Chapter Seven
V al woke up tucked under Liam’s arm, her head on his chest. Her hand lay above his heart on that warm, bare chest. How had that happened? She must have been asleep when Liam came to bed the night before because she didn’t remember anything. She sure as hell didn’t remember cuddling up to him.
She’d never spent the night with a man. Never been cuddled against a man, as she was with Liam. His skin was so warm. She raised her eyes to find him looking at her, a faint smile on his lips.
“Hey,” he said, his voice deep and husky.
“Hey.” His hair was disheveled; there was a light stubble on his jaw. His eyes were green, rather than the hazel they often were. She couldn’t read him. And then his expression changed, and he kissed her. Short and sweet. A kiss good morning. No big deal.
So why did she feel like swooning?
Pregnancy. That was it. Her stomach somersaulted and she jumped out of bed and dashed into the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet. Damn it, she should have taken crackers to bed with her for the morning, but she’d forgotten.
There was a tap on the bathroom door. “Can I get you anything?”
“Crackers,” she croaked. Once she thought she was finished puking—at least for the moment, she rinsed her mouth out and brushed her teeth. Then she wet a washrag and managed to get back in bed, placing the cool cloth on her forehead. Please, God, tell me this nausea will go away. Or would she have to deal with it the entire pregnancy? Some women did, she knew. She’d gone to the OB/GYN in Livingston during the week before the wedding, the same doctor she’d seen to confirm the pregnancy. The doctor had been reassuring about the pregnancy and the baby, and she’d given her tips for dealing with morning sickness. But she’d also said that since Val had started having morning sickness early, it wouldn’t be unusual for it to last the entire first trimester or even longer. The doctor had also given her the name of the new OB/GYN in Marietta since Val wanted a doctor there. Livingston wasn’t far but it was winter and if the weather was bad, it would be better to have her doctor closer to home.
Liam came in with a stack of crackers and a clear soft drink. He handed her a couple of crackers, holding the rest, and sat beside her on the bed as she ate them slowly. He gave her several more before she stopped.
“Better?”
She took a sip of the soft drink and nodded. “I think so.”
“Does this happen every morning?”
He wore pajama bottoms and that was it. His chest was distracting. All smooth, tan skin, stretched over lean muscle. No surprise, he had a six-pack. Hell, he was a rancher. She knew what kind of work he did. Her brother did it too. So did she, though not to the same extent they did. She wanted to run her hands over his chest and keep going down. Shit, she was staring at him. At his body. He was bound to notice. But damn, he was smoking. She shook her head, remembering he’d asked her a question.
“Pretty much. My OB said it’s supposed to get better as the pregnancy goes on and stop around three months. I hope.”
“You hope? You mean it could last longer?”
“Some women have nausea the entire time.” Was it her imagination or did he pale at that?
“We’ll have to hope you won’t.”
No joke. She ate a few more crackers, finished her soft drink, and started to get up. Liam stopped her with a hand on her leg. Even though her leg was under the covers, the contact still gave her a thrill. How silly was that?
“Why don’t you stay in bed a while until you’re sure you feel okay? We can go hiking later, when you get up. There’s no rush.”
“Okay.” He got up and started to walk out of the room. “Liam?” He stopped and looked at her questioningly. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
She gestured at the empty glass. “For taking care of me.”
He smiled and walked out the door.
*
Once Val was up and feeling better they went hiking. Liam knew Val didn’t need him hovering or second-guessing her about how much she should be doing. He also knew pregnant women didn’t need coddling—at least that’s what Val had told him right off the bat. But he couldn’t help worrying. Maybe reading the books would help him know when to worry and when to leave her be.
Val certainly seemed fine after she’d recovered from her morning sickness. Last night when he’d gone to bed Val had been sound asleep. Undoubtedly a good thing. But he couldn’t help wishing they could be a normal couple and do what most people did on their honeymoon. Like have sex. Lots of sex.
Damn, he had to quit thinking like that. Still, waking up with Val in his arms had been really nice, even though it hadn’t been planned. Too bad it made him think about what making love to her would be like, with the expected result. In his defense, he’d been attracted to Val for a long time and only recently had realized that the age difference that had been too much when they were younger, now that they were both older wasn’t as big a deal. Could he help it that he found his wife attractive? Attractive, hah. Val was sexy as hell, and she didn’t seem to have a clue that she was.
Yep. Blue balls.
The hike was an easy one and they were able to talk. Also, he made sure to go slower than he normally would, even though he knew Val wouldn’t thank him for it.
“Liam, can I ask you something?” she said when they stopped for a water break.
He was probably going to regret this, but he shrugged and said, “Sure.”
“Were you in love with Cici? And if you were, are you still in love with her?”
“That’s two questions.” He’d expected the questions. He just hadn’t been sure when she’d ask them.
“Not really. One’s a continuation.”
“No, I was never in love with Cici. I like her a lot but there’s no chemistry there.”
“None? She’s really pretty.”
“No question. She is. But we’re just friends.”
“Who decided that?”
“It was mutual.”
She looked skeptical at that, but it was the truth. He wondered when she would ask him about Caroline. He figured she would. Maybe not now but sometime. “My turn.”
“Okay, shoot.”
“Other than the baby’s bio dad how many serious relationships have you had?” Because he had no clue. Sure, he’d listened to Riley bitch about some of the guys Val had gone out with but none of them had sounded serious.
“The baby’s bio father was a one-night stand. I told you that. Obviously, it wasn’t serious.”
He hadn’t meant to piss her off but he also wasn’t about to walk on eggshells with her. They’d have to get used to each other. They were married. And it wasn’t too much to ask about her past. Or for her to ask him, for that matter.
“Okay, then. Tell me about your most serious relationship.”
She didn’t hesitate before saying, “I don’t want to.”
“Why?”
“Because it makes me look like a fool. Even more than my current situation.”
Meaning her pregnancy. “Your ‘current situation’ doesn’t make you look like a fool. You acted responsibly. It wasn’t your fault the condom broke. It happens.”
“No, but it was my fault for going to bed with the jerk in the first place.”
“But you didn’t know he was a jerk. Not until later.” Everyone made mistakes. Look at him.
“Has it ever happened to you?”
“Not that I know of. But I can tell you one thing. If I knew a woman was having my baby, I wouldn’t rabbit.”
“You don’t need to tell me that. You’d never desert a woman who was having your child. I mean, you married me and it’s not even your baby.”
She made him sound like a hero. He wasn’t. He benefitted from the marriage too. “So what happened in your relationship?”
Taking a seat on a rock, she sighed but answered. “I was in high school. We were both seniors. He was a football player. I thought I loved him.” He stayed silent and she continued. “He was jealous and possessive. At first it made me feel good. He was cute and popular and my friends were always telling me how lucky I was. Then one day I was talking to a friend, a guy, and he got really mad. He hit me.”
“What did you do?” He couldn’t imagine her putting up with that, but she’d been young. The rock she sat on was large and flat, so he sat beside her. The weather was gorgeous, chilly but not too cold, blue Montana sky without a cloud in it.
“This is the part that makes me feel so stupid. I broke up with him and he spent the next two weeks trying to get me to forgive him, and take him back. He swore he’d never hit me again. I believed him. I forgave him.”
“What happened after that?”
“Exactly what you think. He did it again, not too long after I took him back. So I broke up with him again. This time for good.”
“Did he try again?”
“Yes. He pestered me until I threatened to tell Riley. After that he left me alone.”
Liam imagined he would have. Everyone around there knew Riley was protective of his sister. “So Riley didn’t know what had happened?”
“God, no.” She shook her head with a shudder. “Riley would’ve killed him. Luckily for him, Riley was getting his degree in equine studies so he wasn’t home a lot.”
“I was around then. You should’ve asked me.”
“Are you kidding? You didn’t know I was alive then. There’s no way I’d have asked you for help.”
“Believe me, I knew you were alive. But you were way too young. I felt like a dirty old man to even think about you like that.”
She tilted her head. “Apparently I’m not too young now.”
“You’re grown now. It’s different. When you were seventeen, I was twenty-five. That was not going to happen. Even if I’d lost my mind, Riley would have killed me. And he’d have been right.”