by Kendall Ryan
“All set,” he said, then shelled out the money to pay for our treats before making his way to one of the little white tables in the front of the store.
I grabbed a cheery-looking magenta spoon and joined him at the table, ready to dig in.
“Okay, so, down to business.” He took a spoonful of what had to be pure hot fudge, then said, “You want to talk about the baby. Let’s work it all out so you won’t need to worry about it for at least a month.”
“Well, there’s the complex stuff.” I played with my pistachio yogurt. “Like, I’ll need to learn a lot. I’m an only child—I don’t have much experience with babies. I’ll need to consider looking into classes and such.”
“I’ve got you covered.” He shrugged. “I know everything about babies. When your milk comes in, the benefits and detriments of nursing, all of it. I know every stage of pregnancy backward and forward.”
“Right.” I tilted my mouth to the side. “But what if something is wrong?”
“I have a friend who will look after you just to be on the safe side.”
I took a deep breath. Okay, that made sense. “And what about the other stuff…the exciting stuff?”
“Like what?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Picking out a name. Picking out colors for the nursery. I won’t get to do any of that. Plus, what if you really want to name your son after yourself and I want a different name?”
“Something wrong with the name Mason?” He raised his eyebrows.
“No, I just had a different name in mind.”
“What’s that?”
“For a boy, it’s really important to me to name him Jacob.” It had been my father’s name, the name my parents would have given me if I’d been a boy. The name my brother might have had if my father had lived long enough to have another child.
“What’s so special about Jacob?” he asked.
It was the perfect chance to tell him—to explain why I couldn’t be his one and only, even if I’d wanted to. But I wasn’t ready for all that just yet. I couldn’t open my heart like that—especially not to someone who was still relatively a stranger.
“It’s a family name,” I said simply.
He nodded. “Jacob it is, then. Problem solved.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. “I picked the boy name. Feels only fair you pick the name for a girl.”
“That’s easy. Gwen.”
“Gwen?” I asked. I didn’t mind the sound of it. In fact, it was even kind of cute.
He nodded again. “It’s my mother’s name. I think she’d be honored.”
“Settled then. Gwen or Jacob.” I stabbed my spoon into my yogurt, trying to ignore the completely overwhelming feeling that—now that this baby had a name—everything was all too real. Which, of course, it might not be.
But then…
If it was, didn’t I owe it to my child to give his or her father a chance? It might destroy me in the process, but then…didn’t all parents make huge, life-changing sacrifices for their children?
“Okay,” I said. “We’ll do it your way. But you keep the envelope. If I have it, I’m going to rip into it. I can’t live with the temptation.”
He gave me a solemn nod, but the envelope was only half the temptation. Now that I’d made my decision, it was sort of open season, at least for now, on the good Dr. Bentley.
And the thought excited me almost as much as it terrified me.
Chapter Eleven
Bren
His warm tongue laved against my straining nipple, causing another moan to rip from my throat.
“Enough teasing,” I groaned.
A warm male chuckle vibrated—against my inner thigh this time. “So bossy,” he murmured. “I want to take my time with you.”
His hot tongue met the oversensitive spot between my thighs, and any further arguments died on my lips.
Gah!
Digging my fingers into his hair, I tugged slightly, loving the way it felt to be in this position at all.
One-night stands weren’t supposed to be like this, right? It was like someone designed this man just for me. He took his time hunting out every secret spot that made me shiver and then lingered there until I was desperate and trembling with need.
“One more,” he whispered, the stubble from his jaw brushing between my thighs in the most distracting and delicious way. “Come once more for me and I’ll give you what you want.”
“Then let’s get the show on the road.” I lifted my hips, raising my warm, wet center straight to his mouth.
He chuckled again before diving in with gusto. His tongue could have set Olympic records with how skilled it was, and how embarrassingly fast he brought me to the edge.
“Mason!” I cried out his name, already there—right at that blissful moment before the most intense pleasure crashed through me—for the third time since I’d found myself in his bed.
He rose to his knees, his long fingers replacing his mouth, stroking in slow circles. He continued to hold me there—just at the edge—as he quickly covered himself with a condom.
“I want to feel you come this time,” he said on a groan as he entered me. My body tightened around him, the invasion intense but oh so welcome.
His thick length speared me, and my entire body tightened. Deeper still he slid, and I cried out, so close.
“Right there,” I said. “Just like that.”
“You feel so perfect. Now come for me,” he sighed.
I opened my eyes.
No, no, no!
I groaned in frustration.
I sat up in bed—alone—covered in a thin sheen of sweat, my heart pounding and panties soaked through.
The best sex of my life, and it was only a dream.
Holy shit. I just had the most realistic fantasy about Mason. I’d relived some of our steamier moments from our night together.
But my overheated body couldn’t tell the difference between a sex dream and the real thing.
Turning over on my side, I punched my pillow into place, wondering how in the world I’d get back to sleep now.
***
“Can I ask you a question?” I glanced at Mandy over the surgical mask I wore, my voice muffled.
She was disinfecting a cut on the inside of a sloth’s hind leg. Poor little guy.
“’Course. Anything. You know that.” Her eyes behind her thick tortoiseshell frames narrowed on mine.
Drawing a deep breath, I steeled my nerves. “Tell me more about growing a human inside you.”
Mandy set down the gauze she’d been using and grabbed a bottle of disinfectant. “You’ll have to be a little more specific than that. What about it?”
“I had this dream last night. It was so vivid.”
“Yeah, I remember having some crazy dreams.” Mandy nodded. “What about?”
Glancing down at Mr. Pokey, I stroked his fur softly, a smile quirking up my lips. “Yeah, this was no ordinary dream…it was more of a vivid flashback of my time with Mason.”
Mandy set down her tools, her eyes meeting mine. “Oh my God.”
“What?” Her intense scrutiny gave me chills.
She took a deep breath, and we moved away from our patient, removing our rubber gloves and throwing them in the trash.
“I almost don’t want to tell you this…but when I was pregnant, my libido was out of control. I was so horny. All the time. Poor Todd. I had a big belly, so sex was awkward, but that didn’t stop me from begging him to take me from behind.” She chuckled, clearly remembering something I did not want to know about.
At this new information, my mouth pulled into a frown. None of what she was telling me was making me feel any calmer about my situation. I figured my odds of being pregnant were fifty-fifty, but every time Mandy spoke, it was like I learned of another new symptom to freak out about.
With this new information, my chances of not jumping Mason’s bones the next time I saw him we
re, what? Slim to none.
I was so screwed.
Chapter Twelve
Mason
“Almost done,” I called as someone knocked on my door.
My assistant always got antsy at this time of day—not that I could blame her. By rights, she should have been able to leave an hour ago.
The door creaked open and I glanced up to find Trent standing in the doorway, a bottle of pills in his hand.
“What’s up? Something wrong?” My heart rate ticked up a few notches, but Trent shook his head.
“Just some prenatal vitamins. Just in case.” He shook the bottle, then set it on my desk. “You seeing her anytime soon?”
“I was going to stop by the zoo on my way home, actually, so I’ll bring these with me.”
“The zoo?” Trent raised his eyebrows.
“She’s a conservationist there. Works with the endangered animals.”
“You nerds all know how to pick each other.”
“You’re a nerd, too, dude” I pointed out.
“That doesn’t mean I like my women brainy.”
“I’m pretty sure your only qualification for a date is that she have a working vagina. And a heartbeat.”
“Even that isn’t a deal breaker. I’m happy to do a little extra work.” Trent winked and I let out a little laugh.
“Right, well, I’m…so glad I know that now.” I moved the paper I’d been working on into my out-box and shrugged off my lab coat in favor of my leather jacket. “Come on, walk out with me.”
Together we walked down the carpeted hall to find that the rest of the nurses and assistants had already left for the day, and I shook my head as I locked up behind myself.
“Guess they all had places to be,” I said.
“On Friday night? No kidding,” Trent said.
“Who asked you?” I shot back. “Actually, I’m shocked you’re not on your way to some hot date.”
“Hell, no. Ever since your last hot date, I’m worried that I’ll wind up like you.”
“Handsome and successful?” I asked.
“Strapped to the train tracks of parenthood, my friend. No thank you. I can’t wait until they come out with a pill for men. There aren’t enough condoms in the world to make me feel safe after all this.”
I rolled my eyes. “I might be having a baby. I’m not enlisted in a war.”
“Oh, but you are. It’s a field of land mines and pitfalls waiting to happen, my friend. I wish you the best of luck with your little situation, but I wouldn’t trade lives with you for all the money in the world right now,” he murmured, tipping an imaginary hat in my direction.
We reached the parking lot and said our good-byes, and I made my way to the zoo, thinking over Trent’s words. In truth, I’d never seen parenthood as an obstacle or a curse like so many of my male friends. To me, it seemed like a gift. Something to look forward to—so long as you were sharing the load with the right person.
Again I thought of the envelope sitting in the drawer of my bedside table. The night before, I’d held it in my hands, staring at it for at least an hour while I thought about the rest of my yogurt date with Bren. She was funny, smart, beautiful. Everything I’d want my child to be.
But she was still, in so many ways, a stranger.
And that needed to be fixed.
I pulled up to the zoo and snagged a space in the front row of parking before making my way through the gates. When I reached the ticket desk, I said, “I’m looking for Bren Matthews?”
The thin man behind the counter nodded but tapped the buttons on his keyboard all the same. “Twenty dollars, please.”
I reached in my wallet and fished out a bill before slapping it on the counter and waiting for my wristband. The man handed it to me with a too-wide smile, and I nodded.
“Thanks.”
“Enjoy your visit.”
I walked through another set of gates and glanced at the directory, trying to remember what Bren had told me about her day. Though now that I thought about it, I remembered that she’d hardly told me anything at all.
No, she’d mentioned only the cheetahs—which meant I had only one place to look.
When I got to the exhibit, a man stood on the outside of the glass-enclosed cage, writing on a clipboard as he surveyed the animals. He was a tall, handsome kind of guy with slicked-back blond hair and a square jaw. Almost like the villain from any ’80s movie ever made.
“Excuse me,” I said. “Do you know where I can find Bren Matthews?”
The man looked at his watch, then nodded. “Carlisle went into the nursing enclosure about twenty minutes ago. If I were a betting man, I’d say she’s there.”
I frowned, not sure what Carlisle had to do with anything or who he was, but I nodded and gave him my thanks before following the signs that led to the nursing enclosure.
When I got there, I found a tunnel of leaves and a big, hand-painted sign announcing the newest babies at the zoo—Nancy the koala, Ferdinand the wombat, Henry the baby orangutan, and Daisy the baby gorilla.
I stepped inside the little space and spotted Bren immediately. Nestled in her arms was a baby animal. Bren fed her a bottle with the gentlest expression on her face, nodding as the man beside her spoke.
This guy, too, was blond and handsome, though less tall and tanned than the one I’d just met.
“The thing drives like a dream,” he was saying. “You’ll have to come out with me and try it some time. I’ll even let you drive.”
Bren nodded, lips curved into a smile. “Maybe sometime.”
I raised my eyebrows and cleared my throat, fisting my hands at my sides because I felt like throat punching him. In my heart, Bren already belonged to me and this guy’s blatant flirting irritated me to no end. “Hey.”
She looked up and her cheeks flushed a pretty pink, although she didn’t take the bottle from the tiny pink creature. “Oh, hey. What brings you here?”
I resisted the urge to hand her the clearly marked prenatal vitamins from my pocket to get her colleague to stop drooling over her but instead forced a grin. “Just thought I’d stop by to see you in action.”
She cocked her head and nodded to the baby pig in her arms. “Well then, welcome to my world.”
Her companion glanced from me to Bren and back again, his face falling a little. “You want me to take over?” he asked, gesturing to the pink.
Adorably dressed in a diaper, the pig was nestled in close to Bren’s chest and she leaned to press a kiss to its nose. “It’s okay, sweetie. I’m not going yet.” She turned her attention to the man in front of her. “I’m good from here, actually, if you want to go punch out.”
“Oh, uh, yeah. I was gonna get going anyway.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and skirted from the little enclosure. “I’ll see you on Monday, Bren.”
“’Kay, see ya,” she said to the other man, who hesitated and spent one moment too long staring at her.
Yeah, see ya, chump.
The guy, I could only assume was Carlisle, looked so deflated as he trudged away that, for a second, I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
I pulled the bottle from inside my jacket and handed it to her. “Actually, the other reason I came was that I thought you could use these. Just as a precaution.”
“Oh, uh, thanks.” She went a little pale as she balanced the formula bottle and pig in one hand and snatched the bottle of pills with the other. She shot a look around before quickly shoving it in one of the many pockets of her khaki cargo shorts.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” I said.
“No, no, we’re just finishing up for the day. It’s time to punch out, but I like to feed the babies before I go.”
I shot a glance at Carlisle’s retreating back in the distance and then faced Bren again. “How long has he been after you?”
“What?” she scoffed. “Carlisle? Are you serious?”
“He was a
sking you to go for a ride, and I’m pretty sure his car is option B. Option A was a ride on his d—”
“I get your meaning,” she cut in, her cheeks turning red. “But Carlisle isn’t like that. We’re just friends.”
She set the baby pig back in its pen, treating me to a glimpse of her firm ass as she bent over.
“Trust me, when it comes to women like you, all men are like that.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Oh, yeah? Even you?”
“Especially me.”
A sizzle of tension rolled down my spine. Damn it all if I could figure out how she even made her lime-green zoo polo look like the sexiest thing in the world. Her pretty golden hair was pulled back in a ponytail, emphasizing the crystal clearness of those bright eyes, but when I spoke, she looked away from me, focusing instead on the baby in her arms.
Which, of course, made her look all the more irresistible.
As she stared down at the little lump in the pen, she practically glowed, and when she smiled, it seemed like she was grinning with all of her body. Like she was truly, blissfully happy. Like she loved her job more than life itself.
And that was a feeling I knew all too well. But even more than that, I couldn’t escape the very real feeling that she would be just as enamored of our own baby…if we were having one, that was.
Bren cleared her throat, pulling us both from the tense moment my reply had created. “Tell me, Mr. Baby Expert, have you ever fed a baby pig?”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Can’t say that I have.”
“Then I think it’s time you learned.” She motioned for me to join her and I followed her instructions, standing so close that our skin brushed as I reached for one of the pig’s siblings. “This little guys is special.”
“I thought you weren’t supposed to have favorites.”
“Oh, I have favorites in every enclosure. Like the new koala baby’s mom, Sheila. I love her.”
“And what makes a koala so special?”
She shrugged a single shoulder. “She just is. She has the most personality of any of the other koalas, which is why all the males try to imprint on her.”