Page 33 of Dancing With Redemption

“Well, we can’t name him after you, unless we name him John in a nod to you, or something like that, but I’m glad you’re pleased with that. I’ll tell Lincoln our decision when we get home.” Roxie laughed, some of that independent streak coming back to life. Her eyes sparkled brightly behind her sunglasses, but nobody could see. She could feel it, and that made a difference.

“He can’t override a pregnant mother’s decision, that’s what I tell my patients and their partners. The pregnant person gets to decide.” June laughed at her own joke and Roxie laughed with her.

“That’s a good point. I’m doing all of the hard work here.” Roxie picked up her glass and took another sip of her water. Her pants were far too tight, but she’d worn them instead of the maternity pants because she thought they were stretchy enough. That was wrong, but she couldn’t change it now. “I hate needing stretchy pants.”

“Well, as you know from past experience, that’s not going to change anytime soon,” June pointed out, but whatever else she might have said was deferred because the waiter was bringing them their chicken Caesar salads.

Roxie was trying not to eat too many fatty foods, as well as walking on the beach every day to maintain her energy, and dancing when she could to keep fit. She had to be very careful on the pole, she was showing now, and her center of gravity wasn’t the same, but she still loved to dance when she could.

Later, when Lily was in bed and June had headed off to her hotel, Lincoln brought her a grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of apple juice while she watched a movie in the living room. She hadn’t asked for the sandwich or the drink, but he must have known she was feeling hungry again.

“Thanks, that’s nice of you,” she said gratefully and took the plate. “I didn’t even know I was hungry.”

“You get this look now, a sort of frown that makes your eyebrows come together when you’re hungry,” Lincoln explained with an easy smile.

“I hope you aren’t making fun of me,” she said just before she took a bite of the sandwich, her eyes laughing with him.

“No, not at all. But I have started to wonder if you’ll gnaw your own leg off if I don’t feed you on schedule,” he joked, teasing her good-naturedly.

“I might eat yours if you keep it up,” she teased back, and took another bite.

“Take what you like, my lady.” He gestured at his hips, but then realized what he’d done and froze.

Roxie looked up at him. He stood there, hands in the pockets of his sweatpants, saying nothing, but her eyes were full of laughter. He’d stepped right into that one. “I don’t think you want me to take everything.”

“No, there are, um, some off-limits parts,” he continued, but the tone had changed and she knew it. She didn’t shy away from it though. It was nice to play like this with him again, even if it was a dangerous game.

She took another bite of her sandwich and waited, not saying anything else at all. How far would he let this go? For that matter, how far would she let it go? Something flared to life in his eyes as he looked down at her, something familiar that made her bones melt.

Desire.

But would it just be sex?

Would it even go that far? Roxie had no idea what would happen, but she kind of wanted to know.

“Maybe you should let me go hungry once or twice to find out if I’d become that ravenous,” she finally said, slowly, softly.

Over the last few days, her dreams had changed, bringing up memories that she tried to hide from when she woke up because they were memories of her nights with Lincoln. Living so close to him wasn’t difficult, but it was becoming a bit of a problem as her body demanded a return to the pleasure he used to give her. It wanted what it used to have and didn’t care why it was being denied that satisfaction.

Roxie remembered this from her last pregnancy, with Lily. There’d been no way to satisfy her body’s craving back then, Lincoln was out of reach, and she didn’t want anyone else. There’d been a few offers of a date from guys she’d met, but those stopped when she started to show. Besides, she always told the guys no. They weren’t Lincoln and she didn’t want anyone but him.

She hadn’t understood quite what was happening to her back then, but now she knew. She needed a fuck, but she didn’t want a fuck. She wanted what she couldn’t have. She wanted him to worship her body like he used to.

It would pass after the baby came, she’d be too tired to think about sex then, but right now? Her body was raring to go.

Lincoln stood there, looking down at her, the thoughts behind his eyes hidden. Then he swallowed, smiled at her, and left the room. Not tonight then.

Roxie smiled anyway. No matter what, sex dreams of Lincoln were far better than the nightmares, and much more pleasant than some of the dreams she had. She’d wake up ready to jump his bones and strip his clothes off in the morning, as she had this morning when she’d woken up to find a croissant and a glass of orange juice on her nightstand, with him standing over her, but that would be okay. It was all worth it, just to get through the night and into a new day. And once the baby came, it would all change again anyway. Perhaps it was best to stick to dreams and nothing more until then.