by Sara Orwig
She couldn’t imagine breaking the news to Nick. She placed her hand on her flat stomach. For all his joy with Michael, he was just on the fringe of becoming a dad. Another baby in his life—this baby would be his own—was not in his plan.
He had made it emphatically clear this was a marriage of convenience that would not last. He would not want the complication of a baby.
Clenching her fists, she contemplated the future. Whatever he did, he had his inheritance. Eli would not be happy with Nick if they separated, but given his own past, she was certain he would accept a split. Eli would love the news. This would be his second grandchild and Nick’s baby. She had an ally in her father-in-law. He would celebrate. She was glad to think about Eli’s joy in the event, but Nick’s unhappiness offset any real delight she could feel over Eli’s attitude.
She was not going to tell Nick yet. She wanted to see the doctor and have her pregnancy confirmed by an expert before she told anyone.
The next day she left Michael with Clara and at three in the afternoon, she kept her doctor’s appointment.
The doctor confirmed that she was definitely pregnant, the baby due in September. Now she had to tell Nick.
That night she tried to look her most seductive. Clara was keeping Michael overnight and Grace had bought a new black lace teddy. She took a long, leisurely bath and dressed in the teddy, leaving her hair falling free. She had to fight the temptation to put off telling him because she had been in a magical paradise with Nick and she didn’t want it to end. If only the pregnancy had occurred after at least a year with him, giving Nick time to fall in love with her—and Michael. She sighed.
The cook had prepared dinner. She had requested something special that would keep by letting it remain in a low oven.
She had given the staff time off and none of Nick’s staff lived in his condo, so she and Nick would have the place to themselves. He called to tell her he would be home by six.
Her anticipation heightened as the time drew close. And then she heard the locks click free. She went to the front door wearing only the teddy and high-heeled black sandals.
Nick was just inside the front door when she stepped into the wide marble-floored entryway.
“Welcome home,” she said, hoping her voice sounded sultry.
Nick’s eyes widened as he tossed down his keys and looked her over slowly from her head to her toes. “You look gorgeous,” he said in a raspy voice. He shrugged out of his coat and let it drop unheeded as he loosened and yanked off his tie. His gaze still drank in the sight of her, causing a flurry of her heart.
“Ah, Nick, I’ve been dreaming of this moment all day.”
“This is a fantasy come true,” he said in a deeper gravelly tone. “Come here,” he added, drawing her to him. Her fingers flew over his buttons and in minutes his shirt lay on the floor while they kissed.
With a skipping heart, she clung to him, love for him driving her to kiss him with all the feeling she had.
She removed his belt and trousers, shoving away his briefs while he kicked off his shoes and peeled off socks. He walked her backward to the living area where he pulled her down on an area rug.
Wanting him, feeling as if he were slipping away from her and would soon be gone out of her life, she rolled him over, showering kisses from his mouth to his feet. Shifting astride him, she finally straightened as he raised her, holding her waist to pull her down on his thick rod.
She moaned with pleasure while he caressed her pouty nipples. Driven by sensation and a desperate need for him, she wanted to capture his heart, hold him in her life.
Then fears and anticipation were consumed by passion as she threw her head back, pumping, moving fast.
“Grace! Grace!” he cried her name in a husky voice.
“Ah, Nick, this is the best possible,” she answered.
“Best,” he repeated, and arched higher, thrusting into her and filling her.
She collapsed on him while he shuddered and pumped with his climax. Her breathing finally slowed, as did his. Holding her tightly, he rolled on his side and their legs entwined.
“What a homecoming,” he whispered, stroking damp strands of hair from her face.
“I’ve been waiting all day for this,” she admitted. “I want to make you happy.”
“I’m delirious. You’ll make me want to take off work by the middle of the afternoon every day.”
“I hope I can keep you from going in at all tomorrow.”
Fires flashed in his dark eyes and he kissed her again. She paused to run her fingers along his jaw. “Want to move to the bath?”
“Good idea,” he said, standing and picking her up.
In minutes they were in the round marble tub and she was in his arms, astride him again while they kissed. She still was bound with the same urgency she had when he arrived home and he seemed to be the same. He was aroused, soon shifting her to enter her again, loving her with the ardor and energy he had had before.
It was almost two hours later when they were in each other’s arms in bed after making long and leisurely love. Euphoria filled her and she pushed away all thoughts of pregnancy, deciding to wait until morning to tell him and have one more night of paradise.
“Dinner is in the oven and may be cooked to nothing. Want some smothered pheasant?”
“It’s been in the oven all this time? Let’s go look at this bird,” Nick said, sliding out of bed and crossing the room to get his robe. Her gaze ran over his smooth, muscled back, his strong thighs, long legs and tight buns, and desire stirred again. The fear that she would soon lose him made her desperate to love and hold him.
She slid out of bed to go to her closet and get her robe. As she reached for it, Nick’s arm circled her waist and he drew her warm, naked body against his own.
“Oh, Nick. That pheasant will burn to cinders,” Grace said as she looked at Nick’s mouth and stood on tiptoe to kiss him.
It was midnight before they got to the kitchen to eat. She looked at a shriveled pheasant and they made thick sandwiches out of cold chicken and pale cheese. They sat across from each other in the kitchen while they ate and she had part of her sandwich and her glass of cold milk before her appetite vanished completely.
“Come here,” Nick said, turning on music and pulling her into his arms to dance around the kitchen. He danced her into the dining room. The lights were out and they could view the lights of the sprawling metropolis beyond the surrounding glass walls.
She smiled at Nick as he watched her. “This is a super marriage, Grace. Great, far beyond my anticipation and, I’ll admit, my expectations were high.”
“I agree with all my heart. I’ve been surprised because I didn’t expect it to be quite like this.” She gave him an honest answer. While his comments gave her the perfect opening to tell him about her pregnancy, the words wouldn’t come.
Thinking about the past hours and their loving, she watched his handsome features and couldn’t bring an end to the night.
“The sex is just plain awesome,” Nick said, brushing her temple with a kiss. “Memories of loving you disrupt my work all through the day.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” she said, and he kissed her lightly, then nuzzled her neck. He pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly against him as they danced.
He became aroused and carried her back to bed to make love again. It was dawn before she stifled a yawn. “Nick, we’ve loved all night long. It’ll be time for you to go to the office soon.”
He chuckled. “I may play hooky this morning and sleep in. Or have a sex-in.”
She smiled and brushed a kiss on his shoulder. “Good plan,” she said, wanting him at home. She trailed kisses across his flat belly while she caressed him, seeing he was aroused and ready.
“Insatiable and sexy,” he murmured, raking his fingers in her hair. “Perfect,” he added, and she caressed his throbbing manhood.
Later, she fell asleep in Nick’s arms and when she stirre
d, she studied him. His black lashes were long with a slight curl. His lips were sensual, his lower lip full. Longing to wind her fingers in his hair, she resisted because she didn’t want to wake him. She had postponed telling him her news as long as she could. Dread was a cold knot in her stomach. She couldn’t shake the feeling that her condition was going to be an unwanted shock to Nick. No way could she imagine that Nick would be happy to discover he was going to become a father of another baby. He was warming to Michael more with each passing day, but he still viewed Michael as Bart’s son, slightly removed from himself.
Midmorning as they finished breakfast, Nick sat across from her. He was satiated, in euphoria, yet she could arouse him with just a look or touch. It was still a honeymoon. He couldn’t get enough of her and he was tempted to toss aside his responsibilities for today—something he had never done before—and take her back to bed instead of leaving for the office.
The marriage had turned out to be so much more than he had expected. He couldn’t stop thinking about Grace whenever he was away from her. Sex was hot, fantastic.
He looked at her thick mane of brown hair tumbling over her shoulders, thinking how it felt to run his fingers through the silky strands.
His gaze slipped lower and he undressed her with his eyes, becoming aroused, wanting her as if they hadn’t made love all night and all morning. She was beautiful, captivating, sensual. And lusty. He couldn’t stop thinking about entering his condo and having her appear in nothing but heels and black lace.
She was the sexiest woman he’d ever known, the most exciting to make love to. “Come here, Grace.”
Her green eyes darkened and she licked her lips, her pink tongue moving slowly across her rosy, full mouth. She stood and moved away from her chair while she continued to gaze into his eyes with a sultry look that heated him more.
She walked around the table and he gripped her wrist, tugging lightly to pull her down on his lap.
“Come sit in my lap,” he said. “I told them I would be in the office this afternoon because there are some things I need to take care of.”
“You told them you’d be there before noon,” she reminded him. “It’s the middle of the morning now.”
“Trying to get rid of me?” he teased, caressing her nape while inhaling the exotic perfume she wore.
“Not at all. Actually, I want to talk to you. You’re already late going in. It won’t matter if you’re just a little bit later.”
“I hope you have something in mind besides talk,” he said.
“I do, but first, I want to talk to you,” she said as he leaned closer to brush kisses on her throat.
“Talk? I had other plans,” he said, pushing open the vee neck of her scarlet velvet robe.
She tilted his chin to look directly into his eyes. “I want your attention, Nick. I’ll have it fully in a moment here. I have something I want to tell you.”
Puzzled, he looked into worried green eyes and realized she was not only serious, but concerned about something.
“So what is this bad news?” he asked quietly, a premonition of disaster nagging at him for the first time.
“I didn’t say it was bad. It’s not to me.”
“Then it won’t be to me,” he said, inhaling her scent. “So let’s cut to the chase.”
Placing her hands on either side of his face, she looked directly into his eyes. Her palms were cold and felt damp. “Hey,” he said, reaching up to take her hands and study her intently. “You’re cold. What is it, Grace?”
"Nick, I'm pregnant," she said.
Ten
Shocked, Nick inhaled as if all the breath had been knocked out of him. “You can’t be. You told me you’re on the Pill.”
“Yes, I am. This must have happened before I got on it,” she said.
“Before that, we just made love one night and I used protection,” he stated, releasing her hands without thinking about what he was doing as his mind went back over their times together.
“The doctor explained to me condoms aren’t foolproof, which I already knew. The statistics of failure are low, but it happens, Nick.”
“You’ve been to the doctor already.” He recalled their first night together. It seemed eons ago now. “It was Christmas Eve. You’re going into the second month,” he said, feeling as if a trap were closing over him. A pregnancy. His baby in their lives. He would be tied in this union that had become real, the vows binding with this pregnancy.
“That’s right.”
“This isn’t exactly in my plans,” he said, thinking aloud, almost forgetting Grace as he thought about his new status. He would be a father. His own baby. For a few moments, he forgot about being tied into this contract marriage of convenience. Instead, he considered becoming a father—the baby was his. Grace was carrying his baby. Momentarily, amazement was predominant. Then he thought of all the responsibility the baby would bring. Most of all—the permanency now of the union of the mother and father of the baby.
“It wasn’t in my expectations either, but it’s happened. We’ll have a baby around mid-September.” She slipped off his lap and walked away, pulling the neck of the robe closed beneath her chin.
She plunged her hands into the pockets and walked to the window to look outside. “We have a deal, but you’ve got what you wanted. In a few months we can separate. From what you’ve told me about your father, he’ll accept it. He won’t know whether we see each other or not.”
“I didn’t say I wanted to end our marriage, Grace. It’s a shock and I’m adjusting, but you’re jumping out on a limb,” he said, surprised by her reaction. He crossed the room to turn her to face him. “This pregnancy isn’t what either of us expected and I need to give it thought. I’m going to be a father when I thought I was getting into a marriage of convenience that would eventually end.”
“Nick, we’ll part ways. You’re not in love and you didn’t expect to become a father any more than I expected to have a baby besides Michael. It doesn’t change our long-term plans. We each got what we wanted out of this marriage. You’re not tied into it any more than you were yesterday before you knew about the baby.”
“I think I’m definitely tied into it,” he argued. “If you wanted me to jump for joy, I can’t because this is a shock and not in the plans. Let me get accustomed to the idea and think about the future. We don’t need to talk about ending a marriage that is good.”
“Very well,” she said.
He focused on her and realized she sounded subdued and she looked unhappy. He pulled her into his arms to hold her close. “Stop worrying and give me a chance to consider this. You’ve been thinking about it and adjusting. Give me time to do the same.”
Nodding, she stood stiffly in silence and he guessed he had disappointed her. She would get over it and her natural exuberance would return. He needed some time to think about their future and this explosive news.
He was going to become a father. Amazed, he realized there was no use in looking back or wishing they had done something differently. The baby was on its way and that was that.
He thought about Michael, who would now have a sibling. That was a plus. Then he thought about his dad. Another plus because his dad would be overjoyed. “Grace, we should call Dad and go see him to tell him the news. He will be excited and joyous over another grandchild.”
“Of course,” she said, looking up at him and stepping out of his embrace. “I’ll get dressed. You go to the office. You can call your dad and make arrangements for us to see him. He will be delighted over the news and I don’t think it will upset him greatly when we part.”
Nick faced her. “Grace, stop talking about ending our marriage. I haven’t said one word about doing that.”
“Are you ready for another baby in your life?”
“Ready or not, I’ll have one early next fall.”
“I doubt if you are. I think you want it all. You want a physical relationship. You want the marriage because it gives you your inheritance. You wa
nt the money, not because you need it, but because it satisfies you to win the battle. Yet you don’t invest anything of yourself. You make no commitments in the relationship. The wealth itself is meaningless. You’re not ready for a baby of your own. You can adopt Michael and play with him, but it’s superficial. You’re not really investing yourself in a deep, meaningful way,” she said. “I may want out of this before you do,” she added, and left.
Surprised by her accusations, he let her go. Her anger had come out of the blue and he wondered if it was caused by the discovery that she was pregnant. Or if she was furious that he hadn’t been ecstatic to discover he would become a father.
Was she giving vent to tears? He was tempted to go after her. Had she expected him to act thrilled? Theirs was a marriage agreed to for business reasons, convenience, never out of love. Surely she hadn’t expected him to turn cartwheels and be overjoyed at becoming a father of another baby. His baby, but a surprise.
Instead of going after Grace, he turned to the window, but he saw nothing outside. He was thinking over his future and what he needed to do to provide for this baby. His baby. It amazed him each time he thought about it, something he had never expected to happen. He pulled out his cell phone to call his dad.
Grace sat in a rocker in her bedroom. Tears stung. It was foolish to cry, because she shouldn’t have expected a big, enthusiastic response from Nick. He hadn’t been in love when they married—wasn’t in love now. Words of love had never crossed his lips. He was happy in their marriage, but always in the back of his mind had to be the fact that it wasn’t a permanent relationship.
She faced what really hurt. She wanted his love. She wanted Nick to love her and be overjoyed about the baby. His baby. She covered her eyes and cried quietly.
She dried her eyes and raised her chin. She would have two beautiful babies. Nick said he wasn’t ending the marriage, but she wondered. She had poured her love into this relationship and it wasn’t returned. She could stay and try to win his love, but did she want to? If she did, she would become more deeply in love with him.