Nora knew she was going to hate herself for asking, but she couldn’t help herself. “What was her specialty?”
“Pediatric neurosurgery.”
She pushed her plate away and reached for her wine. “Of course,” she murmured. A brilliant, beautiful woman who devoted her life to saving children. But not just as a pediatrician. No, that would be too simple.
She tugged at the collar of her robe, wishing she didn’t feel quite so naked and vulnerable. Not to mention stupid. Nora knew that she was smarter than most. She had a quick brain and a mouthy attitude that had never let her down. But facts were facts. She was a hairdresser from a tiny town in Texas. She had a high school education along with a couple of night courses in managing a small business. She could hold her own with most people she knew, but not with a brilliant and gifted surgical saint.
“Courtney and I met through mutual friends at a study session,” Stephen was saying. “She and I started talking one afternoon and things progressed from there. We were married the summer after I graduated from medical school.”
“Your family must have been thrilled—their son the doctor marrying another doctor.”
She was doing her best to try to sound vaguely normal. Stephen’s quick, questioning glance told her she might not be succeeding.
“They were happy enough,” he said.
“I’m sure.”
She cleared her throat. What was she supposed to say now? She was sorry she’d opened the line of inquiry to begin with, but now she was stuck with the topic. She might as well find out everything all at once.
“How, um, long were you married?”
“Nearly seven years. We were living in Boston. Courtney had just started a fellowship when we found out she was pregnant.”
Nora had been drinking her wine, but at his latest announcement, she nearly spit. At the last minute, she was able to control herself. Unfortunately the liquid went down the wrong way and she started choking.
“Are you all right?” he asked, half rising to his feet.
She motioned him back into his chair as she continued to cough. “Fine,” she managed to say in a slightly wheezy, strangled voice. “Go on.”
Stephen hesitated. “The timing wasn’t the greatest for Courtney,” he said. “The baby, I mean. She’d been hoping to get the fellowship and it meant lots of extra hours of work. Unfortunately the pregnancy was physically difficult for her.”
She sensed there was more to the story, but Nora wasn’t about to ask for details. She’d heard about all the truth she could handle. The small amount of food she’d eaten felt like rocks in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t want to know any more; she already knew too much. That Stephen had been married before, and that his perfect, beautiful doctor wife had had a baby.
The thought of a child made her heart ache. A baby of her own. Nora longed for children, although the details of having one had yet to be worked out. Being a single parent in the rest of the country might be acceptable, but it was still shocking behavior in Lone Star Canyon. Besides, she didn’t as a rule have intimate relations with many men. Which meant the old-fashioned way of fathering wasn’t going to work for her. She’d yet to work up the nerve to pursue other options, although she had considered adoption.
“Courtney miscarried in her seventh month.”
Stephen’s flat statement drew her back to the conversation already in progress. She stared at him, not able to believe what she’d heard. “She lost the baby?”
He nodded. “I was working a double shift, and by the time I found out there was a problem and got to the hospital, the baby was already gone. Courtney had died as well.”
Pain darkened his hazel eyes, although he spoke lightly enough. “So those are all my deep, dark secrets. Probably not as exciting as you thought.”
She knew that he was trying to lighten the mood, but she couldn’t play along. Not when she was still trying to absorb all he’d said. “You must have been very happy together,” she murmured. “Courtney sounds like a wonderful woman.”
“She was everything I’d ever wanted and I loved her very much. It’s been over two years since she died. The first year I was numb. Then I started healing and realized that I wanted to return to my dream of being a country doctor. Which is how I ended up here.”
She gave him a slight smile because she didn’t know what to say. How did one respond to all that information? Courtney was so different from anyone Nora had ever met…most especially Stephen’s late wife was different from Nora herself.
She risked another sip of wine. “Why me?”
He raised his eyebrows and grinned. “You mean why did I allow myself to be seduced by a beautiful face and an even more enticing body?”
His compliments didn’t make her feel any better. “Something like that.”
“I was lonely,” he said, leaning toward her. “You are beautiful and sexy, but you’re also something of a challenge. I appreciate that, Nora. I haven’t dated much since I lost Courtney. In fact you’re the first one I’ve been with…in every sense of the word.”
She wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. She tugged at her robe again, wishing she’d taken the time to put on her clothes so she wouldn’t have to feel so naked in front of him.
“I appreciate being your springboard back to the dating scene,” she said. “Now that you have your feet wet and realize that you still have what it takes, you can get on with seducing all the single women in Lone Star Canyon.”
“Is that what you think I’m interested in? Volume? Besides, I’d like to point out that most of the single women in this town are either under twenty or over sixty-five.”
“So it was me or nothing?”
She wished she could call the words back, but she couldn’t. Stephen looked at her quizzically. “Nora, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s just, I don’t know. Strange.”
“Knowing about my past?”
She picked up her plate of barely touched food and carried it to the sink. “Yes. Of course. I thought it would be different.”
She stood facing her sink. She heard him moving, and then he was standing behind her, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her back against him.
“Why does it change anything? I meant what I said. I really enjoy being with you. Neither of us is looking for a long-term commitment. You’ve made your feelings about men and marriage very clear and I don’t want to go through all that again. We’re perfect for each other.”
“I guess.”
But she wasn’t convinced. Nor could she explain why she felt so…so…betrayed. She just knew things would have been easier if Stephen had been divorced. If he’d fallen out of love with his wife and left her, or even been left. But losing his wife and his baby because they’d died was worse somehow.
Plus now she knew for sure he meant what he said about not wanting a serious relationship. He was in this for the sex. She didn’t doubt his claim to monogamy, but she knew that he wasn’t about to fall in love anytime soon. At least not with her. Not that she wanted him to. She didn’t do love and marriage. She’d been burned enough, thank you very much.
Stephen continued to hold Nora. While an hour before, when they’d been making love, she’d been yielding and available, now he felt as if she’d emotionally gone away for the night. Her body was stiff, her comments stilted. If he didn’t know better, he would say he’d hurt her. Except he couldn’t have. The information about his past might have surprised her, but it shouldn’t have had an impact on her.
Had he made a mistake in talking about Courtney? He didn’t usually share what had happened to him, but telling Nora had been easy. He not only liked and respected her; he trusted her. Was she afraid he was still caught up in loving his wife? Should he try to explain that he’d made peace with the past? That while he would always love Courtney, he was ready to move on?
“Is something wrong?” he asked. “Are you angry or hurt?”
She shook her head. “Of course not.”<
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He noticed that despite her claims to the contrary, she didn’t bother turning to face him. Not that staring at the back of her head didn’t have its advantages. While he loved looking at her perfect face, he also enjoyed the curve of her rear pressing against his groin. Being this close to her, holding her, was more than enough to make him hard.
He pulled her hair off her neck. “So if you’re not upset, you won’t mind me doing this.”
He brushed his lips against her exposed skin, then licked where he’d kissed. A shiver rippled through her.
“I want you,” he breathed, then turned her in his arms so that he could take her mouth.
For a heartbeat or two, she didn’t respond. Her arms hung loosely at her sides and her body didn’t press against his. But as he deepened the kiss, brushing his tongue against hers and rubbing his arousal against her stomach, he felt the quivering beginning of her desire. Her arms came around him. Her fingers touched the back of his head, then tunneled into his hair, drawing him closer. He felt the heat of her through the thick fabric of her robe as her hips arched against him.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears. He felt more than heard the answering echo from her body as blood ran hot and need filled them until they were caught in an erotic frenzy.
He reached for the ties on her robe and jerked them open with one quick tug. Before she could respond, he slipped the garment off her shoulders, exposing her naked body to him. He broke the kiss so that he could look at her—the fullness of her breasts, the sweep of her hip, the graceful curve of her legs. Color stained her cheeks—embarrassment from his bold appraisal—but she didn’t back away or cover herself.
“You’re magnificent,” he told her, taking her hand and leading her to a chair by the table. He urged her to sit, then he sank to his knees and pressed a kiss to her flat belly.
“What did you have in mind?” she asked, but the light in her eyes told him that she not only knew—she approved.
Instead of answering, he gave her a slow smile, then dropped a trail of kisses along her right thigh. As he nibbled the scented, sweet flesh there, he rubbed his palms up and down her shins. He tickled the skin at the back of her knees, then traced the sleek line of her outer thigh.
Her legs fell open at his touch. He grasped her hips and pulled her toward him. As he slid his hands up to her hips, then higher still to her breasts, he bent low and kissed her most feminine place.
Just one kiss, he told himself, even as he knew he was lying. He was going to do much more than kiss her. He was going to make love to her intimately, lovingly, tasting her, pleasing her until she screamed his name and he went mad from needing her. Already the hunger grew inside of him. His own arousal flexed and throbbed in time with his heart. If she’d reached down and touched him, he would have lost control in a nanosecond. Fortunately she was too busy holding on to the chair to pay any attention to him.
He stroked her with his tongue. He easily found the spot of her pleasure, the knot of nerves that allowed him to take her to paradise and back. As he circled that sensitive spot with his tongue, he used his fingers to tease and caress her breasts. He cupped the heavy curves, then stroked her tight nipples. Her breath caught, her body shuddered and still he continued to have his way with her.
He dropped his hands to her hips and pulled her forward again, this time shifting so that her thighs were up over his shoulders and she was completely exposed to him. She had to grasp the sides of the seat to keep her balance. Her breathing came in tight pants and she made little moaning sounds in the back of her throat. Every breath, every noise heightened his own passion. He was torn between wanting to prolong the moment and the desperate need to plunge himself deep inside of her.
He sucked in a breath and forced himself to stay in control of his desires. Instead of thinking of the aching pressure between his legs, he returned his attention to Nora’s exquisite body and the pleasure he could give her. He slipped a single finger into her waiting warmth even as he began stroking her intimately again. He moved faster and lighter, sensing the building pressure inside of her.
Tiny contractions massaged his finger. His tongue moved over that small bump in a gentle, steady movement. He shifted, slipping a second finger inside, stretching her slightly. He pressed up, rubbing her from the inside. In and out, back and forth. She quivered and shook and called out his name. Still the tension grew. With his free hand, he reached up and brushed against her tight nipple.
She screamed.
Her muscles began to contract around his fingers. Her legs trembled violently and she clutched at his head, holding him to her. As pleasure poured through her, intense satisfaction poured through him. He’d wanted to make her scream and cry and cling. He wanted to learn everything about her body so that he could reduce her to a puddle with just a look. She was the most amazingly erotic woman he’d ever known.
At last her release slowed and he straightened. Her legs slid down until her feet touched the ground. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. He kissed her thigh, but kept his fingers inside of her, still moving in and out, slow at first, but gaining in speed.
“You can’t be serious,” she complained. “There’s no way you’re going to make me do that again. You should just do your thing and be satisfied knowing you’ve reduced me to a limp rag.”
“I don’t think so,” he said, locking his gaze with hers. “I prefer our lovemaking to be mutual. I want you.”
His words made her pupils dilate slightly. Goose bumps erupted on her skin. He bent forward and took her nipple in his mouth.
“I can’t,” she whispered. “Not again. I’ve never been one to do that more than once.”
He looked up at her. “What about earlier?”
“I have no explanation for that.”
“Then let’s see if we can do it again.”
Even as she shook her head to protest, he felt her tighten around his finger. He kept up the steady rhythm until she was breathing heavily.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me,” she said between gasps.
“Me, neither.”
He stood up and pulled her to her feet. He was too ready, too needy to wait until they got to the bedroom. Instead he set the last plate on the chair she’d vacated and urged her onto the table. As she shifted into position, parting her legs for him, he unfastened his jeans and quickly pulled on a condom.
“You’re not even taking off your pants?” she teased, even as she guided him into her.
“No time,” he gasped as he plunged into her.
She opened her mouth to say something else, but a sudden spasm cut off her words. He felt as well as saw the release surge through her, making her cling to him and shudder, sucking him in deeper and making it impossible for him to do anything but surrender in return.
Two more quick thrusts forced him over the edge. Pressure built, then gave way as his pure pleasure filled him. He, in turn, held on to her, breathing in the scent of her, glorying in the perfection of their sexual match.
They hugged each other close until their breathing returned to normal. Finally Nora pulled back a little and smiled. “I’ll never be able to look at this table again without remembering what we just did. I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.”
He grinned. “Okay, so next time we should try for the bedroom.”
She patted his jeans, still bunched around his hips. “I think next time we should try to get all our clothes off. This makes me think we’re still in high school.”
“Is that so bad?”
She gave him a contented smile. “I guess not. Although I don’t remember it being this good when I was in high school.”
“I keep telling you. Knowing anatomy makes a difference.”
As he spoke, he began to withdraw from her. He reached down to make sure the condom stayed in place. His gaze followed his actions and he saw the thin layer of protection was not covering him as it should have. A long tear had ripped it nearly in two, lengthwise.
“It broke,” Nora said, her voice tight with horror and disbelief.
Stephen held in a groan. Damn. The potential consequences were obviously apparent to both of them. Even as his gut tightened, he told himself not to panic.
“It’s all right,” he said calmly. “Healthwise, I don’t pose a risk to you. As for pregnancy—it’s highly unlikely. It was just the one time.”
“I know.” The words sounded small. She slipped off the table and reached for her robe. “I’m sure everything is fine. It was just kind of unexpected.”
“Agreed.”
He disposed of the condom and couldn’t help remembering what had happened when Courtney had realized that a difficult work schedule had made her forget to take her birth control pills. She’d been furious. Her anger had only increased when she’d found out she was pregnant. He’d been thrilled, but Courtney had thought the child would be inconvenient. Her new fellowship didn’t leave time for motherhood.
As he fastened his jeans, he remembered their arguments. Courtney had wanted an abortion, but he’d begged her to keep the baby. Because selfishly he’d wanted a child. In the end, she’d given in and by doing so, she’d died. It was all his fault. He saw that now. But it was too late for him to change the past.
He couldn’t go through that again, he told himself. Not an unplanned pregnancy or a reluctant mother-to-be. So Nora simply couldn’t be pregnant.
He turned to face her. She stood by the counter, her robe covering her body, her hands shoved into her pockets, her shoulders hunched.
“Where are you in your cycle?” he asked.
“I’m really close to getting my period. If we had to have an accident, this is a really safe time.” She raised her head and looked at him. “Look, Stephen, it’s late and this has sort of put a damper on the evening. Why don’t you head on home and we’ll talk later?”
Part of him wanted to protest. He’d thought he would spend the night, holding her in his arms as they slept. But she was right about the mood-breaker. He was more than ready to get back to his own place.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked.
Unexpectedly Expecting! Page 10
