After a while she shook her hair back and turned slightly to face him. The fire provided a backdrop for her beauty; her hair glinted in its light.
She drew a deep breath. “My baby’s father was an executive where I worked. I met him the first day on the job and fell head over heels in love. Or at least that’s what I thought.” She managed a rueful smile. “It took a while for him to notice me. We didn’t progress past polite hellos at the elevator for months.
“At a company party, he was standing beside the cocktail buffet, and because he was next to the shrimp dip and I wanted to keep talking to him, I ate more shrimp dip than I’ve ever eaten in my life and broke out in hives.”
“That’s one way to get a guy’s attention,” Conn said with a laugh.
“Right. Especially when you’re all puffed up with welts and you have to rush to the hospital. He went along with me to the emergency room, had his driver take me home afterward, held my hand in the back seat, and made sure I was settled for the rest of the night with my girlfriend who lived down the hall. He even called the next morning. But he didn’t keep calling, so I found out his office schedule and managed to station myself beside the elevator when he was likely to be getting on or off. It took a huge box of profiteroles to bribe his administrative assistant for the necessary information.”
“Good thing you can cook,” Conn said.
“Oh, I didn’t make the profiteroles myself. I was too busy shopping for new lingerie. You see, I was sure this guy would tumble eventually. Still, it took six months to get a date with him.”
“It speaks well for your patience, anyway.” He couldn’t believe she’d wait so long for anyone. He wouldn’t have.
“We fell in love. For me it was instantaneous. For him—I’m not so sure. He’s from a prominent family, and he liked taking me out, being seen in all the right places.” She wore a faraway look, and she caught her lower lip between her teeth. She seemed to see something that he couldn’t, seemed to be caught in a scene from the past.
“Anyway, we were engaged for almost a year. I was stunned when I found out I was pregnant. I’d bought a home pregnancy test, and it tested positive, but I didn’t let him know. I wanted to save the news for a surprise because I thought he’d be happy. We’d talked about kids, and his mother was pushing for him to get married and have a son who could carry on the family name. So when I got the call at work, I was ecstatic. My doctor told me that I was going to have a baby.”
She inhaled a deep breath and continued. “At the place where I worked, I had a contract that was up for renewal, and I knew then that I wouldn’t sign it. I’d quit my job, stay home and gestate. We hadn’t planned on getting married so soon, but we could push the wedding date up. I was overjoyed.
“At the time, my fiancé was having some remodeling done at his house, so I’d given him a key to my apartment. He liked to take paperwork there in the middle of the day because it was close to our offices and no one would disturb him.”
“So what happened?”
“I never got the chance to tell him the news,” she said in a low tone.
Conn’s heart plummeted. The man she’d loved—had he died?
She seemed to be steeling herself, then plunged ahead, the words coming in a rush. “After the call from my doctor, I decided to go home for lunch. I knew my fiancé was at my place, his assistant told me that’s where he’d gone. I couldn’t wait to share my excitement with him. I opened the front door quietly so as not to disturb him. I’d brought Thai takeout, one of our favorite foods when we ate in. And then,” and she swallowed. Her hands were clenched in her lap, and Conn reached over and took one of them in his.
“And then,” she went on, “I heard sounds from the bedroom. I thought maybe he was talking on the phone, but as I drew closer, it became clear that the sounds weren’t of people talking. I set the food down on the hall console and walked into my bedroom. They…they were making love. In my bed. He and an assist—a colleague of mine from work.”
“Dana, you don’t have to tell me any more.” He stroked his fingertips along the top of her fingers, meaning to comfort her, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“I stood there. I couldn’t move. It was as if my feet were stuck to the floor. And then he…he saw me. And she screamed. And the room erupted in flying bedsheets and clothes and explanations—but I only stood there.”
She closed her eyes and it was a long time before she opened them again. “I didn’t tell him about the baby. I couldn’t. I didn’t want to share anything with him again, ever, and most particularly, I didn’t want him to know about our child. Our child,” she said. She unclenched her hands and spread them over the mound of her belly. She looked at him bleakly. “My child, now.”
“He never tried to contact you?”
“I ignored it.”
“Do you think that’s fair to him?”
“No. Neither do I think it was fair that he brought another woman into my bed.”
“What if he tries to claim parental rights?”
“He’ll never know he’s the father.”
“I understand why you don’t want him to know, but it’s his baby too.”
She lifted her chin. “You don’t understand. His life is only about him, about what he wants, what he likes. He would fight for custody in order to get his mother off his back about providing someone to carry on the family name, and then both of them would ignore the child.”
“You have your rights, too.”
“Do you think I could be satisfied with visitation now and then? His family has vast political connections, they know all the judges, and I’m afraid I wouldn’t stand much of a chance in a Chicago courtroom.”
“What happened to the woman you caught him with?”
“She’s history. Myrtis—my ex-fiancé’s mother—didn’t like her.”
His eyes held hers. “If you want to know what I think, your former fiancé was a very stupid guy.”
“From your mouth to God’s ears,” Dana said in an attempt to bring humor into this tale, but he wasn’t fooled. She’d been devastated by the discovery that her fiancé had been unfaithful, and she was slowly working her way back from that misery. He knew what it was like; not that Lindsay had been unfaithful, but he had loved and lost someone, too. He wanted to tell Dana that, but he never talked about that period in his life. Never had and probably never would. The more he thought about it, the more he ached for Dana. He couldn’t imagine seeing what she had seen, being faced with incontrovertible evidence of a faithless lover. No wonder Dana had retreated to this place—she needed somewhere to lick her wounds and recover.
So had he. They had more in common than she knew.
Suddenly restless, he stood and threw another log on the fire. When he turned back around, she had pulled the afghan up close to her chin and was shivering.
“Is it too cold in here for you?” he asked. “I can build the fire up more.”
“It’s hard for me to talk about what happened. I get all trembly and emotional over it.” She smiled apologetically.
Conn sat down beside her again, and she shifted over to make more room for him. In the process one of her feet was uncovered by mistake. She wore socks; she’d kicked her slippers off earlier. She was surprised when he took her foot between the palms of his hands and rubbed it gently. “Let me have your other foot,” he said.
“Okay, so are you trying to tell me you have a foot fetish? First the toenails and now this?”
“I can see why you’d think that, but what really turns me on is your knees.” He was joking, she knew that.
“You’ve never seen them. I’m always wearing jeans.”
“Not always,” he said, and suddenly, with embarrassment, she remembered the night he’d helped her into the tub. He’d seen all of her. Too much of her. Her face felt hot, and she buried her face in her hands.
“No point in hiding now. I’ve seen all there is to see. So you might as well give up that other foot.”
“Feels good,” she said.
“Warm now? Want me to stop?”
“They’re warm, but I don’t want you to stop.”
He kept rubbing her feet, and she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the couch.
“So you came here to get away from your fiancé?” he asked after a time.
She opened her eyes. “He’s not my fiancé anymore,” she said.
“I guess that means you’ve answered my question,” he said. “About whether you’re free.”
Glad that they were no longer on the topic of her body and how it held no mystery for him anymore, she said, “You didn’t expect such a complicated story.”
“In a way I did.”
“Conn?”
“Hmm?”
“The steaks were good tonight. Thanks for bringing them and the hibachi.”
“It was a delicious dinner. Even if it did get slightly off track. Toes toasty enough?”
She nodded, and he moved his hands higher to massage her instep.
“Do you think I’ll be well enough to fly the falcons in a couple of days?”
“We’ll go when you feel strong enough.”
“I talked with Jeb Nofziger yesterday, and he says I should be feeling stronger every day. Thank goodness it wasn’t strep throat.”
He moved his hands higher to her ankles. “I wish you could go with Billy Wayne and me tomorrow. It would be fun.”
“I know. But I’m making great progress with my counted cross-stitch.”
He chuckled. “And progress with other things, too.”
She blinked at him. “Like what?”
“Like our relationship,” he said.
“Do we have one?”
“I’m guessing that we do.”
“You mean now that you know there’s no one else in the picture?” she asked. She watched his face, waiting for his reaction.
He nodded. She thought about how long it had been since she’d enjoyed the company of a man this way. To be honest, she had loved Philip, but she hadn’t particularly liked being around him. He seldom paid any attention to her, he’d never had time to do the things she liked, and his mother had been a constant thorn in Dana’s side.
If this man was thinking in terms of a relationship, there was something Dana needed to know. “What about the baby?” she said, holding her breath, waiting to see what he would say.
“What about it?” He seemed genuinely puzzled at the question.
She allowed a slight playfulness to creep into her tone. “I’m going to have one. You must have noticed.”
“So it’s not a bowling ball you’re carrying around under those big shirts you wear?” he asked, completely deadpan.
“And it’s not a watermelon either,” she retorted solemnly.
He became more serious. “I guess your pregnancy should matter, Dana. But it doesn’t. In fact, what I’m thinking about is not the baby. It’s you.”
“Me?” The word came out in a kind of squeak.
He seemed amused. “Yes, as in if you want to be kissed.”
She sounded the retreat, though she was effectively imprisoned on the couch until he chose to let her up. “I may be germy,” she cautioned.
“I never get sick. And if I’ve been around you for days and still haven’t caught anything, I’m probably not going to catch it now.”
“But if you did—”
“If I did, you’d have to take care of me. Turnabout is fair play.”
“I’d make you chicken soup,” she promised, feeling her breath catch in her throat.
Conn leaned closer so that his mouth was directly in her line of vision. It was a generous mouth, the lips finely sculpted and firm. Or at least they looked firm.
She went on talking. “I’d drift a cool hand over your brow if you had a fever, just like you did for me. I’d bring you aspirin and—
“If I got sick, would you talk this much? Or would you merely minister to me in a kind and generous way?” He smiled, making the corners of his eyes crinkle.
“I’d minister,” she murmured.
His lips brushed hers, only a whisper of a kiss. “Would this ‘ministering’ include kissing me?”
“I’m not sure,” she said.
“I’d get well faster if you did,” he cajoled.
“Maybe I would, too. If you kissed me, I mean,” she said, and then, because she thought if she didn’t he would never get around to it, she slid her hand up and around the back of his neck and pulled his lips down to hers.
Conn was startled, but relaxed almost instantly. Her lips were soft and pliable, and the scent of her in his nostrils was headier than all his imaginings. He drew the kiss out, savored it, decided to end it, then changed his mind. It went on for another minute or so, the heat rising in his blood, his heart thudding in his ears.
He knew he’d better go home. He’d outstayed his welcome as it was. He’d come back in the morning to check on her before he met Billy Wayne up at Shale Flats, maybe boil her an egg for breakfast as he had done for the past two days.
He pulled apart from her only to be caught and held in her gaze. Lips parted and slightly moist, she stared at him.
“I’d better leave,” he said, but when he moved to get up, she only pulled him closer.
She didn’t want him to go. She wasn’t sure she wanted more than a kiss, but the thought flashed through her mind that it would be nice to cuddle up to a warm body in the middle of the night. He was already tucking his shirt in. Next he would put on his jacket, and then he would drive home to a bed as lonely as hers.
Outside they heard a car approaching, and as the headlights swung across the window, they exchanged surprised glances.
“Someone’s coming,” Conn said. “Are you expecting anyone?”
“No,” Dana said. They both scrambled to their feet.
The car engine died. In the light from the porch they could see someone getting out, opening the car’s trunk and removing a box. As the figure started toward them, Conn said, “It’s a woman.”
“Esther,” Dana said, recognizing the librarian’s rotund figure as it drew closer. “I can’t imagine what brings her out here in the dark.”
Dana wrapped the afghan around her shoulders like a shawl and was right behind Conn as he stepped out onto the porch. Esther labored toward them, toting the box and slightly out of breath by the time she reached the steps. She stood there blinking in the yellow circle of light from the porch fixture.
“I brought a sick bird,” she said without ceremony in her not-so-dulcet tones. “It’s an owl that can’t fly. I don’t rightly know what’s the matter, but Billy Wayne was sure you’d know what to do with it.”
Chapter Nine
“We’ll take the bird to my place where I can examine it thoroughly,” Conn said.
“Billy Wayne said he found the bird on the side of the road. Said it acted stunned,” Esther said as she handed over the box from which emitted a hearty bump, bump, bump. “I went to your house first, and when you weren’t home, I thought I’d better check to see if you were here. Billy Wayne said you were over here earlier.” Her eyes caromed curiously from one of them to the other, clearly trying to figure out the relationship.
Conn lifted a corner of one of the cardboard flaps and said, “Seems like this bird is moving around all right.”
“It’s not so disabled that it can’t eat. Billy Wayne fed it some leftover hamburger he had in his Jeep. That boy is always eating, I tell you,” Esther said.
Conn set the box down on the porch and went inside to get his jacket. Dana followed. “I’m going with you,” she said.
Esther called through the open door, “Billy Wayne said I should go along and make sure the bird is okay. I don’t know much about birds. But I promised.”
With his back still turned to Esther, Conn raised his eyebrows. “Doe
s she always talk so much?” he mouthed.
“I’ll keep her out of your way if you take me along,” Dana said. “I feel well enough to go, really I do.” He looked skeptical and as if he were about to offer a vociferous objection.
“I’m going stir-crazy in this cabin,” she hissed desperately. The truth was that with her lips still tingling from his kiss, she didn’t want to be apart from him. “I’ll bundle up in my warmest jacket. I’ll take extra vitamins tomorrow. I’ll—”
He raised his hands as if to ward off a barrage of more words. “Okay, okay. How long before you can dress in something more sensible?”
She looked blankly down at her robe. “Thirty seconds,” she said, and she almost made it, too, hurrying into the sleeping alcove and scrambling into a pair of jeans and a warm sweater.
When they set off for Conn’s house, Esther followed in her own car. But once they were there, she pulled up behind Conn’s truck and remained in her car, letting the engine run. Conn got out of the hawk wagon and went around the back to take out the box with the owl.
Esther rolled down her window. “Dana?”
The wind was whipping around them, the temperature dropping. Dana, taking care not to stumble on the rocky driveway, walked over to see what Esther had to say.
Esther wrinkled her brow up at her. “Sure is getting cold for this time of year, isn’t it? I think we’re going to have an early winter. Anyway, I told Billy Wayne I’d make sure the owl is okay. Do you think I can leave now? You two don’t want me around, I suspect.”
“Oh no, it’s not like that,” Dana hastened to say, a statement that was greeted by a slightly skeptical lifting of Esther’s eyebrows. Then, knowing how relieved Conn would be if Esther decided to take herself elsewhere, Dana mustered a weak smile. “I’d love for you to stay, but I’m sure Conn will take good care of the bird, so if you have something else to do…” She let the sentence dangle tantalizingly.
Esther took the bait. “Just so you’ll know, I’m reading something really good. It’s about a duke and a lost princess, and she’s pregnant with a sheik’s baby. She—”
“Dana? I need you,” Conn called peremptorily from the back of the hawk wagon.
Pregnant and Incognito Page 16