Chapter Four
Four
Jed muted the volume on the television and leaned forward, elbows on knees, head in his hands. Kimberly was stubborn, but he had her beat. Whatever her feelings for him, or lack thereof, he was determined to care for her and the child. He would tolerate no argument on that score.
Kimberly was having a baby. He let that thought roll around in his head. His baby. He had never thought much about kids. Maybe in the back of his mind he had always assumed that one day...
Well, one day was now. Because on a summer night back in August, he had let his libido take the driver’s seat.
As unexpected as the news was, now that he had taken a few minutes to think about it, he couldn’t find it in his heart to be upset.
He and Kimberly faced a few hurdles. But they were going to be parents.
When he was sure she was asleep, he grabbed a quick shower and wrapped a dry towel around his hips before quietly sliding beneath the covers on the opposite side of the bed. He was tired, but not so tired he could ignore the woman who breathed softly beside him.
Unbidden, the memories of their night at the hotel washed over him, tightening his muscles and kindling his arousal. He wasn’t an animal. He could hold her without making love to her.
The fact that she had walked away from him a second time stung his pride, but more than that, it made him sad. Even so, she was his to protect. And so was the baby. Their baby.
Quietly, he moved to the center of the mattress. Easing her into his embrace was not difficult. He spooned her against his chest, settling one arm beneath her breasts. Closing his eyes, he courted sleep.
* * *
He groaned. Fire swept through his veins when small hands cupped him intimately. Moving restlessly, he felt his body respond to what was one part torture and one part sheer nirvana.
His naked body felt overheated. Arousal pounded in his veins and thrust higher and harder in his sex. A slender body pressed close to his. Instinctively, he tucked her beneath him. His erection found a warm, welcoming home.
With a jerk, he awoke...shuddering...incredulous. “Kimmie?”
She reached up to kiss him. “I need you, Jed.”
“The baby?” He didn’t want to stop this amazing dream, but he had to know.
“The baby is fine. Make love to me,” she pleaded.
“Hell, yes.” She was soft everywhere he was hard. The room was dark... every sensation magnified. She was magic in his arms, even more so now that a new life grew inside her.
Sliding a hand between them, he used his thumb to pleasure her where it mattered.
Kimberly sighed his name. He wanted to make the experience perfect for her.
Slamming the lid on his own impatience, he gave her every ounce of tenderness he could summon.
At last, Kimberly cried out, her body cresting in climax as he held her while continuing to rein in his own release.
When she went limp beneath him, he whispered in her ear. “We could learn to love each other again, Kimmie. The connection is still there.”
She made no response, leaving him to wonder if she was feeling a fraction of the sexual nostalgia that consumed him. Her silence did nothing to dampen his need, though. Gritting his teeth, he moved wildly, his world fading into black as he came.
In the aftermath, he held her tightly. Kimberly stroked his hair. She had initiated their intimacy. That gave him hope. Perhaps things were going to work out after all.
* * *
When sunlight spilled into the room hours later, he roused bleary-eyed. Kimmie was gone.
Cursing long and low, he crawled from the bed, wondering for a dazed half second if last night had been a dream. But it wasn’t. He knew that. No dream had ever felt so physically sating, so amazing.
Wincing in distaste, he donned his clothes from yesterday. He would like to run out to the ranch, but he didn’t trust Kimberly not to sidetrack him someway. So he would keep an eye on her. At least until they made it to the doctor.
He found her in the kitchen, hunched over the sink, a saltine cracker in her hand. He wanted to ask why she had left the bed without saying anything, but the sheer misery on her face deflected his ire.
Shaking his head in wonder that he had come to this moment in time, he went to her and encircled her with his arms from behind. “Rough morning?”
She nodded, groaning when that movement brought a return of the dry heaves. Brushing a tear from her cheek, he scooped her up and carried her to the sofa. “Don’t move.”
Minutes later, he returned with a cup of hot tea and a cold rag for her forehead.
Supporting her as she took a few sips, his heart contracted with sympathy.
His poor Kimmie was in no shape to spar with him.
But they were at a crossroads, and it was time to tear away the subterfuge and get at the truth.
After thirty minutes, when he did nothing but hold her and stroke her hair, some of the color returned to her face.
“Better?” he asked.
She nodded, her eyes downcast. “You don’t have to stay. I’ll tell you everything the doctor says.”
He brushed his thumb across one cheekbone. It seemed as if she had already lost weight from struggling with morning sickness. “I’m going with you, Kimberly. Don’t fight it. Everything will be okay.”
The skepticism in her dark eyes when she looked up at him made him wince inwardly. What would it take to get her to trust him?
By the time they left the house, Kimberly was feeling well enough to argue with him about taking her own car. “That way you can go home afterward. I’m fine,” she insisted. “I’m pregnant, not dying.”
He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and kissed her on the nose. “You’ll have to humor me, my sweet. I’ve never been expecting before.”
She studied his face as if he were the Sphinx, though he was trying hard to give her the message that he was on her side. “You’re not expecting,” she said mulishly. “I am.”
He tucked her into the car and ran around to the driver’s side. “We both are, Kimmie. And I’m expecting more than you can possibly imagine.”
That shut her up. For the remainder of the brief trip, she avoided talking at all.
Inside the stylish, cheerful offices of the ob/gyn, the receptionist handed over a sheaf of papers and urged them to be seated.
The waiting room was full, but there were three doctors in this practice, so hopefully the wait wouldn’t be too long.
Apparently, the clock didn’t start ticking until the paperwork was complete.
Because even after Kimberly turned it in, they had another half hour wait.
Jed didn’t recognize anyone in the room, but that didn’t mean anything.
The Farrells were well-known around town.
If people recognized either Kimberly or Jed and speculated, gossip would spread like wildfire.
At last, a door opened, and a nurse wearing purple scrubs with a neon-pink print of old-fashioned diaper pins stared at a clipboard and called out a name. “Kimberly Fanning.”
Jed stood as well, ignoring Kimberly’s death stare.
He was bigger than she was, and short of making a scene, she had no way to keep him out.
He was determined to be part of this experience, but he would not embarrass Kimberly.
Which was why he waited outside the exam room while she changed into a paper gown.
Afterward, he went back in and sat on a stool out of the way in the corner.
The nurse took the usual stats, withdrew some blood, patted Kimberly on the knee and promised the doctor’s arrival shortly. Kimberly also had to make a quick trip to the bathroom across the hall to leave a specimen.
At last, when the door closed behind the nurse, silence fell. Kimberly sat on the end of the exam table, her gaze downcast. Jed stared at a poster on the wall beside him. The cross section of a fetus made him feel a little queasy.
He cleared his throat. “You okay?”
Kimberly looked over her shoulder, her smile wry. “I don’t think so.”
Rolling to his feet, he stood beside her and stroked her hair. She was vulnerable and scared. Her defenses were down. Though it was perhaps unkind of him, he used the moment to ask the question that had tormented him for weeks. “Why did you walk out on me the morning after the reunion?”
He felt her stiffen.
She shrugged, once again looking at her feet. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “When I woke up, I was scared to see your face.”
“Why, Kimmie?”
“You were still angry with me about the past. I didn’t know where we stood.”
“Neither did I,” he admitted, wincing inwardly that two supposedly intelligent adults could be so clueless when it came to each other. He reached for the stool and rolled it closer so he could look at her face. “Maybe we need to trust each other a little more,” he said.
She nodded slowly. “I didn’t do this on purpose, Jed.”
“That never crossed my mind,” he said firmly. “But we are where we are, and we need to plan for the future.”
The doctor’s arrival cut the conversation short.
The brisk woman with chin-length blond hair introduced herself to Kimmie and then looked at Jed.
He and the physician had known each other since they were in diapers.
“Are you here as the father?” she asked bluntly.
Clearly, Kimmie didn’t have the same last name.
“I am,” he said.
The doctor pursed her lips. “Would you mind stepping into the hall for a moment?”
Jed opened his mouth to argue, but the woman’s question was really a demand. “I’ll be right outside,” he said, and left the room.
* * *
Kimberly exhaled, not realizing how tense she had been.
The doctor smiled. “The Farrell men can be a bit overpowering. My job is to make sure everything is okay with you and the baby. Do you want Jed in here with you? Some newly pregnant women prefer privacy in order to ask me questions.”
“It was an accidental pregnancy,” Kimberly admitted, feeling the tears well up again. “I don’t know why I’m so weepy.”