by Knupp, Amy
Her words brought the present rushing back. It was easy for him to forget she was pregnant, especially in the dark when he couldn’t see the bump in her middle. The baby was probably on her mind all the time. “You won’t, Care,” he said in little more than a whisper. “You’ll be a good mother.”
She didn’t speak immediately. When she finally did, her tone was serious. “Thanks for saying that. A vote of confidence from you means a lot.”
His chest tightened, and his need resurfaced. Except that it wasn’t just physical. He needed to get away from her and the things she made him feel.
“Going to check on Gramps,” he said as he rose from the beanbag chair. “Then sleep.”
“G’night, Dev,” she said, turning toward the wall.
He crept out of the room to temporary safety.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
AN HOUR LATER, Devin was back in the top bunk, grinding his teeth in frustration.
Gramps had been fine, sound asleep, though he couldn’t really call it peaceful since there was a faint rasp to his breathing. Devin had reassured himself the oxygen supply was up high enough, then slipped out of the room. Back to the torture chamber.
Sleeping in the same room as Carey was the dumbest idea he’d had in a long while. He lay there and listened to her soft, even breathing. Imagined her chest rising and falling with each breath. Drove himself completely goddamn nuts with longing for the woman less than four feet away yet totally out of his reach.
Devin sat up. Between lust for the woman below and distress for the man down the hall, sleep wasn’t going to come anytime soon. He climbed down the end of the bunk as quietly as he could and went out to the kitchen.
Carey awoke with a start to movement close by. She rose on her elbows and gradually realized where she was and who was making the noise. Devin. The bedroom door eased shut, and she heard his footsteps recede.
Sitting up, she rubbed her face. Once she’d closed her eyes, she’d crashed hard, in spite of the strange surroundings, Devin’s proximity and Gramps’s health. Being pregnant could wear a girl out.
Devin was fretting about his grandpa, she’d bet. With good reason. The scene earlier had certainly spooked her. No way could they have left the old guy alone after that. Her heart went out to Devin and what he must be going through. She slipped out of the low bed and went in search of him.
She found him sitting on the kitchen counter, elbows propped on his thighs. A bulb above the stove provided the inadequate light, no stronger than a night-light, just enough to relieve the darkness.
“Hey,” she said in a hushed voice.
He looked up, startled. “Hey.”
She moved closer, taking in the plaid boxers and his naked chest, her heartbeat picking up speed. He made quite an arousing picture there in the dim light, rumpled and intense.
“He’s okay now, Devin.”
She reached for his hand. Eyes down, he squeezed her fingers and pulled her a few inches closer.
“I don’t think he’s okay.”
She couldn’t deny she was concerned as well, just as she couldn’t throw empty reassurances at him. “You’ll take him in tomorrow and find out what’s going on. The doctors will help him.”
He nodded, seemingly lost in his thoughts. She wished she could say something to ease his worry.
Devin sucked in a deep breath. “I don’t want to lose him.”
Carey’s chest constricted in sympathy. Sadness was etched in every inch of his face. She couldn’t resist putting her arms around his neck and pulling him to her. His hands touched her waist, then his arms wound around her. Neither of them let go.
“Don’t you dare count him out yet. He’s not going to take it lying down.”
She felt him nod.
“I know. I’m just shaken up by that spell. And he says that’s not the first.”
Carey didn’t know what else to say, so she just held on. He didn’t seem to mind, in fact, didn’t budge at all. After several minutes, he slid off the counter, squeezing his large frame between her and the cabinets. Being this close to him gave her a certain thrill she didn’t dare examine right now.
He drew her farther into his body. When she felt his unmistakable hardness pressing into her lower abdomen, a spark ignited and shot straight to her core. Her blood thrummed in her ears. She moaned, her mouth a whisper away from his ear.
His hands slowly caressed her back and she wanted to melt into him. Having his arms around her made her feel safe and cared for, as she’d never been before.
He pulled his head away to look into her eyes, then leaned his forehead against hers. His breathing was rough, which only added to the heat building between her legs.
“Carey?” His voice was a gruff whisper.
“Hmm?”
“What would you do if I kissed you?”
She moved her head back a couple inches so she could gauge the look on his face. His desire burned into her. Her throat went dry and she lifted her mouth to his, tentatively, in reply.
Their lips touched so lightly it was like a whisper between them, but every nerve in her body was instantly on edge. She pressed her mouth more firmly to his and ran her hands along the base of his neck, through his hair, urging him closer.
“I like that answer,” he said when they paused for air.
He kissed her again, slipping his hands under the thin T-shirt to rest just at the top of her underwear. Her skin seemed to burn under his touch… She longed to have his hands all over her.
He plunged his tongue between her lips, teasing, tantalizing. Carey urged him closer, running her hands over his immense shoulders. Being wrapped securely in his arms felt so natural, she wanted to burrow into him forever.
Their tongues met, and the erotic softness of his mouth was in stark contrast with the rest of his solid body. A couple of days’ growth felt rough on her chin, and she held in a smile. She’d teased him so many times about his inability to shave every day. It would be difficult to taunt him about it without remembering how it felt on her skin, without recalling the sensation of his body pressed against hers.
The earthy masculinity of his taste and scent assaulted her senses. She opened her eyes, needing to assure herself this was indeed the man she knew so well. The sight of him engrossed in kissing her flooded her insides with raw need. He was no longer the skinny fourteen-year-old who’d kissed her senseless so long ago. There was nothing skinny or boyish about him anymore.
He explored her with his tongue, his breath shaky, his fervor barely under control. His desire fanned the flames inside her higher yet. His hands lowered and grasped her rear. He groaned. He ran his mouth along her jawline to just below her ear. “You feel so good, Care.”
Carey knew she should slow things down before they got out of hand, but she couldn’t get enough of him. When his hands trailed up toward her breasts, she zeroed in on his touch. He rubbed his fingers over one breast, then teased her nipple. Arching closer, she lost herself in the sensations his hands evoked.
Moments later, he lifted the T-shirt over her head and dropped it to the floor. He dragged her to his chest, and the feeling of skin on skin made her catch her breath. The realization that she wanted even more of this man, wanted him naked, stretching over her, pounding into her, stopped her short.
“Devin.”
The sound he made in reply was a cross between a sigh and an unrecognizable word.
“We have to stop.”
“What’s wrong?”
She pulled away enough to gain eye contact. “I’m almost completely naked in the middle of your grandpa’s kitchen.”
He gazed down at her body, then looked beyond her at the surroundings. “The middle is actually over there, about where the table is. Want to try it out?”
She laughed, tempted as hell to take him up on the offer. “I can just imagine Gramps’s reaction when he comes out for a drink.”
“So let’s take it back to the bedroom.”
She shook her head, des
pite the thrill still zipping along every nerve in her body. She wasn’t thinking entirely straight. “We can’t.”
He stared at her for a long moment. His grin disappeared and his eyes became more serious with each tick of the suddenly deafening clock on the kitchen wall. He bent and picked up her shirt. Turning it the right way, he slid it back over her head and pulled it down to her waist, which for some reason moved her. Devin would be the catch of a lifetime—if she were in the position to be looking.
He pulled her close and just hugged her—seemed to need the contact as much as she did. But touching was dangerous when both their bodies were so keyed up. After a few blissful seconds, she stepped away.
Devin drank in the sight of her. Her cheeks were flushed, lips slightly swollen, and her nipples protruded from his T-shirt, making her perfect breasts impossible to miss. It’d be a long while before he got the feel of them out of his mind.
He hoped his pulse would calm down in another day or two as well.
He reached behind him and flipped the light above the stove off. “Sleep,” he said hoarsely. “Let’s go.”
Devin couldn’t see a thing so he felt his way toward Carey, who hadn’t moved. He took her hand and moved slowly down the hallway. Letting go of her when they reached the bunk beds was the hardest thing to do.
He tugged her so that she faced him and pressed a brief kiss to her lips. “Good night, Carey.”
“’Night. Sleep well.”
He half chuckled, knowing sleep would be a futile effort.
There was no doubt about it—he really did love her.
THE NEXT MORNING, Devin dropped Carey off at his place to pick up her car. Gramps had ridden in with them to see the doctor, complaining the whole way. Carey was relieved to get out of the backseat of the Excursion to be alone for a few minutes. She’d spent the car ride staring at the back of Devin’s head, wondering what went through his mind about last night.
There had been no clue this morning that anything had happened between them just hours before. When she’d woken up a bit after seven, Devin had already dressed and left the room. She’d found him nagging his grandpa to get ready. She’d never had a chance to be alone with Devin. Not that she’d know what to say if she had.
Devin incited an ache deep within her. It went beyond the physical desire that could have so easily burned out of control last night.
She unlocked the Bug and climbed in, her cheeks burning as she remembered her body’s reaction to him.
She cared about him. A lot. How could she not? They’d been friends forever. Ever since she’d found out she was pregnant and her usual active social life had come to a halt, he’d been the person she’d spent the most time with. Monica, too, to some extent, but she always had Kyle to go home to. There was no denying she and Devin had become closer in the past couple of months.
The kisses last night…well. The kisses took everything ten notches higher. There was serious chemistry between them. Devin stirred yearnings she hadn’t felt for years—not since the last time he’d kissed her.
She turned down the street to her house—Trent’s house—forcing Devin from her mind and summoning the determination to get along better with her brother today.
She couldn’t blame Trent for flipping out about the pregnancy. If he’d taken the news any better, she’d probably figure he didn’t care about her.
Fights between them had been rare over the years; she wasn’t used to it. Usually it was them against the world. Or against their mother, at the very least.
Pulling into the driveway, she noticed Trent’s Ram in the single garage, so she backed into the street to park. It was weird sharing the house again. She normally loved having a roommate, but not one she fought with. Not one who could provoke her self-doubt in two minutes flat.
She entered through the kitchen, where Trent sat at the table, clutching a mug of coffee, the newspaper spread in front of him.
“Morning,” she said.
“Where have you been?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Nice to see you, too. Have you always been this much of a pain in the ass and I just didn’t notice?”
He set the mug down. “Sorry.”
“What’s going on with you, Trent?”
He looked sharply at her. “Nothing. Why?”
“You seem on edge since you’ve been home.”
“I’m not on edge. I think asking where you were all night is a legitimate question, especially considering your condition. So where were you?”
She grabbed a banana off the counter and pulled out the chair across from him. “I was with Devin. At his grandpa’s house.”
“Carey…” His tone of voice and his expression held a warning. “What the hell are you doing with him?”
“He’s my friend, Trent. We spend a lot of time together.”
“Including sleepovers?” He shoved his chair back angrily as he stood, then went to the dishwasher and started unloading it. “It’s no wonder you got pregnant.”
Her hand stopped halfway to her mouth and she stared at him in disbelief. “I don’t believe you just said that,” she said icily and stomped off to her bedroom.
Sure, she could’ve told him exactly why she and Devin had stayed all night in the country, but she didn’t want to. Why should she have to explain herself? That her brother automatically assumed she and Devin were sleeping together ticked her off. Even if a part of her wished they could have done just that.
She needed to get out of the house before she punched his lights out. After taking a shower, she went to the kitchen to feed the cats. She could hear Trent rattling around in the basement.
Snicket sauntered up to her and rubbed against her leg, then ditched the affectionate act as soon as his bowl was full.
Carey was filling the large water dish just as Trent came up the stairs. She glared at him.
“We aren’t getting started on the right foot, are we?” he asked.
“We?”
“We need to get some things straight if we’re going to be roommates.”
“What do you mean? How long are you staying?”
“If I find a good job, I’m not leaving,” he answered. “I’m done traveling for a while.”
She processed the information, waiting for him to apologize for being a jerk yet again.
“Carey, stay away from Devin. He’s not good enough for you.”
“Not good enough? How is it that I can get over him breaking up with me but you can’t? That was high school. He and I have been friends for years since.”
“Friends?”
“Friends.”
“When you stay out with a man all night, it doesn’t look like ‘friends.’”
“Who the hell is watching me besides you?”
“The neighbors can see when you come home.”
“So? I doubt they care.”
“You’ll give Mrs. Higsby a heart attack with that kind of carelessness. Give the old woman a break.”
Mrs. Higsby was the dear woman who fed the cats whenever Carey had gone out of town on assignment. Carey knew her well…a lot better than Trent did, thanks to his long absence. He had some nerve to insinuate Carey’s lifestyle would shock her.
She gave him what she hoped was an acidic look. “Somehow I’ve managed to live on my own for the past ten months.”
“Yeah, and look what happened.” Instead of anger, she saw concern in his face as he glanced toward her abdomen, but that didn’t quell her temper.
“I…made…one…mistake,” she said through clenched teeth. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m almost thirty. I make my own decisions, whether you’re in Alaska or the next room.”
She set the bowl on the floor. “Oh, and if it makes you feel any better, the possibilities of me getting knocked up again are zero. As far as I know, you can only have one baby at a time.” So he thought she’d slept with Devin? Fine.
She slammed out of the house, shaking with anger. She had nowhere to go, but she su
re wasn’t staying there. So much for getting along.
It had never been like this before with Trent. They’d argued more in the past week than they had their whole lives. He wasn’t acting like himself. Something was up, and it went beyond her pregnancy. She was dying to know what. But that would require them to get through an entire conversation without arguing, and so far that’d been a bust.
Maybe she should have explained about Devin’s grandpa, but why couldn’t he give her the benefit of the doubt?
Furthermore, why would it be any of his business if she did sleep with Devin? The idea wasn’t as crazy as it had once seemed. The bothersome dreams that had made her toss and turn last night were evidence of that.
Her brother was acting…bizarrely. He’d always been concerned, but he’d never been an asshole about it.
Regardless of what his problem was, she saw no sense in staying around and bearing the brunt of his permanent rotten mood. Devin was right. It was time to find a new home. She had enough stress without a self-righteous, temperamental brother criticizing her every move. Once she moved out, she’d sleep wherever she damn well pleased, whenever she felt like it.
She visualized Devin sitting on the counter last night wearing nothing but boxers….
Scratch that.
She’d busy herself preparing for parenthood. She’d stay at home knitting baby booties if she had to. Anything to avoid temptation.
She had just turned down said temptation’s street hoping to find Monica in the office when her cell phone rang. It was Devin.
“Where are you?” he asked in a rush.
“In your driveway. What’s going on?”
“I called your house and your asshole brother damn near hung up on me. They’re admitting Gramps.”
“To the hospital?” She killed the engine.
Devin grumbled an affirmative. “He’s got extra fluid around his lungs, so they kept him until they can get it down. Might be released as soon as tomorrow, depending.” Fatigue and worry came through the phone loud and clear.
She struggled to find comforting words. “He’ll be okay,” she finally said, feeling helpless. “He’s in the best place.”
