An Accidental Family

by Ami Weaver

  Her gaze shot to his and she grimaced slightly. “Damn straight. Can you help me stand?”

  “Let me check that ankle first.” At her confused expression, he added, “I’m a firefighter and an EMT. I’m not a substitute for a doctor or an X-ray, but I may be able to tell if it’s broken.”

  “Oh.” She extended her leg slowly and inched up her jeans.

  He removed her shoe carefully but didn’t miss her wince. With careful fingers he probed her slim ankle. Her skin was smooth and soft and he was a total heel for his completely unprofessional physical response to touching her.

  “I don’t feel anything broken,” he said. “Let me help you stand.”

  He got to his feet and took both of her hands in his, trying not to feel the heat her soft touch generated in him. He gave a gentle pull and she hopped up on one foot, overbalanced, and landed on his chest. His arms went around her before he could stop them and he looked down into her beautiful, upturned face. There was confusion and pain and heat and wanting in her blue gaze, and his groin tightened at the press of her breasts against his chest.

  He cleared his throat. Kissing her was not an option. Not an option, not an option, chanted the loop in his brain, but he wanted so badly to lose himself in it, in her, in this—

  Pregnant woman.

  He cleared his throat and loosened his hold but didn’t let her go fully. “So...um...how’s the ankle?” His voice was a little rough.

  She rested it on the floor and pulled back a bit, putting a little weight on it. Her wince spoke volumes and he steadied her with his hands on her waist. “Lainey. Please. I know I didn’t feel anything broken but some types of breaks I wouldn’t necessarily feel. Do you need to go to the hospital?”

  She gave a little hopping motion and moved backwards. “No. I’m okay. It’s sore, but I can take acetaminophen for it. I want to finish this.”

  Somehow she hadn’t upended the paint when she fell off the ladder, even though she’d dropped the brush on the drop cloth. He took the tray off and poured the paint back in the can so he wouldn’t reach for her again. She’d felt far too good in his arms.

  But she was pregnant. And even with the father out of the picture he couldn’t risk a relationship with her or her baby. He wasn’t that kind of guy. Not anymore.

  “We’ll finish tomorrow. Right now you need to get that ankle up with ice on it. Don’t argue,” he added when she opened her sexy little mouth to do just that. “And I want you to promise me you’ll go in tomorrow if it’s worse or not getting better.”

  She pressed her lips together, then nodded. “Okay. You’re right.”

  “I’ll drive you home. You’ll need help up to your apartment, right?” He’d get her home, get her settled. It was the least he could do for her, for his grandma’s friend. “Tomorrow I’ll bring you your car. Leave me your key.”

  He saw all the arguments cross her face. “I don’t want you to go to any trouble—”

  “No trouble.” He caught her chin, unable to stop the action. The surprise in her eyes licked him like fire. “Lainey. You need a little help. You need to be careful so you don’t hurt the baby.”

  That got her attention and she nodded. “Right. Okay. Thank you.”

  He swung her into his arms. She let out a little, “Eeep!” and her arms went around his neck.

  He gave a little chuckle, surprised by the sound. “Relax. I’ve got you.”

  The scary part was how damn good she felt in his arms. How right. How oddly protective he felt of the baby. He hadn’t seen the swell of her belly, but her sweatshirt prevented that.

  He cut his thoughts off right there. There was nowhere for this to go that could end well. He would be leaving as soon as he had his grandma squared away and his confidence back. He’d only hurt Lainey and he couldn’t bring himself to

  risk it.

  CHAPTER SIX

  WHAT WAS SHE thinking?

  Lainey winced as she buckled her seat belt and Ben walked around the truck to get in. Holy cow. She’d just blurted out her secret to this man, and she hadn’t even told his grandma—her friend—yet. Somehow her filter kept shutting off and then her mouth took over.

  “I’m not the type who sleeps around,” she blurted as soon as he got in the truck. Ack! There went the filter again. Maybe it was the pain in her ankle? Yet for some reason it was very important he understand.

  He fitted the key in the ignition. His jaw was tense. “I didn’t say you were. Things happen.”

  Yes, they did. She was living proof that things tended to happen to some people more than others. She stared out the window, not wanting to see him even in profile, lit by the dash lights. It wasn’t his fault he kept showing up when she was falling apart, though it had happened with alarming frequency since she’d met him.

  The drive home was tense but Lainey had no desire to talk. Her ankle throbbed and she tried to focus on that rather than the fact she’d told Ben about the baby. Told an almost perfect stranger who’d kissed her, for God’s sake. There was a kind of intimacy that they were both pretty good at ignoring. And she’d just added to it by blurting out that she was pregnant. A little panic raised its head. It had been far, far easier to tell him than it should have been. What was it about him that made her spill her secrets? Was it because he was so different from her ex-husband? She frowned. Even that didn’t fully make sense, since she barely knew him. But something about him spoke to her, soothed her. Almost as if she recognized him somehow, on a deeper level.

  She gave herself a mental shake. Wow. That really didn’t make sense. Maybe she’d somehow managed to hit her head when she fell. Or the pain in her ankle was making her a little crazy.

  Ben pulled in front of the shop and she reached down to unbuckle the seat belt. “Well. Thanks for the ride,” she said brightly. “Sorry to put you out.”

  He caught her hand. In the dim glow of the streetlights, he looked as surprised as she was at the contact. “You could never put me out. Stay there. Please. Let me help you down.”

  “I can—”

  “Of course you can,” he interrupted. “But you don’t want to risk a fall that might hurt the baby or further damage the ankle. And you might need some help navigating those stairs.”

  Darn it. He was right. “Okay.”

  He gave her a small smile before he slipped out of the truck. “It’s okay to need help, Lainey.”

  She watched him walk in front of the truck through the wash of the headlights and couldn’t help but think he wasn’t totally correct. Needing help didn’t make her weak, but it left her open to people like her parents and their manipulations. It was safer to rely on herself than sort through the motivations of others.

  He opened the door and reached for her. It was a little awkward to slide out into his arms, and she was surprised when he didn’t put her down, instead settled her into his arms. She didn’t want to admit how good the hardness of his chest felt against her side, how incredibly good he smelled.

  “This is easier if you relax a little,” he said close to her ear.

  She looked up to see humor spark in his eyes. The humor died, though, when his gaze fell to her mouth and his arms tightened perceptibly around her.

  She caught her breath at the dark heat she saw there and an answering one rose in her. It wouldn’t take much, just a slight shift...

  A car drove by and the spell was snapped. He cleared his throat and started for the door.

  Her face burned. Good Lord, what was this?

  She forced herself to relax into his solid chest. Weird moments aside, it felt good to lean on someone. Just for a minute. His heart beat faster against her ribs. Its rhythm matched that of her own and she wondered if it was from the moment they’d shared or the exertion of carrying her. The coolness of the evening did nothing to counteract the warmth
he generated in her.

  He got her upstairs and she unlocked her door.

  “Sit,” he said as he steered her gently toward the couch, and she sank down gratefully.

  He put a pillow under the ankle. She couldn’t help but notice how he sucked all the air out of the room and made her small space seem even tinier.

  “I’ll get you ice and some acetaminophen. Where do you keep it?”

  “Bathroom, in the medicine cabinet,” she said, adjusting the pillow. Not because it needed it but because then she didn’t have to look at him and see—what? Or maybe, more accurately, he wouldn’t see what kind of effect he had on her.

  “All right.” He went in the kitchen. “Hey, kitty,” she heard him say, and her heart tilted just a bit. Then, in a louder voice, “Where are the glasses? And do I need to feed the cat? She’s looking at me like she expects something.”

  She swallowed a laugh. “She does. There’s a can of food in the fridge. You can put the rest of it in her dish. And glasses are in the cupboard to the right of the sink.”

  She listened to the sounds in the kitchen, the low murmur of his voice as he talked to the cat, the opening and closing of the cupboard, the rattling of ice. She rested her head on the back of the couch and shut her eyes. No one had ever taken care of her before. Such a little thing—ice for her ankle, feeding the cat, water for the pills. Not earth-shattering. Yet it was somehow.

  He appeared with the items and placed ice, wrapped in a towel, over her ankle. “That okay?”

  The gentleness of the action nearly undid her. She swallowed hard. “Yes. Thanks.”

  “Here’s the water. Hold on while I get the pills.”

  He headed down the hall, looking first to the left—her bedroom—then to the right—her bathroom. Where she’d thrown bras she’d hand-washed over the shower rod. She shut her eyes in mortification. There was a brief pause as he entered the bathroom—no doubt he’d gotten an eyeful—then the rattling of the pill bottle. When he came back down the hall he didn’t actually make eye contact. Then again, neither did she.

  “Here you go.” He plopped the pills in her palm. Was it just her, or were his fingers slightly unsteady? “Can I call anyone for you?”

  She almost laughed. “No. I’m all set, thanks.”

  He cleared his throat. “All right, then. I’ll bring you your car tomorrow. If you need anything, call me. Where’s your phone?”

  She tugged her purse over and pulled the phone out. He took it from her and added his number. “Now you have no excuse. I’m serious. Especially if you need help with those stairs in the morning.” He handed the phone back and this time their fingers lingered for a heartbeat.

  Breathless, she tried to smile. “I will. Um...thank you. For everything.”

  He stepped back. “No problem.”

  When the door shut behind him she flopped back on the cushions and pressed both hands over her eyes, unsure if she should laugh or scream.

  She was in way deeper trouble than she’d thought.

  * * *

  Ben stared at the game on the TV above the bar. He couldn’t have told anyone who was playing, much less the score, and he was only vaguely aware it was a hockey game. All he could see was Lainey’s perfect mouth forming the words “I’m pregnant”.

  They still packed a punch. It wasn’t even his kid, and he’d never meet the baby—no doubt he’d be long gone by the time Lainey gave birth. In fact, it was most likely he’d never talk to her again, unless they ran into each other though Rose somehow. So why the hell did it matter?

  He shifted on the stool. Lainey was dangerous. The kind of dangerous that made him want what he couldn’t have. It wasn’t fair to Jason—or Callie, for that matter. What right did he have even to think about pursuing a woman—Lainey—when Callie’s husband was gone?

  He took a swallow of the beer he couldn’t even taste. He was pretty sure the bitterness in his mouth came from his own feelings rather than the drink in his hand.

  Pregnant.

  He’d felt a stab of jealousy straight to his soul when she’d looked at him with those big blue eyes and whispered those words. No use passing it off as anything but that.

  What could he offer her? He didn’t even know if he could do his job anymore. That anxiety was ever-present, hovering in the back of his mind. Shading everything he did. It mixed with guilt into a potent brew of shame and sorrow.

  So, no, he wasn’t in any shape to pursue her. Therefore, being jealous was a complete waste of time and energy. Still, he’d felt a roaring protectiveness when she’d fallen. And far more than that when he’d walked in her bathroom and seen those lacy, sexy bras lined up on the shower rod.

  God help him. He was getting in way over his head and all he’d done was help her. But something about her drew him in and he couldn’t seem to walk away. All those feelings he’d walled off...? Yeah. He was in danger of drowning in them if he didn’t get them under control fast.

  It didn’t matter. He set aside his half-empty beer, since he couldn’t even taste it, and signaled for his bill. He wasn’t getting anywhere having a pity party and it was a waste of time anyway. Might as well go home, where there were at least projects he could do to stay busy.

  He entered the house quietly, but his sharp-eyed grandma was in the living room, knitting. He couldn’t tell what it was but her hands flew and the needles clicked together sharply. She looked up when he came in.

  “So. How was it?”

  Ben sat down opposite her, since it seemed rude to stand and talk when she was all settled in. He outlined the progress he’d made on the house, then hesitated.

  Rose arched a brow. “What?”

  He debated how much he could say and keep Lainey’s secret safe. “She twisted her ankle,” he said finally. “Stepped wrong off the ladder.”

  Rose’s hands stopped moving. “Is she okay?”

  “I checked it out,” he said. “She was adamant about not going to the hospital.”

  “She needs an X-ray,” Rose muttered and Ben sighed.

  “I suggested it but she shot me down.” True enough.

  Rose sighed and her needles started moving again. “I bet.”

  “I offered to call her mother, but she said no.” He wasn’t fishing, exactly, but he was curious as to why Lainey seemed to think she was on her own when she had family nearby.

  Rose snorted. “That woman doesn’t have a maternal bone in her body. And that ex of hers—” She pressed her lips together tightly. “Well. Anyway. I’d better call her—make sure she’s okay. I wish you’d brought her back here.”

  Ben was pretty sure Lainey didn’t want Rose to figure out about the pregnancy. As Rose dialed Lainey’s number he took a good look at the knitting project on her lap. The soft colors and small size looked an awful lot like a baby blanket. But he wasn’t going to ask any questions.

  They’d each keep Lainey’s secret.

  He hung around, fixing himself something to eat he really didn’t want in the kitchen, but he wasn’t going to admit that. When he went back in the living room Rose was hanging up and frowning.

  That protective instinct reared back up and he forced himself to keep his voice level. “Is she okay?”

  Rose’s gaze flicked to his. “She’s hurting.”

  Ben started to stand. “I can go—”

  Rose shook her head. “She won’t come. Thinks she has to be strong.” She gave him a pointed look. “Like someone else I know.”

  He opted not to touch that comment. “I’ve got to get her car to her tomorrow.”

  “That’s good. Then you can see if she’s okay in person. She’s likely to not admit it over the phone.”

  She had a point.

  He cleared his throat. “Sounds good. You need anything before I go take a shower?” />
  Rose shook her head, her hands flying once more over the blanket. “Thank God for DVR. Got one more show to watch. I’m all set, thanks.”

  He chuckled and walked toward the stairs. She said his name softly. When he turned, she looked at him, her faded blue gaze serious.

  “She needs someone like you.”

  Ben froze as the words pinged around in his heart. “No. No, I’m not what she needs.”

  “Ben.” Her voice was sharp. “You are exactly what she needs. Don’t sell yourself short.”

  He had nothing to say to that. As he went up the stairs his heart was heavy. He wasn’t what Lainey needed. He was too damaged to be enough for anyone.

  Still. He regretted not being able to have the chance.

  * * *

  Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

  Ben could see the black plume of smoke the next morning from the front porch of his grandma’s house, where he’d been working on the ramp. It was coming from the other side of town.

  Lainey’s side.

  That thought bumped him into action. He’d go check on her, make sure—just make sure. Since he had to take her car back anyway, this gave him the excuse. And she wouldn’t be moving real fast after that fall, so no one would think twice if he checked on her.

  “I’m going to take Lainey’s car back,” he told his grandma, who was in the kitchen with her Sudoku book. “You need anything while I’m out?”

  She tipped her glasses down her nose. “Everything okay?”

  He hesitated. “There’s a fire.”

  She gave a small nod. “We’ve got good people here, Ben. Maybe you should be one of them?”

  He opened his mouth, then shut it again. He shook his head, grabbed his jacket from by the back door and hurried to his truck.

  It only took a few minutes to drive to the other house. From this angle it was hard to tell precisely where the fire was, but he could smell the smoke. He flexed his hands on the wheel as he turned onto the street and pulled into the rental house’s driveway. He started Lainey’s car and headed for downtown.