Of all the nerve. She tossed her head and lifted her chin. “I’m glad the sex was memorable for one of us. Sorry, Fred, but I’ve moved on to bigger things. Huge.” Her gaze flicked down to his crotch and back up again, a smirk fixed on her sweet mouth. Just leave me be, she thought, until another voice in her head spoke up, Don’t let him go. “Maybe you should try to do the same.”
His face turned dark. “Dammit, April. You can’t keep running away from me.”
Uncrossing her arms, she shoved a finger into his chest. “Maybe I could, if your buddy hadn’t pulled me over for a false traffic violation.”
“False? You were speeding,” he yelled, his hands swiping through the air. Automatically, she flinched and used her hands to shield her face. “What the hell? I would never hit a woman.”
Humiliation washed over her, turning her body hot, then cold and then back to hot. Slowly lowering her arms, she narrowed her eyes. “How would I know that?”
Slowly, he took a step towards her, then another, his blue eyes serious. “I would never hurt you. Ever.”
Not physically, that she believed. However, her poor heart was still trying to recover from the bruises he’d left on it, with his lies and false promises.
“I’m sorry you’ve gone to all this trouble to help me home, but I think it’s best if you go.” She side-stepped him, heading to the door and opening it.
He moved to the door and her heart plummeted. Stay, please stay. Pausing he looked her straight in the eye and shut the door. “I’m staying.”
Yay, her heart cheered. She frowned. “Don’t you have cop stuff to do, like eat donuts?” Although if he ate donuts, then he must do a thousand sit-ups afterwards, because the man was more than cut.
As if reading her thoughts, he slid his hand up his black t-shirt, exposing those washboard abs and her weakness for them. She whimpered and he grinned. “These aren’t the abs of a desk jockey.”
Of their own accord, her fingers stretched toward him and she licked her lips.
“Go on. Touch them,” he said, voice all low and husky. He met her halfway, encircling her wrist with his large hand and placing her palm right on his stomach. The muscles contracted beneath it.
“Oh God,” she whimpered again. What was wrong with her? Finn was just a man, with red hair for goodness’ sake. Okay, so it was a dark auburn and his blue eyes were sexy as anything. He was sexy as anything.
“Knew you’d love it.” He smiled, wicked and full of promised.
And so smug that she snatched her hand away. “Better keep working out, Felix. There was a little pudge.”
His brows shot up to his hairline and his smile fell off his face. “My what?” Then that smile returned. “I’ve got you all figured out, Miss Billingsworth.”
She backed away from that smile. “The only thing you’ve figured out about me is that I happen to like men with nice physiques.” Stopping a couple feet of away from him, she pretended to consider her next words. “Like my ex-fiance, for instance, has abs that make grandmothers sigh.”
“Is that where you’ve been?” he asked.
Was Finn jealous? “I missed Carter.”
“If he’s so great, then why aren’t you with the arse. Oh, sorry, Mr. Wonderful?”
Because she didn’t want Carter. She wanted Finn, the man who had lied to her, who’d made her laugh and feel so loved that it physically hurt to be without him. And he was the father of her unborn child. Eventually, she would have to tell him about the pregnancy, but the other…probably never.
So she resorted to what she did best, annoy the hell out of Finn. “Who says he’s not on his way here right now?”
Finn could barely contain the eye roll over her bald-faced lie. “As sick as you were, I’d sure as hell wouldn’t be letting you out of my sight.” He strode to the kitchen and opened her fridge. There was barely anything on the shelves worth eating or drinking, unless one liked crackers and soda water. “Where’s your beer?”
“Right where you left your manners,” April said from the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.
He straightened, taking in her tiny tank top and stripped pajama bottoms that her open robe had revealed. Her breasts looked huge and there was a softness to her curves that hadn’t been there before. “Did you get your tits done?”
“Why?” She crossed her arms over her chest, making them stand out even more. “Did you miss my hot tits?”
He would never live that text down. “I’m a man, aren’t I?”
“Do you really want me to answer that?”
Damn, but he loved teasing her. “Gain some weight, then?”
Jaw working, she whirled around and stomped down the hall. He followed, “C’mon, April. I was only joking.”
“Go away.” She stopped at a door, her head bowed. Hair the color of caramel fell forward, exposing the soft nape of her neck.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. You look gorgeous.” He moved closer, placing his hands on her hips and dipped his head. “I’m an arse.”
“Finn,” she said, her hands joining his, then bringing one around front. His palm coasting over the firm swell of her stomach. “I’m pregnant.”
Chapter Five
“I see,” Finn said, although he could barely see anything at all, much less breathe. He blinked at the back of her head, saw double, then blinked again.
She sighed. “It’s yours. The first time we had sex…we didn’t use protection, remember?”
But he had pulled out at the last minute. Guess he mucked that up. “I see,” he said again. Damn, but he was utterly brilliant at this moment. He was going to be a father. Responsible for someone else’s life. Responsible for screwing them up in a way that only parents could. “Jesus.”
“If you’d like to have visitation with the baby after it’s born, I’m sure my lawyer can work something out with yours,” she said, in voice calm, like she was discussing her plans for the weekend. “If you can’t afford one, then—”
“I can bloody well afford my own lawyer,” he growled, applying pressure to the one hip still in his hand. She turned, her chin tipping up. Pretty blue eyes met his, head on and tear free. “But I won’t need one.”
This time she was the one to say, “I see.”
“You and I will work things out before the baby is born,” he said and her eyes fractionally widened. “As it happens, I’m in need of a flatmate and –”
She crossed her arms. “I’m not moving in with you in some pest-infested apartment.”
His “pest-infested” apartment was located in Charlotte’s swankiest Uptown address. “Wasn’t asking you to.” He cupped her cheek and her eyes closed, lashes falling. “Besides, your place has a yard and sidewalks. Good schools.”
“So you’ll be moving nearby?” A shuddering breath left her as she leaned into his touch. “That’ll be nice.”
“For the baby,” she added quickly, her pink lips oh so close to his.
“Glad you think so,” he murmured.
“Me, too.” Rising on the balls of her feet, she kissed him. A quick meeting of lips that had him pressing her against him as he went in for more.
He kissed her again, nipping at her bottom lip. “Not done.”
She slid her hands up his chest, to his arms, gripping his biceps. “We should stop,” she said between kisses.
“We should,” he agreed.
“I’m still mad at you, Finn.”
“As you should be, but lay into me tomorrow,” he said, then sealed his mouth over hers. Damn, he’d missed kissing her. He’d missed the way she would surrender to herself and let him explore her mouth with his tongue. Like he was doing now. He growled low in his throat when her tongue touched his.
Sweeping her off of her feet, he bumped open the door with his hip and walked inside. Without breaking their kiss, he kept one eye open and made his way to her bed, carefully placing her in the center.
She looked up at him, breathless and all shiny-mouthed. He pulled his sh
irt over his head, then his holster and placed it on the dresser. When he came back to bed, she lay there nude but for her panties.
Placing a knee on the mattress, he unfastened the top button of his black pants. “Take those off.”
“You do it…please.”
After shucking off his pants, boxers, socks and shoes, he climbed on the bed and dipped his head to her hip. Using only his teeth, he tugged off her silk panties, then gently pushed her thighs apart. A thin strip of blonde curls and pink flesh greeted him.
“Now that’s a sight,” he said with a wiggle of his brows.
She giggled, then slapped a hand over her mouth, like she’d just revealed her most shocking secret to him.
“Don’t hide from me,” he ordered, pulling her hand away from her face. “And don’t be afraid to be you with me.”
“I’m not like other women—you know, nice and sweet,” she said. The vulnerability on her face was nearly his undoing.
“Not much of a sweet tooth.” He lowered himself between her thighs and parted her delicate sex, giving her a lick. “I prefer tart.” Another lick and her hips rolled. “A little tangy.” This time he found her clit and sucked, until she beat at his shoulders and called out his name. “Full of vim and vinegar.”
Pushing her hair out of her eyes, she blinked at him. “I taste like vinegar down there?”
“No,” he said with a low laugh, then crawled up her body, mindful of what lay between them. “Care to taste for yourself?”
She turned her head and he kissed her ear instead. “Maybe another time.”
He worried a lobe, pleased when her nipples hardened. Working his way down the long column of her throat, he traced a path to her breasts and palmed one. He placed an open mouth over the top of one hard nipple, then peered at her from beneath his lashes. She watched him intently, her cheeks pink as she panted. He felt her fingers curl around his dick, tightening. He groaned, then began to suck on her.
“In me, Finn. I need you in me,” she said on a wail. “Please…put your cock inside of me.”
His dick grew as hard as the Kevlar in his vest. He let her nipple pop out of his mouth. “I’ll fuck you, love.” Brushing her hand out of the way, he guided his cock to where she was wet, slick and hot, and gave a hard pump of his hips. She jolted beneath him, her inner muscles clamping down on him.
“Yes,” she hissed.
His eyes rolled at the pleasure of it, then he rolled her on top of him.”Don’t want to hurt you,” he said softly.
She placed her hands on his chest and worked herself up and down his cock, until finally he slid all the way inside of her. This time, they both groaned.
“Oh God,” she said, her head falling back and her luscious breast bouncing as she rode him. Leaning forward, he bit a nipple and she spasmed around him.
“Son of a bitch,” he said and her head snapped up.
“What?”
“Protection.”
Tilting her head to one side, she made a face. “Little late for that, don’t you think?”
“Worse things than a baby.”
She frowned. “Don’t have those, remember?”
He grinned, memories of a similar conversation taking place the first time he stripped her out of her dress.“Neither do I, remember?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she snapped, then a hard thrust made her moan.
Cupping each hip, he helped her ride him, urging her faster and harder until she let him take completely over. “That’s right. Forget that you hate me, that you always need to be in control.”
“I don’t need to be in control.” But he noticed she didn’t say a word about hating him, which could only mean that she didn’t hate him and couldn’t bring herself to admit it.
He sucked a hard neglected nipple into his mouth, then let it pop out. Something he knew she loved for him to do, because she had told him in explicit details how she liked to be touched and stroked.
Most perfect woman ever created, he thought.
“Let me take care of you.” He brushed his thumb across the outer edge of her clit again and again, until she shoved his hand away and began to rub herself.
“More, Finn, more,” she gasped.
Her arm came down across the front of her body, cupping a breast and playing with a hard nipple. “You’re killing me, woman,” he said, then sat up. He held her close, pumping into her hard and sucking at a spot on her neck.
She shuddered around him, calling out his name.
His head fell back as his own orgasm claimed him, pouring out of his body into hers. Deeper and deeper he thrust, his arms tightening around her curvaceous body.
Finally, he rolled his head to one side then the other. “Almost forgot what a hot piece you are.”
Big blue eyes, slumberous with satisfaction and some other emotion regarded him. She yawned and stretched, her legs uncurling from around his waist. “I’m sleepy.”
“I’ve been told in the past that I’m hard to keep up with,” he said with a smug smile.
She yawned again. “Stop believing the lies.” Then she lay her head on his shoulder, relaxing in slow degrees until her breath evened out.
Easing down on the mattress, he lay there with her, long after he’d gone soft and slipped out of her warmth. He ran his hands up and down her back, until she shivered and goosebumps appeared. Then he somehow managed to draw the covers up and over them both.
“’Night, babe,” he said, as the sun set.
She mumbled something in her sleep, then snuggled up to him.
Wonder what she would think when she woke up next to him tomorrow morning? If her reaction to what had just happened between them was any indication, she’d be putty in his hands. He grinned.
Chapter Six
“I didn’t trick you into having sex, April.” Finn rubbed the back of his neck and groaned. “Why won’t you listen to reason?” They had been arguing for twenty minutes now and he was no closer to changing her opinion of him. Hell, he hadn’t even had a chance to try to change her mind.
She picked up a decorative pillow from the floor and placed it on the bed. “You used my raging pregnancy hormones against me, with your tight shirt and abs…and other things.” She tied the sash on her robe tighter and flicked her eyes over him.
He stood there, straight from her shower, wearing nothing but a towel. Grinning, he said, “Those raging pregnancy hormones bothering you, babe? I could help you out again.”
“You need serious psychological help.” She stomped to her closet.
He followed her, then leaned against the doorway with his arms folded across his chest. “In all seriousness, we need to talk. I’ll go first.” Her jaw turned mutinous and he uncrossed one arm to hold up a finger. “Wouldn’t you rather us be on good terms, for the sake of our baby.”
That mutinous jaw softened and she nodded. “Go on.”
“I was hired by your father, to watch over and keep tabs on you. However, it wasn’t my plan to sleep with you.”
“So, it was my fault, then?”
He straightened and took a step closer. “No. It was mine. I never get involved with clients or with anyone in their family.”
Raising a hand in the air, she waved a finger around. “Yay for being special.”
“Look, I wanted to tell you, but I was confident that you’d leave if I did…and I couldn’t risk that, at the time anyway.”
“Because it would have been extra hard to keep tabs on me once I got your tail fired? Bless your heart, Finn.”
Closing his eyes, he counted to fifty and prayed for patience. He deserved this. He had screwed up and had lied to her. She was the victim, no matter how tart her tongue.
“Are you done talking now, because I have things to do that don’t involve you.”
“Time for your weekly mani/pedi, babe?” he asked, eyes opening. That’s what she usually did on Tuesdays. He knew her entire schedule, down to the hour. He wondered if she had any idea that she was so habitual. If s
omeone ever did plot to kidnap her, they’d have no problem at all.
“No.” Her gaze skittered away. “Car stuff.”
“But it’s not Friday.” He frowned. “You always get your car detailed on Fridays.”
“Would you stop reminding me of how my dad paid you to stalk me?”
“Protect you,” he corrected.
“You’re splitting hairs.” She hung up her robe and got dressed, slipping into a pair of brown trousers and a pale pink fluffy sweater. Next were animal print flats. “Now get dressed and leave.”
“That’s it. You’re not willing to give me another chance?”
“I’m willing to let you have visitation with our child. That should be enough.”
“You’re not getting it, me…this.” He shifted his weigh from one leg to the other. “I want you and the baby. It’s a package deal now.”
“How romantic. Is that how you charm all the girls out of their panties, big talk of your package?”
“My big package seemed to impress you all right.”
“God, you’re so crass.” She brushed past him. “I expect you to be gone before I get back.”
There was no way he could leave her, no matter what she said or how she tried to insult him. Four months of dating her had seen to that. He was immune to her barbs and he’d cracked the code to April-speak. “Sorry, babe, I’m in it for the long haul.”
***
The last thing April expected to be in her driveway was a moving van, but there it was, blocking her. The house beside hers had been for sale, until yesterday when a sold sign suddenly appeared, so maybe the moving company had made a mistake.
She gently tapped on the horn of her new minivan. “Minivan,” she whimpered. She had always loathed minivans, stuffed full with kids, toys and DVDs. And now she owned one.
But she couldn’t feel sorry for herself. It was paid for, with enough money left over from selling her pretty little BMW to the dealership, to pay for insurance and gas for a long, long time. Besides, NoDa was entirely walkable. She should be proud for making such a sacrifice. Still her BMW had been so sleek and fast and cute and…not a minivan!
Driving to You (H1.5) Page 3