by Tina Cambria
“Restaurant owners.” She arched an eyebrow. “What kind of restaurant?”
“Steaks. Western-style.” He felt a sense of déjà vu about how the conversation was going. “I know you’re not a vegetarian, so you’re okay with that, right?”
“No problem at all. What kind of doctor is your sister?”
“She’s one of the best pediatricians in Dallas. She’s super-crazy about kids.” His eyes went to Danielle’s abdomen. “Knowing Samantha Jane, she’ll have plenty of advice for us when the baby is born. Stereotypical big sister who knows more about everything than I do. Oh, and she dropped the middle name and started going by Samantha the day she left home for college.”
“Does she know that we’re having a baby?”
He shook his head. “That’s the one thing I know more about at this point than she does.”
“When were you planning to let your family know that you’re going to be a daddy?”
He took a deep breath and yanked at his collar. “My parents don’t even know I’m married yet. I was kind of waiting to find out whether we were going to make it permanent before I sprung it on them that I eloped in Vegas.”
Danielle’s eyes flashed, and astonishment swept over her face. “With me being in the third month of pregnancy? With their grandchild?” She let out a long exhale. “What if it takes me a few months to be sure of my decision? Or I’m not sure until after the baby’s born? You’re not going to tell them about us?”
“Whoa, hold on.” He didn’t want her to think that he was reluctant to let his parents know about her. Truth be told, he wanted nothing more than to tell his family—and everyone else he knew—that he had finally found the woman he wanted to make a life with. Happily ever after, and everything that went with it. “Up until barely two weeks ago, I had no idea whether you wanted to annul our marriage or not. Maybe I was wrong, but if we wiped the slate clean, I wasn’t intending to tell my folks about our little…adventure…you know, what happened in Vegas. And I didn’t know that we were going to have a baby.”
Danielle’s expression softened, and Kyle was able to exhale. Funny, he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding his breath. It was a gut reaction while he waited to see if she’d been offended by what he said about not yet informing his parents.
“Whether we stay married or not, this baby is still their grandchild,” she said. “They have a right to know about it.”
“Agreed.” He hoped his parents would take the news as well as Nana Rose had. “We’ll have to put our heads together to figure out the best way to give them the news.”
“I’ll give it some thought.” Danielle pointed to where he’d placed the envelope he’d brought from the bedroom. “So, what’s in that envelope? Don’t tell me you already composed a letter to your parents? Dear Mom and Dad, I met a great girl in Vegas, we got married, and we’ll be making you grandparents next May…”
Kyle let out a snort. “Hell, no. You’d hear them hollering all the way from Texas if they opened a letter like that. I mean, they’d probably turn cartwheels over the baby. But my mom would carry on because she wasn’t there for her son’s wedding.”
“I think we’ll have to figure out a real creative way to break the news to them about us.”
“Some major-league brainstorming is definitely going to be required.”
“And you still haven’t told me what’s in the envelope.”
Picking up the envelope, he stared at it for a few seconds. As though the right way to discuss the contents would be printed on the outside. A step-by-step guide to discussing the potential for sexually-transmitted diseases.
“Look, this isn’t the easiest thing to say, but…well…I mean it’s pretty obvious that we had sex without using a condom.”
Danielle placed a hand on her abdomen. “Sure seems that way.”
“Anyway, I got some lab work done last week.” He handed her the envelope. “I wanted you to feel confident that I didn’t give you something else in addition to our baby.”
“Should I be concerned?”
“I passed with flying colors.” He couldn’t help giving her a smirk.
“Were you concerned that you might have picked up something from me?”
Shaking his head, he said, “You told me that you hadn’t been with anyone for quite a while. Even though you claimed to have been engaged at some point to your friend, Walter.”
“I still can’t believe I told you something that personal when I’d only just met you.”
“You did things that were a lot more personal than that.” Kyle’s expression turned even bolder. “If you catch my drift.”
He couldn’t help it. Thoughts of making love to her shot through his brain. A couple of months ago, they’d both been searching for something, someone, anything to make them feel wanted. And their sparks of attraction had quickly caught fire.
Once they’d agreed to pretend to be married for a week—and bolster their story with an authentic marriage certificate—their natural attraction to each other had grown along with the ease with which they interacted.
It hadn’t taken much time at all before Danielle had let him completely undress her and ease her into the hot tub once they were in their honeymoon suite.
How could she forget the deep kisses they’d shared? The touching. The exploring. And then toweling off and moving to the bed.
Her voice interrupted his daydream. “Now I’m officially embarrassed,” she said. “I feel like I did something I never did before—or at least in a way I never did it before—but I know nothing about it. You’re the only one with the memory of it.”
“I remember you told me it had never been that good for you before.”
She looked at him skeptically. “Did I really say that, Kyle?”
“You did. And you can have it that good again, darlin’. All you have to do is say the word.”
* * *
Just say the word.
Did she want to say the word? If she simply nodded and uttered the word yes, she knew Kyle could have her in that king-sized bed in a matter of seconds. Touching her in places she hadn’t been touched in a very long time.
That wasn’t exactly true. She’d obviously been touched in those intimate places within the past three months. Otherwise, there’d be no baby growing inside of her. She just couldn’t remember anything about it.
“Er…Kyle, how many times did I say the word during our honeymoon?”
There was his irresistible grin again. “At least every day.”
“At least?” What had possessed her?
“We were married, Danielle. It was all legal. Everything was on the up-and-up.”
“But it was a sham. You said we were going to get the marriage annulled at the end of the week. After you gathered your intelligence, and I got paid for helping you.”
“I admit it started that way. But things changed.”
“Because we had sex?”
“Maybe that was part of it.”
“How big a part?” Danielle asked.
“Look, the sex wasn’t everything.” Kyle shook his head. “All I know is that we had one hell of a…well, I don’t know exactly what. But by the end of the week, I didn’t want to let whatever it was slip away.”
“And I wasn’t sure?”
“You said you hadn’t been home in six months, and you needed to think about it. To talk to your grandmother. To figure out what the situation was with your old teaching job. To take a little time to be sure you weren’t running in the wrong direction.”
That sounded more like her. She’d never been one to make rash decisions. Although it sounded like she’d made an extremely rash decision when she’d gotten in the vehicle with Kyle in Barstow and then agreed to spend a week pretending to be his wife.
What had Kyle said about her running in the wrong direction? There was something about the word running that set off a strange sensation in her brain. A tiny drop of liquid slid off some kind of mental ice cube and wormed i
ts way through her consciousness.
The last thing she remembered before waking up in that ambulance was getting into her car in Los Angeles and setting out for home. But now she remembered a thought she’d had as she made her way to the highway that headed toward Las Vegas and eventually to Colorado.
She’d felt like she was running. But she hadn’t been sure if she was running away from a failed six-month adventure or running toward familiarity and security. Funny how your mind could put whatever spin it wanted on any situation.
She’d run away from the adventure of professional acting when it hadn’t worked out. And run right into a new adventure, acting like a stranger’s wife. Was adventure what she truly craved?
Or had she merely gotten sidetracked while running back to the supposed security of a platonic relationship with Walter Ferguson and the familiarity of her hometown?
When would that mental ice cube finish melting and release her memories of what she’d been thinking when she’d agreed to Kyle’s scheme?
CHAPTER EIGHT
“I’m sensing that you still need more time to figure out how this is all going to play out.” Kyle said it as gently as possible, not wanting to let his disappointment show.
Did he want to hold her and kiss her and prove how he could satisfy her? Did he want to be her husband, her partner in life, her best friend?
He wanted all of it.
And he was pretty sure she wanted all of it too. If only she could remember what they’d experienced during that magical week. That dream week.
If the doctor hadn’t confirmed Danielle’s pregnancy, he could almost believe that it had all been a dream. Otherwise, he’d wonder if he’d conjured up the whole thing in his head. Maybe he had actually turned his Explorer around and headed back to L.A. after his female colleague had notified him that she’d bailed on their undercover mission.
But he knew that he hadn’t turned the SUV around.
No way could he dream up something like what actually happened. If he could, he’d be a big-time Hollywood screenwriter, sitting around some fancy swimming pool making a deal for the next blockbuster.
Before he could think further about his mental status, Danielle’s hand was on his. “Can you be patient with me a little longer?” she asked. “What we shared that week sounds more than special.”
“It was,” he said.
“I admit that I’ve known about the baby and what I must have done in Vegas for almost three weeks now. But it’s hard to process all of it when everything that happened is like a big black hole in my memory. I want to remember it.” She threw her hands up in the air. “I just can’t.”
Disappointment surged through him. He ached to experience once again what he’d felt in Vegas. To see all of her again—every inch of silky skin under that long thing she called a tunic and the jeans she had on. To press his own skin against hers and then make that ultimate connection.
It would happen again, wouldn’t it? Maybe not tonight, but he knew they would become one again. He was still the same man she’d met just a few months before. She’d fallen in love with him then. It was just a matter of time before she fell in love with him again.
“I understand,” he said, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. “I told you there was no pressure if you wanted to live with me during your pregnancy. I’m leaving everything up to you.”
“You’re being very generous, Kyle.”
“Not really. I think I have an obligation to make sure the mother of my child is taken care of while she’s expecting.”
A trace of regret showed in her face. “I hope I’m more than a mere obligation.”
“Oh, you’re much more than an obligation. I wish I could convince you of that.”
Why didn’t she realize what she meant to him? She was more than some responsibility he needed to fulfill. She was more than an object of sexual desire. She was that missing part he’d been looking for since he couldn’t remember when.
As long as she loved him the same way. Just for who he was. Whether his parents were millionaires many times over or whether they were struggling to keep a single restaurant afloat. He had to be sure she’d stick with him no matter what his finances were.
The thought suddenly entered his head that he wasn’t even sure that she loved him at all. Her growing love for him had all been whisked away by a run-in with a careening car and a blow to the head.
Could he bring back the magic of their initial week and stir those feelings within her again?
He was sure as hell going to try.
But not tonight. He’d told her that it was all up to her. And as much as he wanted to take the lead and whisk her into his arms, he’d let her call the shots.
Danielle’s eyes turned wistful. “I wish you didn’t have to convince me of anything. I wish I could just remember when we were together before.”
“I wish that too.” If she remembered their time together, he was sure they’d be heading to the bedroom right then.
Leaning over, he planted a chaste kiss on her cheek. “Thank you for this delicious dinner. Now let me return the favor and clean up everything in the kitchen.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she protested.
“I want to do it.” He smiled. “C’mon now, scoot. Relax, watch TV, go to bed early—whatever you need. Healthy mama, healthy baby. That’s what we’re shooting for.”
It was true, he wanted to be sure that both Danielle and their baby were healthy. But he wanted more. Love, physical intimacy, and her promise to stand by him for better or for worse.
And he was determined to have it all.
* * *
The next morning, Danielle awoke in a tangle of covers. Had she invited Kyle into her bed? Turning on her side, she noted the pillow beside her perfectly fluffed exactly as when she’d gone to bed. She buried her nose in it and inhaled the faint scent of fabric softener.
No trace of a manly aroma to indicate that Kyle had been in her bed last night. But the state of the bed sheets pointed to some kind of activity taking place after she’d fallen asleep. What had she dreamed about? Maybe she had tried to recreate a love scene with Kyle from their honeymoon.
Perhaps the memory of their lovemaking was deep in her subconscious. Somewhere in the cells of her brain there could be a trail of thoughts and sensations—images of two bodies intertwined. Kissing, fondling, and then finally joining in rhythm as one.
Her heart rate ticked up a notch. She had to stop thinking about Kyle that way. Glancing at the clock on the nightstand, she figured he must be at work by now.
She stretched off her sleepiness and made her way into the master bathroom, turning on the shower spray while she brushed her teeth. When she stepped into the shower and lathered her body, she was surprised at the fullness beginning to show in her abdomen.
It was probably going to be a big baby. With a daddy over six feet tall, it was likely that their child would be good-sized. She hoped the delivery would go smoothly. But it was too soon to think about that yet.
Toweling off, she caught her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Definite beginning of a baby bump there. No disguising it under snug jeans any longer.
She suddenly remembered the jar of shea butter she’d bought at the drugstore the afternoon before. A website for expectant mothers said that rubbing it on the belly regularly throughout pregnancy might help to prevent stretch marks. When she’d checked with her friend, Leslie, she’d confirmed that many doctors and nurses recommended it to their patients who were expecting.
But where had she put the shea butter? Maybe she’d left the bag in the living room.
She pulled on her panties and bra. It was definitely time for some lingerie shopping. Even clasping the bra on the last hook was not enough to keep her growing breasts from straining to overflow the cups.
Early morning sunlight filtered through the living room windows when she stepped out of her bedroom to search for the shopping bag. Spotting it on an end table, she p
icked it up and then breathed in the smell of freshly-brewed coffee.
Turning toward the kitchen, she found Kyle standing shirtless in the hallway with a coffee mug in his hand and a beaming face.
“Now that’s the way I like to start off my weekend.” He winked at her, and his glance bee-lined straight to her torso.
“Sorry,” she said, clutching the shopping bag to cover her mid-section. “I actually thought you were at work already.”
“I’m off today.”
“I obviously got mixed up on the days of the week, or I wouldn’t have wandered out here in a bra and panties.” She felt totally mortified to be parading practically nude in front of Kyle.
“Not a problem at all.” He took a step toward her. “Could I ask what that dark line is that’s running down from your belly button into those lacy panties you’re wearing? I noticed it before you plastered that bag to your tummy, and I don’t remember seeing anything like that back when we were, uh, honeymooning.”
“Don’t worry, it’s normal. I asked Leslie. She said it sometimes appears in the third or fourth month of pregnancy. Something to do with increasing hormone levels.”
“It’s actually kind of cute.”
“Well, it’s supposed to fade after the baby arrives. You better not get too used to it.”
“Now, you know I’m not taking anything for granted.” He shot her his characteristic grin. “But what prompted you to venture out here first thing in the morning in your undies? I’m not complaining, mind you. Just curious.”
She shook the plastic bag. “I bought some shea butter at the drugstore yesterday. It’s recommended as a moisturizer during pregnancy to help prevent stretch marks.”
“On your belly?”
“Well, yeah, that’s the main place the skin is stretching.”
