He looked up and caught her staring, and Kaylee blushed. Owen quirked a brow. “Something wrong?”
She shook her head. “I just want...”
Luckily she managed to shut her mouth before she added, “you.”
He put his fork down and gave her his undivided attention. “What?”
Kaylee blinked. “To ask a favor.”
Something flickered in his eyes behind the glasses. Maybe he’d hoped that she’d say “you,” too?
If he had, he didn’t say anything about it. “Go ahead.”
“My ultrasound is tomorrow. I get to see the baby for the first time.” And she was so excited she figured she’d have a hard time sleeping tonight. Especially on top of those x-rated fantasies about Owen’s towel dropping.
“D’you need a ride to the doctor?” Owen asked.
That would be nice, although she could take the bus or a cab, like she usually did. He’d offered to buy her a car, but there were limits to the charity she’d accept, so she’d said no. Instead, she took the bus or called a taxi when she had to go somewhere farther than she could easily walk.
“No. I mean, yes. That would be great. Although I don’t mind taking the bus. But I thought maybe...” She trailed off.
“Maybe what?”
Kaylee avoided looking at him, and picked at her angel hair pasta instead. “I thought maybe you would want to... that you wouldn’t mind... that maybe you could come with me? To the appointment? To see the baby, too?”
She glanced up, to see him blinking at her. And then he took his glasses off and folded them, and looked at her without them, with shock in his eyes. “You want me to come to your ultrasound appointment with you?”
Obviously not.
“I’m sorry.” She back-pedaled as quickly as she could. Stupid, Kaylee. Of course he wouldn’t want to take time out of his schedule, time away from work, to see another man’s baby, even if it was for the first time. “It was a dumb idea—”
“No.” He was smiling. “I would love to see the baby.”
“Really?” The relief was like a cool wave of water on her burning cheeks.
“Of course. When?”
She told him when she had to be there, and he promised to be home in plenty of time to pick her up. As she was cleaning up after dinner—just like any other wife—he stopped on his way out of the dining room and turned to her. “Kaylee?”
“Yes?” She looked up at him, standing there in the doorway in his dress slacks and his blue shirt, with the sleeves rolled up and his tie as loose as it could be without being undone—and imagined him naked.
He smiled, the kind of smile that curled her toes and warmed her deep inside. “Thank you.”
“Oh. Sure.” She smiled in return and went back to the dishes. After a few seconds, he turned and left. She could hear his steps go up the stairs. After another minute, the water kicked on in the bathroom. Another shower, probably. He was taking a lot of them.
If she went upstairs herself when she heard the water shut off, she might catch him coming out of the bathroom again. If nothing else, she’d get to look at him. But maybe, if she could scrape up enough courage, she could actually do something about it. Walk up to him and pull the towel off. Drop to her knees, right there in the hallway.
He probably wouldn’t say no.
Unless he didn’t want her. He hadn’t married her because he wanted her. He was just a nice guy doing her a favor. That’s why they’d lived together for almost two months now, and he hadn’t made a single move on her.
Not even when he’d caught her walking around in his shirt. His shirt, her panties, and nothing else.
Most guys would have taken that as an invitation. For a second or two she had thought he might.
But instead he’d taken her to the mall and bought her new clothes. So now she didn’t even have the excuse that her clothes didn’t fit anymore.
And that woman they’d met. Laurel.
Beautiful. Sophisticated. Slim. All the things Kaylee wasn’t. Even her name was elegant. Laurel Simmons. While Kaylee Carter was just... common.
And the way she’d said Owen’s name, so warmly, like she knew him well. Intimately. It had set Kaylee’s teeth on edge, until he’d stepped back to stand next to her. To introduce her. “This is Kaylee.” There’d been possession in the way he said it, and in the way he’d stood, so close to her. He hadn’t said “my wife,” but even so, it was a signal to Laurel that he was spoken for, off limits.
Yes, she had definitely married well. Her husband was one of a kind. Too bad he was her husband in name only, and seemed to like it that way.
She sighed and closed the dishwasher, just as the water shut off upstairs.
But instead of heading in that direction, Kaylee went into the living room and turned on the TV.
Chapter Eleven
“COME IN, MRS. Taylor. Have a seat.”
The ultrasound technician helped Kaylee into position on a combination chair and bed, and lifted her shirt to bunch under her breasts, baring her stomach. Kaylee shot Owen an embarrassed look out of the corner of her eyes, and he wondered whether he ought to look away, but then decided to hell with it: they were married, and the technician would probably think it strange if he averted his eyes from his wife’s pregnant stomach. And anyway, she’d gotten an eyeful of him the other day, so now she could return the favor. He gave Kaylee a grin and a wink, and enjoyed the show.
Next, the tech folded the top of Kaylee’s pants down too, before squirting some sort of gel on Kaylee’s stomach and using the wand she was holding to rub it around. It must be cold, because Kaylee gave a little squeak and tensed. Owen reached out without thinking and took her hand. She shot him a surprised glance, but when he moved to extricate himself again, she held on.
“There.” The technician gestured to the little screen on the other side of Kaylee, where a grainy black and white picture was forming. A rushing, rapid thumping filled the room, almost like the flapping of helicopter rotors from a long way away.
“Is that the heartbeat?” Kaylee asked.
The technician nodded. “It’s much faster than ours. A hundred and forty, hundred and fifty beats per minute. And he’s moving. Trying to get away from the wand.”
“I can feel it.” Kaylee’s voice was thick, and Owen squeezed her hand, even as he watched the picture form on the screen. Once the baby stopped turning, he could make out a round skull with a point that had to be the nose, and what looked like a disproportionately small body, all curled up.
“Wow.”
The ultrasound tech smiled at him. “Amazing, isn’t it?”
It was. No wonder Kaylee was blinking back tears. Owen was tempted to get a little misty himself, and it wasn’t even his baby. He patted her hand while he kept his eyes on the tiny miracle on the screen.
And then he realized— “Did you say ‘he’? That ‘he’ was moving?”
He could feel Kaylee stiffen next to him, and he turned to her. “I’m sorry. Didn’t you want to know?”
“No, it’s fine.” She spared him a single glance before she turned back to the screen. “It’s a boy? Really?”
The tech nodded. “Sure is. See this, right here?” A tiny line appeared on the screen, and then another. And then a greater-than symbol, to create a little arrow. It pointed straight to what had to be the smallest family jewels the world had ever seen.
No doubt whose kid this is. But of course he didn’t say it out loud. And hopefully the baby would grow up to be a bigger man than his biological father. It wouldn’t be too difficult to do, everything considered.
“Is he... normal?” Kaylee asked. She had a tiny wrinkle between her brows. Owen had to fight not to laugh. Obviously she was thinking the same thing he was, and was worried about her son growing up with the handicap of a small dick.
The tech nodded reassuringly. “Everything looks fine. Perfectly normal. Nothing wrong with him that I can see.”
“Oh. Good.” She breathed out.<
br />
“I’ll print a few pictures for you.” The tech suited action to words. While the equipment whirred, she handed Owen a couple of paper towels and told Kaylee, “You can get cleaned up now.”
Kaylee nodded and reached for the paper towels.
Owen held them just out of reach. “I’ll do it.” The tech had handed the paper towels to him, after all—the loving husband—not to Kaylee. She’d probably think it strange if he didn’t use them. And since he could, and there was nothing Kaylee could say to stop him, he took his time wiping her stomach, enjoying the blush staining her cheeks and the soft, warm skin of her rounded belly.
“Thank you,” she muttered when he was finished.
“My pleasure.” He helped her sit up and watched as she arranged the bright shirt over her stomach. “It’s the closest I’ve come to third base in a while.”
He grinned. Kaylee blushed.
The technician cleared her throat, and they both turned to her. “In case you wondered but were afraid to ask,” she said.
“Yes?”
“You’re perfectly healthy. It’s fine to continue a normal, active sex life up to the last month before birth. Nothing’s going to happen to the baby. He’s safe inside the amniotic sac, and anything that happens outside won’t hurt him.”
“Oh.” Kaylee blushed and bit her lip. “Thank you.”
“Yes,” Owen said, very aware of the fact that she wouldn’t meet his eyes, “thank you very much.”
The tech smiled. “You’re welcome. Pregnancy and childbirth are natural things. You’re not sick. Life goes on as normally as possible until you give birth, and then it never goes back to normal again.”
The way she sounded, it seemed like that was a good thing. Maybe it was.
Owen assisted Kaylee to her feet and helped her into the warm winter coat he’d bought for her. Then he handed her the ultrasound pictures. “Here.”
“Thank you.” She tucked them away in her purse, still without looking at him. Had he embarrassed her that badly?
“Ready to go?”
She nodded.
“Thank you.” He gave the technician his best smile before following Kaylee out the door.
She didn’t speak to him as they walked down the hallway, or as they waited for the elevator, or the whole way down to the first floor. In fact, it wasn’t until they were inside the car and on their way home that she turned to him. “Sorry about that.”
Owen laughed. “If I was gonna have a problem with people thinking I’m sleeping with you, I wouldn’t have suggested this, sweetheart.”
Kaylee didn’t answer, just gnawed on her lip, and Owen added, “Or is it the other way around? You don’t want people thinking you’re sleeping with me?”
“No! Of course not!”
“You sure?”
“Of course I’m sure,” Kaylee said. “Any woman would be lucky to be sleeping with you.”
He grinned. “And you know this, how?”
She blushed again, a hot pink. “I don’t. I just think...”
He waited. When he didn’t say anything, she felt compelled to continue, just as he’d hoped.
“You’re a nice guy. And good looking. And... I just think any woman you choose to spend your time with would be lucky. That’s all.”
All? It seemed like rather a lot. It seemed like... encouragement. So maybe he ought to tell her that he’d be happy to spend his time with her if she wanted?
Or maybe not.
If he let her know he wanted her, he was pretty sure he could have her. He already knew she felt like she owed him something in return for marrying her.
And the idea gave him a bad taste in his mouth.
No, he couldn’t proposition her. If anything was to happen between them, it had be because she initiated it. Because she wanted him, not just because she felt she owed him. And not because he made her feel like she had to repay him with sex.
So in the end he just said, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She stared straight ahead, her cheeks warm.
NOBODY HAD WARNED her that the biggest problem with being pregnant was going to be the cravings.
Sure, she’d been prepared for the desire for ice cream and pickles and pizza with strange toppings, often at weird times of the day and night. Some women wanted to eat laundry detergent and potting soil—thank God she wasn’t one of them.
But the other cravings, they were a lot more difficult to deal with. She was married, but she hadn’t had sex since the night her baby was conceived. Her husband was sleeping just down the hall, but she couldn’t touch him. And there was only so much satisfaction to be had from taking care of business herself. Her hormones were literally pinging off the walls, driving her crazy and keeping her awake nights. While Owen slept less than twenty feet away.
Going into this, she’d had no inkling that she’d develop a raging crush on her own husband. When they’d first met this summer, she hadn’t thought he was anything special. Nice enough, sure. Not bad-looking, if you didn’t mind the glasses and rumpled hair. And he was very nice. So nice that it was a bit boring. Always polite. Never saying anything even halfway risqué or close to crossing the line.
A gentleman.
The gentleman who had offered to marry her so she could get health benefits and give birth to another man’s baby. The same gentleman who had held her hand while she cried over her ultrasound, and who made sure she had food to eat and clothes to wear and a roof over her head and enough money to buy anything she wanted.
How could she avoid falling for him?
And he did it all without expecting anything in return. He cheerfully gave, and gave, and gave more, and never turned around to ask for anything for himself.
It was grossly unfair. Especially when she wanted to give. But if she tried, the stupid man would probably turn her down.
Although...
If she went to him and said there was something she needed... wouldn’t he feel compelled to meet that need? He’d met all the others.
She could imagine the conversation now.
“Owen, can I ask you for something?”
“Sure, Kaylee. Anything you need.”
“I’m horny. Can I take a ride on your joystick?”
And then his expression. Horrified. Clutching the blankets to his chest as if afraid she’d try to yank them away from him if he didn’t hold on.
But what if he didn’t? What if he looked at her with those beautiful blue eyes and smiled? What if he said he’d thought she’d never ask? What if he said he’d wanted her since the first time they met, and that nothing would make him happier than to take care of her problem?
Her breasts tingled at the thought, and she reached up to cup them. They were bigger than they used to be, and he’d always liked her breasts anyway. She couldn’t believe he’d let that slip—it was so unlike him, and he’d been so embarrassed by it, like it was such a big deal—but he’d been adorable, too, with his cheeks hot and his eyes avoiding hers.
What if she stripped down to nothing and just walked into his room? She wouldn’t have to say anything at all. He’d probably guess what she was there for. Maybe he’d just smile and lift the covers, so she could crawl into that big bed next to him. And then he’d reach for her, and...
Unless he didn’t. Maybe he’d look at her standing there, naked, with her breasts and her belly on display, and say, “This isn’t a good idea, Kaylee.” And then she’d want the floor to open up and swallow her.
But maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe he’d be glad to see her. Maybe he was lying awake too, wanting to go to her but afraid she’d reject him. She had agreed to marry him for room and board and health insurance, and he might think she wouldn’t want anything more.
Didn’t she owe it to both of them to tell him the truth? The worst thing he could say was no.
Of course, he could say no and then kick her out of the townhouse and she’d have to find somewhere else to live. He could divorce her and revoke those me
dical benefits she’d married him for. But he wasn’t the kind of man who’d do that. If he didn’t want her, he’d just say so. Nicely. He wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings. And he wouldn’t punish her for offering. Not after marrying her to help her in the first place.
She should go to him. Before she talked herself out of it again.
She flung the covers back and rolled to her side. It was impossible to sit up any other way anymore, it had to be sideways.
Once she’d pushed herself upright—and to think, it was only gonna get worse!—she reached down and pulled the oversized T-shirt up and over her head, heart beating hard. If she’d had any kind of sexy lingerie that fit she’d put it on, but a push-up bra and a thong wouldn’t do much good at the moment. Her breasts didn’t need any help, and the thong would be invisible under her stomach. And besides, it was dark. It wasn’t like he’d see her anyway. She could leave the light on in the hallway, that way he’d see her outline in the door and nothing else. And maybe he wouldn’t feel the need to turn on the light in his own room. Making love to him with the light on, when she looked like this, wasn’t high on her list of wants.
The doorknob squeaked when she turned it, but her feet were silent on the carpet as she padded down the hallway toward Owen’s door, her pulse tripping. She hesitated for a second outside. Knock or not?
She knocked, just to let him know she was coming, but didn’t wait for him to tell her to come in.
The bedclothes rustled, and then Owen’s ruffled head popped up. “Kaylee? Is something wrong?”
There was no air in her lungs, so she couldn’t have answered even if she’d wanted to. Instead, she floated across the carpet toward him.
He scrambled to sit up. “Kaylee? Are you all right? Are you sleepwalking, honey?”
He made to throw the blankets off, and she got her voice to cooperate. “Stay.”
He froze. “What’s wrong? You’re not coming at me with a butcher knife, are you?”
She couldn’t help it, she snorted. “Of course not.”
Friends With Benefits Page 9