“Thanks,” she said, so quietly he had to strain to hear.
“For what?”
“For everything. But mostly for giving me the opportunity to have Christopher. And for being so patient.”
“What makes you think I’m patient?”
Her smile was subtle and sleepy, and nearly buckled his knees. Desire, slower now, but no less intense, reared inside him. Cocking his head slightly, he said, “This wouldn’t have been my first choice of ways to spend my wedding night, but you’re right, Beth. I am a patient man. I can wait. As long as I don’t have to wait too long.”
He retraced his steps and kissed her soundly on the lips, the crying baby between them. “Good night, Beth. You, too,” he said, capturing the baby’s flailing hand in his own. And then, without another word, he turned on his heel and quickly made his way to the stairs.
Watching him go, everything inside Beth went strangely still. There had been nothing lust-arousing in his parting words. Although his kiss had come as a surprise, it had been delivered amid Christopher’s wails. And yet, watching Tony disappear up the stairs, soft-touched thoughts shaped her smile.
A light went on upstairs, and a door was closed at the end of the hall. Coming to her senses, she began to walk with Christopher, hoping the swaying motion would lull him to sleep. As she strolled through the unfamiliar, dimly lit rooms, she thought about the man she’d married. Tony Petrocelli had a masculine charm and a potent sensuality that was impossible to ignore. He was sexy when he wanted to be and concise when it suited him. Underneath it all, he was a very patient man.
“Oh, Christopher,” she whispered, “your new father would be awfully easy to love.”
That thought brought her up short. She admitted that she had strong feelings for Tony, but what she felt was awe, and gratitude, and quite possibly the strongest remains of unspent desire she’d ever experienced. It had nothing to do with love. Nothing whatsoever.
Staring down at the baby in her arms, she thought about the emotional roller coaster she’d been on with Barry these past several years. If he’d been able to break her heart a little at a time, she could only imagine what a man like Tony could do. Bethany had survived it once, but she had no desire and no intention of allowing it to happen again.
Since she had no idea how she was going to make sure her heart didn’t end up broken again, she kissed Christopher’s forehead and said, “What do you say you and I go into the kitchen and see if we can’t figure out some way to calm you down so we can both get a little sleep?”
If he hadn’t been crying so loudly, and if he could have actually understood her words and not just her tone, she had a feeling he would have agreed that that was a very good idea, indeed.
* * *
Beth came awake with a start. Unsure where she was, she peered into the darkness, trying to get her bearings. For a moment she thought she must have been dreaming, because her body felt heavy, her brain groggy. As her mind cleared, she remembered that she’d crawled into the spare bed for a couple of reasons, one of them being that she hadn’t wanted to wake Tony. At first, the unfamiliar surroundings had seemed odd, but gradually, the sounds of the old house settling around her had lulled her to sleep.
She glanced at the clock radio on the bedside table, then snuggled into her pillow. Christopher had finally settled down shortly after three. She didn’t know whether it was the warm water bottle she’d placed on his tummy, or the fact that he’d simply worn himself out, but he’d been sleeping peacefully in his crib for almost two hours.
Beth rarely awoke for no reason. Wrapped in warmth and darkness, she wondered what had roused her from sleep tonight. A branch scraped the side of the house ever so softly, and somewhere, a shutter rattled in the wind. Acknowledging the sounds, she knew she should try to get some sleep. After all, there was no telling how much rest she would get once Christopher woke up again. Telling herself she had absolutely no reason to worry, she swung her feet over the side of the bed. Necessary or not, it wouldn’t hurt to check on her baby one more time.
Her bare feet thudded softly as she padded into the hall, her long robe fluttering behind her. Following the faint yellow glow of a duck-shaped night-light, she strolled into the nursery, stopping in front of the crib. Christopher sighed in his sleep, one tiny fist curled close to his ear, the other resting on his chest. Feeling as if everything was right with the world, she retraced her steps to the hall, then descended the stairs to get something to drink.
Since she’d walked the floors so many times with Christopher, she had the floor plan memorized and didn’t bother to turn on a light. Letting moonlight guide her to the kitchen, she deftly stepped around a box of belongings she hadn’t had a chance to unpack, then reached for the handle on the refrigerator door.
A doorknob rattled behind her. Beth’s eyes darted in that direction, but the rest of her froze in place.
There was a long, brittle silence as she strained to hear another sound. Another came. From the short hall that led to the back door.
The image of the faceless person who’d been seen lurking around the hospital nursery leapt into Beth’s mind. Bringing her hands to her throat, she wanted to scream for Tony, but the doorknob rattled again, and she couldn’t make a sound.
She heard a scrape, as if someone was dragging something, and then a series of thuds. Beth glanced longingly toward the stairway, wishing Tony would wake up. Pressing her back against the refrigerator, she knew that with or without his help, she would fight to keep Christopher safe.
She drew in a shallow breath, then moved to the adjacent wall where she’d be out of sight. With blood pounding in her ears, she positioned herself the way she’d once learned in a self-defense class. And waited.
The door opened on silent hinges, and the shadowy shape of a man moved slowly into the room. Letting loose a bloodcurdling scream, Beth jumped into the intruder’s path.
She was all set to kick him where it counted when she heard an oath and a deep yelp of surprise. Cardboard tore and dishes clattered as the intruder fell over backward. With her heart in her throat, she flipped on the light. And froze all over again.
A huge man with blond hair and bulging biceps was half sitting, half lying on the floor, a mortified expression on his face. His ankle, which was ensconced in a white cast, was twisted at a painful-looking angle.
“Who are you?” Beth cried.
“Who the hell are you?” the man said at the same time.
“Gib, what are you doing here?”
They both jumped all over again as Tony walked into the room with Christopher, who was awake and wiggling, held stiffly in his arms. Beth’s mouth dropped open, but she couldn’t help it. Now that her heart had slid down a notch in her throat and she could actually breathe, she cried, “You know this man?”
Tony had grown accustomed to being awakened in the middle of a deep sleep, but he had to admit he’d never walked into the middle of a scene such as this one. Beth’s scream had surely taken years off his life, but the sight of his best friend sprawled on the floor was one of the most comical things he’d ever seen.
“Beth,” he said, trying not to grin, “I’d like you to meet Gibson Malone. Gib, this is my wife, Bethany.”
Gib released a low whistle. The two men went back a long way, so long, in fact, that Tony recognized every nuance in his best friend’s expression. Of course, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going through Gib’s mind right now. He was staring at Beth, and as far as Tony could tell, his gaze had yet to make it all the way to her face. Another time, Tony might not have minded. After all, Beth made quite a picture straddling Gib’s cane, one sleeve of her robe draping off her shoulder, the lush contours of her breasts visible through the thin fabric of her pale pink gown.
Gib’s hair looked lighter than it had the last time he’d seen him, undoubtedly the result of being bleached under the sun of some foreign country. Gibson Malone had acquired medals of honor for things he couldn’t even talk a
bout, but if he didn’t stop ogling Beth, Tony was going to flatten his nose.
Gib glanced at Tony, a grin busting out all across his face. “Lucy,” he said, wiggling his pale eyebrows expressively, “you’ve got some ‘splaining to do.”
Tony shook his head, thinking the man was about as subtle as the Ebola virus. Some things never changed, that was for sure. Gib had been doing a horrible Ricky Ricardo impersonation for as long as he could remember. “Malone,” he said, offering his friend his hand, “I thought you were out of the country.”
Steadying himself with his cane, Gib placed his hand in Tony’s and slowly rose to his feet. “I was.”
“Did you do that jumping out of a plane?” Tony asked, pointing to the cast.
Gib shook his head. “The jump was routine. But the landing was a doozy. They call this a walking cast, but that’s a damn sight easier said than done.” Balancing on his good leg, he glanced at the baby and then at Beth before finally meeting Tony’s gaze once again. “I’ve been gone for six weeks, but the stories I could tell would probably sound tame compared to what’s been happening in your life. You’ve obviously been a very busy man, Antonio.”
Beth moved as if she’d suddenly come to her senses. She pulled at the front of her robe and quickly tied the sash, then reached for Christopher, who was making those squeaking noises he made when he was getting ready to yell for his bottle. Tony liked the way her fingers smoothed over his chest as she took the baby in her arms. He liked the way she smelled, like morning and woman, and he liked the way she looked, sleep tousled and sexy. But mostly he liked the way she smiled up at him. If they’d been alone, he would have shown her just how much.
Beth, always poised and good-mannered, cast Gib an apologetic look. “I’m sorry I made you fall, Mr. Malone. I thought you were an intruder.”
“No harm done,” Gib said, shrugging one massive shoulder. “Except to my pride.” Leaning closer to Bethany, he lowered his voice and patted his derriere. “And maybe to my ego. Perhaps a kiss would make everything better.”
Tony stepped neatly between them. Flattening one hand in the middle of Gib’s chest, he said, “The day she kisses your…ego is the day I’ll kick it to the far side of the Rockies.”
Gib grinned at Beth and made a clicking sound with his tongue. “He’s so territorial. At least call me Gib.”
“All right, Gib,” she said, glancing down at Christopher, who was starting to cry. “Now, if I don’t warm a bottle for this little guy in short order, he’s going to pitch a fit that could wipe out your hearing for the rest of the day.”
“The kid sounds like his old man.”
Gib Malone didn’t understand the look that passed between Beth and Tony, but he understood all too well what was behind the way Tony watched her every move. Anthony Petrocelli had a hungry look in his eyes, all right. Not necessarily for food.
Gib released a pent-up breath. He usually bunked down at Tony’s place when he found himself between assignments. From the look of things here, his timing was way off. “I should probably be going,” he said to Tony.
“What? Oh, yeah, I’ll walk you to your car.”
Gib felt his brows draw down in an affronted frown. “Gee, Tony. You might as well come right out and tell me there’s no hurry but here’s my hat.”
Something about the tone of Gib’s voice drew Tony’s attention. He took a frank look at his friend and wasn’t entirely comfortable with what he saw. “Gib, are you all right?”
Gib kneaded the back of his neck. “I guess I’m more tired than I thought.”
Tony didn’t think he’d ever heard that particular tone in his friend’s voice. Following him out the door, he said, “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded in there, you know. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want.”
The sun was an hour away from poking up over the mountains in the east. It would be longer before it took the chill out of the early morning air. Tony felt the cold on his bare chest, but it didn’t cause him to hurry, and it didn’t diminish the sincerity in his invitation.
Gib glanced at the house. “I know, and I appreciate the offer. But I think it would be best if I bunked down at J.J.’s place. How long have you and Beth been married, anyway?”
It was Tony’s turn to glance over his shoulder at his own lighted windows. “Since yesterday.”
Gib let out a whoop that probably woke up the neighbors. “No wonder you’re so anxious to get rid of me this morning.”
Tony shook his head. “You don’t know the half of it.”
“Yeah? Well, when you get a few minutes, you’ll have to fill me in. And while you’re at it, you can tell me how you came to be a married man and a father in the span of six short weeks.”
Following Gib to his Jeep, Tony said, “Six weeks? Ha! This has all happened in just over one week. It’ll probably take that long to explain.”
Gib opened his Jeep’s door and stashed his cane in the back. “That baby didn’t happen in a little over a week.”
“Like I said, it’s a long story.”
“I’m looking forward to hearing it.”
Tony nodded. “When I’m through, you can tell me why you really came home.”
“I told you. I fell.”
“You know what they say,” Tony countered. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”
“I was thinking the same thing about you.”
The two men exchanged a long, meaningful look. Like opposite mirror images, one dark, the other fair, their mouths slowly lifted into grins. Tony was the first to speak. “It is good to see you, Malone. We have a lot to catch up on. Give me a call as soon as you get settled. And that’s an order.”
“Aye-aye, sir,” Gib answered. “Now, get your bony butt back in that house and give your wife a kiss for me.”
“That,” Tony said to himself, watching Gib back out of the driveway, “is going to be a pleasure. A pleasure, indeed.”
He ambled back inside and found Beth in the living room, sitting in the old wood rocking chair he’d gotten from his Grandma Rosa. She looked up at him when he entered the room, and continued to pat Christopher’s back.
Tony wondered if she had any idea how she looked at that moment, all sleepy and rosy and warm. Christopher burped loudly, the sound bringing out Beth’s smile. Tony swallowed, then returned her grin.
“Did Gib leave?” she asked.
He nodded.
“And you think I have a strange best friend?”
Tony had the grace to shrug. “He takes a little getting used to, but believe me, he’s the best. He feels really bad about scaring you, though,” he said, walking farther into the room.
“I thought it might have been the person Kitty saw hanging around the nursery.”
He nodded again, his estimation of Beth rising another notch. The woman was incredible. Not only was she beautiful and intelligent, but she was brave, too. “Did you get any sleep at all last night?” he asked.
“A couple of hours.”
Tony’s eyebrows drew down in consternation. He was certain her side of the bed hadn’t been slept in. As if she read his mind, she said, “I crawled into the bed in the spare room. I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Could she really not know how much he wanted her to disturb him? “Believe me, Beth, I wouldn’t have minded. How long before Christopher finishes that bottle?”
She shrugged. “He’s a slow eater.”
Beth held her breath as she waited for Tony’s reaction. She knew what he was thinking, and why he was eager for Christopher to finish eating. He didn’t appear to be impatient, but he didn’t appear to be trying to disguise his desire, either.
The sky beyond the windows had gone from black to gray as morning prepared to break on a new day. Their wedding night had been a long one. Beth was almost glad it was nearly over.
Tony rotated a kink from his neck and shoulders, the action drawing her gaze to the muscles in his arms and chest, and to the washboard ridges that disa
ppeared into the low-slung waistband of his slacks. If he’d been Greek, he could have been Apollo, himself. He obviously didn’t have a self-conscious bone in his body. A man like that would be incredible in bed.
That thought had her mind scrambling like leaves in an autumn wind. She’d done a lot of thinking after he went to bed last night. She knew she would always feel enormously indebted to him for helping her adopt Christopher, but she had to find a way to make sure her feelings stopped there. In order to accomplish that, she had to slow things down. That wasn’t easy to do with him standing, shirtless and sexy, less than a dozen feet away.
The events of the past week played through her mind in fast-forward. She realized that there were a lot of issues she and Tony hadn’t considered, let alone discussed. The sexual aspect of their marriage was one of them. The length they expected the marriage to last was another. She’d gone into her marriage to Barry believing it would last forever. With him, sex had become a means to an end: pregnancy—something she’d failed miserably. Beth had heard all the rumors about Tony’s sexual prowess, and frankly, she didn’t want to fail again. She definitely didn’t want to end up with a broken heart.
“I could start a pot of coffee while you finish feeding Christopher.”
Tony’s voice drew her from her thoughts. She panicked for a moment, then seized the first excuse she could think of. “You go ahead. I don’t want the caffeine to keep me awake.”
She saw the surprise cross his face. Bless his heart, she saw the understanding, too. It was no wonder so many of his patients fell in love with him. She wasn’t entirely certain how she was going to keep it from happening to her.
“Are you going to try to get some sleep?” he asked.
She nodded. “If that’s all right with you.”
Reeling in his thoughts, Tony took a frank look at Beth. This time, he noticed the dark smudges beneath her eyes and the fatigue in the set of her shoulders. She’d been awake most of the night. Of course she was exhausted. Damn.
“Of course it’s all right with me,” he answered.
Marriage by Contract Page 8