Chapter Fourteen
T he same night Liam and Connor were meeting for a beer, Val stopped at Letty’s to pick her up for girls’ night out. But she was so not in the mood. So instead of honking she went to the door. When Letty opened it she asked, “Can we stay at your house? I really need to talk to you, and I don’t want to be around a bunch of women who are going to ask me all about Liam and my surprise marriage.”
“Of course. Come on in.”
“Thanks. I won’t keep you that long if you want to go after I leave.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s no big deal. So all is not well in paradise?”
Val sat on the couch while Letty went to the kitchen. The apartment was tiny so she only had to go a few steps.
“No,” Val said. “All is frustrating as hell.”
“Hot chocolate or lemonade?” Letty asked.
“Lemonade sounds good.” Yes, it was cold out but sometimes she wanted lemonade anyway.
Letty brought her a glass and set it down in front of her on the coffee table. She usually kept some around knowing it was currently Val’s favorite drink.
“Frustrated as in…”
“Sex.”
Letty sat. “Oh. I figured that would be great. He’s a damn good-looking man and you’ve had the hots for him forever. Aren’t you compatible?”
“I have no idea. We’ve been married nearly three weeks and still haven’t had sex.”
“Wait.” She leaned forward. “Didn’t you tell me you both decided sex would be in the picture if you got married?”
“We did. But it hasn’t happened. I feel like I’m going to go crazy if it doesn’t happen soon. I don’t know what to do.”
Letty shook her head. “Oh, honey. Yes, you do. He’s a man. Take off your clothes. That should do it.”
“Just strip? Out of the blue?”
Letty lifted a shoulder. “Well, you could be more subtle. Like come out of the bathroom wearing a towel.”
“What if he doesn’t take the hint?”
“Good Lord, Val. You’re pregnant. You’re not a virgin.”
“Tell me about it. I can’t help but think that’s a problem for him.”
“That you’re pregnant? He knew you were pregnant when he married you. It’s why he married you.”
“Thanks, Letty. I’d forgotten that,” she drawled sarcastically.
“All I’m saying is that your pregnancy shouldn’t be a problem. Not to be indelicate—” Val snorted a laugh. “How far have you gone? First base? Second base? Third base?”
“We’ve kissed.”
“And?”
“That’s it.” She thought about that and added, “He put his hand on my ass once when we were kissing. I don’t know what base that is.”
“I don’t think it’s a base. Well, damn.” She frowned. “Were they good kisses?”
Val fanned herself and smiled. “Amazing.”
“That’s good, at least. Are you sleeping in the same bed?”
“Yes. For all the good it’s done.”
“I’m sorry, Val, but I just don’t see the problem. Put on that nightie I gave you, which I doubt you’ve worn, or he’d have been on you in a heartbeat, get into bed and kiss the man. If that doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Of course it is. He’s a red-blooded American male. And if I know Liam he hasn’t slept with anyone since before Cici came to town.”
“How do you know he and Cici didn’t sleep together?”
“She told me they didn’t.”
Well, that was one thing she didn’t have to worry about. She didn’t think he’d still be stuck on Cici if they hadn’t even slept together. Plus, he’d told her he wasn’t in love with his brother’s wife and never had been. Thank God. That would have been messy.
“This is going to sound stupid. But I don’t want to have sex with him just to scratch an itch. I know he’s not in love with me. But I’d like to think I’m more than a willing body.”
“You’re in love with him.”
“I always have been.” And now she had to figure out how to make Liam fall in love with her. After she worked out how to get him to have sex with her. Was it really as easy as Letty said? Put on her sexy nightie and say, here I am?
Maybe she should talk to him about it. Be honest. Say something like, ‘Hey, Liam, are you horny? Because I am. So let’s fix it.’
She almost laughed. No, that was sure not going to happen. She was doomed. At least until Liam decided it was time, and surely he couldn’t last forever.
*
“I’m going to see the new doctor today,” Val told Liam late that morning.
He was in the round pen with Curly, one of the new arrivals, but at her words he walked over and looped the reins around the top fence post. “What new doctor? Are you sick?”
“No. I need a new OB/GYN. The one I first saw was in Livingston, but I’d rather have my doctor here and I need to establish myself with one. My other doctor gave me the name of a new OB/GYN in Marietta, so I called her for an appointment. They managed to squeeze me in today. Her name is Dr. Young. Luckily, I don’t think her practice is full since she’s so new.”
“When is your appointment?”
“Three thirty. Why?”
“So I can go with you. Let me talk to Les and make sure he can take care of things.” His day wasn’t super busy so he should be able to swing it.
“You don’t have to go. It’s early and nothing much is going to happen. At least, I don’t think it is.”
“I should still go with you.”
“What if someone sees you?”
“What if they do? We’re married. It shouldn’t shock anyone.”
“But then they’ll know I’m pregnant. Or suspect it, anyway.”
“So? They’ll have to find out sometime.”
“But not before we tell our parents.”
“Damn, you’re right. But I thought you wanted to wait to tell them.”
She shrugged. “I did. I do. We just got married. We haven’t even done it yet.”
His mouth kicked up at the corner. “We can fix that.”
“I didn’t mean…I wasn’t hinting…”
“You weren’t? That’s too bad.” Swear to God, she blushed.
“What if… What if I was hinting?”
That was all the encouragement he needed. He climbed over the fence to stand close to her. She backed up a step and he followed. He put his hands on her arms and drew her against his chest. She wouldn’t look at him. He gazed at the top of her head. “You don’t need to be shy with me, Val.”
“Yes. Yes, I do.”
He put his fingers under her chin and tipped her face up to his. She really was adorable. He kissed her. He meant to keep it short and sweet, but the moment their lips touched he forgot about that. Damn, he wanted to eat her alive. She’d wrapped her arms around his neck and melted against him.
“Uh, Boss?” Les cleared his throat and added, “We’ve got a problem.”
Shit. He ended the kiss but held on to Val, noting with satisfaction that her eyes were hazy and her lips wet from his kiss.
“What?”
“That new fencing you ordered?”
He released Val and turned to his foreman. “What about it?”
“They sent us the wrong thing.”
“Did you ask Melody about it?”
“She said she ordered the correct one.”
Damn it, she probably did. This wouldn’t be the first time this company got the order wrong. They’d make it right, but it was a pain in the ass to deal with.
“I’ll let you deal with that,” Val said. “If you want another supplier, the one Riley uses is good. I can ask Riley for the number.”
“I’m thinking about it. I’ll see you around three.”
“Just let me know if you can’t make it.” She walked off, headed to the house.
He watched her go, thinking that if he didn’t get to make love to her soon, he was going to lose his mind. Les cleared his throat, reminding him his foreman was waiting for his attention. “I need to take Val somewhere at three.”
“Don’t worry, Boss. I’m sure Melody can handle the supplier.”
“I’m sure she already has. But they might need a call from me too. This is the third time they’ve screwed up an order. Take Curly in for me and I’ll see what I can do. We were basically finished anyway.”
*
Liam and Val sat in an exam room waiting for the doctor to come in. It was a bit weird to Liam. It wasn’t as if he’d never been in a doctor’s office, of course. After all, Logan was a doctor. But he was healthy and hadn’t broken any bones since his rodeo days—and that was a while ago now. An OB/GYN’s office was totally outside his experience, however.
“You really didn’t need to come with me,” Val said.
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No, of course not. I just hate to take you away from the ranch when I know you have work.”
“You and the baby are more important.” She didn’t say anything after that, and he continued to look around. Val sat on a padded chair that leaned back and there were metal things that looked like stirrups at the end of the bench. He’d never thought about what happened to a pregnant woman at the doctor’s office. Why would he?
On the wall was a poster that showed the stages of pregnancy and what the baby looked like at each stage. Val was nearly eight weeks. The baby was the size of a raspberry. Then he looked at the picture of a full-term baby in the mom’s stomach.
Thank God the doctor came in, so he could quit imagining Val in those situations.
“I’m Dr. Young,” she said, shaking each of their hands. “And you must be Val and Liam McFarland.” She glanced at her clipboard and said, “Any relation to Dr. Logan McFarland?”
“My brother,” Liam said.
“Logan and I went to medical school together. He’s the reason I came to Marietta. I saw him at a conference, and he mentioned Marietta could use another OB/GYN. A few months later, here I am.” She looked at her chart again and said, “The doctor in Livingston confirmed the pregnancy at four weeks, correct?”
“Yes. When I asked about switching doctors she gave me your name. Your nurse said I should come in now.”
“Would you like to step out while I do a pelvic?” she asked Liam.
“Absolutely.” That was something he didn’t need to see.
“We’ll call you back in for the ultrasound,” Dr. Young said.
Fortunately, he didn’t have terribly long to wait. The nurse came out and called his name and he followed her back. Val was lying on her back on the chair, which was now a table. Her jeans were unzipped and her blouse pulled up to show her stomach. He took a seat beside the table and Val reached for his hand.
Dr. Young squirted some gel on her stomach and began moving a wand over it. No one said anything, they were all looking at the monitor. Which in his opinion didn’t really show anything but some black parts and lighter parts.
“There it is.” Dr. Young pointed to a blob—a very small blob—on the screen in the middle of a cavern of black. With the pointer she showed them the head and the spine. Liam couldn’t see it, but he supposed she knew what she was talking about.
“And there’s the heartbeat. See how it pulses?”
“My baby is all right?” Val asked.
“Yes. We can’t always see the heartbeat at this stage with an abdominal ultrasound. By your next visit you’ll be able to hear it. You’re right on track.”
She wiped off Val’s stomach and helped her sit up. “Questions?”
“I have one,” Liam said. “Are there things she isn’t supposed to do? Like riding?”
“I’d prefer my patients not ride at all during their pregnancy. But that’s impossible to enforce around here in horse country. So you can ride until your second trimester. At a walk.”
“A walk?” Val asked. “You’re kidding.”
“Afraid not. But you can run if you want. At least until you’re uncomfortable doing it.”
“Ugh. I’m not a runner. I can’t imagine not riding for months. I’ve been riding since I was three.”
The doctor nodded sympathetically. “Yes, a lot of my patients started young.”
“Anything else she’s not supposed to do?”
“You need to stay away from liquor, cigarettes, caffeine—”
“Wait,” Val said. “No coffee?”
“You can have decaf. I’ll give you some literature that spells out the things you shouldn’t eat or drink. And activities to avoid. If you have questions, call my office. Either my nurse can answer them or, if not, I’ll return your call.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Val said.
“Nice to meet you both. I’ll see you in four weeks, Val.”
“What did you think?” Val asked him after the doctor left.
“Truthfully?”
“Of course.”
“I couldn’t tell anything other than it looked like a blob. A very small blob.”
Val laughed. “That’s what I thought too. Next time should be more interesting.”
After what happened before the appointment Liam thought they might finally get to make love that evening. But when he dropped Val off at the house and went down to the barn he was hit with a scene of chaos. A pipe had broken and a good bit of the barn was under water. Melody and Les were running around doing what they could but none of their other hands were there. By the time he located the leak, got the plumber out to fix it, cleaned up the mess in the barn—which was a damn disaster—it was late and he was filthy and exhausted.
Val had come down and helped some, but he made her leave to eat dinner and told her not to come back. So by the time he’d eaten, cleaned up, and fell into bed Val was long asleep. So much for getting to make love that evening.
*
Maureen had asked Val’s family over for Thanksgiving dinner, but her mother had declined, saying they’d already made plans with Val’s aunt and her family. Clint wasn’t coming because he’d gone to his daughter’s for the day. Val didn’t think much about it, but Liam wasn’t happy.
“Why is it a big deal?” she asked Liam. “Doesn’t he usually spend the day with his daughter and her family?”
“Not the past couple of years. And he and Mom are supposed to be setting a date. They said they were getting married before Logan and Cici got together. Nothing has happened and now it looks like nothing will.”
“You should talk to her. I’m sure there’s a good reason.”
Liam shrugged and left to finish up some chores before getting ready for the dinner.
Val picked out a pretty cable-knit fitted white sweater dress with an open V-neck that came to mid-thigh. She had three reasons for her choice. One, her boobs were already bigger, and the dress would showcase them. Two, it was short and showed off her legs, which she thought were her best feature. The third reason was she probably wouldn’t be able to wear it for too much longer. And yeah, mostly because she wanted to see if Liam noticed.
Instead of her habitual braid, she wore her hair down and curled, with the waves reaching past her shoulders. She put on more makeup than usual, which wasn’t hard because she normally wore only mascara or nothing. Finally, she finished with short, spike-heeled boots.
Liam entered the bedroom just then, already stripping off his shirt to take a shower. He tossed the shirt over a chair and yanked off the T-shirt he wore beneath it. “I won’t be long if—” He turned around and saw her, stopped talking mid-sentence and stared at her.
Damn, he had a great chest and arms. Not surprising given the kind of work he did. She wanted to stroke it, feel all those lovely muscles beneath her hands. Realizing he hadn’t spoken a word since he broke off mid-sentence she said, “Is this okay? I thought since it’s Thanksgiving I should wear something besides jeans.”
“Okay? You look gorgeous.” He stepped close to her and picked up one of her curls, running his fingers through it. “I always thought you had pretty hair but you don’t wear it down much.”
“Um, thanks.” Her heart beat erratically. The look in his eyes was pure heat.
“So pretty and tidy,” he murmured. “Makes me want to mess you up.”
“I’d like that.” Her voice was husky. Didn’t even sound like her.
His gaze met hers. “Don’t tempt me.”
“Why not?”
He slipped his hand around to her nape, leaned down and kissed her. His lips moved slowly over hers, his tongue dipped inside, drinking her in. It was frankly carnal and even though he was only touching her with one hand and his mouth, she was left in no doubt about what he wanted to do.
She’d never been kissed like that in her life.
He raised his head and said, “I’m going to shower. When I come back you need to be gone.”
Confused, she asked, “Why?”
“Because if you’re here I won’t be able to resist making love to you and then we’ll be very, very late to dinner.”