One Last Objection_A Small-Town Romance

by Nancy Stopper

  Chapter Twelve

  MAGGIE DROPPED HER purse on the table inside her door and whipped around. Michael had been teasing and taunting her for the past hour at dinner, and her body was on fire. She was strung so tight, she was likely to go up in flames if Michael touched her again. But she’d had her revenge. As soon as they’d climbed into the car, she’d slid her hand onto his thigh. She tickled her fingers toward his cock and he twitched inside his pants. She’d been tempted to bend over and take him in her mouth as he drove down the road. He’d done this to her, and he was going to finish what he started.

  She slammed her mouth down on his and pushed him against the door. Her grip tightened around his neck as she shoved her tongue into his mouth, the sweet flavor of his chocolate dessert filling her senses. Damn, when did the taste of food get so sexy? She grabbed his hand and placed it on her breast. “Touch me.”

  He kneaded and squeezed, but it wasn’t enough. Her body was begging for more as she arched into him, shifting so his hand brushed over her nipple. A jolt shot through her and settled into a deep ache between her legs, driving a gasp from her lips. Two could play at this game. She slid her hand down his chest, not stopping until she cupped his cock. He was ready for her… what was taking him so long?

  He broke the kiss and nudged her away while he gasped for breath. “Maggie, we can’t do this.”

  “The hell we can’t. You spent that entire dinner flirting with me and making me horny. Now you’re going to finish what you started.”

  “Are you sure this is safe for the baby?”

  She sighed and thumped her forehead against the door. She might be pregnant, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have needs. The past couple of weeks had been torture. Her vibrator had had more workouts recently than in the six months before that. But now she had a warm, willing, sexy man in front of her, one who could drive her over the edge with his hands and his tongue, and he was holding back. “Yes, perfectly safe. Although I can’t promise how safe you’ll be if you don’t stop talking and take me.”

  He spun them around and shoved her back to the door. A minute later, his hand was up her skirt and shoving her thong aside. Finally what she’d been waiting for. What her body had been begging for. And no one could touch her like Michael could. He parted her soft folds and thrust two fingers into her.

  “Oh, God.” She flopped her head against the door. Her heart raced and her entire body was one live wire. Only Michael could touch her in a way that she felt deep in her gut.

  Michael swiped over her bundle of nerves at the same time he sucked her lower lip into his mouth. Wave after wave of pleasure coursed through her. She pushed against his hand, the strokes driving her higher and higher. Just as she could feel her orgasm building, Michael pulled his hand away.

  She cried out, but he smothered her mouth as he ripped her thong and tossed it away. Without breaking the kiss, he reached for his wallet but she stilled his hand. “We don’t need one.”

  He pulled back and looked her in the eye. “I’m clean. I haven’t been with anyone but you in a really long time—”

  “—and I can’t get pregnant again. I want to feel all of you inside me.” She fumbled with his belt, unbuckled, and yanked his pants and boxers down then stroked his cock, the velvety flesh gliding along her palm as she squeezed the hard steel inside. He dropped his head to her shoulder as she gripped. His cock thickened and stretched toward her.

  He pushed her hand away. “Enough.” He lifted her up and slammed into her.

  She wrapped her legs around his waist as his cock filled her, stroking every sensitive nerve inside. She’d never had sex without a condom before—ever—and somehow, being with Michael like this made their connection more… intimate. She liked sex, but to her, sex was about fulfilling a need. She’d never given herself over to a man enough to allow intimacy to invade her sex life. Until now.

  He lifted her and crashed into her again, forcing a moan out of her throat. He sucked on her neck, lifting and driving into her until she cried out. “I’m going to come.”

  He grunted but drove into her faster until he stretched her, throbbing within her, and groaned out his own release. A few more strokes and she snapped her eyes shut, lights flashing behind her eyelids as every muscle in her body flexed. All her blood shot to her core and she held Michael tight against her as she rode out her release.

  He collapsed against her, the two of them still joined as his chest heaved. Her arms were like wet noodles, hung over his shoulders, as she struggled to catch her own breath. If he hadn’t been holding her up, she’d have collapsed on the floor.

  A minute later, he lifted his head and looked her in the eye. Sweat beaded on his forehead. “Damn.”

  She swiped her tongue across his lip before sucking the flesh swollen from their kisses into her mouth. His tongue darted out and tangled with hers. She couldn’t bear to look at him, to know that while making love to him, she’d exposed a part of herself that she never had before.

  She nudged him back and lowered her feet to the floor. He helped her smooth her skirt down before he jerked up his pants and tucked himself away, leaving the button open. Her fingers itched to tickle the trail of hair that disappeared below his waist, to tease him until he hardened again.

  Damn, pregnancy hormones made her even more aroused than normal. This could get out of hand if she didn’t control herself. She couldn’t spend the next five months in bed with Michael, as much as she might want to. She pushed off the door and brushed past Michael. “Can I get you some tea?”

  Michael turned, a bewildered look on his face. His hair poked out in several directions from where her fingers had grabbed him, and his mouth quirked an unspoken question. She couldn’t blame him for being confused. She was confused, too. This wasn’t about the sex—which was freakin’ awesome—but something happened to her as Michael stroked inside her. Her fears of being left alone, of losing control of her life, all washed away. He needed to leave before she did something she regretted and threw herself at him again or declared feelings for him she wasn’t ready to analyze.

  He scrubbed his hand over his jaw. “Yeah, I guess I’ll have a cup.” He strode to the couch and flopped down while she busied herself in the kitchen.

  She popped a pod of that herbal tea Michael had brought her into the machine. The pile of papers she dropped on her way in from work laid on the counter and she straightened them. Maybe by the time the tea brewed and she had to face Michael, she’d have her head back on straight. The intensity of the fact that they hadn’t had sex in months coupled with all of her hormones raging out of control ignited her temper in a way she wasn’t accustomed to. Or maybe the words he’d spoken in the car had dug deep into her soul.

  She’d never told anyone about her fear of failure. Some of her earliest memories of her father was him standing over her, hands on his hips and lips pursed as he chastised another thing she hadn’t done to his satisfaction. If she left a toy out, he’d break it, just to teach her to put them away. She always cried. Then he’d call her a baby. In some ways, his absence was better for her than his constant control.

  Doctor, heal thyself. No wonder her personal life was in shambles. Classic rebellion. Even in keeping her house a mess, she was fighting against his control. At the same time, she had failed to grow beyond it. Hadn’t she told Michael that she liked her life the way it was and didn’t want him coming in and changing things? She wanted all the control for herself and didn’t intend to share it.

  Was she any different from the man she’d spent her entire life trying to defy?

  She thumped her head on the cabinet several times. She’d become the one person she didn’t want to be—her father.

  Michael’s hands rested on her shoulders and she turned into his embrace. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she swiped them away before wrapping her arms around his back and clinging to him. He kissed her hair and then rested his head on hers. Damn him. She didn’t want anyone, especially him, to see her like this.<
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  All of a sudden, she was lifted from her feet and carried into the living room. Michael lowered himself to the couch but kept his arms around her and her body slung over his lap. His voice was quiet and soothing in her ear. “Shh. It’ll all be all right. We’ll figure it out together, I promise.”

  How did he know that was exactly what she needed to hear? From where she sat, she was screwed up. Why was he putting up with her? He hadn’t signed up for her baggage, much less a child, when they’d started sleeping together. How had she not driven him away yet?

  “I’m not going anywhere. No matter how hard you try to push me out of your life. I’ll just push back, and I assure you, I’m a lot stronger than you. I will not leave. I promise.”

  His words had her tears flowing even harder. After all of this time, she was finally ready to admit she couldn’t do it all alone. Letting Michael help didn’t mean she was weak. Like he’d said, they each had things they were better at… he had superior planning skills and he could help get their heads wrapped around what it would take to care for the baby. She remembered Cheryl talking about how tired she was at the beginning… and how many diapers she changed that first year. Maggie could begrudgingly admit that having someone to lean on emotionally from time-to-time was nice.

  She sniffled and swiped her hand over her nose. How had she become such a mess. She couldn’t be close to Michael right now. He relaxed his grip around her, and she pushed away and slid onto the couch.

  He brushed his hand across her forehead and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. It was all she could do to not lean into his hand. Could she accept his support without giving away control of her life? Her strength wasn’t diminished by admitting that there was just too much on her plate.

  “What brought this on?”

  She tugged her skirt down and drew in a deep breath. It was time to admit she was in over her head. “I think I just got overwhelmed by everything. We hadn’t been together… like that… in a long time and I was… I just couldn’t handle everything anymore.”

  Michael chuckled and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “No one can handle everything you’ve taken on, honey. You work a crazy busy schedule and bring cases home with you every night. This pregnancy is making you tired, yet you’re still pushing yourself as hard as ever. You’re taking on more than any one person should, and you’re not giving yourself any grace.”

  “For my entire life, it’s always been up to me alone. By trying to control everything, I’m controlling nothing. I mean, look at my place. It’s a freakin disaster.”

  “I don’t think it’s that bad. If you’re okay with how things are, that’s good enough.”

  “But that’s the thing, I’m not. ”

  “Well, what do you want to do about it?”

  She threw her hands up. Shit, if she knew that, she’d have done it already. “That’s the thing. I don’t know.”

  “Are you up for suggestions?”

  “Sure. Can’t be any worse.”

  “What’s bugging you the most right now?”

  “That’s easy… my condo is a mess and I don’t have the energy at the end of the day to clean up. When I get home, I just want to sit on the couch and veg and instead, this—” She swung her arms wide. “—is staring back at me.”

  “And what do you think can be done to fix this?”

  She looked him in the eye. Is this how he felt when he accused her of shrinking him? “Are you interrogating me, counselor? Because I’m not one of your witnesses.”

  He raised his hands. “No, not at all. I’m just helping you think through something that feels overwhelming. Sometimes a person from the outside looking in can help you see the forest instead of the trees.”

  Maybe he had something there. Wasn’t she always telling her patients to step back from a situation and look at it from a different perspective? “You mean I can’t see beyond the mess to find a solution?”

  “Something like that. So, how do you want to solve this problem?”

  If she knew that, she wouldn’t be in this mess. That was the problem. “Well, I could take a day off of work and clean, but my patient schedule is brutal. I could find a weekend day to clean it, but again, work, and I’m so tired. And we still haven’t shopped for anything for the baby, and it’s almost Christmas and I haven’t bought any gifts, and—”

  Michael pinched her lips shut with his fingers. “There you go again, spinning around too many things. What you’re saying is that you can’t seem to find the time. Are you willing to let someone take this off your plate for you?”

  She raised her eyebrows. Was he thinking he could straighten her apartment for her? What if he threw something valuable away because he didn’t know it was something she wanted? He wouldn’t mean to, but the damage would be done. “Are you kidding me? This is my condo. I know where everything goes, know how I like it… no one else does.”

  His eyes bored into her as he stared. Once or twice, he quirked an eyebrow. She scanned the room where two blazers lay strewn across the armchair and plates from last night’s takeout were still sitting on the table on top of a pile of papers that probably needed to go back to the office. Maybe it wasn’t as horrible as she thought. Her standards were probably a bit higher than they needed to be. His arms tightened around her but he still didn’t say anything.

  “Yeah, okay, maybe you’re right. It’s not as bad as all that. And I guess I could consider someone helping.” She croaked out the words, the sentiment sticking in her throat. She would hate someone else all up in her space, but her life would definitely be calmer if she didn’t have the guilt of undone housework hanging over her head like a curse, screaming at her every time she walked in the door.

  Her need to control was getting out of hand. When had that happened? She’d fought tooth and nail to be different than her parents, yet here she was, holding her life close to the vest. If anyone deserved to topple the walls she’d put up around her life, it would be Michael.

  “Good, that’s really good.”

  Her heart calmed and her skin stopped prickling. Maybe letting Michael in a little wasn’t so bad.

  “Now, how about that tea? I can heat it back up in the microwave.”

  “Actually, I’m pretty beat.” All of this emotional sharing had worn her out more than the hot sex against the wall. Although that had been pretty exhausting.

  Michael stood, brushed his hands down his slacks, and extended his hand. After he pulled her to her feet, he wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’m really proud of you, honey. I know that was hard, letting go of some control. And I know you don’t want to hear this, but I have to say it, I want to be that person to help you.”

  She whipped her head back and looked him in the eye. “You want to clean my condo?”

  He chuckled and pressed her head back to his chest. “No, well, yes, if that’s what you want. But I want to help you with the bigger picture. I’ve told you that you aren’t getting rid of me so easily. You can’t scare me off. So let me carry some of your burden. I want to do it, for you… and for the baby.” He laid his hand on her belly. “Our baby.”

  Warmth spread out and filled her body. Her stomach fluttered or was it… no, it couldn’t be. Was that the baby moving? “Oh my gosh, did you feel that?”

  “No, what?”

  “The baby… I think it moved.”

  “Really?” He dropped to his knees and cupped her belly. “Hey, little baby. This is Daddy. Did you just kick Mommy?”

  Her heart wrenched and she placed her hand over it. Michael stroked her belly and spoke to their baby with such tenderness. And he called her Mommy. Through all of the chaos, she’d lost sight of the fact that she was this baby’s mother. And Michael was the baby’s father. Regardless of everything else, for the rest of their lives, they were this child’s parents.

  She pulled him to his feet and slid her hand down to his, linking their fingers. “I think I’m ready for bed.”

  He popped a kiss on her li
ps. “I’ll get out of your hair.”

  She shook her head. “Nuh-uh. I want you to stay.”

  He threw a questioning look at her.

  She couldn’t blame him. They didn’t do “stay,” and they didn’t cuddle. But right now, that was what she wanted. “Not to have sex. Just to sleep. But if you’d rather not…”

  He let go of her hand.

  Damn, now she was the one changing the rules on him. They’d set firm boundaries right from the start, and she’d gone and gotten all emotional. But instead of heading to the door, he toed off his shoes. “Sounds perfect to me.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  MICHAEL CHECKED HIS watch for the fiftieth time in the past two minutes. Where in the heck was Rachel? Hopefully she didn’t change her mind about telling Lucas and Joey.

  “So what’s this all about?” Joey’s knee bounced as he scanned Michael’s office. He’d told his brothers that they needed a family meeting but hadn’t shared any details. This was Rachel’s news to share—he was just here to support her and answer any questions. Good thing, too, because he was having trouble focusing.

  His relationship with Maggie had shifted in ways he couldn’t understand the other night. She went from practically mauling him on the way in the door to crying in his arms. When he’d slid her onto his lap, it had felt right. For the first time in a long time, he knew where he belonged, and it was with her. How could he have let his need to make partner drive him away from what was important? Joey and Lucas had had it right all along.

  But he couldn’t worry about his relationship with Maggie right now. This meeting was about Rachel’s paternity and his focus was on Rachel. “We’ll discuss it when everyone shows up.”

  Joey flung his ankle over his knee. “Good, then we can take these few minutes for you to tell me about your date the other night. The one you refused to talk about.”