A Child on the Way

by Janis Reams Hudson

  “He never said, but I got the impression that he felt going to a movie was too…plebeian for someone of his stature.”

  Jack rolled his eyes and refilled his coffee cup.

  “I was late leaving work and Roger was going to pick me up. I rushed home, and when I walked into the house, I surprised a burglar.”

  “Were you hurt?” Jack demanded instantly.

  “No. I was scared to death, though, when he threatened me with my own butcher knife. But Roger burst in and scared the man away.”

  “At least he was good for something. Did you get a good look at the burglar? Were the police able to catch him?”

  “He was masked. Needless to say, I didn’t feel much like going to the movie after that little experience. I was so rattled I let Roger pour me a drink. He kept pouring them and one thing led to another, and, well—” she gave Jack a wry grin and patted her belly “—he spent the night.”

  “Ah.”

  “Yes. Ah. I was convinced I was falling in love with him again and that he had completely changed.”

  “But he hadn’t?”

  “When a snake sheds its skin, it’s still a snake. The morning after…well, the morning after, he left his watch on my nightstand. It was the Rolex his grandfather had given him when he passed the bar, so I decided to drop it off to him at his office on my way to work.”

  She sat there for a long moment and stared off into space. “He was there,” she murmured.

  “Roger?”

  Lisa blinked and cleared her vision. “Roger, and the burglar from the night before.”

  “The burglar? In Roger’s office?”

  “I would never have recognized him, but I heard them talking. Roger was counting out a great deal of cash, and the man thanked him, said the next time Roger wanted help scaring a woman into bed, just give him a call.”

  “Son of a—Roger paid the guy to break into your house and scare you?”

  “That’s it in a nutshell. We won’t go into how that made me feel, but I made this really spectacular scene right there in the law offices.” She sipped on her milk. “As it turns out, our divorce was the first divorce in Roger’s family—ever, as far as anyone knew. Roger was pushing his grandfather to make him a partner in the law firm, but George—that’s his grandfather—told him he wasn’t about to have a divorced man as a partner in the firm he’d devoted his life to. So they worked out a deal. If Roger and I remarried, he would get his partnership.”

  Jack nearly spewed his mouthful of coffee across the table.

  “Yeah, that’s more or less what I thought, too,” Lisa said, noting his reaction. “Roger’s been hounding me ever since—particularly once he found out I was pregnant. He wants that partnership in the worst way. He started calling me, leaving messages, sending flowers to my home and office. He even hired that blasted private investigator so he could claim he loved me so much he simply had to know where I was all the time.”

  “Has he ever heard of stalking?” Jack demanded.

  “He’s heard of it. I’ve filed more than one complaint with the police.”

  “They at least slapped him with a restraining order, I hope.”

  “Are you kidding? His uncle, a judge, took care of making sure that never happened, then sent orders down to his cousin, the police captain, to make sure the courts weren’t bothered with any more of my little fairy tales.”

  “I see why you wanted to get away.”

  “That, plus the wedding plans were getting to me.”

  “The what?”

  “Roger decided months ago that he wasn’t going to take no for an answer and started making wedding plans. No one’s ever told him no before and made it stick. He’s never lost a case in court, never settled, never plea-bargained. He always gets his way. He’s absolutely convinced that I’ll change my mind.”

  “But that’s…that’s…”

  “Crazy?” she offered. “Preposterous? Outrageous? All of the above. I finally resorted to contacting his grandfather and telling him to call Roger off.”

  “Didn’t work?”

  Lisa shook her head. “He said he wouldn’t dream of interfering in our little lovers’ spat.”

  “They’re all certifiable in that family.”

  “You won’t get an argument out of me. I just hope this poor baby doesn’t inherit it,” she said, rubbing her abdomen. “My doctor agreed that the stress I was under—not from my job, but from Roger—wasn’t good for me or the baby, so I decided to get out of town for a while.” She took another sip of milk. “Oh, good grief!” she exclaimed.

  “What?”

  “I just remembered all the stuff in my trunk.”

  “The trunk of your car?”

  She nodded. “Before tonight I had about decided that I had come up here to have the baby, but I couldn’t figure out why I hadn’t brought any baby things with me. That seven thousand—now I remember. All my financial records are in my briefcase in the trunk of the car. Otherwise I would have found them and realized I hadn’t cleaned out my bank accounts to get that much cash.”

  Jack’s lips twitched. “You mean you really did steal it?”

  Lisa grinned. “At least that would be something colorful I could remember from my past, but no, I didn’t steal it. When I left town, I stopped at a car lot and sold my car. I cashed the check and took the bus to another car lot where I paid cash for an older car. The seven thousand I had in my purse when I got here is what I had left after the purchase.”

  “We’ll make a run into town tomorrow afternoon and get your things from your trunk.”

  “Thank you.” She sighed. “It seems I’m always thanking you for something.”

  “Aw, shucks, ma’am,” he said with an exaggerated drawl. “Here at the Flying Ace, we aim to please.”

  She finished her milk and Jack finished his coffee, and they gravitated toward the living room. Jack led her to the couch and sat down beside her.

  “So you really did come here to have your baby?”

  “I was afraid Roger might do something really crazy if I stayed in Denver, like steal the baby from the hospital to make me marry him.”

  “Hell.” Jack rubbed a hand over his face. “I hadn’t thought of something like that, but it sounds like with him anything’s possible.”

  “That’s why I called Belinda. I was so stressed out that I couldn’t think straight and didn’t trust my own judgment. I was hoping she would come up with a solution. She’s the one who said I should come here. When she told me about the section house, I thought of all that privacy, where no one could find me, and it sounded like heaven.”

  “Until you ended up in the ditch. How did that happen, by the way?”

  Lisa frowned. “I don’t remember. I remember getting…no, I don’t. I think…the last thing I remember before coming to when you found me was leaving Denver. How odd that I can remember everything else, but not coming to Wyoming.”

  “Not so odd,” Jack said. “Didn’t the doctor say you might have trouble remembering what happened right before the accident?”

  “I guess he did.” She grinned. “What can I say? I’ve had amnesia. I forgot.”

  He smiled at her. “How does it feel, having your memory back?”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “I guess that was a dumb question.”

  His look, just a little on the sheepish side, inexplicably pleased Lisa. “It feels liberating. Like I’ve stepped out of the shadows and into the light. How hokey is that?”

  “Not hokey.” Jack held her gaze and shook his head. “I can’t tell you how glad I am that everything’s all right now.”

  “Everything but good ol’ Roger,” she said with disgust.

  “Yeah, good ol’ Roger.” Jack frowned and scratched his jaw. “What are we gonna do about him?”

  “He’s not your problem, Jack.”

  “Let’s see.” With his hands behind his head, Jack slouched down on the couch until his neck rested against the back
and he could study the ceiling. “There’s stalking. We have our own judges in Wyoming,” he added casually. “In fact, we even have one in the family, so to speak. Two can play that game.”

  “There’s a Judge Wilder? I thought you were all ranchers.”

  “Well, he’s not exactly a Wilder. He’s my sister’s stepson’s late mother’s father’s cousin.”

  Lisa blinked in astonishment. “You made that up.”

  “Couldn’t. My imagination’s not that good. But now that I think about it, Rachel is adopting Cody, so he’s not her stepson anymore—he’s her son. Anyway, if that judge doesn’t see things our way, there are others. As for Hampton, he came to the ranch and presented himself under false pretenses and tried to get you to leave with him, knowing you didn’t know who he was. I wonder if that could be considered attempted kidnapping.”

  Lisa stared at him in awe. “Why do I get the feeling you’re not joking?”

  He raised his head and looked at her. “Because I’m not. If we don’t do something about Roger, you’ll be looking over your shoulder the rest of your life. What happens when you want to leave the baby at day care someday? What’s to keep him from snatching her then?”

  While it warmed her heart to hear Jack say “we” and refer to her baby as “her,” it chilled her to realize he had a legitimate point. She had to find a way to make Roger leave her and the baby alone.

  “It’s not your problem, Jack.”

  “You’re not in this alone,” he told her solemnly.

  She closed her eyes, half in frustration, half in uncertainty. “I have to stand on my own.”

  Jack reached out and took her hand in his. “You can stand on your own without having to stand by yourself.”

  Lisa was more touched than she could say. “I guess I have to say it again.”

  “Say what?”

  “Thank you.” Never had anyone been so generous with her, so giving of himself. She couldn’t bring herself to think that he was merely setting her up for a fall, the way Roger would have, or that he only wanted something from her. Not Jack.

  Suddenly he burst out laughing.

  As moved as she had been, his laughter came as a crushing blow. She looked away quickly to hide the sudden moisture gathering in her eyes. What a fool she’d been to think he’d been sincere. Men weren’t sincere. Hadn’t she learned that over and over from Roger?

  “Hey,” Jack said, placing a finger under her chin and turning her face toward him. “Lisa?”

  She jerked her face from his touch. “I’m glad I can be such an easy source of amusement for you.” She pushed herself away from the back of the couch and started to rise.

  “Whoa.” Jack grasped her arm and kept her from standing up. “What the hell are you talking about? You’re mad that I laughed because the front of your blouse moved all by itself?”

  With her tears swallowed back, irritation set in. Irritation with herself. She’d known, oh, she’d known better than to let any tender feelings develop for a man, to trust a man. Didn’t she always get kicked in the teeth, metaphorically speaking? Didn’t she always—“My blouse?”

  He looked at her cautiously. “What did you think I was laughing at?”

  “You were laughing at my blouse?”

  Frowning, he gave a slight shrug. “The baby must have moved. One little spot of your blouse over your stomach just suddenly poked out, then fell back down.” His voice trailed away, then he asked again, “What did you think I was laughing at?”

  Lisa felt like a fool. She had thought for years that men made fools of women, but she was discovering that she apparently needed no help in that department. She could make a fool of herself all on her own.

  Her eyes stung again. How incredibly unfair of her to lay Roger’s shortcomings on Jack’s shoulders! How long had she been doing that?

  “Talk to me, cupcake.”

  “I’m sorry.” Tears nearly choked her. Tears of shame. She buried her face in her hands. “I’m s-sorry.”

  “No.”

  Oh, God, now he would be disgusted by her tears and would—

  You’re doing it again!

  This wasn’t Roger. It was Jack. Yet ever since her memory had returned, she seemed to be having trouble keeping them separate in her mind, and that was so unfair. To Jack, and to herself.

  “I’m s-sorry,” she said again.

  Then, incredibly, the next thing she knew she was being lifted and turned until she sat on Jack’s lap with his arms, those strong warm arms, wrapped securely around her.

  Jack didn’t know what was going on. All he knew was that somehow he had hurt her, yet she was apologizing to him and now she was crying and he couldn’t stand it. “Don’t cry,” he begged as he held her on his lap. “I’m the one who’s sorry. Don’t be hurt, honey. Don’t let me hurt you. That’s the last thing on earth I’d ever want to do.”

  Lisa sniffed and took a swipe at her cheeks. “You didn’t hurt me. I hurt me. And I hurt you, too, but you didn’t even know it.”

  “I knew it. The minute I saw your tears. That hurts me, because I can’t stand to see you unhappy.”

  A certain look in her eyes—guilt? shame?—brought a new ache to Jack. “It’s him, isn’t it? Something I did reminded you of him.”

  “It’s not your fault,” she said in a rush. “I’m just not used to a man who isn’t trying to make fun of me or use me or get something from me. You don’t want anything from me. I had no right to think that of you. I know you’re not like him.”

  “You’re damn right I’m not.” He cupped her damp cheek in his palm. “I’m nothing like him. If I could, I’d burn the memory of him right back out of your head. But if you think I don’t want anything from you, then you’re forgetting this.” And he kissed her. Gently at first, then deeply, passionately, as if she were a feast and he was starving.

  Lisa was initially stunned, then lost. His hunger became hers. She clutched at his shoulders to bring him closer and gave herself to the kiss. To him. If their last kiss had been overwhelming, this one was…devastating.

  His hands, those callused workingman’s hands, were both gentle and fierce at the same time, and they were everywhere. He stroked her back, her arms, her abdomen. When he cupped her breast, everything inside her focused there. It was the most exquisite thing she’d ever felt.

  “Oh, Jack,” she breathed against his mouth.

  “Tell me no.”

  “I can’t,” she whispered.

  He kissed her again. “Tell me to stop.” And again.

  “Don’t stop.”

  Her words were sweet, sweet music to his ears, but he knew he should call a halt. “I’m not what you need,” he told her.

  “You’re exactly what I need.”

  He looked into her eyes and knew she believed it, but he couldn’t let her. “Then I’m not what you deserve. You deserve a man who can make promises he’ll keep forever, a man who’ll love you. If I had that in me to give a woman, you would be that woman, but I don’t, Lisa. I can give you pleasure, friendship, affection, but—”

  “Hush.” She placed her fingers over his lips. “We’re a good pair, then, aren’t we? You can’t love a woman, and I don’t want to love a man.”

  Jack pressed his forehead against hers and held her close. It must have been a cruel twist of fate, he decided, that made her feel so right in his arms, as if she belonged there forever, as if his reason for existing was to hold her.

  “Then we should stop.” He hated saying the words, but knew he had to. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from kissing her cheek, her nose, her jaw.

  “I don’t want to stop. But…”

  “But what?”

  Lisa looked at him and swallowed hard. “I’m afraid I’ll disappoint you. I’m not any good at this. And I look like a whale.”

  “I told you,” Jack said, brushing his thumb over her nipple and capturing her gasp with his mouth. “I like the way you look, and you’re very good at this. Can’t you feel what you
do to me?” He nudged his hips against her to show her exactly what he meant.

  Lisa felt his erection press against her. She couldn’t doubt that he wanted her. And she wanted him. All she could do was hold on and hope that it would be as good between them when they made love as it was now. Because the one thing she knew was that she couldn’t pass up this chance to be with Jack. She needed his closeness, his strength, his touch. His warmth and laughter. His belief in her.

  “Take me to bed, Jack.”

  Her request humbled him. She had to have reservations. She’d already said she was afraid she would disappoint him. Yet once again she proved her courage by asking this of him. Maybe he should say no. Maybe he should stop this before it went any further, but he couldn’t. For himself it was the last thing in the world he wanted to do. And he would be damned if he would do anything to add to the feelings of inadequacy her ex-husband had instilled in her.

  Against her lips he whispered, “It will be my—” he paused to nibble once, twice “—extreme pleasure.” Then he gave, and took, a deeper kiss, with tongues dancing and hearts pounding.

  Lisa nearly wept in relief. Never had she knowingly taken such a gamble. But once again Jack proved how different he was from Roger by not making her beg, not patting her on the head and telling her she didn’t know what she wanted. Not outright laughing at her.

  No, this was Jack, who took such gentle care with her and made her feel good about herself. Jack, who made her burn deep down inside in a way she never had before. Jack, who with a single kiss could melt her bones.

  “Hold on to me,” he murmured.

  “Yes.” For as long as I can.

  Chapter Ten

  He carried her upstairs and stood her beside her bed.

  “I think I’m nervous,” she said.

  Jack swallowed. “Me, too.” He ran his hands up and down her arms, aching to feel her flesh but determined to go slowly.

  “You?” she asked.

  “I’ve never made love with a pregnant woman before.” He splayed one hand over her stomach. “She’ll be all right, won’t she, if we’re careful?”

  Right then Lisa would have walked through fire for Jack Wilder. “She’ll be fine.”