Baby, It's Cold Outside: Men at Work, Book 1
Page 8
She kept throwing out options but didn’t put any heat behind them. She didn’t order or demand. In reality, she could kick him out and he couldn’t stop the unwanted eviction. He’d never force her to let him stay. Sleep on her porch while he froze solid, yes. Not more. Even a controlling bastard like him knew there were some lines you didn’t cross.
Still, he wasn’t about to get back into that car and drive away without trying to convince her to listen. “So you can pack up and leave while I’m checking in to some place a few miles away?”
“Possibly.”
“Which I take to mean definitely.”
She drummed her fingernails on the counter. “What’s your plan here? I didn’t lose my memory during the last nine weeks. Do you actually think you’re staying over?”
If she was going to throw him a line, he sure as hell was going to grab on to it. “Yes.”
“Really?” She nodded at the family room behind her. “That’s the couch. You interested in twisting up and stuffing yourself on there?”
His gaze followed hers to the lump against the wall. Brown and plaid with two frayed edged cushions. The thing barely qualified as an oversized chair. Two people could sit on it but their thighs would likely touch. He was more than willing to test that theory out with Thea, but stretching out on that thing for a full night was not a real option. Certainly not a comfortable one.
“I’m sure there’s a bed in here somewhere.” They’d used a wall and a shower before. He’d be fine with the floor if it meant lying with her.
“One mattress and it’s a double.”
The mention of a bed had the blood thumping in his dick. “Sounds cozy.”
“I don’t have any complaints.”
That was almost too easy. “Well then—”
“Nope.” She threw him a smile of pure female triumph. “I sleep alone now.”
Somehow he knew she was going to throw that out there. Knew it, dreaded it and now wanted to pretend she hadn’t said it. “That’s unfortunate.”
“Blame yourself. I learned the lesson from you.”
“I had a feeling that was coming next.”
She laughed but the amusement had faded from her eyes. Good news was fear didn’t settle in its place. More like a mix of wariness and confusion. He waited to see what she said next and would let it guide him.
“Linc, really.” She threw up both hands. “What is this? The big play, the long drive. Why are you going to all of this trouble?”
“Unfinished business.”
Her phone buzzed and the vibration moved it across the tile counter. At first Thea didn’t react. On the second ring, she stared at it.
“That’s probably Becky. I assume the phone chain from Tim to Becky to you is just starting. This could go on all night.” Linc was surprised it took this long for the cavalry to check in. At the fourth ring he glanced up at her. “You should answer it before she calls the police.”
“Maybe I should let her.”
As far as empty threats went, this one didn’t carry much of a punch. “Do you want me arrested?”
“I want to understand you.”
“That’s going to take longer than the ten minutes you’re giving me before I have to pack up and go again.” He was about to head around the counter and close the distance between them. A second round from the vibrating cell stopped him. “You might want to get it this time.”
She scooped it up and hit the button hard enough to slam through the phone. “Hello. No, I’m fine. Don’t come over. I’ll call if I need anything.” She scoffed. “Oh, I know. Trust me.”
She turned it off and set it back down. “There.”
Interesting. “What do you know?”
“What?”
His curiosity poked at him. “You said ‘I know’ to…I’m guessing, Becky?”
“You eavesdropped.” Thea sounded pretty disgruntled about the idea.
She missed an obvious point on distance. “I’m standing two feet away, so technically it’s more like having ears than intentionally listening in.”
Thea’s chest rose and fell as she sighed. “Becky reminded me of something.”
That didn’t exactly clear up the confusion. Since their falling out, the more she talked, the less he understood. He chalked it up to a woman thing, but it likely had more to do with their ongoing communication issue. They tended to talk past each other, over each other and around each other. The “to” each other part proved to be the stumbling block.
“Which was?” he asked.
“How you ripped me apart.”
Chapter Nine
Thea stood with her hands on either side of the bathroom sink and let the water run. She’d barely made it to the bowl that time. The confrontation with Linc had her nerves on the fritz and her stomach churning. She’d delivered her line about being ripped apart then excused herself, waving him off and begging for a minute of privacy when he tried to follow.
The water ran hard and loud as she dry heaved into the toilet. If she’d eaten anything in the last few hours, the last few minutes would have been worse. He’d likely be banging on the door to know what was going on. She was not ready for that conversation. Not yet.
One more splash of cold water and she looked up. As she focused on the blue soap in the dish, the world came back into focus. The dark sky outside the small window signaled the shift from afternoon to evening. She guessed it was somewhere around six. Time really didn’t matter here, but getting him out and tucked into a hotel far away from her did.
Unable to hide another minute, she did one last swirl of toothpaste in her mouth and spat it out. The trail from the bathroom to the kitchen took forever since her legs suddenly weighed about a hundred pounds each. Never mind all she had to do was take a few steps and walk through a doorway.
She slipped into the kitchen, ready to launch into a lecture. The apron stopped her.
Linc moved around the area wearing the one her father used for barbequing. The “kiss the cook” lettering had faded, but the memory kicked back to life as vivid as ever.
Holding a frying pan in one hand and a loaf of bread in the other, Linc glanced up. His smile faded as he studied her. “Are you okay?”
Maybe he had heard her in the bathroom after all. “Why?”
“You’re really pale.”
Yeah, that was a permanent issue lately. The color ran out of her, the heat flash started and the barfing came next. It was a lovely cycle, one she kept repeating and she guessed would for at least a few more weeks.
Rather than share, she went with the most obvious question. “What are you doing?”
“Making dinner.”
Her gaze wandered all over him, every impressive inch. Seeing him in the apron should have stunned her into a coma or at least made her furious. No one wore it but her dad. Him with the spatula doing that thing where he stared at the grill as if willing the food to cook faster. His insistence he didn’t need a new apron or a plain one. On Linc it looked so out of place and goofy.
Back at the office, he’d insisted on getting his own coffee and talked about how he didn’t expect her to be his maid. It had been a huge change from the law office where her boss clearly believed her job description included the phrase personal slave. The lawyer had even tried to get her to buy gifts for his mistress while he lied about everything to his wife.
People talked about Linc being difficult, but for Thea the change from law to construction had been positive…until that last day in the office when it all went to hell. But seeing Linc now—the tough guy in the apron—made her smile. Not that she let him see that.
“It’s only six o’clock, if it’s even that,” she said. Linc was a man used to eating late or at his desk. She didn’t even know he could cook, though she did wonder what the bread was for.
“I told you I didn’t really eat today. My coffee and oatmeal wore off long ago.”
She decided to go ahead and state the obvious. “You’re not staying.”
She was not ready to concede on the sleeping arrangements or any argument that ended with him staying closer than being in town. Not when she had one bedroom and a man on a mission. “There are places in Skaneateles. Syracuse is fifteen miles away. It’s a university town with plenty of sleeping options. Hell, you could probably rent your own cabin, if you wanted to. But on the opposite side of the lake. This side is taken.”
A fork clanked against the side of the bowl as he mixed something she couldn’t see then dropped a piece of bread in it. “I like your house just fine.”
“Yeah, well, central New York is a big place. Go somewhere else.”
French toast. That might actually stay down, though she wouldn’t place a bet on it. She’d planned on an evening of crackers and something carbonated. The idea of milk and eggs made her stomach roll, and she put her hand over her mouth in a symbolic gesture to keep everything in.
After a few beats of silence, he looked over at her again. “We haven’t talked yet.”
The room started to spin and she doubted she could do this. She needed to sit down and close her eyes. Once she did, he’d be all over her for an explanation. “I don’t want to fight with you.”
“I don’t want that either.”
She tried to shake the dizziness loose, but it had her in its grip. “I fear it’s still going to happen. You’re going to accuse me. I’m going to hit you with a frying pan. This won’t end well.”
“We haven’t even tried.”
With the room in a nosedive, she leaned against the closest hard thing. In this case, the fridge. The coolness from the door seeped into her until she had to fight off the urge to turn around nice and slow and lay her forehead against it. “You’re killing me.”
Then he was on top of her, surrounding her. He put a hand on either side of her head and trapped her there. “Give me a chance to show you I’m not a complete asshole.”
Round and round. “Why?”
“Because our night together was pretty damn amazing and it should have been the first of many.”
Her eyes popped open. Sensing his presence was one thing. Having him close enough that she could count the flecks in his eyes had her light-headed for a different reason. “So, this is about sex?”
“No, but we can have as much sex as you want.”
“That’s not what I meant.” The man had a one-track mind. Until she got pregnant, she’d had the same issue when it came to him. Now they’d created a baby, and the little dude or dudette had mommy in a constant state of sickness.
“I brought condoms, or does admitting that make me a jackass? If so, pretend I didn’t say it.”
Talk about an unnecessary precaution. “We don’t need condoms.”
“I’m going to ignore that for now.”
The stomach churning refused to die down. “Whatever.”
“I really am here to talk. It’s about backing up and slowing down everything that happened. We went from this great night to this shitty morning.” He brushed his fingertips over her cheek and down to her chin. “I think we owe it to each other to run through it and see where we are.”
Yesterday she couldn’t stand the feel of her shirt against her skin without wanting to hurl, but his touch soothed her. Took all the anxiety ramping up and calmed it right down.
Getting lost in the sensations, she had to fight to remember her argument. It came to her in pieces but kept slipping away. “I’m in New York and you’re in DC.”
His thumb traced her bottom lip. “I want to be where you are.”
“That’s a good line.”
“It’s not a line.”
To keep her mind off the rocking in her stomach, she focused on him, being there all casual and off his phone. The man lived on his tech toys and kept in constant contact with work projects. Yet, here he was, in her kitchen, his cell nowhere in sight. “Who’s running the company?”
“That’s what you want to talk about right now?” When she nodded, he let out a long exhale that telegraphed a women-are-so-difficult feeling. “Since Becky is a few minutes away, I have to guess Nick.”
“You don’t know?”
Linc shrugged. “I took a few days off.”
Okay, now she knew the world had ended. She came to central New York, leaving her television behind, and the world went wacky. “You?”
“I am human, you know.”
“If you say so.”
He chuckled. “I do.”
“Since when do you take vacations?”
“Maybe I think you’re more important than work.”
The charm, the sweet-talking, the attention. She’d craved all of those from him until nine weeks ago. Sitting here what she wanted was a simple apology and her named cleared. “Now I know you’ve lost your mind.”
“Thea, listen to me.” He leaned in and his mouth replaced his fingers. He placed a line of nibbling kisses along her jawline.
The gentle touch of his lips felt so good, so right. But the alarm in her brain wouldn’t stop blaring. “We shouldn’t—”
His mouth traveled over her cheek. “I missed you.”
If he hit that sweet spot behind her ear, she was a goner. “You already said that.”
“I’ll say it a hundred times if that’s what it takes for you to believe me.” With his hand against her chin, he titled her head the side.
The movement had something swishing in her stomach and a heat burning in her chest. Her head rocked and no amount of deep breathing was going to stop this now. When his lips hovered over hers, the room did a somersault. Before she barfed all over him, she shoved him away with a moan.
Hand over her mouth, she ran for the bathroom. Her knees barely hit the floor before the bile rushed up her throat. Her hands grabbed the seat and her stomach cramped. She didn’t know what came out because she didn’t look. Between the retching sounds and Linc yelling her name, everything started to blur into one loud thunder in her head.
When the spasms finally stopped, she rested her forehead on her arm. Her muscles turned to jelly, and she didn’t have the strength to even lift her head. Then there was the very real possibility that doing so would touch off another round of sickness. Not a theory she wanted to test.
Water ran and she heard rustling before she sensed Linc crouch down next to her. A warm hand slipped up her layers of clothing to touch her lower back right before a cool cloth wiped her face. Her eyes stayed closed for all of it as she sank into the sensation of being taken care of for a change.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Even in low whisper, the question bounced around the small space.
“What?” That’s all she could force out. One word.
Linc brushed her hair to the side as he spoke in a deep, soothing voice. “You’re sick. I had no idea. I never would have pushed you so hard to talk.”
“I’m fine.”
“You should be in bed.”
She opened her eyes. “You didn’t do this. Well, not in the way you think.”
“If I’d known you were ill, I could have brought a nurse with me.”
“That’s not strange or anything.”
His hand stilled. “Wait, what did you say about me causing this?”
This was the wrong time and the wrong way. He deserved to at least be on his feet when she landed the blow. She turned her head to make some excuse to take the worry out of his voice.
The concern in his eyes stopped her. All the warnings fell away. Like it or not, he was in this with her.
“Yes.” She didn’t realize she’d whispered the word until he leaned in with his ear close to her mouth.
“Yes?” His eyes narrowed. “So, you do want me to find a nurse?”
“I’m pregnant.”
Chapter Ten
Linc almost fell on his ass. He grabbed the toilet to keep from hitting the floor in an embarrassing sprawl.
No way did he hear
that right. Something about the room’s echo caused a distortion or the way she muffled the words mixed them up in his brain. “What did you just say?”
Those beautiful eyes drifted shut again. “Since the blood just drained from your face, I’m guessing you heard me fine.”
Pregnant.
The word flashed in his head like a giant warning sign. This was something that happened to other people. Other people planned families. Others lost control or forgot to use protection and had accidents. But others. Not him.
“We only had sex one night.” As soon as the words came out he wanted to kick his own ass for being so stupid. “Now I sound like the guys I went to Catholic school with. It was only one time. Damn, I thought they were idiots then and now it’s my turn.”
“Our turn.”
He watched her. She hadn’t moved and her voice stayed steady. It was as if she feared shifting her head or changing anything about her position would start the retching again. If true, they could sit there all night. “Are you okay?”
“Terrified.”
That made two of them. “But the throwing up is normal, right?”
“That’s what they tell me.”
A thought finally made it to his brain and he blurted it out. “We used condoms. I just…I mean, I can’t…”
A soft smile lifted the corner of her mouth. “I think I’ve succeeded in making you speechless.”
Some of those random words started to click together in his head. Her pregnant and handling it alone. He fucking hated that part. Sick and scared and he wasn’t there because he’d made it impossible for her to be with him.
Then there was the nightmare scenario—him as a father. Something he never dreamed about and had the power to tear his guts apart in panic. All those years of hearing his lists of weaknesses then trying his damnedest to live down to them. His dad made a decent living, and Linc saw it as his personal responsibility to spend money, sleep around and generally waste most of his late teen and early twenties. Just as his father always vowed he would.
“This poor kid.” Linc mumbled the words under his breath but felt them to his soul.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Memories kept spinning until he sat down hard on the floor next to her. Thea and his baby. The idea refused to settle in his mind.