Breaking All the Rules (14 page)

Yanking the door
open, he glanced back at her with a grin. “See you tomorrow night.”

She didn’t have
time to object or respond. A second later, he stepped outside and
quickly—firmly, cruelly—shut the door behind himself.

Nina stared at
the closed surface, what remained of her arousal slowly fading, irritation
growing in its wake.

She exhaled
slowly, her shoulders slumping. Damn. He’d gotten her to agree to exactly what
she didn’t want. She could cancel—she
should
cancel—not that she thought
that would discourage him. And a deal was a deal.

It might not be
so bad. She’d gotten through tonight, and despite what he’d said, this had felt
an awful lot like a date. Okay, she’d deliberately kept the conversation light
and meaningless, at least until he’d forced her into deeper territory. But it
still had been the two of them, sitting and talking, not having sex, which was
a lot more than she was interested in them having.

And he wanted
more.

Of course, so
did she. More of him. More of that mouth. More of that gorgeous body of his. One
more time.

And evidently
the only way to make that happen was to give him what he wanted.

She straightened
her shoulders, a sense of resolve slowly settling over her. So be it. She could
do it. She’d live up to her end of the deal—and he’d live up to his.

One date. One
last chance to have her way with him—in every way possible. One last time to
get him out of her system once and for all.

Or she could
always tie him to her bed and keep him as long as she wanted, completely at her
mercy, playing by her rules…

The idea held a
hell of a lot of appeal. She slowly smiled at the thought of all the things she
would do with him, all the things they could do together when they had all the
time in the world…

Except they
could never have all the time in the world. Eventually the Marines would come
looking for him.

Nina frowned at
the reminder. It looked like, no matter what, the Marines would come between
them. She had to remember that.

With a sigh, she
headed for the bedroom, and maybe a hot bath. She could stand some time to
release the energy he’d built up and left cruelly unsatisfied—and to think
about all the things she intended to do with him.

She had one
night left, and by God, she was going to make the most of it.

All she had to
do was get through one little date first.

Chapter Six

As he drove
toward Sweet Sensations Friday night, Bobby half-wondered if Nina would be
there, or if she’d managed to find a way to duck out of the date. He’d spent
most of the day expecting a call from her saying she had to cancel. He had to
give her credit, though, she hadn’t done it, no matter how much she didn’t want
to go out with him.

“Getting ahead
of yourself, man,” he muttered under his breath. She could still beg off when
he got inside.

He doubted it
though. He knew she might not want to go out with him, but she did want
something else. Probably had a scheme to get it, knowing her. Little did she
know she might not have to try so hard.

Anticipation
thrummed in his veins. He felt as edgy and overexcited as if he’d never been
out with a woman before. In a way, he never had, not like this. Not when it
actually mattered.

He’d just
started to pull into the parking lot when the door of the shop suddenly flew
open. He slowed as Nina appeared in the doorway, a determined look on her face
as she hurried outside.

It didn’t seem
likely she’d seen him yet, which meant she wasn’t coming out to greet him. She
wasn’t even dressed up, he registered, disappointment hitting him. She was
wearing her regular work clothes. That only left one possibility.

Damn
. He
almost shook his head.
Is she actually going to
run
?

Then she stepped
aside, holding the door open behind her, and he spotted the figure who followed
her out. A young woman clutching her massive belly, her eyes wide, her face
bright red and strained as she visibly tried to breathe.

Bobby’s heart
clutched for a split second, understanding hitting him square in the chest.

Oh hell
.

He slammed the
car to a halt without bothering to pull into a parking space and threw his door
open. “What’s going on?”

Both women
looked at him in surprise. “She’s in labor,” Nina said. “We have to get to the
hospital.”

The words sent a
rush of adrenaline surging through him. Throwing the car in Park, he
immediately jumped out, reaching to open the rear door. “Get in.”

He watched Nina
open her mouth, shooting a glance toward her car a few yards away, and knew she
wanted to argue.

Before she could
say anything, Jackie was moving past her, heading straight toward the open
door. No doubt she wasn’t interested in wasting any time making decisions,
wanting to get moving ASAP.

Smart woman.
Bobby offered his hand to help her climb in. Her breathing rapid and uneven,
the younger woman shot him a grateful look and slowly eased herself into the
back seat.

After he closed
the door behind her, he looked up to see Nina had already rounded the vehicle
and was getting ready to climb in on the other side. Their eyes met over the
top of the car for a moment.

“Thank you,” she
said tersely, but he could read the genuine gratitude in her expression.

Damned if he
didn’t feel a twinge of pride deep in his chest. “No problem.”

She ducked her
head to get in. Bobby quickly moved back into the driver’s seat. As soon as he
had his door shut, he looked behind him to start backing out of the lot. “Where
are we headed?”

Nina called out
the name of the hospital. He nodded. “Who’s watching the shop?”

“Ashley.”

Of course. Stupid
question.

Before he could
ask any more, Jackie began to groan. As he pulled onto the street, he glanced
at her in the rearview mirror.

Oh God
.
His gut clenched hard at the sight of her face. She looked terrified. He’d
never been around pregnant women before, had no idea what they usually looked
like when they were about to give birth outside of the movies. But he had seen
men who’d been wounded, witnessed their responses as they struggled to deal
with the pain and what had happened. The terror, the desperation, the shock.
She didn’t look much better. He’d thought she looked young before, barely in
her early twenties. Seeing her like this, her eyes wide, her face tense with
fear, she looked even younger.

“It’s going to
be okay,” Nina told her. Bobby glanced at her in surprise. Her expression was
calm, warm, a soft smile on her lips as she looked at the other woman. She
didn’t sound worried or edgy at all, like they were doing nothing more than
going for a joy ride. “The hospital’s not far. We’ll be there in no time.”

Jackie raised
her eyes to meet Nina’s. “I wish Travis was here,” she whispered. Bobby could
hear the tears in her voice, the words thin and watery. A lump rose in his
throat at the sound.

Nina’s
expression softened even more. She reached out to push away a lock of hair that
had fallen over Jackie’s face, gently tucking it behind her ear. “I know,” she
said quietly. “I’m sure he wishes he were too. But everything’s going to be
fine. I know it.”

Listening to
her, it didn’t occur to Bobby to wonder how she could possibly know that. Her
voice was smooth and even, every word ringing with absolute certainty. Hearing
her say them, it was clear she believed it, and he believed it too.

Apparently
Jackie did too. She relaxed the tiniest bit, managing a small, grateful smile,
and nodded. Pulling in a long, deep breath, she let it out just as slowly. “If
Ashley can’t reach my coach, will you be in the delivery room with me?”

For the first
time, a crack appeared in Nina’s composure. She hesitated, looking startled for
an instant before she managed to hide the reaction. “Don’t worry. Ashley will
find her—”

“But if she
can’t
,”
Jackie insisted, a hint of hysteria starting to climb into her voice. “Will you
stay with me?”

Nina swallowed slowly.
“Are you sure? I don’t have any experience with babies or labor. There has to
be somebody who knows more about giving birth who can help you more than I
can.”

“Please. Without
Travis here, you’re the strongest person I know. And you’re calm—I need that.
You can help me.”

Nina smiled
again. “I would be honored.” She offered her hand, palm up. “In the meantime,
hold on to my hand, and any time it hurts, just squeeze. People on TV shows and
in the movies always do it, so hopefully that means it will help.”

Jackie exhaled
sharply, something close to a laugh. “Hopefully,” she echoed.

“Just focus on
your breathing,” Nina ordered. “We’re almost there.”

Bobby watched
the tension ease from the younger woman’s face as she began to breathe. She
still looked nervous about what was happening, what was to come, but the
difference was night and day from how she’d looked only a few moments ago. She
held tightly to Nina’s hand like a lifeline. Bobby couldn’t blame her. If he
were in her situation, he was pretty sure he’d want Nina by his side too.

Hell, he already
wanted Nina by his side—and in his bed, and in his life.

She glanced
toward him, their eyes meeting in the rearview mirror. She nodded once before
turning her focus back to Jackie.

Bobby’s gaze
lingered a few seconds longer before he returned it to the road. She really was
amazing. She also had a job to do, and so did he. His was to get them to the
hospital safely.

And he wasn’t
going to let either of them down.

“ADMIT IT,”
Bobby said three hours later. “You kind of wish you were in there.”

Seated next to
him in the waiting area, Nina chuckled softly. “Trust me, I’m
so
glad
I’m not.” As she’d expected—and prayed, Ashley had eventually managed to get in
touch with the Lamaze coach at the number Jackie had given her. The woman had
swept into the hospital a half an hour ago, taking her rightful place by
Jackie’s side and letting Nina retreat to the waiting area.

With Bobby.

There was nobody
else in the room. Evidently it was a slow night in the maternity ward. So it
was just the two of them, sitting side-by-side, waiting…

Nina feeling
like she was about to jump out of her skin any second now…

“You really
don’t have to stay,” she tried, not for the first time. “The doctor said the
first time a woman gives birth, it can take a while.”

“The same goes
for you too, you know.”

“I want to be
here. Jackie doesn’t have anyone else.” She glanced around the empty room to
emphasize the point.

“Then she could
probably use another person here for her.”

“You don’t even
know her.”

“She matters to
you. That’s reason enough.”

Oh hell. Nina
managed to choke back a groan. She knew him well enough by now to know he
wasn’t just saying it. His tone was deep and rich, the words plain-spoken and
sincere. That only made it worse.

Because staying
felt too much like something a friend would do, and she didn’t want to be
friends with him. Being friends might lead somewhere way too complicated, and
that was the last thing she wanted.

Oh, who am I
kidding?
she thought wryly. He wasn’t staying to be nice. He was doing it
to spend time with her—not having sex. It was exactly what he’d wanted to spend
the night doing anyway. She almost shook her head. Devious. The man was
devious.

Grimacing, Nina
shifted in her seat in another futile attempt to get comfortable. She’d thought
it would be too hard to sit facing him, having to look at him without being
able to do anything about it. She was starting to realize sitting next to him
might actually be worse. He was so tantalizingly close. Even though they weren’t
touching, she could feel him so strongly beside her they might as well be. God
knew her body was reacting like they were.

It didn’t help
that she could still see him out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t have to
be facing him to be reminded just how good he looked. Tonight was the most
dressed up she’d ever seen him. He was wearing a pale blue dress shirt and
black slacks. The clothes covered up far more of his body than she would have
liked, but she had to admit he looked amazing in them. The man looked as good
in clothes as he did out of them, though she’d still pick “out of them” if she
had a choice.

The memory of
how he’d leaped out of the car, immediately taking action, came rushing back.
She’d never seen him in take charge mode before—at least not outside of a
bedroom. She knew that side existed of course—the guy was a Marine—and it fit
everything she knew about his personality. But there was something about
witnessing it with her own eyes that made her look at him a little
differently—and her heart start pounding faster and harder in her chest just at
the memory. He’d just been so…commanding. Decisive. Compelling.

Hot as hell.

Yep, that most
of all. She never would have believed it, but she’d wanted him more than ever.

Still did, as
she remembered exactly what they were supposed to have spent the night doing,
where it was supposed to lead...

“I’m sorry about
the date,” she said, and was surprised to find she meant it. “I know you had
something planned—”

“Never mind
that. I’ll take a raincheck. You’re still on the hook for that.”

Nina wasn’t
going to argue. The deal definitely was still on. After all, she hadn’t gotten
what she wanted out of the date either.

She barely
managed to swallow the growl that rose in her throat. God, this was the longest
she’d ever been around him without touching him. She was pretty sure she was
going through some kind of withdrawal. She felt jittery as an addict. All she
wanted was a quick fix. To touch him. He’d rolled up his sleeves to make
himself more comfortable while they waited, baring his forearms. His arm was
right there. All she had to do was reach out and place her hand on his forearm,
feel the heat of his skin and the crisp dark hairs covering it.