Jensen winced. She’d walked in on him having sex with his paralegal? On his desk? Oh, Mikayla. His heart ached for her. The woman was pregnant! With the rat bastard’s child! “He sounds pretty damned cold.”
She sat down on the bed and stared out the window. “I used to think he was just focused and busy with his work. He had a lot of clients, a lot of balls in the air. And the pregnancy was unexpected and he’d made it clear he wasn’t ready for a child. But now that I know what I know, cold is the right word.”
Just what Mikayla’s baby needed—a cold father. Jensen had one of those and didn’t wish it on anyone.
“I can’t even imagine how hard, how awful it was walking in on him.” Jensen shook his head. “Makes me see red.”
“Me, too. Or it did. Now that I’ve been here awhile, I feel stronger and more myself. I don’t feel so lost and alone.”
He sat down beside her and squeezed her hand. “Good.” He never wanted her to feel that way.
“You know what else?” Mikayla asked. “The jerk hasn’t even tried to contact me since I left. He doesn’t care about his own child at all.”
I do, he thought. Then froze.
What?
Calm down, he told himself. He cared about Mikayla and her situation—that was all he meant. He hated the idea of anyone treating her with less than total respect.
“I’m so impressed by you, Mikayla. You’re strong. Independent. Focused. You moved out here on your own for a fresh start, and after less than a month you have good friends and a job lined up. You rock.”
Her expression changed from sad to surprised. “I used to give myself pep talks when I got scared about the future. It’s kinda nice to have someone else take over. And even if I feel more like ‘I pebble’ than ‘I rock,’ I’ll take the compliment. I am trying. Every day, I try.”
“I know. And that’s one of the reasons I find you so incredibly irresistible.”
She grinned and reached out to caress his cheek. “Told you it wasn’t the sexy belly. Wait till you see my stretch marks.”
Before he could think about what the hell he was doing, he placed a hand on her huge tummy. “You’re going to be fine, Mikayla Brown. I have no doubt about it.”
She grabbed him and laid one on him, a hot kiss that he felt in every cell of his body. Ooh, yes! He wanted her so bad. With his hands entwined in her silky hair, he deepened the kiss, pulling her as close as she could get.
Very gently he lay her down on the bed, carefully hovering over her as he kissed her neck, his hands exploring her creamy shoulders. He wanted to touch every bit of her, but he wasn’t sure how far they could go.
“I want you, Jensen Jones,” she said, her brown eyes smoldering. “And yes, I’m sure. And yes, right now.”
He grinned. “Is it safe?” he asked, his hand on her belly.
“It’s safe. My doctor assured me it was. I never thought I’d follow up on the okay, though.”
“I never thought I’d have a first time again,” he said. “But sex with a pregnant woman? A first.”
She laughed and pulled him close. “I want to do this. We have this time together, Jensen. That’s it.”
“Then why are we still dressed?” he asked, tracing a finger down her tank top, across the visible curves of her lush, creamy breasts.
He ripped off his shirt and then took off hers. He kissed his way across her chest to her neck and shoulders as he took off her white bra. A deep groan came from his throat at the sight of her lush breasts, her hair pooled on the pillow, her expression full of desire and anticipation.
Finally, completely naked and unable to wait a moment longer, Jensen Jones made love to Mikayla. It was everything he’d fantasized about since he laid eyes on her in Daisy’s Donuts.
When they were both sated and breathing hard, smiling and holding hands, she lay against his side, his arms around her, and he was shocked that he didn’t want to leave, hadn’t made an excuse. He wanted to stay right where he was.
“That was amazing,” he said. “Who knew?”
She grinned. “Not me. Well, now I do.”
He tightened his grip on her and kissed her shoulder, then relaxed, his eyes closed. He’d experienced the strangest sensation while they’d been having sex. An emotional sensation. Jensen had been continually aware of her belly and pregnancy, though he’d loosened up about being careful when she’d made it clear she didn’t want him to be too gentle. But the sensation had been ever present in his head, adding a texture to the way he made love to her that he’d never felt before. Maybe it had something to do with feeling—for the first time—that they were one? He’d thought he’d loved his ex, but he’d never really experienced that the way he had just now.
He caressed her shoulders, his hands falling to her breasts and sweeping over her belly. “Mik? Who’s in there? A little guy or a girl?”
She turned to face him, wonder lighting her eyes. “I don’t know. I want it to be a surprise.”
“Maybe you’re having twins, one of each.”
“Uh, nope. Just one. And that’s enough, trust me.” She put her hand over his. On her belly.
“Whoa,” he said, bolting upright. “I just felt something. The baby moved!”
Mikayla laughed. “He or she is quite the little kicker.”
Huh. Of course—babies did that in the womb. Everyone knew that. But Jensen had never felt a baby kick before. Till now.
“You’re having a baby.” He put his other hand on her belly, wanting to double his chances of feeling another kick.
“I know. I think everyone knows.”
“No, I mean, you’re having a baby. A brand-new person is about to come into the world.” Wow, he thought, getting it for the first time. Mikayla wasn’t a gorgeous, sexy woman who happened to be pregnant—which was how he’d always looked at the situation. She was a gorgeous, sexy pregnant woman—period. One who would have a baby in a month or two.
Her life was going to change completely. He wouldn’t be a part of it, of course, but he realized expensive ice cream and hand-crafted cradles and fancy breakfasts weren’t cutting it. He wanted to do something big for Mikayla, something special before they parted. Before she had a little one to take care of round the clock.
“I want to treat you to a real night out,” he said. “Someplace really fun. A real last hurrah for you before the baby comes.”
He’d been about to add, And a real last hurrah for us, but he caught himself, which made him kind of uncomfortable. They would go their separate ways very soon. They both knew that. So why hold back from stating the obvious?
Because you just made love for the first time. Because you don’t have to bring up certain truths in tender moments.
Because if you don’t state the obvious, you might forget it entirely. Forget that you’re leaving, going home...when Rust Creek Falls and this woman feel more like home than Tulsa ever has.
“Kalispell has a terrific steak house,” Mikayla said. “I’ve been craving steak like crazy lately.”
Kalispell was great, but he was thinking bigger. Farther away. More...festive. Ah, yes. He knew exactly where he wanted to take Mikayla. “How about Vegas instead? One of my favorite hotels there has the best steak house on the Strip. We can fly out Saturday afternoon and return Sunday. We’ll be back early enough for you to get a good night’s sleep for your first day at Just Us Kids.”
She grinned and caressed his cheek. “A weekend away before I start my job. That sounds great. And I’ve never been to Las Vegas. I wonder if it’s okay for me to fly. I’ll check with Dr. Strickland. I think I once read that most airlines ban flying after thirty-six weeks, but I’m barely at thirty-one weeks.”
“Definitely check with your doctor. But the usual rules won’t apply anyway, since we won’t be flying commercial. We’ll take the family jet.”
“Well, l
a-di-da,” she said with a wiggle of her eyebrows. “A second first for me.”
“I think many more of those are coming our way,” he said, pulling her closer into his arms, breathing in the warm, flowery scent of her.
She tilted her head as though she was about to ask, Like what? But she didn’t. She just curled up against him, her head on his chest. He kissed the top of her head, his hand in her silky hair.
He was glad she didn’t ask, because he had no idea what he’d meant. His mouth seemed to have a mind of its own lately, words flying out before he had a chance to censor them. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?
Jensen didn’t like not being sure of the answer to that question.
Chapter Nine
Okay, how did I get here? Mikayla wondered, looking around the luxury hotel’s glamorous lobby. A couple of weeks ago, she’d been counting dollar bills in her head to figure out when she’d pay off her baby’s crib from layaway. Now she was flying in private jets and staying in fancy hotels with a millionaire. A millionaire she’d slept with! If anyone had told her back in early August that this would be her life, she would have burst out laughing and said, Good one. But this was her life. She wasn’t having an extended dream. She was really here. Doing this. With Jensen Jones.
All because I was craving a donut one summer day, she thought with a smile, recalling the morning she met Jensen for the first time. The universe really does work in mysterious ways.
Their room turned out to be a corner suite, of course. She should have known. The view of the Las Vegas Strip from the fifty-first floor, the sparkling lights, the constant thrum of activity took her breath away.
“So what’s on our agenda?” she asked, turning to face him.
“I thought we’d start with a bubble bath. Together,” he said. “Then we’ll dress for dinner and spend some time in the casino. I’m not much of a gambler, but it’s fun to play a little.”
Dress for dinner. Mikayla frowned. She’d brought the only dress she fit into, a stretchy knee-length tank dress and her flat sandals. Now she realized she didn’t have the clothes or accessories for a fancy place like this.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, and she realized he was watching her with concern.
“My overnight bag contains a ten-dollar dress I bought in a thrift shop back in Cheyenne, one that would grow with me over the months of my pregnancy. It’s black, at least, but it’s hardly elegant. Or fancy. I didn’t really know what to expect, I guess.”
“Mikayla, I’m being dead serious when I tell you that you would make a burlap sack look beautiful and elegant. I’m sure you’ll be absolutely lovely in your grow-with-you dress.”
When she’d first met Jensen, she would have taken that as a line, nothing more. But Jensen was always sincere, and his kindness, his thoughtfulness, moved her so much that for a moment she couldn’t speak. Until she remembered something about the thrift shop dress. Her frown was back. “It stopped growing with me two months ago. But it’ll do in a pinch.”
He squeezed her hand and gave her the dazzling smile that also tended to render her speechless. “Tell you what,” he said. “Why don’t you go start our bubble bath and I’ll order up some herbal tea and something sweet. We’ll have the most Zen bath ever.”
Jensen naked and all hers in a bath, feeding her something sweet. Something with whipped cream would be an added bonus. “I hope the sex isn’t all that Zen,” she said like a nymphomaniac. “I want crazed and wild.”
She couldn’t help but think of her last relationship, how Scott had been so turned off by the pregnancy—and the impending baby—that he hadn’t touched her from the moment she’d told him the big news. Their sex life hadn’t been so great before that, either, but Mikayla hadn’t had many relationships or partners, and though she’d known something was off about their chemistry, she hadn’t really had much to compare it to.
Now she did.
And wow. When she and Jensen had made love, he’d looked into her eyes, his hands on her face, and whispered that she was so beautiful, that she smelled like summer flowers, that she was amazing in bed, that he couldn’t get enough of her. Had any man ever made her feel that way?
And she was close to eight months pregnant.
He grinned. “Your wish is my command, Ms. Brown.”
At his bow, she laughed and headed into the bathroom—then gasped. What the h-e-double-chopsticks was this place? The bathroom was bigger than her room at Sunshine Farm. The spa bath was bigger than her bed. Everything was marble and polished gold, and there was a set of fluffy white his-and-hers robes on hooks and matching slippers in the corner.
She turned the water on in the Jacuzzi, careful not to make it too hot, per her pregnancy guidebook. The bubbles were mesmerizing. Ooh, boy, could she take a bath in this? she thought, adding a packet of lavender bubble bath. She breathed in the fragrant bubbles. She couldn’t wait to get in. With Jensen.
She set the robes closer to the tub, then twisted her hair up into a topknot and eased into the water. Ooh, ah, yes, she thought, leaning her head against the bath pillow. Heavenly. She was so relaxed she almost fell asleep.
“Room for me?” Jensen asked, walking into the bathroom completely naked and carrying a platter containing a tea set and a bowl of strawberries and whipped cream. The man had read her mind.
She sucked in a breath at the sight of him. She’d seen him naked, of course. Just yesterday. And had hardly forgotten one iota of his incredible body. But whoa, he was sexy. So tall and muscular and a magnificent specimen of manhood. Oh, and that, too, she thought with a smile, trying to stop herself from laughing. She was enjoying this insanity a little too much—naked millionaires and hotel suites that probably cost more than six months’ salary at her old job.
Jensen set the tray on the sliding metal platform next to the tub, then slid into the water behind her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her back against his chest. “Ah, I could stay here forever.”
“Except not forever,” she said without thinking. Why had she brought real life into this dream? This was fantasy. She knew it. “Forget I said that.”
He gently squeezed her, nuzzling her neck. “Nope. Can’t do that. Everything gets said between us, Mik. That’s how I want it. And you, too, apparently.”
“I figure the less I say about how things really are, the less I’ll think about those things.”
“What things? That we’re temporary?”
At the word, a lump formed in her throat. Jeez. Now she was getting all teary over this?
She let out a sigh. She might as well be honest. “Maybe I just never want this fantasy to end.”
“It does feel like a fantasy, doesn’t it?” he asked, rubbing her shoulders. “I’d sworn off relationships, and here I am, in a bubble bath with a pregnant woman.”
She smiled. “Ditto me, except with a naked millionaire. I feel like I get the better deal.”
“Nope. You’re a better person than I am, Mikayla. I’m honored to know you and to be with you. Even for a short time.”
Dammit. Why did he have to be so earnest about how highly he thought of her? Why couldn’t he just be flirtatious and glib?
If he were, she wouldn’t be falling in love with him.
“Well, we both know this beautiful fantasy will come to an end. I’m leaving and that will be that.” He sat up a bit and pulled over the sliding arm of the tray and poured her tea, adding a splash of cream just the way she liked.
She took a sip of the chamomile brew, which did help soothe her a little. “And that will be that,” she seconded. She just had to remember it. He was leaving.
And she was having a baby. Their lives would take very different paths.
“And in the short time we have together, you must be fed strawberries with fresh whipped cream while luxuriating in a bubble bath,” he said, swiping a fat red stra
wberry through the cream and holding it to her lips.
“With a sexy millionaire,” she added, trying very hard to remember their deal. She was being treated like a princess, temporarily, until he went back home. That was it. She bit into the strawberry and worked to shake off her sad thoughts, but when she felt him lay his head against hers, holding her closer, she wanted to cry.
Because she loved him.
Trying to avoid it had been ridiculous. Who wouldn’t fall in love with Jensen Jones? He was everything she’d ever wanted—and a few things she’d never put much stock in, like how big his bank account was. If Jensen was dirt-poor, she’d be just as in love. Because she’d take a picnic with him in Rust Creek Falls Park over this hotel any day. Yeah, this was nice. Very nice. But this wasn’t her. Mikayla was all about going on picnics and wiping runny noses at day care centers, and doing laundry and craving donuts, which were affordable.
Jensen’s generosity was just a crazy bonus. Maybe it would help keep her grounded, too. The more he flung his money around, the more she remembered they were from different worlds and would never, ever have a future together.
So why did she believe in her heart, mind and soul that he did have feelings for her beyond the physical?
She knew why: Jensen wouldn’t be here otherwise.
He wasn’t in love, that she was sure of. Because she figured this passionate man would move heaven and earth to be with the woman he loved. Even if it meant staying in a tiny Montana town like Rust Creek Falls. But he had strong feelings for her. That she knew in her bones and cells. Given what he’d told her about his own ex, even having strong feelings was a lot for Jensen. He very likely hadn’t planned on feeling anything for a woman for quite a while.
The water was getting a bit cool, so they reluctantly stepped out of the tub, Jensen drying her with a soft, thick towel before wrapping her robe around her.
There was a knock on the suite door. Jensen tightened his own robe and went to answer it. She stuck her head out of the bathroom and saw a man wearing a name tag that read Bart Wintowski, Assistant Concierge, carrying in three garment bags and a bunch of boxes. Jensen had him lay everything on the bed.
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