“Nothing we can do about her. Now listen, I’m very sorry you’re not able to control the media on this. That pains me if it hurts you, butI. Am. Not. Just. Your. Baby. Daddy.At least I thought I was more. Do I need to say it again for the people in the back row? Or perhaps you? We had a fight. I was letting you come down from your anger… You had reservations and I was giving you time to work through them. It was taking longer than I liked, but here we are.”
“But it’s been forever. You must’ve wanted to shoot me.”
“You take a while, Bill. You process and overprocess. I’ve learned this about you. I don’t like it, but I love you. Did you hear me?I love you. I have since the day you sat in my office and droned on about alien babies. Now you’re having my baby, and I’m sorry the paps may figure that out before you wanted, but it happened.”
“Do you know what this means? They will examine every morsel they can turn up on you. They will discuss your brother and your practice and your house and how we met and how you compare to Brad Pitt…” I stressed my earlier worries again.
And he joked. “That’s where I have to draw the line. There’s no comparison. I’m way superior.”
It was meant to make me laugh, but I started to cry. “You’re right. I don’t deserve you. You’re real and perfect, and my world isn’t. You have no idea how it feels when they eviscerate you in the media.”
Our hands were still linked, and I realized I was squeezing Cal’s fingers. As soon as I loosened my grip, his thumb came to my face and swiped away a tear.
“I don’t care what they say or unearth. I love you, Willa, and want to be with you and our baby. Let them eviscerate. I’m going to do my job and love you. The rest of that shit can all fall away.”
I pointed to my stomach. “Because of this? That’s why you love me?”
“Regardless of this,” he said, sinking to his knees in front of me, placing a kiss on my stomach before lifting my tank and doing the same on my bare skin. “They can write what they want about us, but we’re crafting our own story.” He gathered my head in between his palms and lowered my face to meet his.
The kiss was gentle at first, picking up speed and pressure until I said, “Frank!”
“I’ll deal with him. Later. Right now I’m kissing you and hoping make-up sex is in the cards?”
“Are you sure?” Our lips lingered so close; I could feel mine rub against his as I spoke. I couldn’t believe the one-eighty my brain had maneuvered. I’d gone from not believing this would work at all…to craving sex…because I was in love with this man.
“Everything is fine. We heard a healthy and strong heartbeat yesterday and there’s been no indication of anything wrong.”
“I was just crying, and now I’m feeling all kinds of horny. I was a little unsure and now I don’t know what end is up. Clearly I’m a gigantic mess.”
I mumbled and Cal listened before stating, “Mygigantic mess.”
We still needed all kinds of tests to make sure the baby was healthy, but Cal didn’t seem alarmed. Especially as he stood, gingerly scooped me up, and carried me to the bed. With my butt on the edge, he made quick work of removing my leggings and running his tongue along my most sensitive area.
“Commando, I like this,” he mumbled against my body, the vibrations nearly knocking me over the edge.
“Hormones.”
Cal chuckled against my core. “You’ll find they enhance a lot.”
I couldn’t think about what he said because he brought the tip of his tongue back and swept softly against me, bringing up his pace, taking me there and stopping and starting all over.
His name fell from my lips on repeat, and for the first time I was grateful for Ford treating me like an old lady and putting me on a late call this morning.
“Beautiful,” Cal whispered as I shattered.
He didn’t move his face away from his targeted area, and as I leaned over and watched him staring at me in wonder I knew this was not what I deserved.
When I was sated, Cal crawled up the side of the bed next to me and caressed my cheek. “I love you, Willa Conway, baby or not,” he said, smelling like me.
He began to kiss me, gently rolling on top of me. I tugged his damp shirt up from behind and he broke free to lift it over his head. Next came my tank. He stared for a beat at my lace bra before it joined our shirts on the floor. There was something so hot about him being salty and sweaty from his run; it felt dirty and decadent.
With him sucking on my nipple, a growl emanated from Cal’s chest. I pushed down on his shorts, and he said, “Easy.”
I couldn’t take all the various feelings. His breath felt warm, my skin felt chilled and wet, my heart beat furiously, and my whole body vibrated with need. “Please…” I begged, and Cal acquiesced.
He stood, shrugging off his shorts, and was back before I could totally notice he was gone. He hovered over me, taking me in with wide eyes that made me want to squeeze mine shut.
“You’re staring.”
