“Julia?” he asked tentatively. He must have picked up on my concern.
“Liking the house isn’t the point,” I said finally. “It’s something we have to discuss when the time’s right.”
“I’m not opposed to that. In the meantime...” He tugged at my hand, succeeding in pulling me onto his lap. “I’ll just have to seduce you into never wanting to leave.” He kissed the side of my neck, something he’d already learned I couldn’t resist.
A part of me worried that he was avoiding a serious question by distracting me with kisses. As a matter of fact, he’d refused to do anything serious all evening. We’d decided on nothing regarding Twister. I was about to hop off his lap when he caught the lobe of my ear between his teeth.
“No fair,” I breathed, losing all willingness to pick a fight with him. I turned my head to kiss him, deciding that another time would be better for our discussions.
“I want to show you my quarters,” he said, standing up with me in his arms. He crossed the living room and made his way to a suite of rooms, kicking the door shut that connected it to the rest of the house. “This half of the house is all mine. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms.” He lowered me to his bed.
“Is this a real estate tour?” I teased when he pulled my shoes off and tossed them aside.
“I’m just saying. Plenty of space here for us.” He yanked his shirt over his head.
I laughed. “You are relentless, aren’t you? But I can’t deal with thinking about that now, so I’m going to use your phrase and say thatwe’ll talk about it later.”
“Works for me. Enough talk.” He lay down next to me, beginning a kiss that cut off my worry about everything but him and that moment.
Later that night, I insisted on going home, and he insisted on driving me.
We finally agreed on a compromise. I drove myself the few miles to my ranch, and he followed in his truck to make sure I got there safely. He’d cited something about the number of accidents that occurred close to home. I’d reminded him that the roads were clear and that I did have working headlights on my truck. But he was persistent and I was feeling too sated from all the orgasms to put up much of a fight.
Jake was a considerate lover and always made sure I wasverysatisfied before he worried about his own pleasure. I’d never had that with another partner, and I had to admit, that care and attentiveness were addicting.Hewas addicting.
“Good night, Jake,” I said after I’d parked, leaning in the window of his truck. “I’ll see you tomorrow at the doctor’s appointment.” It was my first prenatal appointment and we were both excited to attend.
“You sure you don’t want me to stay?” He looked so hopeful, but I also knew we wouldn’t get any sleep if he came in.
I shook my head. “We’ve both got early mornings.” After another lingering kiss, he left, but by then I’d wanted him to stay.
And he knew it, which was…frustrating. That seemed to be the norm with Jake. One moment he was high-handed, the next calming. And the kisses. I wasn’t sure I could live without those. I laughed at myself as I went into the house.
TWENTY-FOUR
JULIA
The next morning found me trudging back to the ATV I used to check on the calving out at Kingdom Ranch. Kent, the foreman, rang me before I was fully awake to let me know that a couple of the cows were having trouble birthing, and asking if I could come out.
By the time I got there, one of the cows had already given birth to a healthy female but the other was struggling with nuchal cord. It’s the sort of thing that isn’t an issue until it is. Thankfully, both the cow and calf were doing well now. The hands managed to get them both moved over to the pasture closer to the breeding area so they could keep an eye on them.
I drove back to my truck and set up an appointment to return in two days. Calving season was well underway and I kept a somewhat flexible schedule for my contract clients in case of emergencies like this.
I managed to make it home and in and out of the shower in record time. To my relief, I arrived at my first prenatal appointment on time, even if it was with mere seconds to spare. After filling out the paperwork and answering questions in theexam room, the doctor called in the ultrasound tech. Since it was still early, I’d agreed to a transvaginal ultrasound. I could barely breathe in nervous anticipation, but then… there it was. We heard the baby’s heartbeat.
“Is that the baby?” Jake gripped my hand.
“Sure is,” Dr. Somers said. “Nice and strong. Just as it should be.”
“Is it bad form to whoop in here?” His excitement was so endearing that it broke the wave of emotions crashing over me, and I laughed.
“You wouldn’t be the first father to do that,” Dr. Somers said, laughing along with us.
The doctor assured us that all was well, but given my PCOS, she scheduled a series of ultrasounds to monitor my baby. The nurse gave us each a swag bag filled with books and assorted pamphlets geared toward our respective roles and I was given a starter pack of prenatal vitamins.
We walked out of the office hand in hand. Jake had the bag looped over his wrist like a purse and was clutching his copy of the ultrasound pics like it was worth more than gold. Unfortunately, it was too soon to see anything more than a dark shadow, but he didn’t care.
As happy as I was, Jake was over the moon, he was so excited, and I was feeling buoyant and confident.
