Page 12 of Christmas Kiss
“What?”
“Yeah, that’s why you were so eager to get me tonight and you told me all about how sexy my pregnant body was. Who says that kind of stuff?” I grip my stomach in pain and wince. “I bet you’ve rushed dozens of women to the hospital after making them come.”
He glances toward me and laughs, which make these sexy soft wrinkles next to his eyes. “What are you saying? I havenotrushed dozens of women to the hospital. Also… I don’t have a pregnancy fetish. I haven’t been with a woman in years.”
“Yeah right. You werenottouching me like someone who hasn’t had any in years.”
“Well, it’s true.” He shrugs and reaches his hand out for mine. And while I want to believe that he’s a born-again virgin who hasn’t had eyes for anyone else in ages, I’m sure that’s not the truth.
I squeeze my thighs closed like I should’ve been all along. Maybe if I pretend all this is a dream, I’ll wake up and every bad decision I’ve ever made will be gone.
Except when I open my eyes, I’m still here in this truck, rolling down the mountain, praying everything is ok.
Chapter Six
Charlie
“False alarm pains happen all the time. It’s not a big deal.” I wrap my arm around her, but she pulls away. We haven’t talked much since we got back from a full night in the makeshift emergency room of the fire department. This is a small-town, so we do small-town things, and fire department emergency rooms is one of them.
“It’s a huge deal! I thought my baby was going to be months early!” Her cheeks are red again, and I know she doesn’t want to talk about any of this. Despite our lack of sleep, we’ve changed into our wedding clothes, charged up with donuts, and now, like it or not, we have to go to this wedding.
“I think that’s a compliment to me,” I say with a grin. “I had you so excited that your body thought it was time to have the baby. Don’t forget, the doctor said we were right to come to the hospital.”
“Sure.” She pulls down the visor in the truck and checks her hair for the fifth time since we got in. I’m guessing it’s a nervous tick and I wish I could help somehow. “Well, it’s still humiliating.”
“Doesn’t have to be.” I land my hand on her thigh and glance toward her as I pull up into the lodge where the wedding is being held and park the truck. I’d guess there are already a hundred cars parked between the gravel lot and the lawn.
“God, I don’t want to do this. Maybe we could go back to the cabin and fuck some more. It was the best thing to happen to me in a while. That is unless you’re completely repulsed by me now.”
“I’m not repulsed by you, and you don’t have to ask me twice. You know I’m there, but I think you’d regret missing this.”
Her brows narrow toward me as the mid-morning sun filters in through the windshield and onto her face. “You really don’t know me yet, do you? I keep forgetting that.”
“I know you want to be a good mom. I know you’re trying like hell to save money. I know you try so fuckin’ hard when most people would give up. And I know you’d rather show up today and deal with a few hours of shit, rather than beat yourself up for months because you didn’t come.”
She drags in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “You’re too good at this. I don’t believe you’ve been single this long.”
I laugh and squeeze her thigh gently. “You’re just not used to people telling you the truth.”
A hard knock hits the side window, and we glance to the side to see Mira staring at us with a downturned expression. Her hair is twisted up in some kind of fancy knot, and the dark red dress she’s wearing matches Mariah’s perfectly. Though, if you’re asking me, Mariah looks much better in it. That, and I’m already feeling protective of my girl. I don’t want her dealing with any shit today.
My girl.I probably shouldn’t think like that yet. She’s not my girl. She’s my employee.
I glance toward Mariah. “You want to talk to her or do you want me to lock the doors?”
She grins. “I should probably see what she wants, but can we circle back on the locked door thing? I might change my mind.”
“In a heartbeat,” I say with a laugh, desperate to pull her against my chest and hold her safe from whatever shit Mira’s about to throw.
“Mom is on a rampage because she can’t find you. My date canceled on me, and I’m about to lose it.” Mira looks like she’s going to rip out her hair.
“Okay. Tell Mom I’m on my way.”
Mira opens the passenger door and grabs Mariah’s arm as though she’s going to yank her from the truck. Now I realize this is probably the way these two have interacted their whole lives, and I understand that my intervening is probably not necessary, but something inside of me pulls my body outside of the truck and toward Mariah like a bull that’s unable to be stopped.
“Get your hands off her,” I groan. “Go inside and wait a moment. We’ll be in soon.”
Mira glances up at me. At first, I think there’s a lecture coming. Clearly she’s not having a good morning, and I’ve just been more demanding than I think I’ve ever been with her, work included. Instead, she laughs.