Wes stood in the ice-cold water from the rain showerhead and appreciated the amenities of the house for the first time. His arms and legs didn’t ache as much with the cooling relief, but the minute he turned off the water, the stinging returned.
He’d forgotten how much he hated sunburns.
“How you feeling?” Kat’s sweet voice echoed through the oversized bathroom with vaulted ceilings.
“Like my arms and legs are on fire. Thank goodness I was wearing a hat and sun shirt. I still don’t understand how I got burned. I wore sunscreen.”
“Yes, but you were standing in the water fishing and on a boat and you only applied once. I apparently should’ve educated you before you went on your excursion.” Kat held up a white container. “But I have what you need. Come and have a seat.”
He sat on the bench at the far wall of the bathroom, and Kat dipped her perfectly manicured nails into white goo, knelt by his side, and dabbed the cream onto his arm. “How was your day?”
She peered up at him through her dark eyelashes. “It was amazing. Exactly what I needed. Thank you.”
Those two words sent a warmth through him. He’d done something to bring back the light in her eyes. How could he be so apt at business and casual dating, but when it came to Kat, he was challenged at every turn?
She dabbed more white product on his skin and rubbed it in, cooling relief soothing the heat. “I heard you guys went on an adventure. Something to do with either Jewels’s or Trace’s relationship status?”
She was on her knees at his side caring for him, not something he considered manly, yet he savored her attention. “I should be the one looking after you, not the other way around.”
“Change the subject much?” She winked. Her beautiful eyes twinkled with mischief. How he’d missed that the last week.
He longed for this moment to last. “Man code. I belong to the Mansters.”
She gave him her inquisitive look with both brows raised. “Mansters?”
“Yep, the male version of the Friendsters. I thought I’d have you draw up a contract for us and everything.” He offered the lopsided grin that usually got him anything he wanted. Of course, from day one Kat was immune to his charms, which was probably what had gotten his attention initially. The woman could take on a courtroom and his heart without breaking a sweat.
She laughed. A light sound that made him relax and enjoy her fingers whispering over his sensitive skin. “So you’re not going to tell me, are you?”
“Nope.” He made like a sixth-grade girl and mimed locking his lips and tossing a key away.
She smacked his hand, sending a jolt of pain up his arm. “Oww.”
“Sorry, I forgot.” She brushed her lips to his fingers, knuckles, wrist, and then arm. “Better?”
His breath caught. She appeared normal. The dark circles were gone from under her eyes, and her skin was rosy instead of pale. “You’re beautiful.” The words tumbled from his mouth.
“You’re handsome yourself, even with the farmer’s tan.” She moved to his leg, nudging the towel higher, revealing the top line of the sunburn. He sucked in a quick breath but steadied his desire. “Stay below the line, or I’ll be having to take another cold shower.”
She smiled coyly at him. Kat was many things—strong, vivacious, smart, and beautiful, but never coy. She was more the in-your-face-honest type. And he loved that about her. “Or don’t.”
“That’s what got us into this mess in the first place, you know.” He stayed her hand. “Besides, we need to see the doctor.”
She nodded and returned to tending to his legs. When she closed the lid, he helped her from the ground but quickly fled from her touch and made his way to the shopping bag he hadn’t even finished unloading since yesterday. He slid a Summer Island T-shirt on with a pair of shorts. “I’m sorry I ruined our dinner plans this evening.”
“Don’t be.” Kat picked up her cell phone. “Why don’t we order something and watch a movie together?”
“What about your friends?” he asked, certain she’d want to invite them over, too.
“I don’t need them. I have you.”
Those few words sent his heart into a rapid rise of steady beats. She needed him, was choosing him, if only for the evening.
She handed him the phone. “No matter what happens tomorrow, I want to thank you for all you’ve done this week.”
He grimaced, remembering all the things he’d said and done wrong since hearing the news of her pregnancy. But nothing was worse than watching her struggle because he’d gotten her pregnant. Something he’d vowed never to do in his life. “I’ve done nothing. You’re the one who’s had to suffer through all of this.” He brushed her hair back and kissed her lips but quickly pulled away, not wanting to forget himself. He’d done enough damage.
She snuggled into him, and he had to force himself not to flinch when she grazed his arm with her nails. “Nothing? You’ve gotten more than you ever thought you’d signed up for. Holding my hair as I’m sick, carrying me upstairs when I can’t stand, holding me while I cry.”
Would she find him weak if he confessed his truth to her? Despite his desire for her not to be pregnant, he loved taking care of her because he felt needed by another person for the first time in his life. He’d thought he’d chosen Kat because she was so strong, but it wasn’t just her strength, although she was holding up well all things considered. He dared to share his thoughts. “Is it so bad for a man to feel good when he’s needed by the woman he loves?”
She looked up at him and pushed his too-long hair back from his face. “No. I think it’s nice. But you don’t think less of me for needing so much help?”
He wrapped his arms around her, ignoring the searing pain. “Darling, you are many things, but needy isn’t one of them. That being said, no, I don’t think any less of you. I think I’m more in love with you today than I was a week ago.”
She blinked up at him. “But…the pregnancy and the plans.”
He studied her eyes and saw that she still held back from him. As much as he didn’t want her to be carrying his child, he wanted to be the man she needed even more. “You can trust me. I’m not going anywhere.”
“But—”
“Let me rephrase that. I don’t want to go anywhere. I want to be here with you. And if this child is to be, then I’ll figure out how to be a father. But I don’t want to get ahead of anything. Let’s go tomorrow and face whatever the doctor says together. My only request is that if the doctor tells you it’ll be dangerous—” he had to swallow back the emotion strangling him “to carry the baby, you’ll consider the options.” His voice cracked. “I can’t lose you.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I won’t lose you.” All the memories of his father’s bitterness toward him for coming into this world and taking his wife in the process consumed him.
She palmed his chest. “Your heart is beating so fast.”
He tried to remain calm, to not allow his past to rob him of his possible future, but his father’s words were a constant reminder of what could happen to the woman he loved if she ever had a baby…his baby.
“It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere.”
He knew she hadn’t really agreed to what he’d proposed. He didn’t even agree with it. Like his mother, Kat would carry on with the pregnancy, ignoring anything the doctors said. All these years he’d clung to the words of his grandmother, that his father had been wrong about Wes killing his mother at birth and that his father didn’t hate him. She’d told Wes that his father had only spoken through his grief. But in this moment, Wes faced his irrational fear.
He could lose Kat forever.