Jack had turned off the ringer on his desk phone and left Millie with strict orders not to disturb him—unless it was Maddie calling. Since their wedding, Jack had settled into his basement bachelor quarters and Maddie seemed to tiptoe around him even more tenuously than before they were married.
They rarely saw each other on weekday mornings. Jack rose early and worked out on the elliptical trainer he’d moved from his condo. After showering, he’d grab an energy bar or nuke a frozen breakfast sandwich and head for work. If he was lucky, Millie beat him to the office and had the coffee brewed by the time he arrived. If he was very lucky, she’d see his truck pull into the parking lot and have a cup ready for him to grab as he walked past her desk and into his office.
Shortly into their marriage, he’d worked late and arrived home to find a plate with cold steak and a soggy baked potato on the kitchen table. Maddie had delivered a talk on common courtesy and they had come to an understanding. He’d also eaten the steak and potato, and he’d been home on time every night since or let her know he’d be late.
How ironic that the night he’d spotted the letter from the sperm bank he’d been planning to call an end to their monthly dinners. Now they sat across from each other at the same table and discussed everything but the event due to happen any day.
She had explained how the ovulation test worked and that once it indicated a hormone surge, they should have sex within forty-eight hours. Jack wasn’t used to sex on a schedule and found the idea unsettling to say the least. Sex should be spontaneous and fun. And when Jack had had a sex life, before Alex became too ill to run the company, that’s exactly the way his had been—spur of the moment and pure pleasure.
Now he was on call, waiting for the phone to ring and hoping that when he was called on to perform according to a timetable and with a woman who was his wife but not his lover, the mind-body connection wouldn’t short-circuit and go on the blink.
Performance had never been an issue. Not the first time when he was a high school sophomore in the backseat of senior Angela Norton’s father’s new Buick Electra, and not the last time with Barbie Whatever halfway through Alex’s illness when he learned the bone marrow transplant hadn’t worked. She had been willing and available, and while Jack wasn’t particularly proud of that incident, his equipment had still been in perfect operating condition. He had dated other women since Barbie, but the pressure of carrying the full load at Prescott-Worth often had him falling asleep before he and his date could get much beyond a kiss.
“The phone’s for you, boss. It’s Maddie.” Millie stood in the doorway and frowned at him. “Didn’t you hear me?”
“Sorry, no. I was distracted,” he explained.
“You’ve been distracted a lot this week. Everything’s okay at home, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” he said, reaching for the phone. “Would you close the door on your way out?”
He took a fortifying breath before picking up the receiver and saying hello. And he breathed a sigh of relief when Maddie had nothing to report. God, wouldn’t the guys on the job site have a field day if they knew he wasn’t bonking his wife nightly?
“Call me when something surges,” he told her, adding he’d be home around six and would bring takeout from their favorite Thai restaurant. She was stressed enough without adding cooking to the mix.
He hung up the phone and returned to the spreadsheet on his computer. He’d only made three entries when the door swung open and Millie entered with two glasses of what appeared to be fruit juice.
“Here,” she said, thrusting the glass into his hand. “I fixed you something cold to drink.”
Jack eyed her suspiciously, curious about the unusual afternoon refreshments. He lifted the glass to his lips, took a big sip and struggled for breath as the liquid burned all the way to his stomach.
“Holy hell! Why didn’t you tell me you’d spiked it with vodka?” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and wheezed again. “And why did you feel the need to incinerate my esophagus?”
Millie lowered herself into the corner chair and sipped from her glass. “I thought maybe you’d like to talk about what’s bugging you. And what better way to talk than over drinks?”
Jack sniffed the contents of his glass then set it to one side. “Setting fire to my vocal chords isn’t the best way to get me to talk. And I have work to do anyway.” He pointed to the offending drink. “Would you take that with you when you leave?”
Millie took another swallow and crossed one leg over the other, making it quite clear to Jack she wasn’t going anywhere. So he’d ignore her. Maybe she’d stop trying to make him talk and return to her desk.
Five minutes later, when she remained in his office, calmly sipping her drink, Jack admitted defeat. What the hell? He deserved a stiff drink after all he’d been through. He knocked back another swallow and swiveled the desk chair to face his busybody office manager. Craning his neck back, he stared at the ceiling.
“You want to know what’s bugging me?” he offered. “I’ll tell you what’s bugging me. Maddie is short-tempered and about as irritable as a cat who’s just had a bath. Everything I say is wrong, and if I say nothing, she wants to know why I won’t talk to her. I’m scared to go home and scared not to.”
“It’s probably PMS.”
“No, it’s that damn ovulation test. It has her so frazzled she locked herself out of the house in her nightgown this morning. Luckily I was still there to let her in.”
“So when’s the big day? Or maybe I should say the big night?”
“If her calculations are right, and the test shows a smiley face when it’s supposed to, it should be this weekend. That is, if she doesn’t divorce me first.”
Millie chuckled and lifted her glass. “More?”
“No, thank you. One Molotov Cocktail is enough.”
“Cut her some slack. This is a big step for her. On your way home tonight, get some flowers in addition to the takeout. It’ll earn you brownie points.”
“How’d you know—?”
“It doesn’t matter how I know about your dinner plans. But it does matter that I know how another woman feels when she’s getting ready to take one of the biggest steps in her life. You need to make the weekend romantic.”
“Romantic, huh?” Wouldn’t Millie be surprised by their sleeping arrangements, too?
“Why don’t you take her to the cabin for the weekend? Maybe a change of scenery will help. And it’s certainly romantic in the mountains.”
Jack nodded thoughtfully. “I think you might be right. If Maddie can take the afternoon off on Friday, consider yourself on vacation after lunch. I’ll need to call Charlotte and ask her to air out the place. But I think it’s perfect for a conception.”
“Better yet, it’s the perfect place for a seduction,” Millie offered as she pushed herself to a standing position and returned to her desk.
The seed of an idea began to take root. Why not? Jack saw absolutely no reason why conceiving a child couldn’t be as much pleasure as business, and he had two days to plan the perfect seduction.
* * *
Maddie’s hand shook as the face indicator on the ovulation test smiled at her, almost mocking in its clarity. She pulled her cell phone from her purse and began to dial Jack. He’d told her to call when the results were positive.
But she didn’t want to sound desperate, as if she couldn’t wait to hop in the bed with him. This wasn’t about sex; it was about a baby. And that was all. Then she remembered she was in a stall in the ladies’ restroom at work, the test lying flat on top of the toilet tissue dispenser.
This was near the bottom of the list of ideal spots to learn if you were ovulating. She’d have preferred her bathroom at home, but since she had to test twice a day, she was forced to hide away in the far stall at work. Half the office probably thought she had an overactive bladder problem.
She hesitated, her fingers hovering over the phone screen, unwilling to risk having someone walk in and overhear her conversation. She was also reluctant to place herself at risk of being fodder for the office grapevine, though she suspected she already was.
Then the perfect idea formed. She touched the texting icon on her phone, typed in Jack’s name and tapped three buttons before hitting send.
:-)
Surely he would know what it meant.
As she shut off the phone and reached for the test, the diamond ring on her left hand caught the light overhead. It represented more than a marriage. The ring was about a baby, too. And the job she needed to return to. She’d never have let Jack talk her into marriage if her job hadn’t been at risk.
Her work was the most important part of her life now. Too many children depended on her to protect them from warring parents or addicted mothers and fathers too strung out to even feed them.
Of course, once she had a child in her life, her priorities would change. She would prove, however, she could combine a career and parenthood and be a success at both. She would move heaven and earth to make it work.
She sealed the testing apparatus in a plastic bag and dropped it into her purse, then double checked, making sure she’d picked up every scrap of packaging. She couldn’t afford to leave telltale clues.
By the time she reached her office, her cell phone had chimed, indicating a text message. A quick glance revealed Jack’s number on the caller ID.
:-) back at ya. Have a great idea. Tell you tonight.
* * *
Jack’s great idea involved packing enough for the weekend, tossing it into the trunk of her car and heading out after lunch on Friday. He’d refused to reveal their destination, which only added to Maddie’s monumental case of nerves. Once they’d left the Atlanta skyline behind them, she tried again.
“Can you give me a hint about where we’re going?”
“That’s right,” he said. “You don’t like surprises.”
“I guess I had too many when I was a kid. My parents’ idea of a surprise usually meant the custody order had been changed and I got to move. So yeah, I’m not real fond of the unknown.”
“Don’t worry. It won’t be unknown for long.”
His cavalier attitude irked her. She reclined her seat and settled back. Maybe she could sleep the trip away. Lord knows, she hadn’t had much sleep all week.
Sleep, however, fell prey to worry and concern. Just what did Jack have planned? All they were supposed to do was have sex once, and they could have done that in Atlanta. Maybe the fact they’d never decided whose bedroom to use had fueled the idea of a road trip. Of course, Jack had selected their destination, so, by default, did that make it his bed?
An hour after leaving town, they left the main highway. After a series of turns and progressively bumpier roads that were sure to destroy the suspension on her car, they came to a stop where a sign pointed to Pleasant Junction one way and Cedar Gap the other. Jack turned the car toward the latter.
“Is this where the banjoes start dueling?” she asked sarcastically.
“The mayor of Pleasant Junction would be real upset to hear you say that,” he commented dryly. “But the Cedar Gap boys would probably invite you to pick up a banjo and start to strum.”
“Be still my heart,” she drawled mockingly. “How much farther? Or is that a surprise too?”
“We’re almost there.”
They passed a sign that read “Pair-o-Dice” and turned into what appeared to be fenced property. Several hundred yards further, Maddie saw a small house with cedar siding, surrounded by towering hardwood trees.
“Is this your cabin?” Maddie asked, remembering an earlier conversation.
“No, I have to pick up the keys from Charlotte.”
Charlotte? Did he have an old girlfriend in this area, and why did she have the keys to his cabin?
As he pulled the car closer to the house, the front door opened and an older woman emerged. Tall and thin, with snow-white hair, she walked toward the car.
Jack shoved the gear-shift into park and turned off the ignition. “Come on and I’ll introduce you.”
He angled out of his seat and strode toward the woman, his arms spread wide. She moved into his embrace and kissed him on the cheek.
“It’s wonderful to see you again, Jack. It’s been too long.” The woman watched as Maddie exited and shielded her eyes from the afternoon sun. “And who is this lovely young lady?”
“This is my wife, Madelyn. Come here, honey.”
The brief pause between my and wife wasn’t lost on Maddie, but in all fairness, she had trouble referring to him as her husband. She could overlook it.
“Wife? Jack, you never even told me you were engaged. How long have you two been married? And why wasn’t I invited to the wedding?”
“We’ve only been married for a week. It was a small ceremony. Just family. And we got married on the spur of the moment so…”
The woman’s quick glance at Maddie’s abdomen as she walked to Jack’s side was obvious. Perhaps the elusive Charlotte was her daughter, and now Jack had showed up with a wife in tow.
Before Maddie could interject anything, the woman hugged her too. “Since Jack is being rude, I’ll introduce myself. I’m Charlotte Tanner, and Jack is a dear friend. It’s wonderful to meet you, Madelyn.”
“Maddie. Please call me Maddie,” she said awkwardly. So much for the girlfriend theory.
Charlotte reached into her pocket and produced a set of keys that she pressed into Jack’s hand. “I’ll let you two get on your way. I know you’re in a hurry to get started on your honeymoon.”
To her annoyance, Maddie found herself blushing.
“All the locks are new and keyed alike. The broken window has been replaced and the damage repaired. The security company got the alarm system installed and I had them set the code as you instructed. After you called Wednesday, I had my housekeeper spruce the place up and put a few things in the refrigerator for you. There’s a casserole in there, too. All you have to do is put it in the microwave.”
Jack pressed a kiss to the woman’s cheek. “You’re a gem, Charlotte. Don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Well apparently you managed to get yourself married without me,” she said, her sapphire blue eyes casting a look of mock censure in Jack’s direction.
“I won’t let it happen again.” He winked at her.
Jack and Maddie said their good-byes and returned to the car. “What happened to your cabin?” she asked.
“Somebody broke the window in the back door and let themselves in. Nothing major, but I had a security system put in to deter future break-ins.”
They rounded a bend and an unusual structure came into view. “Honey, we’re home,” Jack announced.
He pulled under a carport, killed the engine and popped the trunk. After hoisting a bag onto each shoulder, he walked to the back door as Maddie stood with her hands on her hips and scrutinized the dwelling. Or at least she thought it was a dwelling. Constructed of concrete block with chipped and faded white paint, the single-level building had no windows along the side visible from the approach. She could only imagine how gloomy the interior must be.
“Are you sure this is inhabitable? It doesn’t look like a cabin to me.”
“You can’t judge things by the outside, Maddie,” he said. “Lord knows, though, people have been doing it to me all my life.”
“But it’s a barn. I think.”
“It was a barn. Come on and I’ll show you what a little imagination and hard work can accomplish.”
Jack twisted the new key then swung open the back door. He stepped inside, punched the alarm code into a keypad and then stepped back and motioned for Maddie to enter. He followed, dropped their bags on the tile floor in the entryway and went through the kitchen to the front windows to open the drapes.
Sunlight flooded the interior and Maddie gasped in surprise. What appeared to be an old, faded concrete block barn on the outside had been completely remodeled into a mountain getaway that invited guests to come in, kick off their shoes and stay a while.
The kitchen, while small, had granite countertops, stainless appliances and a pot rack hanging from the ceiling. The large gas range was a cook’s dream come true. An eclectic mix of colorful pottery graced the countertops and the space between the tops of the cabinets and the nine-foot ceiling.
Slowly she moved into the living room and saw it also served as a dining area. The hardwood floors gleamed around the edges of two large area rugs, which served to define the living and dining areas. The room was furnished with comfortable upholstered pieces and a round claw-foot oak table and four chairs.
“These floors are beautiful, Jack.”
“They’re old hardwood. I recycled them from the house that was originally on this property. Part of it is in Charlotte’s house, too.”
“Did you build all this?” she asked, spreading her arms wide. “And Charlotte’s house?”
“I’ll tell you all about it later. Come on and let me show you the rest of the place.”
He pulled her in front of a picture window with a postcard view of the surrounding area. “There’s a covered deck across the front here and down one side. I love to sit out there with a cup of coffee first thing in the morning and just watch the day unfold.”
“I can understand why. It’s breathtaking.”
Jack opened the front door and stepped out onto the deck, tugging Maddie behind him. “There’s a hot tub on the side. The view’s even better when you’re up to your neck in hot water.”
“I’ll bet.” Maddie stepped to the waist-high railing and studied the vista. She inhaled and her lungs filled with fresh air scented with the aroma of evergreen trees.
“Maybe we’ll get to take it for a little test drive this weekend.”
“Not until after…you know. All that hot water could thwart your…your swimmers.”
Jack shook his head and laughed. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you married me only for my swimmers.”
“I did,” she stated flatly and returned to the house.
“I’d like to freshen up before dinner, she said over her shoulder. “Where’s my room?”
Jack retrieved their bags from the kitchen then walked to the far side of the living area. Maddie followed him through a small hallway to a bedroom with the same postcard view of the mountains. A large iron bed dominated the room. The only other furnishings were a small rustic dresser and a nightstand and lamp. A patchwork quilt in earth tones covered the bed, and another was folded over the footboard.
Jack placed both their bags on the bed. “I’ll show you around, not that there’s much to see.”
He opened the door that led from the bedroom to the deck and pointed out the hot tub. A pocket door separated the bedroom from the bathroom, which also opened to the hall. Then he opened a door at the far end of the hall and Maddie expected to find another bedroom.
“And this is the closet. Only one in the house other than the pantry. With space at a premium, I decided to do it this way. I mean, it’s not like I live here all the time.”
“You only have one bedroom,” she stated flatly.
“I only need one bedroom. Where would I put a guest room anyway?”
“Don’t you ever invite guests up here?”
Jack’s eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched.
“Then where are you going to sleep?” A hint of panic colored her voice.
“Where do you think?”
“But where will I sleep?”
His lips tilted in a wicked grin. “Hey, we’re on our honeymoon.”
“Oh, no.” Maddie backed away from him, looking like a cornered animal. “This isn’t a honeymoon, and why did you tell that woman it was? My ovulation test was positive and you dragged me out of town up here to God knows where. I assumed we came up here so we could…and now you’re talking about well, you know.”
“Your accusations pierce me to the heart,” he said mockingly. “Have I said anything about you know?”
“No, but that’s what you expect.”
“Now I’m really wounded. You’re lumping me in with every moron you deal with in court.”
“And you’re assuming I’d get here and jump right in bed with you. It’s just supposed to be a…a…”
“A one-night stand?”
She huffed out an impatient breath. “You make it sound so sleazy. And why didn’t you tell me there was only one bedroom?”
She stormed back to the living room and flopped onto the couch.
“Easy there. Don’t be so rough on my bed.”
She sent him a puzzled look. “But you said…”
“I never said anything. You jumped to conclusions.”
Jack sat beside her and nudged her with his shoulder. “Look at us. Already fighting on our honeymoon.”
Maddie sneaked a sideways glance and couldn’t contain her giggle. “Yeah, we’re something, aren’t we?” She patted him on the thigh then realized where her hand was and quickly pulled it back.
“Just like an old married couple,” he said.
Not exactly.
* * *
After a cold shower and a shave, Jack tugged on jeans and a t-shirt and headed to the coffee pot. He had spent the past fifteen hours either walking on eggshells or lying sleepless on the sofa, fantasizing about the woman sleeping in the next room. He disarmed the security system and slipped onto the deck with a freshly brewed cup of liquid sunshine and settled into a chair.
This was Ovulation Day and time for them to have sex. He had tried to be sensitive to her feelings, but sometimes she was the most infuriating woman on the planet. He enjoyed their verbal sparring and tried not to let it go too far. But the thought of sex with her made him howling-at-the-moon crazy and that couldn’t be good.
They’d discussed the sex thing. He understood it was one time only. He’d come to the cabin expecting to sleep on the couch. Yet she’d rushed to judgment and labeled him a jackass. He might be unreliable, undependable and irresponsible in some areas of his life, but there were two where he was not: his business and sex.
Having grown up with a single mother and an unknown father, Jack was unyielding about contraception. Until now, he’d been resolute in his determination not to bring another child into the world. And if it had meant wearing six condoms at one time, so be it.
Take care of her, Jack. Promise me.
He sipped his coffee and remembered how “take care of her” had evolved into “get her pregnant.” At least he hadn’t had to stop at a drugstore along the way for a box of condoms. He pushed against the floor, set the rocking chair into motion and laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
He twisted and found Maddie standing in the doorway, her eyes still hooded from drowsiness and her hair mussed. She wore a tank top and pink sleep pants that were slung low on her hips and brushed her red toenails. She’d tossed a lightweight jacket around her shoulders to ward off the morning mountain chill, but Jack could see her nipples harden against the fabric of her top.
“Just thinking about something at work,” he lied as his inner hound dog howled and his body reacted to her. His morning erection had only just dissipated before she’d appeared in the door.
She pulled the door shut and padded to the rocking chair beside him. “I’ve been thinking, too,” she said as she lowered herself into the rocker beside his.
Here it comes.
Cancellation city. Termination time. Coitus interruptus before they’d even started.
“I think we should just go ahead and do it and get it over with.” She tilted her head down and stared at her toes. Jack stared at them, too.
Do it.
The woman was going to have sex with a man who was virtually a stranger, so of course she couldn’t speak in anything but euphemisms.
“If it’s okay with you, that is.”
She curled her toes against the decking and pulled the jacket tighter around her. All the while she refused to make eye contact with Jack, and she appeared as nervous as a virgin.
No way, he thought and banished the thought quickly.
“If it’s not, we can wait until tonight.”
She was ruining everything. He’d wanted to grill steaks and eat in front of the fireplace. Share a bottle of wine. Laugh and flirt and woo her so that when he finally took her to bed it seemed more like a seduction and less like a corporate negotiation.
“No, no. If you want to do it—to have sex now, we will.” He’d said the word. He might not have removed the proverbial kid gloves, but he’d at least pulled them halfway off.
He watched as a blush ran across her face like a fever, and she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, reassure her that everything would be fine. He wished he could tell her that once would be enough and she wouldn’t have to go through this awkward experience again.
However, his traitorous body wished differently, and he was primed and ready. Jack set his coffee mug beside the chair and stood. He reached for her hand and helped her up, and then he pulled her into his arms. He tucked her against his shoulder and breathed in the floral scent of her shampoo.
He heard her breath hitch, and he whispered assurances in her ear. He promised her their plan would work and wished he could promise her the moon and stars and more.
By the time they reached the bedroom, he had tugged off his t-shirt and his jeans felt a size too small. He’d left them unbuttoned, the only thing keeping them from causing permanent damage. He wanted them off as soon as possible, but would tolerate the discomfort to let Maddie take the lead.
She had left the covers folded down, which left him with nothing to do but watch her turn around and pull her top over her head before hooking her thumbs in the waistband of her sleep pants and lowering them past her hips. He watched her wiggle as she shimmied and let the pants puddle around her feet, and wished like hell he was the one undressing her. Under the severe business suits she normally wore was a body that should require a Surgeon General’s warning: Smoking Hot Woman—could be dangerous to your health. And soon he’d have that body under him—warm, naked and willing.
Still facing away from him, she crawled onto the bed and pulled the sheet to her chin. Her cheeks remained flushed, and as she finally established eye contact with him, he reached for his zipper. Her gaze never wavered as he lowered it carefully and freed his erection.
He stripped off the jeans and crawled in next to her. Hesitantly he reached for the sheet and lowered it to her waist. She instinctively crossed one arm over her breasts and Jack slowly and tenderly nudged it away. He wanted to see her. To gauge how aroused she was. To figure out how he was going to have sex without making love.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” he whispered as he took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“Easy for you to say,” she replied as her eyes filled with tears. She blinked to no avail and they spilled over, creating damp paths down her face.
Jack propped on one elbow and brushed the tears away with his thumb. “Come here,” he whispered, sliding his free hand around her waist and pulling her against him. She was definitely warm and naked, and if she’d just loosen up and let her body respond to his, she’d be willing as well.
Framing her face with his hand, he shifted and pressed a tender kiss first to her forehead and then to each eyelid. She tensed under his touch, and he repeated the kisses until she relaxed and sighed with contentment.
Tentatively, he skimmed a fingertip down her arm, testing her reaction, and when she remained relaxed, he took the next step. He cupped her breast in his hand, the flesh pliant under his fingers. With his thumb, he rubbed the nipple until it beaded under his touch.
“So beautiful,” he murmured as his own body reacted further.
She reached for him and he savored the thrill of her touch. When she trailed her hand down his side and boldly circled his erection with her fingers, his back arched off the bed and he thrust into her grip.
His hand dipped between her legs, into the curls at the top of her thighs.
“You aren’t ready,” he said, his voice low and husky. He nuzzled at her neck and nipped her earlobe.
“I am,” she insisted, twisting so her lower body made contact with his. She ground her pelvis against his, causing Jack to suck in a harsh breath. “Today’s the day we have to do this and—”
Jack groaned in frustration. “That’s not what I meant. You’re not aroused. It’ll be lots better if you are ready.”
Maddie fell back against the pillow and Jack returned to her neck, licking at the fluttering pulse point there before kissing a trail past her breasts to her belly. Her muscles tightened then released for a moment before she inched away from him.
“There’s a bottle of lubricant in my suitcase. Just get that.”
“And get out of this comfortable bed? Natural is better, babe.” Jack tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
She gathered the sheet around her, breaking the mood. “Yeah, Mr. Food Additives and MSG. Like you’d know what natural was.”
“I’m serious, babe—”
“Don’t call me that. I’m not your babe. I’m just your…your…”
“Wife. You’re just my wife who wanted to get pregnant, and that’s what I’m trying to do. So fine. Whatever. I’ll get the stuff, but it would be a lot more pleasurable if you were aroused.”
“This isn’t about pleasure,” she said, pulling the sheet higher. “It’s about making a baby. That’s all.”
The hell it was. He hooked two fingers under her chin and tilted her face upward. He surveyed her expression then rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip. “It’s always about pleasure, Maddie. Sex without pleasure is failure. What this isn’t about is hearts and forever. But there’s no reason why both of us can’t enjoy the baby-making process.”
Her lips parted, but her gaze never wavered. He watched the muscles in her throat work as she swallowed, and when she made no attempt to agree with him, he played what he hoped was his trump card.
“You can’t get what you want unless I get my pleasure. That’s a given. But I’m not the selfish bastard most people think I am. I want you to get pleasure from this, too. And until I’m satisfied that you’ve enjoyed this, it goes no further.”
Her eyes blazed with anger. “But that’s…that’s blackmail.”
His finger traced a line from her chin to her navel, neatly bisecting her body. “Sweetheart, insisting that you enjoy this is not blackmail,” he explained as he pressed his hand to her abdomen. “I like to call it the gentlemanly thing to do.”
* * *
His argument was an excellent one, but Maddie still considered it blackmail. And did he have to look so good when he said it?
She thought she had clarified their arrangement. They had an agreement. For heaven’s sake, they’d been married for a week and this morning was the first time he’d even seen her in her pajamas, much less been in bed with her. She’d been very careful to avoid anything that could be misinterpreted. Jack might be handsome as hell, and she might still have a healthy libido, but the twain couldn’t meet.
“All I wanted was sperm, and I had it all planned. Then you waltzed into my house and flashed your smile and started questioning whether sperm donors were completely honest on their applications.” She boiled with indignation, but tried to keep it under control, which was all but impossible lying naked beside Jack with his large, warm hand flat on her stomach. She didn’t want to react to him, but her body wasn’t obeying orders to remain unresponsive.
“If I hadn’t listened to you, I’d probably be lying on my back in a fertility clinic right now with—”
“With a turkey baster between your legs. And once your ass-wipe of a judge found out what you’d done, half your case load would go down the toilet,” he countered. “That’s why we did what we did, wasn’t it?” He broke physical contact and tucked the sheet around her.
Once again his argument was spot on. Every step of the way, the decision had been hers and hers alone. Every step of the way, she’d kept her emotions in check and her eye on her goal. Maddie had married Alex for love and for forever. He was safe. He was secure and faithful and dependable—everything her father had not been. Since she handled heated mediations, tense settlement conferences and bitter divorce trials for a living, she felt pretty certain that kind of marriage she had with Alex didn’t come along more than once in a lifetime.
She was especially sure marriage to Jack wouldn’t be the same.
He was different from Alex in almost every way. Despite the physical attraction, she would rather spend the rest of her life without a husband than risk another heartbreak like she had suffered when Alex died.
And she damn well wasn’t going to risk a child’s psychological well-being and security by becoming emotionally involved with Jack.
Selfish as it sounded, any child she had would be hers alone. There would be no repeat of the custody wars her parents had waged. Maddie had ensured that to the best of her ability with the heavily revised documents Jack agreed to sign.
Now she was just an arm’s length away from the goal and she was quibbling over an orgasm. Most women would trade places with her in a heartbeat. Blackmail or not, Jack was going to stand his ground, and if she wanted to get pregnant, then she’d have to play by his rules.
If only his rules didn’t make her feel so guilty. If only the sight of his nakedness didn’t make her feel so…ready.
“I’m going to go get another cup of coffee and then see if there’s a tree that needs to be chopped down or a fence that needs mending.” He scrubbed a hand across his jaw, which was clenched tightly. He rolled off the bed and stood, unashamed of his nakedness. Grabbing the clothing he’d tossed beside the bed, he moved toward the door.
“Don’t go.” Her words were little more than a whisper. “I’ll do it your way. I’ll play by your rules.”
Jack turned slowly, obviously irritated and even more obviously no longer aroused. “This isn’t about rules or about my way or your way. I just don’t know how to do it—how to make love to a woman—any other way.”
Maddie’s eyes were glassy with tears. She didn’t want to beg, but she feared if he left now, Jack would end up on the couch and Ovulation Day would go uncelebrated. He began to turn his shirt right-side out.
Don’t let him get away, her mind screamed.
She held out her hand and took a deep breath. “Can we try this again?”
The corner of his eye twitched and his lips flattened into a line. Definitely not the signs of a man willing to take a second chance.
“Or later would be fine, too,” she murmured.
Embarrassed, she turned and stretched for the robe she’d left lying across the foot of the bed, but before she could reach it, the mattress dipped and Jack was behind her, pulling her body to his. Her curves molded to the outline of his muscular body, and his breath tickled the back of her neck. Relief flooded her and she released the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in.
He hadn’t left.
She wiggled back against him and savored the sensation of him growing hard against her. With her encouragement—verbal and nonverbal—he took his time, molding her breasts with his hands, circling her navel with his tongue; touching and kissing her absolutely everywhere until she was dizzy from the fury of her climax.
When he rose over her and settled between her legs, her body opened to the insistent nudging from his erection. Her breath caught in sweet anguish as he pressed into her, and once her body had accommodated him, she began to rock her hips, slowly at first and then more frantically.
He matched her rhythm, his biceps bunching as he held his weight off her, sweat beading on his forehead as he thrust in and out of her wetness.
When he suddenly stopped and pulled back, she cried out and wrapped one leg around his to hold him to her.
“Wait,” he gasped, resting his forehead against hers. “Slow down.”
She grabbed his buttocks and arched, missing the fullness of him, wanting him all the way back inside her.
He released an agonizing groan and straightened his arms, almost withdrawing from her. “It’s too fast.” His voice was ragged. Desperate. “It’s the first time I’ve…” He closed his eyes in concentration.
“I doubt that,” she shot back incredulously.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever had sex without a condom, and if we don’t slow down, it’s going to be over before it starts.”
The enormity of Jack’s statement—and his confession—was both endearing and empowering. She was privy to something she doubted Jack had revealed to another woman. And with that bit of information, her opinion of Jack Worth shifted.
She lay still beneath him, giving him full control, and when he pushed back inside her and began to thrust again with a steady rhythm, it was with a passion she’d never expected from him. When he sat back on his thighs and his grip on her hips tightened, she responded powerfully and bunched the sheets in her fists.
When it hit, the pleasure was explosive. Her breath caught in her throat as another furious orgasm blazed through her. She arched again, tightening around him, squeezing until he drove in one last time and she felt the power of his climax ripple through him.
“Maddie,” he murmured as he collapsed against her, then gathered her in his arms and rolled to his side to take his weight off her.
“I…it…” Words eluded her, and what could she say anyway that wouldn’t sound trite or clichéd? Thanking him seemed unnecessary and even insulting. Telling him he’d been right about the pleasure part might give him the wrong idea.
“Yeah, I know,” he whispered against her ear.
Jack brushed his lips tenderly against hers, then released her from his embrace and sat up. “Here,” he said, grabbing a pillow and sliding it under her hips. “You need to lie still and let things work.”
He pulled the sheet over her before heading to the bathroom. Maddie heard the toilet flush, then the sound of running water. When Jack reappeared, he had a towel tied around his hips.
“Can I get you anything? You didn’t have breakfast so you must be starving. I’ll bring you something to eat.”
He flung off the towel, giving her another view of his perfect behind, and searched for his jeans. He pulled them on as he padded to the door. After glancing back at her once more, he left her alone.
No matter how breathtaking sex with Jack had been, no matter that he’d made her come twice, it was still only sex; nothing more than the transfer of seminal fluid from one body to another for the express purpose of conceiving a child.
And if she believed that, she would need more than a contract and a promise to protect her from the real possibility of falling for Jack Worth.