Chapter Seventeen
Afew hours later Redford returned and knocked on Carmen’s bedroom door.
“Come in.”
Opening the door, he saw she was sitting up in bed wearing a gown he’d never seen before. That meant she’d had another bout of nausea while he was away. “Are you okay?”
She nodded and smiled. “I am now.”
He couldn’t help but smile back. “Does that mean our child acted up while I was gone?”
She chuckled. “Afraid so.”
“Well, hopefully, this will cheer you up,” he said, producing the bag he’d been holding behind his back. He handed it to her.
When she glanced in the bag and back at him, her face lit up. “Ice cream!”
He grinned at the excitement in her voice. “Yes, and your favorite flavor.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “Does that mean we have to share?”
He laughed. “Not at all. Besides, I’ll be busy while you’re eating the ice cream.”
“Busy doing what?” she asked, not wasting any time digging the spoon out of the bag along with the pint of ice cream.
“I will be performing my first pedicure.”
“Pedicure? Are you serious?”
“Yes.” He saw the concern on her face and smiled. “Relax. I did some research. I’ll be back with everything.”
He left and returned within a few minutes with a box labeled “At Home Pedicure.” She had gotten out of bed and was sitting on the love seat. He went into her bathroom to get a towel and a few cotton balls he’d seen in a container on her vanity.
In no time at all, he had removed everything from the box and filled the basin with water. He then added everything needed, including the oil Leslie had shared was Carmen’s favorite fragrance. Kneeling in front of her, he lifted her feet and placed them in the water. The sweet scent of the oil wafted between them and filled him with a sense of pride that he was doing this for her. It was the first pedicure he’d ever done for a woman. But then, Carmen was becoming his first for a number of things.
Redford thought she had pretty feet; and honestly, he didn’t see anything wrong with her toes. However, if she thought there was, he wasn’t about to argue. He wanted to take care of her.
And he did.
Taking his time, he went through the process, step-by-step, as outlined in his research. He appreciated that Carmen trusted him to do this. She calmly ate her ice cream while listening to the music he had turned on: Beethoven. He grinned when he noticed her toes moving to the music.
An hour or so later, he leaned back on his haunches pleased with what he’d done. The polish matched her nails; again, thanks to Leslie who knew her favorite color.
He looked at her. She had finished her ice cream. “So, what do you think, Carmen Golan?”
Carmen glanced down at her toes, and a huge smile curved her lips. She seemed happy. He knew, at that moment, that if given the chance, he would keep that smile on her face forever.
“You did a great job, Redford. I’m beginning to think you might be in the wrong line of work.”
He chuckled. “Thanks, but I’d rather stick to resort development.” He stood. “There’s a casserole dish that’s ready for the oven.” He glanced back down at her feet. “Let your toes dry before moving around.”
“Alright and thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Redford was halfway down the stairs when his cell phone rang. Recognizing the ring tone, he pulled it out of his back pocket. “Yes, Sloan?”
“What’s this I hear about you giving a woman a pedicure?”
He grinned as he thought about the past hour or so. But he hadn’t given just any woman a pedicure. He’d given one to the woman who would be the mother of his child. He’d felt like pampering her, and he had. She deserved it, and he intended to see that she had plenty more pampering while he was here.
“What of it?”
“Nothing, I guess.”
Upon reaching the living room, he leaned against the bookcase. “Out with it, Sloan.”
“Out with what?”
“The reason you called. I’m sure Leslie told you.”
“Yes, she told me of your plans. Doing something like that just doesn’t sound like you.”
Redford rubbed his hand down his face. “In case you’ve missed it, a number of things I’ve been doing lately that involve Carmen don’t sound like me. The main one is getting her pregnant.”
“Mistakes happen to the best of us.”
The last thing he wanted to tell Sloan was that he honestly didn’t think Carmen getting pregnant was a mistake. Although it certainly hadn’t been intentional, why was he beginning to think it was meant to happen? Like fate, which was something he normally didn’t believe in. Therefore, he decided not to respond.
Wisely, he chose to change the subject. “How’s my goddaughter?” He smiled knowing that question would work each and every time. Sloan loved giving Cassidy updates.
As Sloan went on about his daughter’s latest escapades, Redford’s mind drifted back to Carmen’s smile. Since she wasn’t someone who could easily mask her feelings, he knew she was genuinely appreciative of the pedicure and pleased with what he’d done.
Sloan’s voice trailed off and Redford knew it was time to end the call before his best friend chimed back in on the pedicure. “Time for me to prepare dinner, Sloan. I’ll talk with you later.”
Redford clicked off the phone and headed into the kitchen.
Carmen couldn’t help staring down at her toes yet again. Just the thought of Redford giving her a pedicure still had her in awe, and he’d done a good job. His hands on her legs had kept sensual sensations flowing within her. She was certain he’d been aware of them, which was probably why he’d spent such a long time massaging her legs.
Each time he’d touched her feet, ankles or legs, her heart beat wildly. One time, even her breathing became erratic. When that happened, he’d looked up at her and their gazes locked, and she could see the heat, need and hunger reflected in his eyes.
Using her hands, she fanned herself. Honestly? How could her body even think of sex while in this condition? Easily, when she had a drop-dead gorgeous man living under her roof. A man who had no problem touching her and kissing her.
Carmen dragged in a deep breath. The last thing she needed were reckless impulses.
Less than an hour later, Redford was back with dinner that he shared with her while they watched a movie. They ended up watching two. It was during the second movie that she felt nauseated again, but the moment quickly passed. She hoped that was a good sign and shared those hopes with Redford.
“I hope so, too. I can’t wait to hear what your doctor says next week,” he said.
Carmen was nervous about the doctor’s visit but refused to share those anxieties with him. She had to believe everything would be alright, especially since the morning sickness seemed less severe than it had been even a few days before.
Yet that seemed to pose another sort of challenge. With less bouts of nausea, she noticed Redford more and more. Not only did she notice him, but she also desired him. And when he did all those nice things for her, she fell deeper in love.
Later that night, after telling her goodnight, Redford brushed a kiss across her lips. A short while later, she was tossing and turning, unable to sleep. She slid out of bed, went to the window and pushed back the curtains to look at the stars. She didn’t want to remember the night she’d made a wish upon them, but she did.
She turned when she heard a knock at her door. “Come in.”
Redford strode in with his pj’s riding low on his hips and concern etched on his face. “Are you okay, Carmen? I heard you moving around.”
She recalled him saying how sleeping below her bedroom meant he could hear all the sounds above him. “I’m fine. I just couldn’t sleep.”
“Feeling nauseated again?”
“No. Just restless.”
“Oh.”
He came to stand beside her at the window. Her attention was no longer on the stars but on him. He was shirtless, and she recalled another time when she’d seen him wearing nothing at all.
That had been the first time she’d seen a man strip off his clothes. She’d watched him from the bed, wide-eyed, as he removed every single stitch. When she’d seen his naked body, she couldn’t get over just how well-endowed he was. There hadn’t been an inch she hadn’t found impressive. Why was she remembering that now, and why could she feel heat radiating from his body to hers?
“The stars are pretty tonight, aren’t they?”
Stars were the last thing she wanted to discuss. That’s how that night had started. Her believing in the stars. “Yes, they’re pretty.”
She made a move to turn from the window when he touched her arm. The connection was so hot, she almost jerked away.
“I was restless tonight too,” he said.
“You were? Why?”
“I was thinking about you and the kiss we shared earlier.”
There was no way she would admit the reason she’d been restless was because she had been thinking not only of him and that kiss, but that night when their child had been conceived. “What about me and the kiss?”
“I was thinking how good it was and how delicious you tasted.”
She nibbled on her bottom lip. Did he have to be so direct with his answers? His words stimulated her hormones. Something she didn’t need. “Why would you be thinking about that at this hour?”
He smiled at her. “I will admit that since our night together, I think of you at all hours of the night.”
This was the first time they had talked about that night. They had only discussed the results, namely her pregnancy. He’d even told her how that night had left him unable to desire another woman. But as of yet, they hadn’t talked about how making love with her had done that to him. Something so unprecedented. She doubted he would bring it up, so maybe she should force him to do so.
“Tell me about that night, Redford.”
He didn’t respond immediately, and she thought maybe he hadn’t heard her request. He proved her wrong when he asked, “What do you want to know about that night?”
“Everything. I’m sure you’re aware that was my first time with a man.”
He looked out at the stars and then back at her. “I know. At least it didn’t take me long to find out. You’re in your thirties. What had you been waiting on?”
Deciding to be honest, she said, “I thought I was waiting on you.”
“Sorry I disappointed you.”
“You didn’t. As far as the lovemaking went, you were worth the wait.” She allowed a shy smile to touch her lips when she added, “It was definitely better than anything I’d read in my romance novels.”
“Is that a fact?” he asked. She didn’t miss the arrogant smile that quirked the corners of his lips. Typical man.
At the risk of stroking his ego anymore, she said, “Yes, that’s a fact. But then there was nothing I had to compare it to other than those novels. For all I know, multiple orgasms might be common.”
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and looked at the stars again before saying, “They aren’t.”
“Oh.”
He didn’t say anything for a minute. “There was a lot I could have compared it to, Carmen, considering my reputation with women. However, I must say, you rocked my world that night. I hadn’t expected...”
When he didn’t finish, she refused to let him stop now. “You hadn’t expected what?”
He turned slightly and stared down at her. “So much passion from someone so inexperienced.”
She honestly didn’t know what to say to that, so she said nothing. Instead, her body reacted to the way he was looking at her. It was as if he wanted to deliberately stir that passion he was talking about. It didn’t help matters that he had what she thought was a beautiful chest.
He lowered his head toward her, and she lifted hers to him. When their lips touched, like before, heat flared into flame. And when he captured her tongue with his, she didn’t think it was possible for more passion to be generated than before. Yet it was, when he deepened the kiss and sucked on her tongue.
That prompted salacious thoughts to enter her mind. She loved all the feelings his tongue invoked. His warm chest against her robe offered no barrier to the heat, and when she felt the hardness of him pressed against her middle, it took everything she had to keep her knees from buckling. He must have sensed it; he swooped her up into his arms and carried her over to the bed.
She was tempted to ask him to join her there but couldn’t. If they ever made love again, he had to be willing. When and if that day came, she would be willing, as well. There was no way she could not be with all the love flowing in her heart for him.
After placing her on the middle of the bed, he leaned down and brushed a kiss across her lips again before whispering, “Good night, Carmen.”
“Good night, Redford.”
She then watched him leave her bedroom.