All That Matters (13 page)

Just when he thought he could no longer hold back, she cried out his name and came with such shattering force around him, she brought him to his own paralyzing release.

B
uddy Lee slowly opened his eyes in the early morning half-light. Faith slept next to him, her body spooned into his, warm and oh, so soft. One of his arms draped across her waist, the other one was tucked under her and rapidly growing numb. He moved them both, taking care not to wake her, then rolled to the side of the bed so he could observe her more easily while he rubbed the feeling back into his arm.
My God, what have I done?

His heart ached with the beauty of seeing her in his bed. He’d just experienced the most fantastic hours of his life and his body still thrummed from the intensity of making love with her. In total disbelief that she had been the one to initiate the wild and wonderful intimacy they’d just shared, he let his gaze roam her gloriously naked body. What the hell was that all about? Had he missed a signal somewhere?

She was the best thing that had ever happened to him, but he was afraid he’d just screwed up his chance of becoming a permanent part of her life. Like an insensitive clod, he’d taken advantage of her vulnerable state of emotions. Hadn’t he read somewhere that women were often highly sexual during pregnancy? Something about needing to be reassured of their sex-appeal? If he’d been thinking with something other than the lower part of his anatomy, he would have realized the situation was volatile the minute she gifted him with that mind-boggling kiss.

Considering the rough handling she’d gotten from Royce, why had she offered him anything more? Not once had she ever given him the slightest reason to believe she cared, except as a friend. Never encouraged him to hope for any other kind of relationship with her. And he’d been careful not to reveal his feelings, even though he’d almost slipped in Mexico.

He’d really slipped tonight, hadn’t he? She would have no doubt now that he wanted her. Man, he was pathetic.

A sudden flash of insight nudged him and he sat up.
Gratitude.
Of course. She’d felt sorry for him and the sex was her way of saying thanks. He should’ve realized that before his raging testosterone had blown his common sense to kingdom come.

He grabbed his boxers off the floor and stormed into the shower. No way would he let her see how much he was hurting.
 
Falling in love had never been part of their bargain. And he sure as hell didn’t want gratitude. No matter how earth-shattering their lovemaking had been, he’d better remember the rules if he wanted to keep Faith and the baby in his life. He wanted that more than ever now. How else could he protect them?

T
he note was propped against a chipped Don’t-Mess-With-

Texas mug next to the coffee pot. She saw it as soon as she padded into the kitchen, and had to bite her bottom lip to keep from crying. With her mood already less than jolly, she was teetering on the edge of anger, yet disappointment fed the ache in her heart.

Waking up alone in Buddy Lee’s bed was definitely not how she’d imagined this morning would be. Not after the way they had shared the night.

More than a little puzzled by his disappearance, she glanced around the empty room and tried to keep her heart from nose diving. Had she been too aggressive? Too bold? When she remembered his enthusiastic participation, she didn’t think so.
 
He’d been totally involved in every aspect of their intimacy.

So what had gone wrong? Why had he slipped out without waking her?

Confused and hurt, she snatched the slip of tablet paper from the counter.

"Faith," he’d written, "Sorry I had to leave early. Coffee is ready. Please rest today. I’ll be home tonight. BL"

Terrific. She crumpled the paper, tossed it at the waste basket and missed. Her conscience reminded her that at least he’d had the decency to leave a note, even if he hadn't mentioned anything about last night. What had she expected him to say, after all? Agonizing over it wasn’t going to help matters. Or change them.

Tears of humiliation stung her eyes as her highly-charged emotions battled for control of her mood. She’d hoped he would be there so they could talk about what had happened between them. Surely she wasn’t the only one who felt they’d gone beyond the boundaries of friendship. Discovered something more.

Deciding to skip the coffee and caffeine until she checked with a doctor, she took orange juice from the fridge instead. She would take care of the matter of finding an obstetrician today while Buddy Lee was at work. She wasn’t totally inept.

There was also the problem of her car and clothes to be picked up at the other house, but she could wait until later to do that. Maybe she’d stop by to see her mother, too, even if it meant a chance encounter with her father. The inevitable couldn’t be avoided forever. She could handle the situation with her parents, but the fear of running into Royce crawled across her skin like an ugly spider. That was a confrontation she wanted to avoid at all costs.

Phone book in hand, she found the listing for an obstetrician with an office near the interstate and dialed.

T
rouble, looking a whole lot like Faith’s daddy, barreled out of a black Lincoln Town Car in front of the repair shop just as Buddy Lee finished his first brake job of the morning. There was no mistaking the identity or the mood of the scowling man headed his way. Instinctively, he rubbed his nose.

“Aw hell, here we go again,” he muttered and lowered the hydraulic hoist holding the Ford Bronco he’d been working on.
  
He wiped his greasy hands on a coarse shop rag, catching a glance of the sleek automobile as he strode past the front window.

Beryl Morgan was silhouetted behind the dark tinted windows of the town car. A twinge of sympathy for the frail woman tugged at his conscience. How had she managed to live under such dominance for so long? And why? Bittersweet memories of his own mother’s plight nudged their way into his thoughts, but he banished them with a shake of his head.

He’d discovered a long time ago that protecting the one you loved was a painful experience. His mother’s love for him had caused her one agonizing sacrifice after another. Even at the tender age of six, he’d known a profound loss and sense of guilt when she’d died. And he sure as hell understood the pain of harboring that same kind of protective love for Faith all these years.
 
Being married sure didn’t make it any easier. The swamp just kept getting deeper and the alligators bigger.

He braced himself.

“Something on your mind, Mr. Morgan? I’m kinda busy, so unless you want to make an appointment for that Lincoln out there, you’ll have to excuse me.” He was damned tired of being screwed with.

The burly banker sputtered. “I, ah, you...”

“Yeah?” Buddy Lee prompted, waiting impatiently for the man to say whatever he had to say and leave. His day was going from bad to worse by the minute.

“Her mother isn’t well. You knew that when you decided to ruin our lives by taking Faith away. Now, all Beryl does is cry all day long. Her doctor says it’s depression.” Lionel swiped a snowy white handkerchief across his perspiring forehead with an unsteady hand.

Why, he’s an old man.
Momentarily shocked by this realization, Buddy Lee quickly covered his surprise. Old or not, Faith’s daddy was an unfeeling son-of-a-gun where his daughter was concerned. Always had been.

“That’s a damn lie. Faith left because she wanted to.”
 
He wasn’t going to bring up the subject of the baby unless her daddy did. No sense asking for more trouble.

“Marrying her won’t get you a free ride on my money, you know, even if you did get her pregnant,” Lionel said, his caustic words edged with arrogance.

“Never thought it would,” Buddy Lee snapped back.
Of all the damn fool ideas!
He almost argued the point about the pregnancy, but for once his good sense kicked in on time. He turned and walked away instead. Didn't need to hear any of this
crapola
again.

“Wait!” Lionel hurried after him. “How much would you take to have the marriage annulled? To give up your right to the child? I’ll write you a check right now.”

Buddy Lee spun around so fast he left his good sense behind. Otherwise he wouldn’t have put his tender nose in the line of fire again. But he planted himself right in front of his adversary, leaned forward and stared him straight in the eye.
 
Even though his hands itched to shove the man’s degrading words down his throat, for Faith’s sake he restrained himself.

“There isn’t enough money in the whole world to turn me into that kind of low-life. Walker’s my name, but, by God, it’s Buddy Lee, not Boyd. I’ll take care of what’s mine and that includes Faith and the baby.” Anger boiled in his blood, spewing out on his hard-bitten words. “Morgan money has never interested me, so you can take your bribery and stuff it...sir!”

Lionel shook a beefy fist at Buddy Lee’s face. “Be careful,” he warned, “or you’ll wind up a no-account loser, just like your old man.”

With a final curse, the furious banker stomped out of the shop, leaving Buddy Lee feeling like he’d just tangled with the granddaddy of all alligators. Damn!

T
he long walk from the house to the subdivision where she’d left her car on Thursday gave Faith a chance to reflect on the extraordinary results of her impetuous wedding and subsequent honeymoon in Mexico. Results she’d never expected in a million years.

When she’d asked Buddy Lee for help out of sheer desperation, she’d anticipated a little resistance from him, but remembering how he’d stuck up for her in the past, she’d been pretty sure he’d help her out of this sticky situation, too.
 
After all, it wasn’t like she was asking him to be her mate-for-life. She didn’t even want a long-term relationship, since her choices of partners kept turning out to be jerks. Besides, having this baby was going to be enough of a challenge.

So what was this ‘thing’ happening between her and Buddy Lee? Hot sex was no reason to start imagining anything beyond friendship. Okay, maybe her gratitude
had
gotten a teensy bit out of control, but his reaction had bordered on shocking. Over the top. Her thoughts sped down that path of remembered pleasures—and the side trips he’d taken her on. Trips she’d never experienced before until now. Who would’ve thought she and good ol’ Buddy Lee could get it on like that? Or that they could generate sparks hot enough to ignite a flame like gasoline spilled on a brush fire.

Either the walk had exerted her or her imagination was working overtime, because by the time she reached the house, her heart was racing just thinking about the possibilities that might occur in the night ahead.

One look at the empty driveway, though, and her thoughts segued into a whole different zone. Where was her car? Why wasn’t it parked in the driveway where she’d left it?

She raced up the steps, yanked on the door. Of course, it was locked. She remembered leaving her key on the hall table when she’d fled. Dumb, dumb, dumb, she chided herself.

And since Daddy’s idea of high-security measures had been to omit any windows in the garage, she couldn’t tell if the vehicle had been put away or not. She chewed her lip in frustration.

Angry with herself for leaving the car in the first place, Faith sat down on the steps and tried to come up with a plan.
 
She’d always been good at planning.
Think.
There had to be a solution. All she had to do was rationalize and think. She was deep in concentration when a familiar male voice sent her stomach plummeting.

“Lose something?”

Ohmygod
!
She jumped up, ready to run, as Royce appeared from the back of the house.

His silent-footed approach felt predatory, and the cold contempt she glimpsed in his eyes as he drew closer pumped adrenalin through her veins at break-neck speed.

“What did you do with my car?” Her voice faltered only a little. Desperation fueled her grit. Kept her focused.

“You shouldn’t have run away, Faith,” Royce said in a voice too smooth to be sincere. “I looked everywhere for you.” He reached out and circled her wrist with his fingers. Tightened them like a steel trap.

She knew it was useless to try to pull away. Instead, she elbowed her arm into his chest, twisted hard and jerked free from his grasp before he had a chance to react.

Panic pushed her to ignore the stitch in her side and keep running. Royce’s angry shouts followed her as she dashed down the street, not daring to slow down. She placed a protective hand on her stomach and prayed no harm would come to the baby.

The entrance to the subdivision was almost in front of her when her foot caught on a stone. Stumbling, she flung her hands out to keep from pitching forward just as Royce caught up with her and snaked his arm around her from behind.

“Why do you keep running?” he whispered, his mouth much too close to her ear.

“Please, I...”

He squeezed her middle so tight she could barely breathe. Black spots danced before her eyes.

“Answer me.” Harsh words seared her skin. “Explain how you two-timed me with that white trash. How you let a convict’s son get you pregnant.” With a swift jerk, he pulled her against him. “You little bitch,” he rasped. “Make a fool out of me, will you?”