A gentle morning breeze lifted her curls and sent a sweet flowery scent in his direction. By now he recognized it as a combination of the shower wash and lotion she used on a daily basis. He couldn’t walk past the hall bathroom in the mornings without the smell taking root inside his head for the rest of the day.
Damn, just the sight of her standing there in a dress that left her arms and legs bare, combined with the topic of discussion between him and Dev this morning, and Adam’s traitorous body ignored his silent command not to respond. He had to take a step back, even angling his lower half toward the truck to keep her from seeing his lack of control.
“Please don’t worry, I’m fine.” Her voice dropped to a low whisper. “I didn’t mean to—I never thought…boy, I really messed this up.”
Now he was totally confused. “Messed up what?”
“You’ve been working so hard lately. I know how much you wanted the barn completed,” she turned, waving at the group of men gathered around his makeshift workbench. “So I pulled together an old-fashioned barn-raising.”
Adam looked again at the people in his yard, easily picking out his father, brothers and most of the guys from his work crew. The sheriff stood nearby talking with a younger man that looked so much like him Adam guessed it must be his brother, Garrett. Walking up to join them was the sheriff’s brother-in-law, Justin, and the little boy next to him, already decked in a miniature hard hat, had to be Justin’s son.
Checking out the work he’d accomplished so far was local rancher Landon Cartwright and a couple of older men who probably worked for Cartwright out at his place. Bobby Winslow and the man whose home Adam’s crew was working on now, Dean Zippenella, rounded out the crowd.
He turned back to her. “How did you get all these people here?”
“Well, your mother helped. We started with your family, of course, then made a few phone calls and it sort of snowballed from there.”
Fay’s smile turned genuine again and Adam suddenly felt too warm inside his jacket. He wanted to take it off, but fear of dropping the precious cargo in his pocket had him standing perfectly still.
“A lot of the ladies wanted to be involved, too,” she continued, her words coming in a rush. “Some might even pitch in with the manual labor. Bobby’s wife, Leeann, came with her own tool belt and she and Gina already have Abby fascinated with a Sawzall, whatever that is.”
She pointed toward a group of tables gathered beneath a cluster of trees. “Laurie’s here, of course, and even Katie wanted to help. Racy and Maggie brought the babies as well as the older kids, so the rest of us plan to stay busy with keeping them out of the way. Later on, we’re having a potluck dinner to feed everyone.”
Stunned, Adam could only stare at the woman who’d finally seemed to have run out of words. “You did all this? For me?”
Fay nodded, inching a step closer to him. “I know you dreamed of making this a working ranch. That’s all changed now, thanks to the baby, but you’ve said how much you want to at least have horses to take care of and enjoy. I wanted to do what I could to make that happen.”
“It looks like you’ve got half the town here.” Following her lead, Adam took two steps and stood right in front of her, loving how her eyes lit up as she smiled at him. “You’re not worried about how this is going to look to everyone?”
“Everyone knows we’re living together, Adam.” She lowered her voice. “After today, I’ll give it to sundown before the news of the baby reaches the town limits.”
Confusion gave way to a glimmer of hope. “And that’s okay with you?”
“More than okay.”
Before he knew what she was doing, Fay stepped even closer, wrapped her arms around his neck and drew his mouth down to hers for the sweetest kiss he’d ever received.
* * *
“That was some kiss.”
Fay blushed. She’d been teased all afternoon, all in good fun, by everyone. She still didn’t know what made her step forward and put on such a display, but the way Adam had looked at her, with such hope in his eyes… Hope and maybe something more? Or was that just wishful thinking on her part?
“It was very chaste,” she finally said when she realized Liz was waiting for a response. “Just a simple kiss.”
“Yeah, until your man wrapped his arms around you.”
“Even then.”
“Yes, but everyone—well, everyone over the age of eighteen at least—could tell he, and you, wanted it to be more. Thanks to your audience Adam behaved himself. That’s what made it so sexy.”
“Liz!”
“So are you ready to admit you’re in love with him?”
That got her attention. Fay looked up from where she’d been staring at the remains of her lunch. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
“Stunned into silence?” Liz finished off the last of the pasta salad before she spoke. “Or maybe you didn’t hear me the first time. Are you in love with Adam?”
“Shh!” Fay looked around, glad to see no one was close enough to hear her friend’s question. “How can you ask me that?”
“Very easily. Watch, I’ll do it again. Are you in love with Adam?”
“I…I can’t answer that.”
“Can’t? Or won’t?” Liz leaned in close. “You told me how you babbled your way out of answering his mother, but now that you’ve had time to think it over…”
“I’m still thinking it over…”
“Well, if I get a vote—”
Fay smiled. “You don’t.”
“But if I did, I’d say go for it. I told you when you moved in that I thought the two of you together was a good idea.”
“For the health of the baby.”
“For you and the baby. I watched how Adam looked at you during the ultrasound, at the hospital after that scare you had and again at the follow-up appointment just this past Monday. The man is crazy about you.”
Fay desperately wanted to believe that, but the distance between them ever since the morning he’d given her the new van, and that second amazing kiss, told her otherwise. “He’s worried about me, about the baby. Everything he’s done has been for this child.”
“And that includes buying you a new van, making a late-night run for microwave popcorn because you suddenly had a craving while watching reruns of I Love Lucy and replacing the shelving units in the shop’s storeroom?” Liz ticked off the things Adam had shared during the last appointment. “All chores he relayed with much affection if I remember correctly.”
Yes, Adam had done all those things, and more, in the last two weeks since she’d moved into his home.
“Oh, I didn’t tell you that Adam arranged a video call to London so I could finally tell my folks about the baby.”
“Wow. How did that go?”
“They said they were happy for me,” Fay said, then sighed, remembering how strained the live chat had been, filled with long silences and tense words. “My mother knows how much I’ve longed for a child, but a pregnancy outside of marriage isn’t something they approve of. I have a feeling my father pointed out that fact to Adam when they spoke privately afterward on the phone.”
“Don’t tell me a modern-day version of a shotgun wedding was suggested?”
“I don’t know, Adam didn’t say when I asked what they talked about. We were late for dinner at his parents that same night so instead of pressing for details…”
Her friend easily filled in the end of Fay’s sentence. “You let it go.”
“We had such a great time with them. Dev and Liam weren’t there, but Nolan’s kids are great, and Laurie showed me a baby blanket she’s knitting for this little one.” Fay patted the swell beneath the cotton material of her sundress. “They’ve all been so wonderful about all of this.”
“Adam’s been wonderful.”
Yes, he has.
Despite the emotional and physical distance Adam had put between them the last couple of weeks, moving in here allowed Fay to get to know him in a way she hadn’t before.
Adam was a good man, a fact she’d been aware of since their youth, but now…
She’d witnessed firsthand the respect and love he had for his parents and the playful teasing between him and his brothers. He made sure to include her, making her a part of all they shared, something that had always been missing between her and her distant family.
Yes, he’d been working long hours, both at his job and when he came home at night, but he’d been nothing but sweet and caring to her. She wasn’t used to someone putting her wants and needs ahead of his own, but it was glorious to feel this way.
She was in love with him.
Her feelings for the father of her child were as simple as that kiss, and as complicated.
“Oh, Liz, what am I going to do?”
Her friend reached out and took Fay’s hand. “Be happy. You both deserve to be very, very happy.”
* * *
The barn was finally finished at sunset.
Their friends had started to leave a few hours earlier, with both Adam and Fay offering their heartfelt thanks for all their help, until it was just the Murphy brothers putting on the finishing touches. Even the roof was complete thanks to Adam’s dad arranging to have the prebuilt frame delivered earlier in the day.
The sight of the six brothers, working side by side so far off the ground, had Fay’s heart in her throat the whole time. Her gaze was locked on Adam most of the time as he gingerly moved across the roof.
Even thinking about it now, up to her nose in bubbles, caused an all too familiar ache to take root deep inside her.
If something should ever happened to Adam…
No, stop it!
Fay refused to allow her mind to go down that road. She wasn’t going to live with that fear again.
Once his family had started to depart, she’d shared hugs with them all and then told Adam she wanted to head inside and relax.
What she didn’t tell him was that relaxing included a long soak in a bubble bath.
In his tub.
Oh, she hoped she was doing the right thing.
A tiny voice inside her had been shouting all day that Adam wanted to be with her, wanted to make love to her, but surprising him like this…
What if he turned her down?
Turned away from her?
Fay wasn’t sure she could live with the humiliation.
Movement on the other side of the door that led to his bedroom pulled her from her thoughts, causing Fay to sink even lower into the warm, soapy water.
From her vantage point, she watched Adam sit down on to the edge of his bed, exhaustion evident from his posture as he kicked of his work boots and then leaned down to peel off his socks.
Seconds later, he reached behind his head and removed his sweat-soaked shirt, before arching and twisting his back. A low moan filled the air and Fay honestly didn’t know if it was from him or her.
He hadn’t looked this way so it must’ve been from him.
How could he not notice the light in his bathroom?
Oh, maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea. Maybe after all the hard work he’d put in today, all he wanted was a hot shower.
Fay closed her eyes against the visual image her thoughts created. Adam’s bathroom had a separate glass-enclosed shower right next to the tub. She easily pictured him standing there, beneath the spray, watching her watch him—
“Fay?”
The sound of him saying her name made her eyes fly open.
Adam stood in the doorway, wearing nothing but his jeans and barely that, as he’d already undone the top few buttons causing the waistband to slip low on his hips.
She couldn’t stop her gaze from wandering over the length of his toned muscular body. Ripples of wanton desire coursed through her. There was a fluttering low in her belly that had nothing to do with the baby and everything to do with the baby’s father.
“Fay, what are you doing in here?”
She said the first thing that popped into her head. “Taking a bath.”
The corner of his mouth slowly rose into a half smile. “Yes, I can see that.”
“You told me I could use your tub anytime I wanted.”
He took a step toward her. “Yeah, I did say that.”
Pulling in a deep breath, Fay slowly straightened her legs beneath the water, pushing herself back to the far edge of the expansive tub. Her shoulders rose above the bubbles and Adam’s gaze moved hungrily over her wet, bare skin.
She wanted this moment, this man, more than she’d ever wanted anything in her entire life. All she had to do was find the strength to let him know.
“You’re looking a little dirty yourself,” she said.
His laugh came out in a low rasp as he brushed one large hand over the hard ridge of his stomach. “Yeah, well, I’ve been working hard today.”
Swallowing hard to get rid of the lump in her throat, Fay lifted a hand from the water. “I know. I don’t mind sharing if you’d like to join me.”
Chapter Thirteen
Adam was dreaming. He had to be. There was no other explanation for what was happening at this very moment. Then again, it’d been a day of dreams coming true for him.
First, the rightness he felt deep in his gut when he’d picked up the diamond ring he was sure Fay would someday wear on her finger. Then to come home and find himself surrounded by family and friends, all working together for one goal, thanks to the beautiful woman soaking in a bubble bath right in front of him.
The moment Fay had stepped into his arms this morning, not caring that half the town had been watching, had filled him with such a powerful emotion, he was still struggling hours later to put a name to it.
Love just didn’t seem strong enough.
He looked at her, her shoulders and upper arms wet and gleaming, the swell of her breasts just barely visible through the mounds of bubbles. She’d piled her hair on top of her head, but a few strands laid loose and damp, clinging to her neck. Her hands glided back and forth, moving the soapy white froth around enough that he caught a glimpse of her beautiful curves beneath the water.
Was she really offering what he hoped she was? What he’d dreamed of from the moment he’d returned and found her here inside his home?
“Adam?”
Fay’s soft voice broke into his thoughts. His gaze flew back to her face in time to see a flicker of emotion reflected in her eyes before she looked away, her hand falling back into the water with a splash.
He had no idea how far this moment was going to go, but he wanted desperately to believe in the desire he’d seen there. “Are you sure…you don’t mind sharing?” he asked.
She lifted her head again, that same proud tilt to her chin he’d seen many times before. “I’m sure.”
Not wanting to give her a chance to change her mind, he quickly rid himself of his jeans and briefs, the evidence of his body’s reaction to finding her lounging naked in his tub very much on display.
“Scoot forward,” he said softly, wondering if the pink on her cheeks was from her heated gaze or the steamy temperature in the room.
She did as he asked, making room for him to slide in behind her. His legs traveled the length of hers until he cradled her body against his.
“Hmm, nice.” Fay’s words came out in a whisper as she leaned into him, resting her head against his chest.
“Your skin is so soft,” he whispered, his lips at her ear as he slid his hands across her belly. “Is this okay?”<
br />
“Oh, much more than okay.” She dropped her hands to the top of his bent knees and arched her back, her breasts rising from the water. “Don’t stop touching me, Adam. Please don’t stop.”
She turned her head, her cheek brushing past his lips until moments later his mouth covered hers. Want and need exploded in his chest and he poured both into kissing her.
His hands rose to cup her breasts, loving the heaviness of them. He worked his thumbs in unison, passing back and forth over her extended nipples. Fay moaned low in her throat, her nails digging into his skin. Pressing his feet against the far end of the tub to keep himself steady, Adam matched the natural rocking motion of Fay’s hips with his own, his arousal hard against the softness of her backside.
Releasing her breast, he moved one hand low over her belly until he reached the soft curls between her legs. Fay grabbed his wrist the moment his fingers stroked deep.
“Let me,” he rasped against her lips.
She tightened her grip, but didn’t pull his hand away. He stroked and caressed her with both hands, loving the way she whispered his name over and over again. His mouth latched onto the tender spot just beneath her ear, her excitement radiating through her body into his as it built, rising higher and higher until she cried out.
His mouth captured hers again, their kisses urgent and needy. He held tight to her as she exploded in his arms.
“Adam!” His name burst from her lips when she tore free from his kiss. “Oh, Adam!”
“I’m right here. I’ve got you.” He loved holding her as she shuddered in her release.
“Don’t… Please don’t let go.”
“Never,” he promised with every ounce of his being. “I’m never letting go.”
* * *
Fay had no idea how long they lay together in the now cool water, but she loved how he continued to touch her, trailing his fingers from her shoulders down to her wrists.
She tingled everywhere, from the inside out, as he dipped his hands beneath the water to caress her from the tops of her legs to just past her knees.
It had only taken moments for him to bring her to the same point of rapture she’d experienced in his arms almost three months ago. If she remembered correctly, he’d been as skilled back then as just now.
Having Adam's Baby (Harlequin Special Edition) Page 16
