Her family. Oh, God. How was she going to explain this to her parents? They had been so excited when she called to tell them the good news earlier. They would be furious enough if they knew she had slept with Adam, but to learn she could be having her own baby, not Becca’s? They might never speak to her again.
Adam put his hand on her arm. She looked up at him and he gestured to the door. She realized the appointment was over. There was nothing else the doctor could do for them at this point. From now on it would just be a waiting game. At least twelve more weeks.
It sounded like a lifetime.
Her legs felt unsteady as Adam led her out. She only half heard him as he stopped to make next month’s appointment, then he ushered her out of the office and to the elevator. He was taking this awfully well.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said, as the elevator doors slid closed. “This is all my—”
“If you say it’s your fault one more time, I swear to God I’m going to make you walk home,” he said sharply, his eyes flashing with anger.
Whoa.
So much for him taking it well. Apparently he was as freaked out as she was. He was just better at hiding it.
He took a deep breath and blew it out. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. I just think that blaming each other, or ourselves, isn’t going to get us anywhere. It’s happened, and now we have to figure out the best way to deal with the situation.”
She nodded.
Reece was waiting for them when they walked out of the building. After they got in the limo, Adam asked, “Would you like to stop someplace and get dinner?”
The thought of food made her stomach roil. “I’m really not hungry right now.”
“You’ve hardly eaten a thing all day. It’s not healthy to skip meals.”
Nor would it be healthy to eat a meal, then barf it back up, which is what would probably happen. “I’ll have something later. I promise.”
They were silent for the rest of the drive back to his place. She figured they would talk later that evening, after they’d each had a chance to process it, but as they walked inside she was hit with a wave of fatigue so intense she knew she needed to rest first. She was so exhausted she tripped on the foyer step and would have fallen on her face if Adam hadn’t caught her by the arm.
“You okay?” he asked, brow creased with worry.
“Just really tired. I think I need to lie down.”
“You know we need to talk.”
“I know. And I’m not trying to avoid it. Maybe if I sleep for an hour or so, I’ll feel better.”
“Of course,” he said, leading her upstairs to the spare room.
“Would you possibly have an old shirt or something that I can sleep in? I didn’t know I would be staying over so I didn’t bring extra clothes.” She felt uncomfortable enough sleeping here, where this nightmare of a situation had been conceived, she couldn’t imagine doing it in her underwear.
“I’m sure I can dig up something.” He left for several minutes, then reappeared with a long-sleeved, button-down silk pajama top. “Will this work?”
“That’s perfect. Thanks.”
“I’ll be in my office if you need me.” He hesitated by the door, like he wanted to say something else, then he left, closing the door behind him. A second later she heard the muffled sound of him walking down the stairs.
It took all the effort she could muster to change into the pajama top, and though it was way too big for her, it was cool and soft against her skin. And even though it was freshly laundered, it smelled like Adam. That might have excited her if she hadn’t been so dead on her feet. It was as if it was all just too much to take in and her body was shutting down. She crawled into bed, under the covers, and must have been out before her head even hit the pillow.
She woke later, feeling drugged and disoriented, not sure where she was, or if it was day or night. She recalled the doctor visit and for a second thought maybe it had all been a terrible dream.
But she was at Adam’s house, and it hadn’t been a dream. It was very, very real. She looked over at the digital clock, blinking to clear the sleep from her eyes. It read 1:15 a.m.
One-fifteen? She shot up in bed and swung her legs over the side, instantly awake. She and Adam were supposed to talk. He was waiting for her!
Then she realized, he had probably gone to bed already, and their conversation, critical as it would be, would have to wait until morning. She was disappointed, but at the same time relieved. She needed time to think this through, to wrap her head around it, and knowing Adam, he would want to make a decision right away. He would want to begin planning their next move.
She got up and used the bathroom, then brushed her teeth with a spare brush she found in the cabinet. Since she would have to wear the same clothes tomorrow for the drive home, and there was nothing she hated more than not feeling fresh, she washed her panties in the sink and hung them on the towel bar to dry.
She was about to climb back into bed when her stomach let out a hollow rumble, and she realized that she was famished. She recalled how delicious the enchiladas were that they’d had for lunch and wondered if there were any leftovers. She should really eat something. Because as Adam had pointed out, she shouldn’t be skipping meals. Cliché and silly as it sounded, she was eating for two now.
She opened the door and peeked out into the hallway. The house was quiet and dark, just as she’d suspected. She felt her way down the stairs and tiptoed through the living room to the kitchen.
“Going somewhere?”
At the unexpected voice she let out a squeal of surprise, and whipped around. Adam was sitting slumped down on the couch, holding something…a drink, she realized. He was sitting in the dark drinking. Not that she could blame him. If alcohol wasn’t bad for the baby, she would be drowning in it by now.
“I woke up hungry,” she said. “I was going to get something to eat.”
As her eyes adjusted, she could see that he was shirtless, and wearing what looked like a pair of pajama bottoms.
Oh, my.
“I thought you’d gone to bed,” she said.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
Well, that was understandable. She wondered if he was upset, or even angry with her. It was too dark to see his individual features so she really couldn’t get a read on him.
“I’m sorry I slept for so long.”
“S’okay.”
“I wasn’t trying to avoid you.”
“I know.”
She took a step closer. “Are you okay?”
“What do you think?”
Fair enough. “Do you want to talk?”
“Actually, I think I’d prefer you take off your clothes.”
She actually jerked backward. Was that another joke? “E-excuse me?”
“I want to see you naked.”
“N-naked?”
“You said before that if I wanted to see you naked, all I have to do is ask. So I’m asking.”
She may have said it, but she didn’t actually mean it. And never in a million years did she believe he would actually ask. It had to be the alcohol talking. “You’re drunk.”
“So what if I am?”
“So, you’re clearly not thinking straight.”
“Isn’t that the point of drinking?” He downed the contents of his glass and set it on the table beside him. “Besides, it’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before.”
“Yes, but don’t you think it will inevitably lead to something else?”
“Again, that’s kind of the point.”
Her heart started to hammer. “But we said we wouldn’t.”
“We said a lot of things, and look where it got us. So get naked, now.”
He was only doing this because he was upset and intoxicated. He didn’t really want her. Not the way she wanted him. “No. I’m upset, too, but this isn’t going to solve anything.”
“No, but it’ll feel good, and that’s enough for me right now. Don�
��t you want to feel good?”
Maybe feeling good wasn’t enough for her.
But what if it was? Maybe she could have him just one more time.
No. Bad idea.
“Adam, I’m serious. Stop. We can’t do this. I don’t want to do this.”
“Making love to you again is all I’ve been able to think about,” he said, and his words warmed her from the inside out. Even though she knew he was only saying them because he’d been drinking and his inhibitions were compromised. And even if he had been thinking about it, it was just sex to him. It had nothing to do with love. That’s the way it was for men.
The men she knew anyway.
“We shouldn’t,” she said, but with a dismal lack of conviction. He was starting to wear her down.
“Come here, Katy,” he said, in a low growl that set every one of her nerve endings ablaze.
He reached out to grasp her wrist. She put up only the slightest bit of resistance before she let him pull her down into his lap. She was straddling his thighs, his silk pajama pants feeling unbelievably erotic on her bare bottom. Then he kissed her, tangling his fingers through her hair. Tenderly, his lips soft, his mouth sweet and tangy as his tongue slid against hers.
Wait a minute…sweet?
She broke the kiss and pulled back to look at him. Where was the alcohol taste? She grabbed the glass he’d been drinking out of and sniffed it. “What was this?”
“Orange juice.”
“With vodka?”
“Nope. Just plain old orange juice.”
“But…you said you were drunk.”
“No, you said I was drunk. I just didn’t correct you.”
“But I thought—”
He didn’t let her finish. He covered her lips with his and kissed away whatever she’d been about to say. He stroked and caressed away her doubts, until there was nothing left but raw need. When he pulled the pajama top up over her head and saw that she wasn’t wearing panties, he growled low in his throat. “I think you forgot something.”
“I didn’t have a clean pair for tomorrow, so I washed them out in the sink.”
“Lucky me,” he murmured as he dipped his head to take her nipple in his mouth. Her entire being shuddered with ecstasy.
Adam lifted her off his lap and laid her down on the cushions, settling beside her, then he was kissing her again. Her lips and her throat, her breasts. He tortured her with nips and love bites, until she was burning up with need. He worked his way downward, across her stomach, then lower still.
She was no stranger to oral sex, although she wasn’t usually the one on the receiving end. And on the rare occasion she’d been in the hot seat, the truth is it hadn’t really been that fantastic. More clumsy and awkward than arousing. But as Adam slipped down onto the floor beside her, spreading her thighs to make room for himself, as his tongue lashed out to taste her, she was so close to unraveling she couldn’t see straight.
Then a light switched on in the kitchen, dimly illuminating the room. She and Adam froze as they heard Celia shuffle out of her room. The couch was facing away from the light, so the only way she would know they were there was if she walked into the living room, which wasn’t entirely impossible.
She heard Celia get a glass out of the cupboard, and fill it with water. She was frantically trying to recall where Adam had thrown the pajama top when she felt his tongue on her again. She was so surprised she gasped, slapping a hand over her mouth to smother the sound. What the heck was he doing? Did he want to get caught?
Getting caught kissing was one thing, but this? This would be absolutely mortifying.
She tried to push his head away, to close her legs, but that only seemed to fuel his determination. He pressed her thighs open even wider, devouring her. Could this possibly be the man her sister claimed wasn’t adventurous enough? And maybe it was the element of danger, or the sheer stupidity of what they were doing, but the more she tried to fight it, the more turned on she was getting. Then Adam entered her with his fingers, thrusting them deep inside of her, and her control shattered. She buried her face in the cushion to muffle the moan of pleasure she couldn’t suppress.
She’d barely had a chance to catch her breath when the light suddenly went out, and Celia shuffled back to her room behind the kitchen.
The second Katy heard the door close she gave Adam a good hard whack on the top of his head.
“Ow! What was that for?” he said, ducking away from a possible repeat attack.
“Are you crazy?” she hissed, sitting up. “She could have walked in here and seen us.”
He was grinning. “But she didn’t. And you can’t deny that the idea of being caught was arousing as hell.”
No, she couldn’t deny it. But it wasn’t a chance she was willing to take again. “Maybe we should move this party upstairs.”
“That’s probably not a bad idea.”
No, it was. This whole thing was a horrible, horrible mistake. But it was too late now. He’d pleased her, and it was only fair to reciprocate. Right?
And if they were going to do this, they might as well have fun. And worry about the consequences in the morning.
She located the pajama top on the floor and pulled it on, just in case, then turned to Adam, grinning wickedly, and said, “Last one there is a rotten egg.”
Twelve
Katy darted up the stairs, and Adam took off after her, catching up just outside the bedroom where she’d been sleeping. He hooked his arms around her waist, trapping her against him, and tugged in the direction of his bedroom. She pulled away from him, looking hesitant.
Confused, he asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Where are we going?”
“My bedroom.”
“Not there.”
Because it wasn’t just his bedroom, he realized. It was Becca’s.
He didn’t try to explain that while it was Becca’s room, too, the bed itself had to be replaced due to her illness. And that even before that, he and Becca hadn’t exactly shared a lot of passionate nights there.
But he didn’t want to make Katy uncomfortable, so when she took his hand and led him into the spare room, he let her.
She pulled the pajama top off and walked backward toward the bed, summoning him with a crooked finger. And when he got there she shoved him backward onto the mattress. The sheets were cool against his skin and smelled like her. He tried to pull her down beside him, but she straddled his legs instead. Her skin was flush with arousal, her nipples puckered tight. Her hair hung down in mussed curls that grazed the tops of her breasts. He’d never seen anything so sexy in his life.
She ran her hands down his chest, raking his skin with her nails. “I want to see you naked.”
“All you had to do was ask,” he said with a grin, and she tugged his pajama bottoms down and off his legs. Then she just stared at his erection in awe, as though she’d never seen one before.
She must have noticed his curious expression, because she said, “I didn’t get a good look the other night.” She reached out and wrapped her hand around him, slowly stroking from base to tip, then back down again. “I’ve never seen one this big. Not that I’ve seen a lot of them. Only three, besides yours.”
That surprised him. Not that he thought Katy was the kind to sleep around, but she had a way about her that was blatantly sexual. Like the way she was casually running her thumb over the head of his erection, making it really tough to concentrate on the conversation. “That’s not many,” he said.
“You know, I didn’t lose my virginity until I was nineteen.”
Another surprise. “Really?”
“I had done a lot of fooling around before then, but I planned to wait until I was married to actually seal the deal.”
She gave him a gentle squeeze and his breath caught. “So why didn’t you?”
“Because it occurred to me around then that it could take a long time to find Mr. Right, and I figured if fooling around felt good, actual sex would feel even b
etter.”
“Did it?”
She shrugged. “Not at first. But then sometimes it did, depending on who I was with. But that never really mattered because I’m completely capable of taking care of my own needs if necessary.”
He didn’t know who these men were she was sleeping with, but it would be a cold day in hell when he let a woman he was with “take care of her own needs.”
“Is it weird that I’m telling you this?” she asked.
“Oddly enough, no.” Even though he was having an increasingly difficult time concentrating on what she was saying. His gaze was fixed on her hand, sliding slowly up and down his shaft.
“When did you lose your virginity?” she asked.
“I was sixteen.”
“Seriously?”
“She was eighteen.”
“Ah, an older woman. Did it last?”
“About fifteen seconds.”
She laughed. “I meant the relationship.”
“That was the relationship.” And he wouldn’t last much longer than that now if she kept stroking him that way. “We hooked up at a party. I never saw her again.”
“I’ve never had a one-night stand. Unless you count ten days ago.” Letting go of his erection, she ran her hands up his stomach, over his chest. “But I guess after tonight we’ll have to relabel it. Is there such a thing as a two-night stand?”
He didn’t see any reason to slap a label on it. It was what it was.
She gazed down at him, lids heavy, cheeks rosy. “I like talking to you. And I like that you’re willing to open up to me. I know that’s not easy for you.”
Not only did she like it, he realized that talking like this was turning her on. Like verbal foreplay.
A woman who got off on conversation. Who would have imagined? But he needed more. Less talk and more action. He needed to get his hands on her body, to be inside of her. It was all he’d been able to think about since that first time ten days ago. Looking back on it now, he should have realized that this was inevitable. That once was never going to be enough. “Why don’t you make love to me,” he said.
Her honey-dipped smile said she thought that was a pretty good idea. “Like this? With me on top?”
The Tycoon's Charm: The Tycoon's Paternity AgendaHonor-Bound Groom Page 10