by Tina Leonard
She nodded. “Things that perhaps involve kissing, soap, warm water and a very skilled pair of hands. Those kind of wifelike things.”
He looked at her. “I see.”
“So, you were saying about the ranch?” Jackie checked Pete’s jeans, noting with pleasure that he wasn’t as immune to her as he’d been acting. “Easygoing Sam doesn’t appreciate you being moody?”
“I’m not moody,” Pete said. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“Me, maybe?” Jackie said, unbuttoning her top.
He swallowed, watching her every move. “Maybe a little.” His gaze lit on her lips, and then the expanse of skin beginning to show between the freed buttons.
He jumped to his feet. “You stay right there, Jackie. I’m going to shower. When I get out, I’ll rub your feet.”
He hurried off to the shower. Jackie closed her eyes, holding back a shriek of frustration. He was terrified of her doing anything that might hurt the babies.
She was going to scream if this kept up for three more months. “You’re in for the surprise of your stubborn life, buddy,” she said, getting up from the recliner and pulling off her clothes. She sneaked into the bathroom, where she could see Pete’s strong, muscular body under the spray. His eyes were closed as he let the water beat down on his back—and an hour in the shower wasn’t going to take care of the issue she could see that he had at the moment.
But she could. She slipped into the shower with him, moving her hands over his erection. Pete’s eyes snapped open, and he started to pull away.
But now he was her prisoner. And she wasn’t letting him go. She moved her hands along him, caressing him, until she felt his reluctance ebb away. He seemed to strengthen in her hands.
“I’ve missed you,” she said. “You can’t keep me in that recliner like a locked-away princess and not let me feel you.”
His arms slowly went around her at last, and he held her against him, groaning a little as she stroked him. “I’ve missed you. You have no idea how much.”
She pressed small kisses along his chin. “No more treating me like I’m going to break if you so much as touch me.”
He leaned his chin against the top of her head, fully under her spell. “I dream of touching you.” Almost reluctantly, he took her breasts in his hands, cupping them, teasing the nipples. “You’re scaring me. The doctor said—”
“I’m seducing you.” She gently pushed his hands away. “Kiss me. You’ll like it, I promise.”
So he did. Jackie pushed up against him, her hands teasing him, torturing him, but then drawing him inexorably toward pleasure. It was such a relief to touch him, feel his strong body, that Jackie wanted more, and relief from the heat of remembering what Pete could do to her body.
“After the babies are born,” Pete began, and Jackie said, “The honeymoon begins ASAP,” and the next thing she knew, he was shuddering against her, holding her the way she’d wanted to be held, and letting her hold him.
His arms locked around her. “You did seduce me,” Pete murmured against her wet hair, and Jackie smiled.
“Yes,” she said, happy to have her stubborn cowboy back in her arms. “Never think about staying away from me again.”
“You win,” Pete said, “I’m only a man. Not a prince.”
Jackie smiled. He was her prince, but she couldn’t allow him to be a tyrant in matters of marital pleasure. He was just going to have to let her please him often.
AFTER JACKIE’S rather skilled seduction of him—and Pete had to admit he’d loved every second—he made sure he put her right back in her recliner. “The home nurse says you are to stay still,” he said, kissing her forehead to take the sting out of his words. “Not that I don’t seriously appreciate your foxy side. But I have to think for the five of us. That means you have everything you need right here.” He pointed to the TV remote, the portable phone, a glass of water and Fanny, whom he’d placed in her lap. “And I don’t want you alone, either, Jackie, not even for fifteen minutes. Either me, or the home nurse, or Darla, or Fiona or even Jonas, if necessary, since he’s still a doctor, must be with you.”
“That’s what the phone is for, Pete,” Jackie said through gritted teeth. “So that people don’t have to spend their days sitting here watching me like a nesting duck. I’m a nurse,” she reminded him, as though Pete could ever forget it.
“But you’re not a doctor,” he said, dropping a kiss on her nose. “And these are my babies. I don’t want to take any chances. So from now on, you don’t move. I’ll take care of everything.”
She glared at him. “Pete, you’re going to be a wonderful father. And I appreciate this newly protective side of you. Believe me when I say that in five years, I never thought you cared so much—”
“Well, you were wrong.” He folded his arms across his chest. “I cared.”
“But now you care a lot,” she said. “Too much.”
He shook his head. “Either the sofa, the bed or the recliner. But you, my love, will stay in a horizontal position until our little girls are ready to see their father’s handsome face.” He kissed her on the lips, ducking back when she took a gentle swipe at him. “Oh, my little hellcat. I do love you.” He gently patted her tummy, then went into the kitchen. “So what can I make you for dinner, my turtledove?”
Pete smirked to himself. He was pretty certain that if he’d been anywhere near Jackie, that last statement would have gotten the remote launched at his head. His lady was impatient and on edge, and he couldn’t blame her. Pete couldn’t imagine being confined to a recliner. “You probably think this is all my fault,” he called out to her.
“Probably,” she said, and he grinned.
“Egg salad?” he asked. “Or pancakes. Fiona sent the egg salad. I can whip up mean pancakes. Your choice, my love.”
“I’m not hungry.”
She’d been plenty hungry for him not thirty minutes ago. Pete frowned and walked back out to the den. “I know this is hard on you. I’m trying to help.”
Jackie shook her head. “I’m sorry. I know you are. And it’s not bad. I have all these wonderful books to read. There are three hundred channels on the TV. I’m catching up on movie classics, and that’s really fun. I’ve been ordering DVDs on my laptop and building a collection of family movies between researching other wedding shops across the country. But it’s not the same.”
“Try being the guy who can’t give his wife any pleasure at the moment,” he said. “It’s embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing?” She looked surprised.
“What do you think? While I appreciate your efforts, it’s not as much fun without you screaming hallelujahs in my ear, Jackie. It’s bad for my ego.” He thought about it for a minute, trying to explain. “It’s like yelling into a canyon and nothing comes back.”
“Coming without me isn’t good?”
“It’s not bad,” he said, “but it’s not as good, either.”
“Oh,” Jackie said. “I thought men just—”
He held up a hand. “Common misconception. But men are not cave-dwellers in search of the one-sided orgasm. Trust me. Some of us have evolved. And we like being joined in the hallelujah chorus. In fact, several hallelujah choruses. A hat trick is best.”
Jackie nodded. “Thank you for explaining that. Now I’m even more hot and bothered.”
“I knew it,” he said. “It’s best we leave sex off the menu for now. Back to the pancakes or whatever else your heart desires.”
“My heart desires you.”
He sighed. “You, my sweet, must just lie there and look pretty.”
She threw a pillow that caught him square in the face. “What?”
“Go,” Jackie said, sounding like she meant it. “And next time you think of me, think of me in my nurse’s uniform, taking your temperature in a place you won’t appreciate, you male chauvinist—
“Hang on,” Pete said, “I’m just saying—”
“I have knitting needles,” she said. “You s
hould go now.” She brandished a needle from which hung a pink bootie that didn’t look all that successful to him—not that he planned on mentioning it to his angel cake while she was in this rather surly mood.
“All right. I’m going to get pasta. With veggies, because that will be healthy. And when I get back, we’ll have a picnic right here.” He gave her his best how’s-that-deal? smile and got a finger pointed at the door for his effort.
“I won’t be gone long,” Pete said. “I’ve got my cell phone if you need me, if you need anything at all—”
“Go!”
PETE RAN INTO Creed at the Italian family restaurant. “Why are you here?” he asked as he slid into the booth where his brother sat nursing a brewski.
“Fiona didn’t cook anything tonight. She said we were on our own.” Creed shrugged. “Usually she gets ruffled if some of us don’t show up for dinner. But she’s been acting a little moody lately.”
“Must be something in the water.” Pete thought about Jackie and decided she had cause to be as moody as she liked. “Is Aunt Fiona feeling all right?”
“She’s fine.” Creed shook his head, his black hair wild and unbrushed. He needed a shave, Pete noticed, or he was thinking about growing an unattractive mop on his face. And he looked glum. “Bode Jenkins came over, and the two of them had an unpleasant meeting of the minds, to choose polite terms.”
Pete straightened. “What did Bode want?”
“I don’t know. Burke told me about it. That’s the only reason I can guess at what upset Fiona.”
“That bastard,” Pete said, “I’ll kick his ass.”
“No need. Judah already did. Sort of. As much as you can kick an old man’s ass.” Creed scratched his chin. “I think he just yelled at him and told him he’d kick him good if he didn’t move his carcass off Callahan property. And Bode said it wasn’t going to be Callahan property much longer, and then Fiona fainted. I think.” Creed swallowed half his beer, then nodded. “Yeah. Jonas said she’d fainted.”
“Damn,” Pete said. “I can’t tell whose butt I need to be laying out if you’re going to change the facts every time you draw a breath.”
“It happened so fast. Fiona’s like a badger, you know, so we weren’t too worried about her, but then Bode dropped his ace card and Fiona went lights out. Hell, Pete, I thought she’d kicked it.”
Pete went cold. “She’s tougher than that. She’ll outlive us all.”
“Yeah.” Creed swallowed some more beer, then shook his head. “Anyway, so now we all know about the secret Fiona’s been hiding. She said we’re losing the ranch.”
Pete shook his head. “I guess.”
Creed narrowed his eyes. “Did you already know?”
“I knew a little about it,” Pete said, “though I was never sure Fiona had told me everything. You know how she dribbles out bits and pieces. And it’s never clear exactly what’s really going on.”
“But you knew. And you didn’t tell any of us.” Creed looked mad as hell.
Pete shrugged. “She asked me not to.”
“But you knew there wasn’t going to be a ranch for any of us to win. You knew that all along. You would have let us head to the altar for no reason.” Creed glared at him.
Pete shrugged. “You weren’t in any danger, were you?”
“I might have been! And you would have let me walk the plank!”
“Nah.”
“Oh, yes, you wouldn’t have stopped me.” Creed jutted his scraggly chin out. “Do you have any idea how much we’ve been worrying about this whole marriage bet?”
“Who’s we?”
“The rest of us. Those of us who weren’t picking out brides.”
Pete shook his head. “As I recall, you were all too happy to let me be the fall guy.”
“And so we were. But we didn’t know Jackie would marry you at the time. Any of us might have ordered a bride. Gotten a subscription to an online dating service. I seriously thought about it.” Creed gulped. “But marriage is not for the faint of heart, and my heart is faint when it comes to commitment.”
“I know,” Pete said sourly. “You weren’t in any danger. So cool it.”
“Still. Brothers shouldn’t hold back pertinent information, especially when it comes to Fiona.” Creed paused. “I’ve been sitting here thinking, and I’ve worked it over pretty well in my mind, and…I’m going back on the rodeo circuit.”
Pete sighed. “Don’t make a hasty decision.”
“There’s nothing else for us to do. We’re all in the process of thinking through our options. Jonas put an offer on the ranch east of here. Judah’s going back to rodeo for a while. Rafe is seriously considering hiring on with the Shamrock ranch. And Sam…well, he says he’ll probably be Fiona’s bodyguard. Or go do some bullfighting. He’d make a damn lousy clown, in my opinion. Wasn’t very good at it before. Still, a man’s got to do something, and if we have no livelihood here, then what the hell can any of us do? Can’t sit around on our duffs watching our family home go up in a puff of smoke.”
Pete shook his head. “Nothing good can come of Sam and bullfighting.”
Creed shrugged. “He says someone has to hang around to make Bode’s life a misery. He says he’s either going to take his aggression out on Bode or on bulls. He hasn’t decided yet.”
“Marvelous,” Pete said, “this is all just ducky as hell.”
His cell phone rang. Pete pulled it from his pocket, snapping it open when he saw the call was from Darla.
“Pete?” Darla said. “Thank God I reached you. Your phone hasn’t been ringing.”
He frowned. Maybe the reception in the restaurant was poor. “What’s up?” he asked, his body tensing, his thoughts immediately on Jackie.
“It’s nothing,” Darla said, but she didn’t sound like her normally bouncy self. Pete held the phone tightly against his ear so he could hear her. “At least I hope it’s nothing. Jackie was having a little stomachache, a bit more cramping than usual, so she called me and I came over to sit with her. Then I decided to call the doctor and he suggested we swing her by the hospital.”
Pete stood up, tossed some money on the table. He knew he shouldn’t have let Jackie stand so long. Maybe hot showers weren’t good for pregnant women. They’d had harsh words between them, perhaps a toxic stew for tiny angels. “I’ll be right there.”
He snapped the phone shut. “Jackie’s gone to the hospital,” he told Creed, his body feeling queer and not part of himself anymore as he hurried to his truck.
Dear God. Please let her be fine. I only just made her mine.
Chapter Seventeen
The scary—and amazing—part was that Pete was a father faster than he’d ever dreamed he could be. One day he was thinking marriage, and today Pete realized they hadn’t bought cribs. Diapers. Toys. Hadn’t even talked about it.
Pete wasn’t even sure how they were going to fit three babies into the small guest room. But he looked at Jackie’s worn-out face and thought she was beautiful, tough and strong, and he knew everything was going to be fine.
He smoothed her hair away from her face. He still didn’t understand exactly what had gone wrong. Or maybe nothing had gone wrong. Perhaps the babies had just decided there was too little room inside his petite wife for all of them to be comfortable. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to the doctor yet.
He kissed Jackie on the forehead. “Mrs. Callahan, you have three very small, very beautiful little daughters. And do you know something? They all have your cute nose.”
Jackie smiled wanly. “They have all their fingers and toes?”
“They’re perfect. Little angels.”
His heart hammered inside him. What was he going to do now? He had to learn how to bathe babies. He’d looked them over carefully as the nurses gently suctioned them, weighed them, measured them. It had taken every bit of self-control not to beg the nurses to be more careful with his tiny progeny—the babies looked so helpless, so fragile. More fragile than anything he’d e
ver seen in his life. Fanny was bigger and stronger than his daughters.
He was scared as hell.
“I love you,” he said to Jackie.
“I love you, too.” She closed her eyes.
“Jackie,” he said, close to her ear so that she wouldn’t feel like she had to open her eyes and look at him, “I’m… I’m losing it here.”
She opened her eyes and reached for his hand to squeeze. “Everything is fine.”
He swallowed. “You scared the hell out of me. I think I hurt you. Maybe we had too much…I mean, I can’t bear that you were in pain.”
She shook her head. “I’ve always wanted children. I didn’t think I could have them. Whatever pain I had was such a small sacrifice that I’ve already forgotten about it.”
He glanced around at the nurses, who were paying him no attention at all. Their whole focus was on his darling bundles of joy. But the emergency C-section weighed heavily on his mind. What if there’d been a problem? “Jackie,” he whispered, “Is it okay with you if these are all the children we have? I don’t think I can live with the fear of losing you.”
But Jackie had fallen asleep so his agonized soul-searching was his alone. Pete took a deep breath and tried to get a grip on himself.
“Mr. Callahan,” a nurse said, “we’re going to take the babies down to neo-natal now.”
The babies. He probably looked like a cold-hearted sonofagun not to be over there staring with pride at his sweet girls. But he was nervous. They’d been fixed up with tubes and warmers and things, and he didn’t think he’d ever be able to change a diaper without worrying that he’d pull off a leg. Accidentally snap off a tiny toe. God, he’d seen corn kernels bigger than those toes. He gulped. “Thank you.”
He looked back to Jackie, embarrassed that he didn’t feel more for his daughters. Jackie was all he could think about. “Never again,” he told her, though she slept like an enchanted princess. “No more pregnancies. This is it for me. I want the rest of our lives together to be one long Saturday night.”