Pregnancy Countdown

by Linda Wisdom

  Oh my God! What have I done?

  Nora’s first instinct was to jump out of bed and put as much distance between her and temptation as she could. Her second instinct was to snuggle back against the human furnace that was keeping her so warm and toasty. Perhaps give a couple of wiggles to wake the rest of him up. Or maybe she’d just try to breathe, because she was positive all the air had left her lungs.

  For now she settled for holding her breath. She stealthily made her way out of bed without waking her companion. She crept into the bathroom and carefully closed the door behind her.

  She flipped the light switch and winced as the bright light poured down on her. Perhaps checking herself in the mirror wasn’t such a good idea. She moaned softly as she leaned across the counter to get a closer look at herself.

  Her hair looked as if it had been through a wind tunnel, while her cheeks were much too rosy for someone who must have had maybe a good half hour’s sleep for what remained of last night.

  This wasn’t the mirrored reflection of a woman who was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. Her eyes sparkled with brilliant emerald lights, her normally pale skin was flushed with color and, if she wasn’t mistaken, there was the slightest hint of a satisfied smile curving her lips.

  “Oh my God,” she moaned again. “I look like a woman who spent last night making the kind of wild incredible love that you only read about in books.” She noted how languid her movements were as she stretched her arms over her head. She stared at her reflection again, leaning over the counter until her nose almost touched the glass.

  “It’s not as if I picked up a stranger in a bar and brought him back home for incredible sex. It’s not as if I’ve just had a one-night stand,” she whispered to her image. “All right, it was a one-night stand because this can’t happen again.” A whimper escaped her lips. “Oh my God, I had sex with my best friend’s brother,” she whispered to her image. “I had heart-stopping, mind-blowing, wild, crazy lovemaking that deserved nothing less than a tripleX rating.”

  More strangled whimpers left Nora’s lips. She braced her hands against the sink edge, feeling light-headed as she tried to concentrate on regulating her labored breathing.

  She straightened up and pushed her hair away from her face. Nothing but an application of shampoo and conditioner would help her tangled tresses.

  She took the quickest shower in history, all the while praying Mark wouldn’t wake up and decide to join her. After last night, she wasn’t sure she could resist him.

  Last night.

  A heated tingling started way down in the pit of her stomach at a memory that was sending some very real pictures to her mind. All in incredibly living color complete with sound effects.

  She moaned and quickly twisted the knob to cold. It took a lot of willpower not to shriek as the icy water rained down on her head.

  “It was temporary insanity. It was temporary insanity.” She turned the four words into her personal mantra.

  By the time her body temperature equaled that of the South Pole, Nora felt prepared to face the day.

  And Mark.

  MARK WOKE UP feeling as if he’d conquered the world, and it had nothing to do with the comfortable bed he was lying in.

  He rolled over hoping to find a warm and willing Nora lying beside him, but no such luck.

  He settled for lying back and thinking about the previous night.

  He’d only planned on picking Nora up at the airport and depositing her safely at home. He was lucky enough to still have both sets of grandparents, so the idea of losing a loved one was foreign to him. But he’d figured that Nora would be feeling pretty low when she got back. The least he could do was make sure she didn’t have to go home alone.

  What he hadn’t expected was to have her in his arms and later find himself in her bed.

  When they had dated, their relationship hadn’t moved to the intimate stage. Not that he hadn’t tried. But instead of charming his way into her bed, he had found himself out in the cold.

  To this day he still wasn’t sure why Nora had broken up with him. If that hadn’t been bad enough, she had tripled the action by doing it on Valentine’s Day.

  Since that day, Nora had treated him as if he were a carrier of the worst kind of plague. At one point he’d even gone so far as to ask Ginna why Nora had broken up with him. All his sister had done was give him one of those haughty sniffs she did so well and inform him that if he wanted to know that badly, he’d have to ask Nora directly. Since she hadn’t been returning his phone calls, that hadn’t been an option for him.

  That had been two years ago and he still hadn’t found the nerve to ask Nora what caused the breakup.

  He’d been stunned when she told him she didn’t want to be alone last night. At first he’d kissed her as an attempt to comfort her. The last thing he would have done was take advantage of a woman who was vulnerable, but dammit, she’d felt so good and so right in his arms. Then when she’d asked him to make love to her, he couldn’t think of anything else but banishing the shadows from her eyes. Calling what they’d shared mind-blowing was an understatement. If he hadn’t woken up in Nora’s bed, he would have been convinced it had been nothing more than a hot fantasy dream.

  He was in the midst of remembering every incredible minute, when the door opened and Nora breezed in.

  She looked more animated than she had when he’d picked her up at the airport. Her copper-penny hair was piled up into one of those complicated twists secured by a tortoiseshell clip. He was disappointed that she was covered up by a deep emerald-green plush robe that fell to her toes. He preferred seeing her bare skin flushed with desire. But he’d settle for the coffee cup she held in her hands.

  “Good morning,” she greeted him with a bright smile and a light kiss on the mouth. She stepped back before he could deepen it. She handed him the cup. The rich aroma of coffee tempted his nostrils. “There’s a razor and clean towels in the bathroom,” she informed him. “I’ll have breakfast ready by the time you’re done.” She smiled at him again before she exited the room.

  “I would have been willing to sacrifice myself as the main course,” he told the closed door. Since she didn’t return, he settled for climbing out of bed and walking into the bathroom, where he found his tuxedo hanging neatly on the back of the door. The last he remembered, his jacket had been abandoned somewhere in the hallway and the pants tossed on the floor just before they fell onto the bed.

  Mark turned on the shower and tested the temperature before stepping into the cubicle. He surveyed the array of shower-gel bottles lining the shelf.

  “I can either smell like a sugar cookie, fudge brownie or key lime pie,” he murmured. “Whatever happened to plain old vanilla?” He finally settled on key lime pie, thinking it would be similar to the lime-scented shaving foam he used. He soon discovered it wasn’t even close.

  It wasn’t Mark’s first time in a woman’s bathroom, but it was the first time he’d been in Nora’s. Deciding he had the time, he did a little exploring. A closet revealed a colorful supply of towels in tangerine, turquoise, lime and lemon colors. The bath towels were oversize, the dimensions perfect for a man. He wondered how many men had showered in her bathroom. He quickly decided it wasn’t something he wanted to think about.

  Once he finished, he towel dried his hair and worked to make himself as presentable as a morning-after visitor could be.

  Mark left his jacket in the bathroom as he followed his nose to the kitchen. The homey aroma of food cooking sent his appetite level up several notches.

  Damn, if he didn’t feel like the man of the house going in to have breakfast with the woman of the house. He stopped abruptly. Now where had that come from?

  WHO KNEW?

  Nora felt her pulse rate start to speed up as sultry images again invaded her mind.

  Mark’s family liked to tease him that he never moved any faster than he had to. Last night, Nora had learned that was very true. The man knew how to draw lovem
aking out until she’d been gasping and crying out for him to put her out of her misery. He had ignored her pleas, and when he finally did release her, she felt as if she’d been shot out into space among the stars.

  She was positive she still hadn’t come down.

  Nora concentrated on putting last night in a logical perspective. It wasn’t working. She didn’t want to call last night a mistake, but the word was blinking in bold red letters inside her head. She feared making love with Mark was the first step down a path she didn’t dare travel. She told herself she could make it easy. She could blame the event on unsettled emotions. She’d been grappling with mind-numbing grief that had evolved into the need to connect with another living being. Mark holding her last night had fed that need.

  She tried to tell herself that it could have happened with whomever had been holding her last night, but Nora had never been a good liar.

  Come on, Nora, call it what it was. A one-night stand.

  Sure it was. The earth spun around, the stars fell down around us. I’m still in shock.

  Making love was different with Mark. They shared a past, even if that past hadn’t included their being lovers. After they broke up, she’d told herself it was easier because they hadn’t been lovers. That had been because she wasn’t completely sure of Mark. For a man who’d been given more than the usual allotment of charm, he’d never provided her with any reason to distrust him. But she had always felt it could happen at any time. Mark had only to flash one of those devastating smiles of his and women fell all over him. Literally.

  Nora never stopped to think that it was her own insecurity that pushed her away from Mark. That what her father had done to the family had remained in the back of her mind and affected any chance of Nora finding love because she was afraid she would be left behind the way her mother had been. She never stopped to think that the breakup might have been her fault, not Mark’s. Nora couldn’t live with the fear that one day, Mark might be tempted to leave.

  “Something smells good.”

  She whipped around so fast the small pitcher she was holding slipped from her fingers. Only Mark’s quick reflexes kept it from shattering on the floor. He set the jug on the counter.

  “Pancakes?” He eyed the golden-brown circles on the hot griddle.

  “Sourdough pancakes,” she explained, picking up a plate. “What with my being gone a while, I didn’t have too many supplies in the house, but I did have my sourdough starter and I had some freeze-dried eggs to use along with some sausage from the freezer. I’m surprised I had as much in there as I did.” She nodded toward the coffee pot. “There’s juice in the refrigerator if you want any. Glasses are in the cabinet.”

  “Want some?”

  Been there, done that.

  She banished her mocking private voice to the far reaches of her brain. The man was merely inquiring if she wanted orange juice.

  “Yes, thank you.” She slowly poured more of the pancake batter onto the griddle. At least she could hold on to her composure on the outside.

  It wasn’t the first time a man had spent the night in her bed. Although, for many months, the only male who had been there was Brumby, her beloved bulldog.

  A few minutes later she handed Mark a plate heaped high with pancakes, sausage and a couple of scrambled eggs. The look of bliss on his face rivaled Brumby’s when he was given a beef bone.

  “Tell me about the wedding,” she requested when she sat down across from him.

  “The usual. Everyone was dressed up like grown-ups, Zach looked as if he was ready to pass out at any moment, Ginna looked gorgeous,” Mark replied. “The only hitch was the nephew-to-be, Trey, taking his ring-bearer duties too seriously. When big brother Jeff untied the ribbons to give the rings to Zach, the little guy pretty much threw a fit. He said loud and clear that he was to protect the rings and Jeff couldn’t have them. Trey’s sister, Emma, told him to shut up and stop acting like a baby. That broke up any solemnity the service had.”

  Nora smiled at the idea of Zach’s twins adding a few surprises to the ceremony. “Who caught the bouquet?”

  “Our aunt Minnie pretty much trampled the competition,” he replied. “Six marriages and she’s still hopeful she’ll eventually get it right. I give her credit for perseverance.”

  “And the garter?” She referred to the custom of the groom tossing the bride’s garter over his shoulder toward the single men. A custom that revealed who the next groom would be.

  Mark studied his pancakes as if they held the secrets of the universe. “No one interesting, although Aunt Minnie wanted to participate. Dad and Gramps told her no way.”

  Nora arched an eyebrow. Her smile grew in proportion with her glee as she easily figured out who the lucky recipient was.

  “You caught the garter?”

  “It was a conspiracy. I had no plans on standing out there with the other idiots,” he said. “At the last minute, Jeff and Brian pushed me out into the front of the group, and just like the Red Sea the group parted so the garter was literally thrown in my face.” His expression boded ill for his two older brothers.

  “You should have known you’d be the next target. Your dad said he hopes Nikki waits until she’s forty before she gets married,” Nora reminded him, speaking of his youngest sister.

  “Nikki has no desire to get married until she’s out of medical school. It’s Aunt Minnie who needs watching. The reception had barely started before she had husband number seven narrowed down to three victims.” He leaned back in his chair and spoke, emphasizing his words with eloquent gestures.

  Nora’s smile widened into a genuine one as she listened to Mark’s stories about friends and relatives celebrating his sister’s special day. He described each incident so well that she felt as if she were right there with him.

  But she also knew she had to consider last night a one-night stand even though that kind of experience wasn’t her style. The last thing she needed was to get caught up with Mark Walker again. It hurt too much when she’d broken up with him. After making love, she feared that not only her heart, but her soul, wouldn’t recover if she got involved with him a second time.

  She’d put all the blame on herself for last night. She was hurting and vulnerable and he was there.

  There was no reason for it to happen again, no matter how much her tingling body argued with her at just the memory of what had flared up between them.

  No reason at all.

  Chapter Two

  “I really appreciate you fitting me in, Nora,” Lucie Donner said, settling back in the soft-cushioned salon chair.

  “You sounded so urgent on the phone I was afraid you were going to walk in here with purple hair.” Nora smiled at Ginna’s new sister-in-law.

  “After everything that’s gone on, that would be a plus,” Lucie laughed.

  “That’s right, you lost part of your house. What’s happening with that?” She ran a brush through Lucie’s hair then ran her fingers through the shoulder-length strands.

  “You haven’t lived until you come home and discover an airplane engine has dropped into your home office at ten o’clock in the morning,” she confided. “Talk about a shock.”

  “And?” she prodded.

  “And I realized that ordinarily I would have been sitting in there, except I had a parent-teacher conference with Nick’s teachers that morning. I’ve decided it’s time to make some changes. I sold the house.”

  “You’re moving? I thought it was being rebuilt for you after the accident.”

  “Accident is an understatement,” Lucie chuckled. “Almost half my house was flattened after that jet engine fell through the roof. I didn’t even want to consider going back there. I’d mentioned selling it to a neighbor and he wanted to buy it for his son and daughter-in-law and rebuild the house to his own specs. He offered me a great price and I took it. I’m hoping that moving to a new area will give Nick a new chance. I swear, it was getting to the point where I thought I’d have to seduce a judge just
to keep my baby boy out of jail,” she said.

  “I thought he was doing much better.” Nora mentally cataloged highlight shades and which ones would do best for Lucie.

  “Oh, he is. I haven’t received a call from the school for almost three weeks. That’s pretty much a record for him. But I never drop my guard,” she chuckled, half turning. She froze. “Ohmigod!” She grasped Nora’s arm. “Is that who I think it is?”

  Nora smiled. She easily guessed which client Lucie was staring at. She pressed her hands on Lucie’s shoulders, keeping her turned to the mirror. “Yes, it is. Try not to drool.”

  “Drool would be the least of my problems. I once seriously thought about moving to Australia because of that man. Look at his smile!”

  Nora chuckled as the object of their conversation turned toward them, smiled and winked.

  “Now I can die happy,” Lucie sighed. “Right after you turn me into a blonde.”

  “And we want this because…?”

  Lucie’s smile dimmed. “We want this because I’ve come to realize life is much too short. Just the idea of having that engine come so close to wiping me out started me thinking about my priorities. I realized a majority of my outside contacts consist of being the helper mom at Nick’s school, chaperoning his class’s field trips, and being a voice over the phone when someone is booking a trip. Other than occasional recharge days here at the spa, I haven’t done much for myself. I don’t mean that I hate being known as Nick’s mother or Zach’s sister or even so-and-so’s travel agent. But, there are days when I’d like someone to think of me as Lucie, Wild Woman.”

  “Well, Wild Woman, you don’t have to be blond to change your life. Besides, going totally blond wouldn’t suit your coloring,” Nora explained. “What if we intensify your highlights? That won’t be as drastic.”

  Lucie stared in the mirror at her reflection. “Whatever you think best.”

  “Carte blanche. I love it.” Nora combed her fingers through the other woman’s hair. “Don’t worry. You’ll look great when I finish.”