A baby for Christmas (Season of Romance Book 1)
Read A baby for Christmas (Season of Romance Book 1) Online
Authors: Dilys J. Carnie
First
Christmas
By
Dilys
J. Carnie
***Season
of Romance Series***
First Christmas
Copyright © October 2014, Dilys J. Carnie
NOTE: This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters,
places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been
used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to
persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely
coincidental.
A shiver slipped
down Belle Jones’ spine; it surprised her because the heat of the day must have
been in the nineties. She looked up from her book. Her large sunglasses kept her
eyes hidden, but she could appreciate the man walking towards her. His broad
shoulders tapered down to narrow hips, he was carrying something in his hands
but that didn’t deter from his bulging biceps or washboard stomach. In shorts
and nothing else, he was a walking god.
He towered over her; he must have been
well over six feet. He slipped his sunglasses atop his blond hair which was cut
in a neat, short back and sides.
“Ma’am, would you mind if I trimmed your
blossom tree, it’s hanging over onto my side and it’s hitting the greenhouse.”
He held some sort of clippers in his hands; that was obvious to her now that he
was closer.
His American accent spread over her like
the sun warmed her skin. He looked like he was the gardener. These houses were billionaire
status; she was lucky enough to have a friend who’d married a man with plenty
of money. A short week’s break had seemed the answer as she grieved the loss of
her Gran.
The small bed and breakfast
establishment Belle owned on the Snowdonia Mountains was a million miles from
the luxury of this place.
“I’m only staying here for this week,
but I’m sure the owners wouldn’t mind at all.” Smiling at him acutely aware
that the skimpy bikini she had on didn’t cover much at all.
“English?”
“Sort of, but living in Wales.”
He held out his hand. “Ethan.”
She took it, the stark difference of her
skin to his rough fingers, and his strong grip made her gasp inwardly. A sizzle
of electricity ran all the way up her arm, straight into her belly, and damn,
that made her catch her breath. Realization dawned on her that he was looking
at her, waiting for her to give her name.
“Sorry.” Trying to pull her hand from
his clasp but failing to do so when he kept a gentle hold of it. “I’m Belle,”
she whispered.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Belle.” The
letters rolled off his tongue, seductive in its entirety. Tugging back her
fingers she gripped her hands together, rubbing unconsciously, trying to take
away the tingle.
Belle stood, she didn’t know why, but
they stared at each other as the breath rushed from her, heart racing, stomach
clenched as she gazed into deep blue eyes. The desire in them was plain to see.
It was a split second before they each covered the small distance between them,
until their skin was touching. He dropped the clippers and wrapped her in his
arms.
“This is so wrong,” she whispered as his
mouth wreaked havoc down her neck. “I’m not that kind of girl.”
“I know, but I can’t stop.”
1
Six
months later
Belle was daydreaming as she stood on
the ladder trying to change a light bulb that wouldn’t come free. Damn, but she
had to stop thinking about that afternoon but how was that even possible when
the memory was so very real. . Belle had been so ashamed of the way she’d
behaved, that after he’d gone it had taken her only a few moments to pack her
bags and go.
The sound of voices reached her ears,
and she cursed at the interruption as her fingers tried to unscrew the bulb.
Jenny, who’d been here at the bed and breakfast for a while now, was probably
getting ready to leave. She frowned; they weren’t expecting any guests now—it
was too close to Christmas.
“Belle, we have a visitor.”
With a smile on her face, she looked
around and froze. All six foot of Ethan stood behind Jenny…the man she’d met six
months ago…the man she’d slept with. The father of her child. Her hand went
instinctively to her stomach. At just under twenty-four weeks pregnant her
tummy was hidden beneath a large sweater.
What it did do though, was knock her off
balance and her foot slipped as she came down the ladder. A screech escaped
from her throat before she fell. Belle prepared herself but a pair of strong
arms caught her before she could land hard. Instantly his scent transported her
back to that afternoon by the pool in North Carolina.
“Goodness me, Belle. Are you okay?”
Jenny rushed over to her but she was being held safely in a pair of strong
arms.
Belle pushed out of his hold, smoothing
her fingers down her yoga trousers. She tried to ignore how much her hands were
shaking.
“Yes, I’m fine.” A tentative smile
tugged at her lips, trying to hide the shock of what had just happened and how
she was trembling all over. “I just caught my foot on the rung.”
“You need to be careful in your c—”
“Yes, yes, I’m fine.” Belle interrupted
Jenny before she had time to finish her sentence. “Off you go, home and get
packed; that man of yours is going to be landing in Manchester soon ready to
whisk you off for Christmas.”
“Are you sure?” Her friend looked
concerned.
“Of course, go, go.”
“I’m sorry Mr?”
“Ethan Thompson.”
“Mr Thompson, Belle here will help you
out. She owns Holly Cottage.”
“I’m sure I will be well taken care of.”
Belle couldn’t ignore the trace of sarcasm in his voice.
They stood beside each other for a few
seconds, saying nothing as Jenny took off with a wave.
“If you’ll excuse me for one moment and
take a seat, there’s something I have to do.” Belle spoke hurriedly, her voice
shaky and not giving him a chance to reply as she shot out of the room.
Running
upstairs to her bedroom and into the bathroom, she rinsed her face with cool
water.
What
the hell was he doing here? How had he found her?
The OBX beach was a far cry from the
Snowdonia Mountains where they were now almost knee deep in snow. It had been
almost six months since that afternoon which was imprinted on her mind, and was
now growing inside her body. Embarrassed and ashamed of her behaviour, it had
taken a short time to pack her belongings and hightail it out of there. It had
been sex—great sex, the best she’d ever had—but that’s all it had been.
Ethan Thompson walking back into her
life was not good. Belle peered into the mirror on the wall; her skin was pale.
Probably from the shock of seeing Ethan but also from the terrible morning
sickness that had plagued her. The doctor said she was fine and had offered her
something to help with the nausea, but that hadn’t even been an option in her
book.
She should have made more of an
effort to find him, tell him that he was going to be a father, but she hadn’t
wanted for him to feel responsible. It had been one time, not even for a whole
night.
Belle thought for all of two seconds…she
wouldn’t tell him. Find out why he had come then get rid of him...pronto.
Standing up straight, she smoothed down her short red hair, pinched her cheeks
to try and put some colour into them, fluffed up her large jumper so that her
little bump was hidden.
She took a deep breath.
I can do
this…I have to.
Belle slipped out of the bathroom and
downstairs, stepping into the room where she’d left him. Seeing he wasn’t
there, a heavy sigh escaped her. If he wasn’t there, then where was he? Could
she be so lucky that he’d decided he didn’t want to see her after all?
She dug her hands into her trouser
pockets, heaving a deep sigh of relief. Passing the window towards the kitchen,
it was automatic for her to stop and admire the view. Belle never got sick of
it, the Snowdonia Mountains of Wales covered in snow and right on her doorstep.
Large abstract flakes dropped from the sky to the ground getting deeper by the
minute. They were used to the weather at this time of year changing quickly;
she’d grown up with it.
Belle had lost her parents when she was
just a baby, leaving just her and Gran. When Gran had passed away six months
ago, Belle had been devastated and had escaped to her friend’s beach house to
nurse her grief. God, she missed her, more than words could say. Belle let her
hand fall to her stomach, now this was all she had.
The beautiful holly tree right outside
the window was abundant with berries. She would put her coat on and cut a few
branches down so that she could put some in the kitchen. They made a beautiful
display. Turning away, she made her way down the narrow hallway and into the
large kitchen that had been modernised for the summer when the season was in
full swing. They were usually filled to capacity with climbers and holiday
makers.
“Perhaps now we can talk.”
Belle gasped. “I thought you had
gone.”
“No, you hoped I had, but now that I’ve found
you, I’m not going anywhere.”
“What do you mean?” She grasped the back
of the pine-coloured chair as he leaned against the matching countertop.
“I mean, I didn’t use a condom.”
Well
,
that was straight to the
point!
His American accent surrounded her, and
she held on so tight her knuckles turned white. The huskiness in his voice
enveloped her senses leaving a groan caught in her chest. There was something
between them that lit a fire so hot, it was orgasmic just talking to him. It
didn’t help that he had a body that would put any man to shame. His blond hair
was slightly longer, but he’d taken his coat off, and stood before her in jeans
and thick sweater. The bright colour brought out the intense blue of his eyes.
Damn, but this was not going to end well.
****
Ethan wasn’t sure why he’d felt the need
to be with Belle. For sure he wondered if she could have been pregnant with his
child. He knew he had been irresponsible not using a condom, but he hadn’t even
touched her and his body was already tingling with excitement.
What was it
about her?
What attracted him to her to such an extent that they had had to
rip each other’s clothes off.
Even now he was struggling to keep her
at a distance. He remembered how soft she felt, her scent of sweet roses, her
little moans and gasps as he’d touched and stroked her. Those sounds had
haunted him night and day.
She’d been easy to find; he’d checked in
with the people who’d owned the house she’d stayed in, after they’d returned
from a three month cruise. Then he’d had to make sure his brothers were okay
without him at Pine Tree Valley up on Beech Mountain in North Carolina where he
lived.
The family-run business did everything
that was needed in the mountains, skiing, sledging, with rooms to let at the
lodge his sister ran. The lucrative Christmas tree farm which he ran with his
youngest brother kept them busy at this time of year.
His oldest brother was the sheriff; and
Reagan had taken on the role of father when their dad had died ten years ago.
If it hadn’t been for him everything would have fallen apart including their
mom.
Bella looked pale, it could be the shock
of seeing him, however the way her hand kept going to her stomach protectively
he was sure it was as he had expected.
“You’re pregnant?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t deny it, just a simple answer
to the most important question he’d ever asked anyone.
“Were you ever going to tell me?”
He could see her face go even paler and
he reached out to steady her.
“Jesus, Belle, don’t look at me like
that, what the hell do you think I’m going to do?”
He picked her up into his arms before
striding through the hallway into the living room and sat down in one of the
large overstuffed chairs. He kept hold of her as she tried to get off his lap.
Belle struggled for a second but Ethan tightened his grasp and kept her close.
“You didn’t answer me, were you ever
going to tell me that my child was growing inside you?”
She lifted her gaze and her eyes were
full of tears. “No I wasn’t, I figured we had been a one night stand and you
wouldn’t want the responsibility.”
Ethan couldn’t help but flinch, if he
hadn’t been determined to find her, he would never have known.
“Do you think I wouldn’t want to be part
of my child’s life? Did you really think so little of me?”
“I don’t know you, Ethan. It was only
one time.” Belle shrugged her shoulders. “What was I meant to do?” She lowered
her head and he dropped his face into her neck. Her scent was just as he
remembered, soap and roses, simple but oh so alluring.
“Did you really think that I wouldn’t
want to support my own child?” He looked up, but was unable to read her
expression.
“It was only one time,” she repeated.
“For goodness sake, we know nothing about each other.” Her fingers pushed
against his chest and he covered them with his own. She drew in a deep breath.
“We don’t even know what movies we like, what’s our favourite food, what colour
do we like?”
“ ‘Armageddon’, big juicy cheese burger,
and green, the same as your eyes.”
Her lips tugged into a smile and it lit
up her face just for a second, before a frown appeared between her eyes.
“So?” He raised his eyebrows at her.
“Come on, you have to come clean now.”
“This is silly,” she said her soft Welsh
accent brushing over him like a breath of fresh air.
“No, this is getting to know each other,
we made a child together.” Ethan laid his hand on her small belly briefly
closing his eyes…his child. He felt her draw in her breath as he splayed his
fingers over the top of her sweater.
“ ‘The Notebook’, vegetarian chilli and
blue.”
“You’re a vegetarian?”
She nodded.
“You see, now we’re getting to know each
other.”
Belle narrowed her eyes. Ethan’s heart
constricted as he saw the tear drop hovering on her bottom lash. What was it about
this woman that made him forget about everything but her? He’d gone back to the
house the next morning intent on wooing her, getting to know the woman he’d
made love to. But she’d left and he’d felt a loss, and that had both infuriated
and intrigued him.
Ethan hadn’t been able to get her
out of his mind. He’d never not used a condom before, and had certainly never
been so out of control that the thought hadn’t even entered his mind. His
respect for women had always kept him prepared, and he felt so bad that he’d
put her in this position.
He ground his teeth together. When she
looked at him, he’d never felt so good. Ethan sensed a connection to her; it
was as if it had been there forever. These strange feelings and the intensity
of his emotions surprised the hell out of him.
“I’m sorry. I should have made sure you
were protected.”
“It was as much my fault as yours. I’m a
grown woman. I knew what the consequences were.”