She laughed, though it wasn’t really funny. “If that’s your pickup line, it sucks.”
He bit her earlobe. “You’ll have to forgive me. I may not be in possession of my right mind. Something about you makes me insane.”
When they fell together onto the bed, it was clumsy and painful and altogether wonderful. His elbow whacked her shoulder. Her fingers ripped at his buttons. He dragged her top off over her head. In some small corner of her brain she knew she should stop him. But she couldn’t bear to do it. At least this was honest. A need for a need. Two people giving and receiving pleasure.
If her heart broke in the meantime, surely it was worth the price.
He paused to stare at her bare chest, his gaze hot. “Your body is changing already,” he said. The words held a note of wonder. When he cupped the sides of her breasts with both hands and gently pushed them together, a shock of heat stroked through her center, leaving her breathless.
“They’ve been swollen. And tender.”
He brushed a nipple reverently. “Will it hurt if I taste them?”
“No.” She was stunned that she could speak that single syllable. His question sent her body into a shuddering spiral of blissful anticipation. When he suckled gently, her sensitive flesh beaded tightly in his mouth.
“Gavin...” It was a whisper, a prayer.
He looked up at her, his head propped on his hand. “Too much?”
“Not enough.”
His feral smile should have warned her. Abandoning his project for a moment, he shoved her skirt to her waist and stripped away her satin underpants. The cool air on her overheated skin added a layer of pleasure.
He had already shrugged out of his mangled shirt and was bare from the waist up. The bronzed chest sculpted with sleek muscles revealed both his physical capabilities and his masculinity.
Beside him she felt small and pale and helpless. That last adjective spooked her. She’d never leaned on anyone in her life. But now she was making decisions for two. Knowing that Gavin was around to stumble through this experience with her would make things so much easier.
When he touched her between her thighs and teased her with a fingertip, she gave up rational thought. At the same moment, he returned to her breasts, his lips and teeth closing over first one tip and then the other. The dual stimulation shot her over the edge of a blinding orgasm.
Gavin didn’t wait for an engraved invitation. He left her only long enough to shed his pants and boxers and shoes before wedging his hips between her open thighs and positioning his firm length at her center. “I’ve dreamed about this,” he muttered. The words were barely audible...as if they had been dragged from him unawares.
She didn’t know what to say in return, so she simply held him. Already her body recognized him as its mate. Her sex welcomed his eagerly, sealing the bond that was physical, but for her even more. A great deal more. She was only now beginning to understand how much.
Gavin braced his hands beside her shoulders, his strong hips thrusting powerfully, his hard shaft filling her until her womb ached. For Cassidy it was a revelation.
In Las Vegas, she had not analyzed too carefully why she had met Gavin and wanted him desperately. Now, hazily, she understood that her soul had recognized him instantly as the one. No other man had ever affected her that way. She was beginning to think no other man ever would.
As his skin heated, he smelled of sex and spicy aftershave. Even blindfolded, she would know him now. She lifted into his thrusts, making him groan, feeding her own pleasure.
Her second climax climbed lazily, hitting every spot along the way, rolling over her like a tide of molten honey. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood when it caught her by surprise. As she arched beneath him, he came as well, filling her with his release.
When it was done, they each breathed heavily. Though it was dark outside, the room was almost too bright. The overhead fixture beamed down on them. Cassidy was bashful suddenly, having no idea what Gavin was thinking. Without speaking, she scooted to the bathroom, washed up and donned the robe on the back of the door. It was thick and comfy and emblazoned with the logo of the Silver Beeches Lodge.
When she returned to the bedroom, Gavin sat with his back against her headboard. He had turned off all the lights except for a small table lamp, thus making it hard to read his expression.
Courageously, she tossed back the covers and sat beside him, unsure of the postcoital etiquette. “Now what?” she asked, her throat tight.
“I guess that’s up to you. I’m willing to let you stay until the baby is born. But I think it would be best if we not repeat—” He stopped suddenly.
“You’re saying we shouldn’t have sex.” The words were like sharp stones in her chest.
“Correct.”
“You came to my room. Not the other way around.”
His jaw was granite. Since they were seated hip to hip, she couldn’t look at his face full-on, but he radiated strong emotion. “That was a miscalculation on my part. It won’t happen again.”
“Why?” She put her pride on the line, aching to get at the truth.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Not to me,” she said quietly.
“We aren’t a couple, Cassidy. We have a tenuous connection at best. Even if the baby turns out to be mine, it doesn’t mean we have a future.”
“You think that’s what I’m here for?”
“You said your father told you to get married and have babies. And you’ve spent your whole life working to please him.”
She was insulted and ashamed and pissed. “There are any number of men who would be happy to put a ring on my finger, baby or no baby. I don’t need your charity, Gavin.”
“How’s your cousin doing?”
The odd question caught her off guard. And deflated her anger effectively. “He’s fine. The state renewed his license and backdated it to the expiration date of the old one, so his boss is happy.”
Gavin got to his feet and wrapped the sheet around his waist. But not before she got an eyeful of his considerable assets. He knotted the swath of cotton and stared at her, eyes narrowed, hands on hips. “Are you telling me that when we stood in front of him and repeated marriage vows, he was a legal celebrant for the state of Nevada?”
Suddenly, she saw where his mind was going. “Yes. But don’t jump to conclusions, Gavin. You didn’t sign anything. There was no license. We were only goofing around. I didn’t trick you into marrying me. Your conspiracy theories are ridiculous. And you have far too high an opinion of yourself. We had a fling. That’s all.”
“Why did you take me to the chapel that night?”
“For exactly the reasons I told you. Robbie’s my favorite cousin. I promised I would stop by and see him that night. And I thought it would be fun for you to get a taste of the whole Vegas experience.” She paused. “Listen, Gavin. I have a baby to think about now. So as much fun as it is to burn up the sheets with you, it’s not my priority. I’m going to go home and get a job and an apartment. One of the other casinos will hire me to work in their offices. When the baby comes, I’ll be in touch.”
He glanced at her open suitcase on the floor. “I have a vested interest in your pregnancy. I want you close by to keep an eye on you.”
“In view of your cynical suspicions, I don’t give a damn what you want. Besides, are you really prepared to attend doctor’s appointments and childbirth classes?”
He blanched. “Yes to the first...no to the second. I’m calling for a truce for the next six-plus months. It’s in the baby’s best interests.”
Gavin was everything she wanted and everything she needed. But he wasn’t hers to keep. “Maybe so,” she said. “But what if we kill each other in the meantime?”
“We’ll have to take our chances. Call it our first parental sac
rifice.”
He’d boxed her into a corner simply by making her an offer she couldn’t refuse. “Don’t make me regret this.”
His masculine shrug was a study in nonchalance. “I could say the same to you. Good night, Cassidy.”
Ten
The fabulous sex should have relaxed Gavin and sent him off to dreamland, but it had the opposite effect. He tossed and turned for hours, unable to get the images of Cass out of his head.
He was infatuated with her. And that was dangerous. In other circumstances, he would simply screw her until he got her out of his system. But this pregnancy thing brought other factors into play.
At three, he got up and turned on the television. As he stared at a rerun of a 1950s sitcom, he asked himself the question he’d been avoiding. Was he willing to be a father to Cass’s baby?
Perhaps the more pressing question was, could he let her go if the baby wasn’t his? Right now, he had a legitimate claim, based on her insistence that he was the only man with whom she’d been intimate.
He wanted to believe her. But everything about that night in Vegas seemed surreal. The fight in the alley. The drive out in the desert. Coaching Robbie at the wedding chapel. Even the incredible sex.
Couples were supposed to have to learn each other’s likes and dislikes before reaching that kind of mountaintop. Hell, he would give each and every time he and Cass had done it a best-in-show ribbon.
He took his phone and clicked on the photo icon. Scrolling back only a few spots, he found the selfie Cassidy had insisted they take in the chapel. Gavin studied the image. Though he wasn’t smiling in the picture, something about his posture was relaxed. Cassidy radiated fun and happiness as she kissed his chin.
The photograph was more fiction than documentary. The real Gavin was neither spontaneous nor reckless. Even his kindest critic wouldn’t describe him as fun-loving. He worked hard. He cared about his family. He kept up with his responsibilities.
But he wasn’t impulsive. He wasn’t lighthearted. He wasn’t a match for Cassidy Corelli.
At last accepting the fact that he wasn’t going to sleep, he headed for his office. He’d pay for it tomorrow, but at least he could lose himself in work and try to forget the feel of Cass’s soft skin beneath his fingertips.
* * *
Cassidy dreamed that night. Brilliant, vivid dreams in full color. When she got up to go to the bathroom, she replayed every part so she could remember it in the morning. The sequence that left her shaky and confused was the one where she and Gavin stood beneath a white trellis woven with pink roses. There was no baby in sight...only Gavin in a tux and Cassidy in a sexy, close-fitting white dress that clung to her every curve.
As she climbed back into bed, she fretted. What did it mean? Did she secretly not want this baby at all? Had she come to Silver Glen to find her lover, Gavin, instead of her baby’s father?
The questions persisted throughout the night and were with her still the next morning when she stumbled to the kitchen in search of crackers or dry toast. In hindsight, she should have made sure she had something to nibble on in her bedroom.
Praying she wouldn’t bump into Gavin, she moved stealthily through the house. The faint light of dawn filtered through windows here and there. She was sick and shaky, a cold sweat dampening her forehead, as she rummaged through cabinets. When a hand touched her shoulder, she jumped a foot and cried out.
Gavin took her by the elbows and steered her to a chair at the kitchen table. “Sit,” he muttered.
She rested her forehead on her crossed arms. For a bleak moment she wished she could roll back the clock to a time where she had never met Gavin...a moment when her biggest worry was whether or not she was going to get an A on her graduate thesis.
He didn’t turn on the lights, and for that she was grateful. The pale early-morning sun was bad enough. Though she kept her eyes closed tightly, she was aware of him moving around the kitchen. After a few minutes her nose twitched at the smell of toast.
Gavin set a plate at her elbow. “You’ll feel better if you get something in your stomach,” he said. His words were gruff but not unkind. She made herself sit up, inhaling sharply when the room spun. While she concentrated on steadying the gyroscope that made her insides tumble like clothes in a dryer, Gavin finished brewing a cup of hot tea.
He loaded it with sugar and brought it to her, snagging a chair for himself and turning it backward. “Come on, honey,” he cajoled. “Try a sip of the tea first.”
She knew he was right. But she hated the prospect of another run to the bathroom. The fragile china was painted with a delicate Greek key design in gold and navy. Lifting the cup to her lips, she managed a taste. The tea was hot and strong, just as she liked it. When the first sip stayed down, she tried a second. Five minutes later, she started on the toast.
Gavin was amazingly patient and surprisingly intuitive. He kept quiet, content to monitor her progress from across the table. Unshaven and heavy-eyed, he was as handsome as ever. The pale yellow cotton button-down he wore was soft from multiple washings. He had rolled the sleeves to his elbows, exposing tanned forearms dusted with golden hair.
The fact that even his big manly hands turned her on was distressing.
Finally, she sighed and wrinkled her nose. “Thanks. I’m better now.”
Though he’d been careful to keep physical distance between them, his smile held sympathy and admiration. “I don’t know how women do it. Whoever called you the weaker sex was an idiot.”
The gentle praise shored her spirits. That and the fact that he didn’t seem as angry this morning.
He reached in his shirt pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper. “Here are the names of three good ob-gyns in Silver Glen. You can research them online. Let me know when you schedule the ultrasound, and I’ll clear my calendar.”
“Why do you work so hard?”
“You mean because I don’t have to?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you want to be your father’s second in command?”
She pondered his question. “Fair point. If I wanted to, he’d have been happy for me to sit at home doing needlepoint or whatever the twenty-first-century equivalent is...”
“I like what I do. And it helps people. Seems to me like those are reason enough.” He paused. “I have a full schedule today. Will you be okay on your own?”
“Of course. Remember that your mother has invited me to afternoon tea, so that will be nice.”
He frowned. “I’m glad you didn’t tell her about us last night.”
“Well, I...”
He carried on, oblivious to her distress. “I know we’ll have to say something sooner or later, but why cause a commotion before we have to?”
“She knows,” Cass blurted out. “She guessed.”
“Well, hell.”
“She promised to pretend she doesn’t know. I suppose you can pretend you don’t know that she knows. One big happy family.”
His jaw worked. “Is that supposed to make me feel guilty?”
“Not at all. You’re entitled to your feelings.”
“And what about you?”
“I’ll get used to the idea. I really don’t have much choice, now, do I?” She said it defiantly, hoping to provoke a reaction, but as usual, Gavin was not easily ruffled.
“I’ll get someone to return your rental car. While you’re here in Silver Glen, you can use one of mine.”
“The Porsche?” she asked hopefully.
At last, his serious facade cracked. “In your dreams. You’ll have to settle for a safe and sturdy Subaru.”
“In other words, a mommy car.”
“Might as well embrace your new status. From what I hear, it’s a lifetime role.”
“If you’re trying to cheer me up, you’re r
eally bad at it.”
He patted her hand and stood up. “More toast? More tea?”
“No. I’m fine. Thank you.”
After carrying the dishes to the sink, he returned to the table and stood beside her, running a hand through her rumpled hair. Although she hadn’t bothered to peek in a mirror this morning, she knew she must look like a bag lady.
His touch made her shiver.
“Take it one day at a time, Cass. You’ll get through this.”
The pronoun didn’t escape her attention. You’ll get through this. Not we’ll get through this. Even now, and despite his hospitality, Gavin was no more open than ever to the idea that he was about to become a father.
It hurt. A lot. But since there wasn’t a darn thing she could do about it, she put on a brave face. “Shall I throw something together for dinner tonight?”
“I don’t need anyone to look after me, Cass. Rest. Read a book. I rarely remember to eat dinner anyway...at least not until eight or nine. I think it would be better if you didn’t wait on me.”
She nodded stiffly. “I understand. I suppose I’ll see you when I see you.” Before he could say anything else to upset her or make her feel like an interloper, she walked out of the room.
* * *
Gavin pressed his fingertips to his temples, feeling the unmistakable beginnings of a tension headache. Despite his decision to maintain an emotional distance from Cassidy, seeing her so downcast and wretched made him feel like scum.
He wanted to cuddle her and comfort her, but that would take him down a road he wasn’t prepared to travel. Sex made a man stupid. He wasn’t going to let himself be emotionally manipulated.
Though he worked several hours in his office, he was keenly aware of Cass’s presence in his home. He spent a lot of time alone and liked it that way. Having her so close kept him off balance.
He heard the front door slam when she left to meet his mother. That in itself was disturbing. Was Maeve simply being sociable as was her habit, or did the fact that she guessed Cassidy was pregnant put her on high alert?
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