of her breasts, her panties, her entire body.

  No, she thought. The material was heavy enough to deflect moonlight.

  But still…

  The memory of being naked in his arms was almost more than she could bear. To combat the feeling, she told her herself to pass “Go” and head directly to the kitchen.

  But she stopped when he said, “I’m sorry about what happened at the restaurant. It wasn’t supposed to turn out like that.”

  He’d already apologized earlier, but she appreciated that he cared enough to mention it again.

  “This is going to sound awful,” she told him. “But there’s a part of me that hopes their alibis don’t check out and you uncover some evidence against them. But only because I want the horror to end.” A lump of shame clogged her throat. “How unfair is that to them if they’re innocent?”

  He closed his laptop, and the glow around his face disappeared. He was in the dark, except for the moonlight she’d worried about.

  “It’s okay to feel that way, Lisa. It’s okay to want it to be over.” He spoke quietly, indicative of his mood. “I’ll get started on their alibis tomorrow. Your parents can come over while I’m gone.”

  “I have to work.”

  “Then they can go to work with you.”

  “I’ll have to teach Cathy’s classes until I find someone to replace her.”

  “If I clear her, maybe she’ll come back.”

  “And maybe she’ll be mad at me forever.”

  “She seemed more hurt than angry. But who the hell knows? It could’ve been an act. I’m usually good at judging people, but this case is different.”

  Because it was personal, she thought. Because he was so close to it.

  While he pulled on the beer again, she got another of those girl-to-guy pulses. He looked rough and tumbled and wildly protective of her. It made her want him.

&
nbsp; “I never got my milk,” she said.

  “I’m sorry. What?”

  “I came out here for warm milk.”

  “Then you should go get it.”

  Yes, she should. She made a beeline for the kitchen.

  Alone at last, she went to the fridge, then the stove, where she heated the milk in a pan.

  Soon she heard footsteps. Apparently he’d decided to follow her. The light above the stove shone softly, and the flame on the gas burner flickered.

  Another intimate setting, she thought. She couldn’t escape it.

  “I guess we might as well get used to these hours,” he said. “With midnight feedings and all that.”

  He was talking about the baby. “We? You won’t be staying here by then.” She watched the pan, making sure the milk didn’t boil. Or was she watching it to avoid eye contact with him? “Not unless the threats are still going on.”

  “They won’t be. I swear, they won’t.”

  They went silent, until he motioned to the stove and said, “I’ve never had warm milk.”

  “Do you want to try it?”

  He lifted his beer. “Thanks, but I’ve got my drink.”

  “Oh, of course.” He wasn’t about to mix the two. She went back to watching the pan.

  “Wouldn’t it have been easier to heat it in the microwave?”

  She shook her head. She was still avoiding direct eye contact, catching only peripheral views. “It gets hot spots. So do baby bottles, or so I’ve heard. But I think I’m going to…” When she realized what she was about to say, she let her words drift.

  He picked up where she left off. “Breast-feed? I wondered if you were going to do that.”

  She chanced a glance. “You did?”

  “Yes, but it was just clinical curiosity.”

  Who was he trying to kid? Breast-feeding had struck him in a sexual way otherwise he wouldn’t have been compelled to mention it. “You’re a terrible liar, Rex.”

  He scrunched up his face. “So shoot me for being a guy.” He gentled his expression. “I can’t help it if I think it’s a sensual image. You keep making me feel things I don’t normally feel. Even those warm, gooey cookies did a number on me.”

  She wasn’t about to ask him what he meant. Warm and gooey sounded bad enough. She turned away. “My milk is done.” Even it hadn’t been, she would have used it as an excuse.

  His voice sounded behind her. “Are you going to take it back to your room?”

  “Yes.”

  “Want me to tuck you in?”

  Good grief. She spun around to tell him to knock off the twisted humor, but she could see that he was serious.

  She sucked in her breath. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

  “I won’t try anything.”

  Heaven help her, but she wished that he would. “When’s the last time you tucked a woman into bed without joining her?”

  “Never.” He smiled like the modern rogue that he was. “But there’s always a first.” He finished his beer and discarded the empty bottle. “I’ll just pretend that you’re out to here now.” He looped his hands over his abs-of-perfection stomach. “That’ll cure me.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “Sorry, but it’s the only fantasy about you I haven’t had yet.”

  “Then I don’t have much to worry about, do I? I’ll have a swollen belly soon enough.”

  “Let me tuck you in, Lisa. Let me sit with you until you finish your milk.”

  How could she refuse? He was the father of her child and the investigator struggling to stop the threats. Rex Sixkiller was the most important man in her life right now.

  They walked to her room, and she warned herself to not feel too much. Since her bed was unmade, there wasn’t much for him to do by way of tucking her in.

  She climbed under the covers and leaned against the headboard, and he handed her the milk. She wrapped all ten fingers around the cup, taking solace from its warmth.

  Rex scooted in beside her, but he sat on top of the blanket, creating a fluffy barrier between them. He, too, leaned against the headboard.

  “It’s shiny in here at night,” he said.

  Lisa glanced around, trying to see her room through his eyes. A golden-hued Tiffany-style lamp was on, showcasing eyelet sheers, a lace valance and a stenciled border. An iridescent vase with fresh flowers decorated an antique chest of drawers, along with partially melted candles and a shimmering display of glass fairies, which she’d been collecting for years.

  She defended her feminine side. “It’s my sanctuary.”

  “It’s pretty.” He turned to look at her. “Just like you.”

  The milk she’d just sipped heated her from the inside out. Or was it him? “Thank you.”

  He smiled. “You’re welcome.”

  Yes, it was definitely him.

  His smile shifted to a grin. “It’s naughty, too.”

  She rolled her eyes. There he went, flirting, teasing her, being his usual self. “It is not.”

  “Are you kidding? It’s a den of debauchery. All those half-naked fairies.” He pointed to the figurines. “Pure sin.”

  “Better than you and all those Playboys.”

  He chuckled. “You got me there.”

  “I wish I didn’t like you so much,” she said.

  “Because I read Playboy?”

  Because she was going to miss him when they were no longer living under the same roof. “Because you’re growing on me.”

  “More like inside you. You’ve got Cherokee blood in there.”

  Yes, their baby. Suddenly fear coiled itself around her tummy. She put her milk down. “What if something happens and I lose it? What if—”

  “Don’t say that. Don’t even think it.” He angled his body more toward hers. “I’ll ask the Creator to talk to the Little People. They’ve been known to protect children.”

  “What Little People?”

  “Ancient Cherokees believed in fairies. In our folklore, they’re called Yunwi Tsundi or Little People. I suppose they’re more like dwarfs than the fairies you collect, but they’re just as magical. They love music, and they spend half of their time drumming and singing.”

  “What do they look like?”

  “They’re small, of course, and just as attractive as your fairies. Their hair flows almost to the ground.”

  She realized that she’d just gotten her first Cherokee lesson from him. “Maybe I should start collecting Little People figurines, too.”

  “I’m not sure where you’d find them. Besides, they’re immortals, so they’d probably disappear.”

  Touched by his sense of magic, she liked him even more. “It seems like I’ve known you for longer than four days.”

  “If you include the night we hooked up and that terrible morning after, it totals six days.”

  “It wasn’t that terrible.”

  “Yes, it was. You could barely look at me.”

  She was looking at him now. “So I got a little shy. I’m a good girl.”

  “Tell me about it. I knew from the moment I first saw you that you were the wholesome type.”

  “Then why did you pursue me?”

  He gave her a playful nudge. “Because I’d always heard that good girls are bad girls who don’t get caught.”

  Lisa nudged him right back. “Well, you heard wrong.”

  “Why? Because you got caught?”

  By caught, she assumed he meant pregnant. “That’s one way of putting it.”

  “Yeah, we’re quite a pair.” He quit goofing around. “Are you ready to get some sleep?”

  “I’m ready to try.”

  “Then hand me your cup, and I’ll turn out the light and leave you alone.”

  She wanted to ask him to stay, but she wasn’t that courageous. Or that crazy. “Thanks, Rex.”

  “Sure.” He didn’t touch her, but he looked as if he wanted to skim her cheek or maybe even kiss her forehead.

  As requested, she ga
ve him her cup so he could take it into the kitchen, and when he turned out the light, she closed her eyes.

  Anxious for morning to come, simply so she could see him again.

  Chapter 7

  Lisa awakened to the aroma of breakfast. Rex was cooking? No, that didn’t seem likely. Maybe he’d gone out and gotten some home-style takeout. Whatever it was, it smelled heavenly.

  Eager to see him, she jumped out of bed, and got an instant punch of queasiness. Damn. She sat back down and reached for the ever-present crackers.

  Nibble. Nibble. Crumbs dropped onto her lap.

  A knock sounded on the door.

  Shoot. She didn’t want Rex to see her like this. She wanted to make a pretty impression. She wanted to sweep into the kitchen and make him smile.

  A woman’s voice called out from the other side. “Lisa?”

  “Mom?”

  “Yes, it’s me. May I come in?”

  “Okay.” At least with her mom, she didn’t have to worry about being sick or even looking sick. Not that it should matter with Rex, either. But it did.

  She couldn’t help the way she was starting to feel about him. They were becoming close, much too close.

  The door opened, and Rita Gordon entered. As always, she was warm, loving and sympathetic.

  “Oh, honey,” she said. “Can I get you anything?”

  Rex, Lisa thought. She wanted Rex. Now she didn’t care if he saw her this way. She’d been queasy in front of him before. “I’ll be all right. Nothing a few saltines won’t cure.”

  “You’re not going to throw up?”

  She shook her head. It was actually starting to subside. She’d gotten lucky today.

  Mom sat next to her on the bed. She was wearing one of her pretty spring ensembles, but her hair wasn’t as coiffed as it usually was, indicating that she’d been in a bit of a rush when she’d gotten ready.

  “Rex called and asked your dad and me to come over.”

  That explained her hastily done hair. “Where is he?”

  “Your dad? He’s waiting to eat his share of the breakfast I cooked. Biscuits and gravy.”

  Lisa hadn’t been asking about her dad. She wanted to know about the father of her child. The man driving her to distraction. “What about Rex?”