by Lindsey Hart
“I heard mint was good for a sore stomach. That and ginger, but I couldn’t find anything in here.”
“I hate ginger.” Teela glanced at the steaming mug where the little white tab draped over the edge, and the glorious smell drifting her way, declared that Ross had indeed found the mint tea bags. “Thanks though. I usually do drink a few cups of mint tea at night and it seems to help. I didn’t tonight. Maybe that’s why…”
“You really wanted to do this by yourself?” Ross lifted a mug and walked over to the table. He pulled out a chair and dropped down in it, dwarfing the small, apartment sized set, almost comically. “I- I mean, if that’s not a rude question.” He glanced at her sheepishly and seeing the soft look on his face nearly undid her.
Teela turned and grabbed her mug to hide the blush that was creeping up her face. And the heat that was stealing back into her limbs and some not so innocent spots. Nothing like getting turned on right after a good old-fashioned puking. What the hell is wrong with me? Maybe she could blame her body’s reaction on the hormones. Her emotions and moods had been pretty wild. Maybe the whole random shivery, fluttery, smoking panties weren’t really her fault.
“I’m turning thirty soon,” she said to the cupboards, without turning around. “I- I know what you mean about having a string of really bad luck that totally turns you off of trying to make it work with someone else. You just get past that and- well- I wanted kids. Always did. I…” She trailed off because it wasn’t like she could actually tell him about the whole sperm being stolen thing. Everything else was bad enough.
“I think it’s more popular now. Even- uh- when people conceive the conventional way, there are far more blended families and single parents now. People don’t feel they have to waste their lives staying together when it’s not working out anymore.”
“I guess so.” Teela grabbed her mug and joined Ross at the table. She didn’t exactly push her chair in close and she really didn’t meet his gaze. “Maybe I didn’t really think it through.” Finally, her eyes flickered up and when she found Ross studying her intently, that shivery feeling was back. Big time. She actually thought about checking her panties for smoke. Instead she shifted, locking her legs together to keep the tingles from spreading further up.
“I’m sure you did. You seem like you’d be a great mom.”
She nearly snorted. “Based on what? The fact I threatened you and chewed you out- uh- twice at least…”
Ross laughed softly. He picked up his tea and actually slurped a little when he drank, since it was hot, and the fact that he drank tea and made slurping noises at all, brought him down to being oddly human and that was far more attractive than it should have been.
“No. You seem smart. You have your own place. A decent job.”
“So, by a good mom, what you really mean is that I’d be a decent provider.”
“I- no. I didn’t mean it that way. But yes. Obviously, you could do that. You’re independent. You’re not afraid to stand up for what you believe in. Most people can’t do that anymore or won’t bother with it. I’m not sure anyone really believes in anything at all. So- I might not know you well, and maybe I did see the darker side of you, but I saw a hell of a lot more too. If there was anyone in the world who had to get injected with my sperm, accidently find out through leaked information, and have the guts to approach me to tell me, I’m glad it was you.”
Teela nearly choked on her sip of tea. She set her mug back down. “I- I guess- I guess we have a lot to talk about and uh- we have time. Seven months. I’m sure we’ll have it figured out by then.”
Ross nodded. He drained his mug, even though the tea was still steaming hot, pushed back his chair, and stood. “You’re right. We do. But not tonight. I can see you’re tired. It’s beyond late. I shouldn’t have come. I- I just had to. I couldn’t sleep.”
His gently spoken admission pushed out with a hint of shyness, twisted Teela’s stomach, and not in the vomit inducing kind of way. An unexpected rush of tenderness hit her square in the chest.
“I couldn’t sleep either,” she admitted.
“I’ll see you at work tomorrow. At nine. We have lots to get done, so make sure you’re on time.”
“I have one condition.” Teela knew she was pushing her luck, but she had to do it. “That you give Dora her job back. She needs it more than I do. I can sell this condo and move and get a different job, but it’s different for Dora. She’s a great accountant. She might not know your system or your software, but it would be worth it to train her. She’s the most loyal employee. She would never let you down. She knows the company. She’s far more valuable than you could ever give her credit for. I can’t take my job back in good conscious knowing that she was fired.”
“Actually…” Ross hesitated. A shadow of something close to a smile turned up his far too pretty lips and it tugged and pulled deep in her belly. “I didn’t fire Dora after all.”
“What?” Teela felt her mouth gape open.
“No. I thought about what you said after you left. I decided to keep her on. You’re right. She knows the company inside and out. Whatever money I have to put into retraining her will pay off tenfold. She’s very capable and damn, does she ever know accounting.”
“She’s an accounting goddess,” Teela agreed, when she’d recovered from her shock. “So, you actually mean that something I said had some impact?”
Ross shifted just a little. “I suppose it did.” He glanced at her mug. “Drink your tea. It’s probably cool enough now.”
Teela wasn’t used to having someone fuss over her. Not since she’d left home. Actually, far beyond that. Her little sister, who was a bit of a brat even in high school, always took up most of their parent’s attention. “What about the cheque? Should I tear it up?”
Ross considered for a minute. “No. Consider it the asshole bonus. I was an asshole. You get the bonus by way of apology.”
“I thought you said that you didn’t like people taking advantage of you,” she responded softly.
Ross’ ice blue eyes blazed into hers for just a second before a smile played over his lips. God, he looked so different late at night without the anger and defensiveness and all those layers hiding the softness and the goodness below. No one had really ever looked at her that way before. Either they didn’t want her to see it or it just wasn’t there. In her case, it was the latter. She’d never been with a single guy who could stand there and talk about his feelings.
“Goodnight, Teela,” Ross said softly. “Finish your tea. I’ll let myself out.” He walked out of the kitchen while she stayed where she was, for once doing what someone told her to do. “Never mind,” his voice drifted from the front door. “Don’t come in at nine. It’s way too late for that. Make it ten.”
He didn’t wait for an answer. Her front door opened and shut gently, but firmly.
Teela sat at the table, clutching her mug, the lingering warmth seeping into her hands.
Not only was it the first time a guy had ever looked at her that way, as if she actually meant something, not just as someone who could do something for them- usually in the bedroom- or as a piece of meat, or as a thing to be put up with and endured just so that they could have favors in the bedroom, it was the first time anyone besides her mom or Amy had ever made her tea. Or held her hair back as she threw up. Or- or bothered to care that she might be tired in the morning after a long night.
When she thought of Ross’ handsome face, his incredible eyes, the soft arch of his lips when he smiled, it wasn’t her panties that got hit the hardest. It was that annoyingly soft squishy part of her chest that she’d thought was pretty much incapable of feeling anything at all.
CHAPTER 10
Ross
Screw the butterflies, it felt like a herd of wild elephants was stampeding through his stomach. Or over his chest. He felt like he’d just been stormed and bowled over. Although, to be fair, he’d felt like that most of the day.
Usually Sundays were quiet. H
e took the opportunity to catch up on work that he still needed to do, prepared for the busy Monday and Tuesday, since those were the days where he usually had meetings with his managers and with Darla, a twenty year old Business student who was shockingly adept at finding grocery stores that needed a facelift. It seemed like a better term than calling it a corporate take-over.
Since it was his last day at the store in Nestor Falls, after two weeks of training and getting everything off the ground and running smoothly, he knew he had to do something. He’d debated about it for almost a week. It took him every single one of those seven days to work up the courage to ask Teela if she wanted to come over to his house on Sunday afternoon for BBQ and iced tea. Normally he would have said beer, but that was a big hell no.
He thought that he remembered her saying sometimes she visited her parents in Philly. He thought maybe she wouldn’t mind the drive. That she’d come because, even more shockingly, they seemed to get on well enough at work. He stayed out of her way and let her do her job. She didn’t flash hate filled daggers at him every single time she looked his way. She actually smiled at him once in a while, on the odd chance their paths crossed. It was like rays of sunshine piercing the clouds. The clouds of his damn life.
So, he’d taken a chance and asked. She’d shyly said yes.
Which led to him racing to his own stores to buy thirty-five pounds of meat, burgers and hot dogs and smokies and steaks, pork chops and chicken breasts, since he actually hadn’t thought to ask what Teela liked. He then figured that maybe she didn’t eat meat at all. That she might actually be a vegetarian or a vegan. So, he’d made a second trip and bought three salad kits. When he got home, he wasn’t sure if salad kits were safe to eat for a pregnant woman, since they might contain bacteria, so he’d gone and got two heads of lettuce and all the appropriate vegetables- carrots and peppers and celery and cucumber, and prepared everything from scratch. He made sure he washed it well, with organic veggie wash, which his stores also sold.
As soon as he’d done that, he searched the cupboards and came up short on the tea for the iced tea so he’d made a third trip. Luckily, he had the foresight to get a few things for dessert.
The salad was currently in his fridge, chilling and fresh, the meat was wrapped up in a plate just below that. There was chocolate cake in his crisper and all the left-over veggies were just below that. The iced tea sat just in front of the milk in the pitcher he’d used only once in his entire life.
Everything was ready. Now all he had to do was pace and worry.
Worry that since it was ten minutes after four and he’d said four, that maybe Teela had changed her mind. Worry that his cooking was shit and she’d puke before she even tasted it and not because of the whole pregnancy sickness deal. He worried that he had no idea how to tell his parents he was going to be a dad. He had no idea how to be a dad period.
The groove in the floor was getting so deep that he’d have to climb out of it, when Teela’s little red car pulled into the driveway.
Ross froze. He watched her park next to his SUV. The car was a quarter of its size and he realized that he shouldn’t let her drive around in it. She was going to be the mother of his child. His baby would be ported in that car, so small it looked like a damn toy.
He said he was totally done with people taking advantage of him, but he had money to spare. Would Teela take it if he offered her his SUV? It was a year old. Paid for with cash. He could treat himself to something newer…
He still had the same house, the house he’d had before the company ever took off, the house he’d been fully prepared to sell. It was nothing special, just a thousand square foot sixties bungalow that he’d renovated inside and out the past year. Still, nothing special. The suburb was decent, but it was old, full of sixties houses with basements that often flooded if there was a lot of snow in the spring.
Teela climbed out of the car. She glanced at the house, then behind her, and off to the sides, as though she was taking everything in. Ross didn’t give her a chance to see him there, gaping at her like the world’s biggest creeper. He took off embarrassingly fast to the front door.
Before Teela even had a chance to ring the bell, he pulled the door open.
She looked up, brushed her long thick hair over her shoulder, and gave him a shy smile that melted every single bone in his body. She’d curled her hair. He noticed right away. Like, really curled it. The ringlets were pretty and even and whatever spray she used gave her hair an even prettier sheen than it normally had. She wasn’t wearing makeup, but then again, she never did and she certainly never needed it. Her skin glowed with health and her cheeks were pink tinged.
“Sorry I’m late,” she breathed. “Traffic was insane. Not sure what’s going on with the Sunday afternoon crowd. I should have left earlier.” Her voice, as pretty and light as ever, did all sorts of tightening things to his insides.
“No problem,” Ross assured her. There was no chance in hell he was going to tell her he’d actually had doubts that she was going to show. “I- come on in. I have everything ready. Not sure if you actually even like BBQ so I made a backup salad. I bought chocolate cake too. Not sure if you liked that either, but…” he cut himself off when he realized he was rambling on and that his palms were damp and that his heart was kicking the shit out of the underside of his ribs. Get it the hell together. This is a BBQ for god sakes. It’s not like we’re going to go to the backyard and get married or something. I shouldn’t be this damn nervous.
“Oh- I eat everything.” Teela dropped her purse near the front entrance. She carefully removed her flats. “I- uh…” her face flushed red and Ross had an image of her popping his very hard, very ready, cock into her mouth and eating that, even though he was sure that wasn’t what she meant. Very, very sure.
“I- noticed your car. It’s really tiny. Uh- probably not safe. Not on these roads. People drive like maniacs here. They try and drive me down and I have an SUV. I’ve been thinking about getting a truck. I do lots of- er- hauling- for the stores and what not. Put on a lot of miles. I- you look like you could use a new ride.”
Teela’s lips parted. Her eyes widened. Her cheeks flushed pinker. His whole body tightened in response when a second mental image of Teela getting a new ride alright, right on top of his cock, flooded back into his brain. How bad would it look if I punched myself in the face at moment? He was just damn lucky he was wearing jeans and they kept everything tucked in place. Namely his giant boner he always seemed to pop when he was in the same room with Teela.
Teela studied him hard for a second, but then she laughed and shook her head. “I- I like my car just fine. It’s been a good car. Cheap on gas. It wasn’t expensive in the first place. It has always fitted my budget. Never needed many repairs. I get it though. Actually. I’ve been thinking about getting something bigger, with the baby coming. I honestly don’t think I can even get a car seat into the back of that. I can barely fit a person back there, so I’m sure the car seat is going to be a no-go. Two doors. They’re awesome when it’s just you- but…”
“Good,” Ross stumbled on, thankful for the olive branch. “I’ll give you my SUV. It’s settled.”
“I- I can’t just take that from you,” Teela protested. “I mean- what would people say? They know you drive it. That would just be- a huge red flag for the entire town.”
Ross frowned. “You’re right. I never thought about that. I- I’ll have it repainted.”
“That’s cray,” Teela protested. “And anyway, I mean, there’s the whole matter where I can’t just take your vehicle. It’s yours. I- I could never pay you back.”
“It would be a gift.”
“I thought you didn’t like people using you for your gifts,” Teela deadpanned.
“I- this is different. That’s my baby in there. I want to keep you safe. You both safe. If you want the SUV, I could deduct fifty dollars from your paycheck every pay period until you’ve paid it back.”
“But- it’s new. I coul
d never pay for that. It would take me the rest of my life.”
“Don’t worry about that. I was going to trade it in anyway. They don’t give you much for it. I’ll ask about the trade-in value and I’ll charge you that. Plus, after the baby is born, I’m going to be paying you child support, or giving you some kind of financial compensation, so I can deduct it from that. How does that sound?”
Teela eyed him suspiciously and he realized he’d just crossed some kind of line or boundary that they hadn’t quite got to yet. All before she even walked in the door.
“Jesus…” he shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, probably mussing it all over. “Listen to me. I invited you over so we could talk more about things, but also to get to know you. You’re having my baby and I don’t even know anything about how you grew up, if you have brothers and sisters, if you like pets, what your parents are like- the basics. I don’t know your favorite color. I don’t even know if you eat meat. That’s really the point of this. Sorry. I- I saw your car and just started freaking out a little bit about you being safe and our child being safe and uh- kind of jumped the gun here. I- how about you come in, I’ll show you around, you can have a seat on the couch while I get you a glass of iced tea and I’ll put your choice of meat on the BBQ and hopefully not serve it completely charred. Does that sound alright?”
Teela hesitated for a few seconds and Ross wanted to kick his own ass. God, what was wrong with him? Why was he so smooth around everyone else and just turned into a complete ass-hat around Teela? Right. Because all the blood left his brain and went straight to his dick whenever he saw her. Smelled her sweet, natural, slightly floral scent. Listened to her soft, lilting, musical tone and her adorable laugh. Thought about her, about the way she looked and smelled and sounded.
“Okay,” she slowly nodded, and he breathed out a sigh of relief. Her smile, when it came, dazzled him straight down to his toes. “Sounds like a deal. My favorite color is red. I’d be happy to see your house, and if you have a steak, that would suit just fine.”