A Little Bit Pregnant

by Susan Mallery

  “So you went into the military to get yourself straightened out, right? I remember you saying you got in trouble for stealing a truck.”

  “Not just a truck,” he corrected with a grin. “A truck filled with stolen televisions.”

  “Not exactly a smart thing to do.”

  “It was only dumb when I got caught. As it was my first offense, the judge sent me to one of those boot-camp reform schools instead of prison. I found I liked the discipline of the service and enlisted when I turned eighteen.”

  She thought of her own happy childhood, of the parents who had doted on her. “Where was your family?”

  He shrugged. “Gone. I never knew my dad. My mom took off when I was three or four, so my grandmother raised me. She wanted more for me than life in the streets or dying young in a gang. I didn’t know any other world. So in some ways, getting caught was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  “You’ve come a long way.”

  “Up and out.”

  “Why did you leave the Marines?”

  The shadows returned to his eyes, and with them came a stiffness to his body. She could feel the ghosts circling them and wondered if they belonged to the living or the dead.

  “You don’t have to tell me,” she said.

  He shrugged. “I got hurt pretty bad. I knew that if I kept doing what I was doing I’d end up dead. One day I didn’t want that, so I left. I met up with Jeff about two weeks later and we started the company.”

  She wanted to know where he’d been when he’d been hurt and why he’d thought dying was better than living. She wanted to know what had changed his mind.

  Before she could decide on what questions to ask, Zane took her coffee cup from her hand and set it on a small glass table, then swept her into his arms. She shrieked.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  He nuzzled her neck. “To take a shower. I noticed there’s a very interesting bench in the master bath and it’s at just the right height.”

  She looped her arm around his neck and smiled. “The right height for what?”

  “I’ll show you.”

  Zane deposited Nicki on the counter, then dropped his robe to the floor and walked into the spacious shower to start the water. When it was the right temperature, he turned back to collect her, then had to stop dead when he saw that she, too, had shrugged out of her robe.

  The white terry cloth pooled at her waist, exposing her breasts to view. She might not be as well endowed as most of the women he’d taken to bed, but she was still perfect. Her sweet curves begged to be touched, explored and tasted while the peach-colored nipples pointed right at him in a saucy “come and get it” kind of way.

  In the three steps it took to cross to her, he was already hard. It took every ounce of self control to keep from burying himself into her waiting warmth. But he had plans for their shower, so instead of giving in to what he guessed they both wanted, he carried her into the steamy shower and set her on the bench.

  “What do you think?” he asked as he knelt in front of her and let the water dance over both of them.

  She smiled. “This could be interesting.”

  “More than that,” he promised.

  Humor brightened her eyes, and passion. She wanted, just like he did. For a second, the past threatened. He knew better than to talk about it, but being around her had somehow lulled him into lowering his guard. It wouldn’t happen again, he told himself. It couldn’t.

  He brushed those thoughts away and reached for the soap. After lathering it between his hands, he touched her everywhere, as much to excite as to cleanse.

  He stroked the length of her arms and her back, then cupped her breasts. He slid his hands down her belly, along her legs, then returned to slip them between her thighs. When her breathing was ragged and he could feel her pulsing toward him, he shifted out of the way so the spray could rinse her. Then he lowered his head and tasted her.

  The intimate kiss made her gasp. She clung to him, digging her hands into his shoulders. Her legs parted more as she moaned. Water washed them both, while steam surrounded them.

  He tasted her, drank of her and the water. When he inserted a single finger into her waiting slickness, she arched back and convulsed around him. He felt the spasms of her orgasm as he continued to flick his tongue against that single point of pleasure. He drew out the contact until she sighed her completion. Only then did he straighten and smile at her.

  Her eyes opened slowly. She looked deeply relaxed and satisfied.

  “Talk about a great way to start my day,” she said. “Wow.”

  He grinned and reached for the soap.

  “I’ll do that,” she said and proceeded to wash him down.

  She had him stand and turn away so she could do his back and the backs of his legs. When he faced her again, she had a gleam in her eye that told him there was about to be the best kind of trouble.

  “Ready?” she asked as she lathered her hands again.

  He already knew, but he couldn’t help asking, “For what?”

  She dropped the soap and put her hands on his hardness. The slick pressure was erotic and mind bending. He felt his knees give way and he had to lock them in place.

  Back and forth, back and forth. Pressure built at the base of his arousal. He’d planned on sitting down and having her straddle him but right now he couldn’t imagine moving.

  When she pushed him back into the spray, he didn’t understand, but when she pulled him close and leaned forward, everything clicked into place.

  As her mouth settled over him, he braced himself against the shower walls. The water pummeled his back while her lips and tongue worked magic between his legs.

  Need built. He swore. He groaned her name. Then he lost control in the best way possible.

  “You can’t be serious,” Nicki said late that morning as she wheeled across the parking lot.

  “Why not? We want to hang out and have fun,” Zane told her. “What better place?” He tugged on a strand of her hair. “The park is completely wheelchair accessible. I spoke to the concierge at the hotel and she assured me they have a sterling reputation for that sort of thing.”

  “I know, but Disneyland?”

  Nicki stared at the castle rising against the blue sky and the white mountain where three climbers made their way to the top. She could hear the excited conversation all around her.

  Zane looked at her. “Don’t you want to go?”

  She bit her lower lip, not sure how to explain that she’d only been once—the year before her accident—and that she’d always wanted to go back. But somehow she’d never made the time and now they were here and the fact that Zane had been the one to think of it made her want to burst into tears. Or do it with him right there by the entrance.

  “I’m delighted,” she said when she was sure she could speak without her voice cracking.

  “Good.”

  They had a heated discussion about which ride to go on first, then agreed to alternating picks with a coin toss to determine who went first. The resulting schedule meant dashing from one side of the park to the other—perhaps not the most sensible plan, but one that was lots of fun.

  “Hurry,” Nicki called as she maneuvered through the crowd on her way to the Haunted House. “Jeez, Zane, you’re such a slowpoke.”

  He caught up with her by the entrance. “You’re too fast on those damn wheels.”

  “Zane was beaten by a girl,” she said in a singsong voice.

  He bent low and kissed her. “Sugar, you can beat me any time you want…just so long as you’re wearing black leather.”

  Black leather? Her eyes widened and she had a feeling she looked stunned. But before she could pursue that line of conversation, they were moving toward the front of the mansion and surrounded by children.

  “I’ll be bringing that up later,” she told him.

  “I’m counting on it.”

  The helpful staff took possession of her wheelchair while she
sat through the charming ride. At the end, when a ghost “tried to follow them home’’ Zane put his arm around her and told the green visitor that, “No one is going to get my girl.”

  Nicki tried not to read too much into the words. She and Zane were hanging out together, and she knew that he liked her, but that was a long way from what she was experiencing. Still, his possessiveness made her feel all warm inside.

  They headed toward Main Street. They still had about a half hour before heading for the Blue Bayou Restaurant and their dinner reservations.

  “Let’s go in here,” he said, pointing her toward one of the big shops that lined the street.

  Once inside, Nicki found herself wanting to buy one of everything. There were stuffed animals, watches, T-shirts, collectible cartoon cells.

  Zane made her laugh when he tried on mouse ears, then picked up three glowing rubber balls and started to juggle. Talk about another surprise—he wasn’t half-bad.

  “Betcha Brad can’t do this,” he said as he caught the third ball and dropped them back into the counter.

  “You’re right.”

  There were a lot of things Boyd hadn’t been able to do. The biggest had been to help her get over Zane. Now it was too late. Watching him move through the store, joking with the sales staff, offering to buy her everything from a stuffed Simba to mouse ears of her own, she felt her heart tighten with love. Zane was everything she’d ever wanted. And for this moment in time, he was hers.

  She studied a collection of postcards, then decided to pick several to help her remember the day. A burst of laughter caught her attention. Turning, she saw three young women hovering around Zane. They stared at him with obvious interest.

  Nicki allowed herself a moment of envy for their easy walks and long, healthy legs. Then she shook off the feeling and reminded herself that her life was exactly what she wanted it to be.

  A minute or so later Zane walked away from the women. His gaze settled on her and when he smiled she knew he was thinking about last night and this morning. Those young women had never even registered.

  Happiness bubbled inside of her. When Zane approached, she grabbed his shirtfront and pulled him down so she could kiss him…thoroughly.

  When she released him, he crouched next to her and smiled. “What was that for?”

  “No particular reason. I just wanted to connect.”

  “Good.”

  He pulled something out of his shirt pocket. A small box. When he opened it she saw he’d bought her a gold charm bracelet decorated with a pair of mouse ears.

  “So you can remember our day together,” he said as he fastened the catch.

  As if she could ever forget. “Thank you, Zane.”

  He touched his index finger to the tip of her nose. “You’re welcome.”

  The plane landed shortly after eleven the next morning. Zane carried Nicki down the steps and set her into her wheelchair while the copilot collected their luggage from the hold.

  “You said you’re taking the rest of the day off,” Zane said as he followed her to her van. “You need to get some rest.”

  She smiled at the worried tone of his voice. “You slept as little as I did.” They’d both been up most of last night, making love.

  He shrugged. “I’ll catch up tonight and on the plane tomorrow.”

  That’s right. His New York trip. She would miss him, but wasn’t sure if she should tell him.

  She clicked the remote unlock button. “I promise to get plenty of rest, both today and tonight.”

  “I’ll call you from the hotel,” he promised. “You know. Just to check in.”

  She liked that he wanted to check in, even as she told herself it didn’t mean anything. Zane was being nice, nothing more. As for what was going on between them…she’d already decided that would stay undefined until he got back from his trip. Then she would have a talk with him. Well, assuming she had the courage. There were times when she thought it was better not to know what he was thinking about them.

  The copilot set her luggage on the ramp and she thanked him. Then she wheeled onto the ramp and pushed the button to raise it.

  When she was level with the rear of the van, she looked at Zane. “Have a good trip.”

  He moved close and kissed her. “I’ll miss you.”

  His words made her chest tightened. “Me, too.”

  He tucked her hair behind her ears. “What happens if Boyd calls while I’m gone?”

  “Jealous?” She chuckled. “Not to worry. I told you, we broke up.”

  “Just see that it stays that way.”

  A delicious thrill shot through her. Maybe this time was different. Maybe Zane was interested in more than temporary and short-term.

  He gave her another quick kiss. “Drive safe,” he said.

  She nodded and headed for the front of the van.

  Less than forty minutes later, she was in her house with her suitcase open on her bed. As she unpacked, she found herself humming softly and smiling for no reason at all.

  Okay, she had it bad. Worse than bad. She was a woman in love and was there anything sappier than that?

  As Nicki picked up the shirt she’d worn to Disneyland, she recalled their romantic dinner with a view of the water. Okay, most of the plants had been plastic and there had been noisy kids all around them, but the room had also sparkled from the white lights and Zane had stared at her as if she were the most precious woman on the planet. He’d made her feel special and whole and normal.

  She collected another blouse and dropped them into her laundry basket. She supposed that was Zane’s greatest gift—his ability to see her as just like everyone else.

  She’d been nervous about sharing a room with him, but he’d made everything so easy. She’d never remembered to be embarrassed. If a moment had threatened to turn awkward, he’d distracted her with a joke or a kiss, or both. While she’d had lovers before, she’d never been that intimate with a man.

  Nicki picked up her makeup case and carried it into the specially modified bathroom. There wasn’t a tub. Instead an oversized shower stood in the corner. It was specially designed so that she could wheel right in. There was a wide bench, grip bars and a nonskid floor. In the past she’d always hated her shower, seeing it as a symbol of what she couldn’t do. Now remembering making love in the hotel shower, she saw the shower as filled with possibilities. Most of them sexual.

  It didn’t matter if she never had sex in her modified bathroom; she knew she could. Another gift Zane had given her.

  As she unpacked her makeup, she watched the movement of the mouse ears on her bracelet. Light bounced off the curved gold and danced on the walls. Smiling, she bent down to set her cosmetics on their shelf. Her gaze landed on the pink box of supplies for her period.

  It was one of those odd moment in space and time when the world seemed to stop turning. She moved, she breathed and yet nothing was as it should be. As if from a great distance, she reached out to touch the box. Her fingers barely grazed the front, then her hand fell to her side. Bone-cold panic seeped into her midsection.

  In that heartbeat, Nicki knew.

  She told herself it wasn’t possible, even though it was. She told herself no one was that stupid, even though she had been.

  That first night she and Zane had made love on her sofa, then later in her bed. How many times? Two? Three? They’d made love without protection and she’d never once considered the potential disaster.

  Why? Where was her brain? She was always careful. Usually she was on the Pill. Just not in the past few months.

  There’d been that night, then the past couple of days. Not once had birth control crossed her mind. How could she have been so irresponsible? Or dumb?

  Closing her eyes, she did some quick calculations. She was late. More than a little late. She was late by at least ten days.

  After dumping the rest of her makeup into the sink, she turned and raced to the front of the house. She collected her purse and her keys, then made he
r way to the van.

  It took thirty-seven minutes to drive to the drugstore, make her purchase, return home and pee on a stick. Thirty-seven minutes after which her life changed forever.

  She was pregnant.

  Chapter Ten

  Nicki didn’t sleep that night, and she hadn’t slept the previous two nights in Los Angeles, so she was pretty much a basket case by the time she pulled into work the following morning. She considered calling in sick, but she knew Zane would get word of that and demand to know what was wrong. As she hadn’t quite figured that out herself, she didn’t know how she was going to have the conversation with him. No, better to muddle through the day and head home early.

  Complicating matters was a headache she knew was only going to get worse. If she was pregnant there were no more cups of coffee in her immediate future, which meant she was going to suffer with caffeine withdrawal. After all she had to do what was right for the baby.

  Baby! She still couldn’t believe it. Of course she only had herself to blame. Previously she’d been on the Pill whenever she’d been sexually involved with a man, and she’d always insisted he use protection. With Zane…She locked her van and headed for the building. She’d just plain forgotten to take care of things.

  She knew he wasn’t like most people who assumed that because she was in a wheelchair she couldn’t get pregnant. How many times had she had to explain that nonworking legs didn’t mean nonworking ovaries. Zane knew she was on the Pill. He teased her about it. So it would never have occurred to him that she wasn’t safe.

  “Complications to mull over another time,” she told herself as she entered the building. Now that she was here, she would do her best to focus on her job and push the rest of it out of her mind. There was nothing she had to do about the baby today, and with Zane gone, no one she had to tell.

  She made her way into her office where she found stacks of paperwork and phone messages waiting for her. She’d barely finished organizing her in-basket when Jeff stopped by to see her.

  “Great work,” he said, taking the chair across from hers. “Mr. Sabotini couldn’t say enough good things about you.”