“They are both just fine,” the doctor answered. “Miss Carlington will be able to go home in a few hours and except for taking in lots of fluids and small bland meals until her stomach isn’t quite so rebellious, she’ll have no limitations.”
Clay smiled. Bobbie and the baby were fine and he was going to be a father. He shook the doctor’s hand and thanked the nurse as they left Bobbie’s room. Clay was already making mental preparations to take Bobbie back to the Lazy B. This time she was going to stay for good. She’d be living there as Mrs. Bobbie Bodine. Clay liked the sound of that.
* * * *
Bobbie could still see the look of fear on Clay’s face when he’d first arrived in her room at the hospital. She had also vaguely heard him telling her that he loved her. Begging her to be all right. Her heart hurt not to be able to give him back the words she knew he wanted to hear, but Bobbie wasn’t even sure that she’d heard Clay right.
She’d been back at the Lazy B for close to a week and in that time, Clay hadn’t touched her. No more than a peck on the cheek and it was killing her. He stalked around like an angry bear and then couldn’t figure out why in the hell nobody wanted to be around him. It was getting old real quick.
With plenty of fluids, rest, and medication Bobbie was feeling wonderful. She was getting cabin fever but Clay insisted she stay in the house and rest. Today she was going to push her luck, and his limits. She was going to town for a few hours to work.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, missy,” Mildred said as Bobbie collected her bag and car keys.
Bobbie tilted her head to the side. “Do you mean to tell me that by going into town to work, sitting at a desk mind you, for a few hours that I’ll be putting myself or my baby in jeopardy?”
Mildred gave an indelicate snort. “That’s not at all what I’m saying. Good grief, I worked cleaning houses until the day my daughter was born. No, that’s not what I mean.”
Bobbie felt relieved. She wouldn’t do anything to hurt herself or her child but she wasn’t the type to sit idle either. It was driving her nuts.
“Well, what did you mean, then?”
Mildred gave her a look then smiled a little wickedly. “I was thinking that Clay won’t be liking it much. Then again, maybe he needs to be riled a bit. Get some of the mean outta him. He’s about to drive Chance and the boys to drink.”
Bobbie laughed. Chance had pretty much told her the same thing. “He’ll have to deal with it, Mildred.” Bobbie meant every word of it too.
Her trip into town was slower than normal. No longer would she be taking unnecessary risks. She realized she had set herself up for a blowup with Clay but it was inevitable. He’d been spoiling for a fight for days and Bobbie was finally ready to give it to him.
It drove Bobbie insane that Clay refused to touch her. She was so horny, she thought she might explode and although her fingers worked wonders, it wasn’t the same.
“Maybe I’ll order myself one of those vibrating eggs,” she said. Sounded like a wonderful idea. She could have it sent next-day air. She’d be buzzing before she knew it. The thought made her smile.
Bobbie went by Lacey’s house first. She knew it wouldn’t take more than an hour to get her work done there. She walked up the front walk and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” was the muffled reply. Bobbie peeked her head in. Lacey was on the phone so she closed the door softly behind her and collected her supplies.
Bobbie had just sat down on the carpeted floor in front of the coffee table to get started when she heard Lacey’s raised voice.
“I said no, dammit!”
Lacey’s voice escalated to a heated pitch, causing Bobbie to look up, worried.
Lacey shook her head and punctuated her words with her hand.
“I’ve already told you. I don’t have any money for you. We’re not together anymore, Andy. Why don’t you ask one of your girlfriends if you need a loan?”
Bobbie had heard stories about Lacey’s ex-husband. He wasn’t a nice man and hadn’t bothered to hide his infidelity from the rest of the town, embarrassing Lacey in the process.
“Go fuck yourself!” was Lacey’s reply to whatever the man had said and then she swiftly slammed the phone down.
Bobbie stood up. “Everything okay?” she asked, not quite knowing how to help.
Lacey ran a trembling hand through her hair and smiled at Bobbie. “I’m fine. Just tired of dealing with that asshole. I’m thinking the idiot speaks a different version of the English language because he sure as hell doesn’t understand the word no.”
“What man does?” Bobbie quipped as Lacey pulled two glasses from the cupboard.
“Iced tea?”
“Sure,” Bobbie answered, forgoing her work.
Over the next few hours the two of them talked and had a good laugh at the expense of Andy Winslow. It was late afternoon when Bobbie finally made her way to Mr. Cook’s hardware store.
She groaned loudly when she pulled her car up to the front of the store. Clay was just walking out the front glass door and he didn’t look happy.
“Where in the hell have you been?” he thundered, not caring at all that he was loud enough that the people across the street could hear him.
“Good afternoon to you to, Boss,” Bobbie replied. She knew that calling him boss she’d be pushing it, but she was beyond tired of being coddled.
His brown eyes narrowed dangerously, as did his voice. It sent shivers up Bobbie’s spine to hear him speak so low and calm. It reminded her of the day he’d spanked her under the trees on the Lazy B.
“Don’t start that boss crap with me, Bobbie. I’m not in the mood.”
“Doesn’t seem like you’re in the mood for much these days, does it boss?”
Bobbie didn’t even flinch when his arm snaked out, his hand grabbing her around the wrist, tugging her close. “You are supposed to be home, resting.”
“I’m tired of resting, Clay. The doctor said the baby and I are fine, that should be enough for you. Now, please let me go so I can finish my work.”
His hand tightened, he didn’t release her wrist. “I told Mr. Cook that you needed to rest a while longer and that you’d be in sometime next week if you were feeling up to it.”
Bobbie couldn’t believe her ears. The man was too much. “I feel up to it now, Clay. So either you let me go or I scream until half the town comes running. It’ll be a big messy scene but at this point I don’t really give a fuck. Anything for you to let me go.”
Clay dropped his hand as if he’s been burned. He had a look on his face that seemed almost hurt. Bobbie wasn’t sure what to think.
His anger mounted and he stepped closer. “We’ll talk about this at home.”
“Don’t do this to me, Clay. If you can’t let me be me, I won’t come back to the Lazy B.” Bobbie’s voice broke. He was so overwhelming she couldn’t catch her breath.
His hands were fisted, the knuckles white and his jaw was so tense she was surprised he didn’t crack a tooth. The tick just below his right eye was new. He was close to blowing a gasket.
He was an imposing man. He towered over her with his broad chest, his eyes dark and stormy and yet, he didn’t say a word. Bobbie expected to see a trickle of blood make its way out of his anger-flattened lips. He had to be biting his tongue pretty hard.
Shock would be a mild word explaining how Bobbie felt when Clay stepped back, giving her room. He reached out and stroked her cheek, his head cocked to the side, studying her. His thumb brushed under her eye and she realized then he was wiping her tears away. Tears she hadn’t realized she’d shed.
“I’ll be at home waiting to talk to you, baby. Please be careful.” He leaned in and kissed her lips, lingering for a few minutes over her taste, then he turned and walked away.
Bobbie wanted to run to him, to throw herself in his arms and beg him to understand. His frantic words came back to her. His voice ragged with worry as he told her he loved her and all of a sudden,
she longed to hear him speak the words to her while they made love.
The fact that he had backed off and left without putting up a fight proved to her that he wasn’t like her father. Sure, he was unbending and unyielding, a man set in his ways, strict and old-fashioned, but he was also gentle and kind and he loved her. Bobbie tingled all over with the knowledge that they might work.
Bobbie knew that she was going to have to relent as well and give up the fight. She could learn to take the bad along with the good if Clay would be willing to meet her in the middle on occasion, as he had just then.
She walked into Mr. Cook’s hardware store with a smile on her face and a body that was ready for all sorts of loving.
Chapter Seventeen
Clay drove back home to the Lazy B with Bobbie on his mind and in his heart. It baffled him how she could seem so delicate and vulnerable and at the same time be strong enough to stand up to him when most men wouldn’t.
She wasn’t like any woman he’d ever known, which might be why he’d fallen in love with her. As a man, he was always up for a challenge and evidently Bobbie was going to be just that.
He thought back on his morning conversation with Chance after learning from Mildred that Bobbie had gone into town to work.
“Where in the hell are you going in such an all fired hurry?” Chance asked after Clay almost mowed him down to get out the back door.
“To bring Bobbie home,” Clay had looked at Chance as if he’d lost his brain somewhere. To Clay the answer was obvious.
“Damn Clay, she went to work.”
Chance seemed irritated but his mood was nothing on Clay’s. “She doesn’t need to work, especially not now.”
“Why?” Chance asked, his voice going from irritated to worried. “Has something else happened?”
“No, the doctor said she and the baby were just fine. I just happen to think she should be home resting.”
Clay snorted, his look going back to irritated. “You keep hounding her and she’s going to up and leave. Watch and see if she don’t. She’s pregnant, Clay, not battling some dreaded disease.”
Clay could feel his heart sink at the thought of Bobbie leaving, but he also remembered the helplessness he’d felt when she’d fainted and he had no idea what was wrong, whether she would live or die.
“You didn’t see her, Chance. She was so pale and I couldn’t do a thing to help.” He rubbed his hands through his hair and down his face as if to wipe away the memory. “I was so God-damned scared. I would have sold my soul to the devil in an instant if it would have made her better.”
Chance gave him a look; then nodded his head. “Good.”
“What in the sam hill do you mean, good?!” Clay thundered.
“I’m just relieved, is all. For a while there I couldn’t figure out whether you actually loved her or if she was just a prized possession.”
Clay scowled at Chance’s description but remained silent. “She told you about how she grew up, didn’t she?”
Clay nodded his head, affirming that Bobbie had shared her childhood.
Chance’s parting words to Clay before he drove his truck into town had been simple. “Give her some room to be herself Clay, or you won’t have to worry about caring for her at all. She’ll take that decision right out of your hands.”
He remembered vividly the night they lay in bed and she had told him about her father, a man who either couldn’t love or wouldn’t love. The reason didn’t really matter anymore. Bobbie no longer tried to figure out why she’d been cursed with an unloving father but she couldn’t completely let the fear go. The fear that she might someday end up with a man just like her father.
That conversation with Bobbie was one of the reasons Clay backed down in front of the hardware store. He was afraid that if he didn’t, he would lose Bobbie and he knew he couldn’t survive that.
Clay spent the next couple of hours working in the stables. Pitching hay was always a good way to work out one’s frustrations. When he was done with that, he paced the office, coming to a halt when he heard a car pull up. He looked out the window to see Bobbie getting out of her car. He watched with narrowed eyes as she struggled with some grocery bags. His feet were out the door before he remembered moving.
“Let me have that,” he said before he realized what he was doing. Before Bobbie could come back with a tried and true sarcastic remark, he relented. “Just let me help,” he said before asking. “Which one is heavier?”
Bobbie handed him the heavier bag of the two; then they walked into the house, Clay following her into the kitchen. For the most part the bags were full of junk food. Clay gritted his teeth and said nothing, although it killed him to do so.
Bobbie rose onto her toes and planted a sweet kiss on his lips. “Thanks,” she said against him. Clay could feel her warm breath on his neck, smell the mint of her chewing gum. It made his cock harden. She made his cock harden and throb to life.
“For what, darlin’?” Clay asked, holding her body close, nudging her belly with his growing desire.
“For not saying anything even though I know you wanted to and for offering to help instead of insisting I let you do it.”
Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears, making Clay groan. “Don’t cry, darlin’,” he whispered. Pulling back, he kissed her neck, nuzzling her until she giggled. Satisfied she wasn’t crying any longer, he set her away from him. “I might spend a lot of time being an ass and I might be high-handed and bossy but I love you, Bobbie. More than you’ll ever know.
Clay watched as her eyes once again filled, this time spilling over to wet her cheeks. She was laughing and nodding her head. “Sometimes you are an ass and I know better than most how high-handed you can be and as long as you don’t mind a good argument every now and then to work out our differences, I think those are traits I can learn to deal with.” Bobbie launched herself at Clay and when he held her tight around the waist, she encircled his neck with her arms and kissed him full on the mouth.
“I love you, Clay,” she murmured against his mouth. “I love you so much I can’t stand it.”
* * * *
Clay carried Bobbie to their room and snuggled with her under the covers. It might have only been hours since Clay had admitting to loving her, but it had been days since he’d made love to her. She was going to go plumb nuts if something didn’t happen soon.
They slept side by side every night, Clay holding her in his arms but going no further. He would tease and caress but that was as far as he’d go.
“Clay,” Bobbie whispered wiggling her bottom against his lap. He groaned.
“Go to sleep, sweetheart.” He was trying to sound firm but it wasn’t working.
“Do you really love me?”
Clay levered himself up on an elbow to look over her shoulder into her face. Even in the shadowed darkness, Bobbie could see his eyes. His feelings for her were evident in the whiskey-brown orbs.
“You know I do, darlin’. Haven’t I told you over and over in the past few hours?”
Bobbie pouted, then giggled as Clay leaned in and sucked her outthrust bottom lip. Her giggle turned into a stifled moan as the warmth of his wet mouth tugging on her lip sent a jolt of electricity straight to her pussy, causing it to flood and spasm.
“You told me and I loved hearing it, Clay but I want you to show me.” He grumbled and groaned, making Bobbie feel bad. Maybe he wouldn’t sleep with her now that she was pregnant. Maybe he found her body offensive, even though the only thing different Bobbie had noticed was an increased sensitivity in her breasts.
She sighed and turned back to a position where she was lying on her side hoping to hide the stream of tears coursing down her cheek. It didn’t work.
“What is it, baby? Are you feeling sick again?” He was already reaching for the phone.
“No Clay, I’m not sick. Nothing’s wrong. I guess I’m just emotional.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” she hiccoughed. “I’m sure,” she sobbed
.
“Dammit,” Clay raged, rolling her onto her back. “If something is wrong, you’d better tell me.”
The sound of his voice, so sure and strong, so demanding, made her insides quiver and heat. Bobbie arched against him needing to feel the warmth of his body against hers.
“I just need you to make love to me.”
Bobbie was disappointed when Clay rolled her back onto her side. She was completely naked and so was he. Clay snuggled up behind her, and she felt the tell-tale bulge of his erection at her lower back.
One muscular arm snaked around her waist; then lower until her sex was cradled in the palm of his hand. He toyed with her for a minute, running his fingers along her slit. He dipped in just enough to make her pant and writhe against him before his hand strayed to her thigh. He lifted her leg until it rested at an angle over his hip, leaving her exposed.
“You sure?” his voice was a husky murmur at her ear.
“Hell yeah, I’m sure,” Bobbie said, leading one of Clay’s hands to her breast. The taut peak was just begging for attention.
Clay chuckled. He tweaked and plucked her nipple with one hand as he stroked the length of his shaft into her from behind. He used his other hand to play with her clit until she gasped with pleasure.
“Oh fuck.” Bobbie couldn’t help the words as they tumbled from her mouth. Her body was tight, welcoming the impending orgasm as it began to ripple through her muscles.
“That mouth, darlin’. I thought we’d taken care of that,” he said, his breath hot against her neck as he increased his tempo. The sounds of their sex filled the otherwise silent room. She didn’t understand it, but the lewd noises turned her on even more and before she knew it, she was adding to them by moaning and panting with each stroke of his cock as he buried it completely within her.
The position he held her in was wonderful. Bobbie could feel Clay’s penis as it filled her. She could feel each ridge and vein as he throbbed within her, rubbing the tiny bundle of nerves from within.
Lazy B Ranch 00 California Cowboy Page 13