The Pregnancy Test (20 page)

But this was right, so very, very right, and she wanted to show him that.

When she started pushing down her knickers, he broke their kiss. “Need help with those?” His voice wasn’t urgent, but slow, sensual, achingly intimate.

“Yes, please. I want to be closer to you. I want to be inside your skin.” She slipped into his boxers and held his bum, wedging him closer against her, even as he skimmed her panties down.

“You feel so good,” he said, brushing his mouth over her shoulder, her arm, as he pushed the panties to her knees.

Mandy kicked her legs and got them off the rest of the way. They were hot flesh to hot flesh, the moonlight reflecting off his glossy black hair, the hair on his legs tickling over her skin.

She drew in a deep breath. “You smell so good. Like a man.”

He laughed softly. “I don’t think that’s a good thing.”

Hearing his laughter always pleased her on a fundamental level because she didn’t think he’d had much to laugh about before she’d met him. It seemed such a small thing, but every time she heard it, she had to smile.

“Oh, but it is.” She licked his chest, enjoying the startled little jerk he gave. Shifting her hands, she maneuvered his boxers down to his hips. Desire was building between her thighs, and when his erection pressed against her, she groaned softly.

Damien disposed of his boxers using the same kick-and-flick method she had, until they were both on their sides, locked together like a couple of Legos. His kisses rained down her neck, shoulder, and breast while she rocked against him slowly, the tip of his penis sliding along her slick folds.

They teased and touched and kissed until their breathing was loud and ragged and their rocking movements desperate. Mandy ached to feel him inside, ached to show him what he meant to her.

“Lift your leg over my hip,” he said, hands cupping her backside.

She did, and he slid inside her at the same time his tongue entered her mouth. A shudder tore through her, the groan she gave captured by his kiss. She had never been this close to a man, in this way, this total, complete joining of heart, body, and soul.

“Damien.” She tore her mouth from his, unable to take so much at once. She buried her face in his neck, grasped his shoulders with trembling fingers as he moved inside her over and over, his thrusts coming stronger and faster.

Hands holding her in place on the bed, Damien moved inside her as he whispered along her cheek. “I love you, Mandy.”

“I love you, too.” Her swollen flesh wrapped around him, received him, and she came with a cry, jerking backward with the violence of her orgasm. “Oh, damn!”

He held her to him, wouldn’t let her leave him, escape him, as he sank into her again and again, stretching out her pleasure until she thought she couldn’t take another stroke. She ran her fingers into his hair, gasping for breath, certain she was going to die, when he paused. Then he exploded in her with a fierce growl wrenched out through clenched teeth.

Mandy watched him, reveled in the pleasure on his face as he pulsed deep in her body. Satisfaction, elation, power, love all coursed through her, and it wasn’t until she tasted her tears that she realized she was crying.

He noticed, too, as soon as his shudders slowed and his eyes refocused. “You’re crying. Oh, baby, why are you crying?”

She sniffled as she squeezed the small of his back, keeping him in her when he would have left. “Damn, I’m sorry. They’re good tears, honestly. I just can’t believe how happy I am.”

Damien relaxed again, his chest sinking toward hers. “I believe it. And I know how to appreciate it now.”

He pulled out of her, but now he arched a finger back and forth over her clitoris, which tingled with aftershocks. “I’d like to appreciate you all over again in a minute,” he said.

She smiled at him. “Can you appreciate it in the morning instead of now? I can’t keep my eyes open. The orgasms you give me seem to act like warm milk.”

With a laugh, he moved his hand to her belly and rested it there. “That’s not really a flattering analogy, Mandy. My lover is like a glass of warm milk—knocks me out cold every time.”

“What did you say?” she teased, letting her eyes drift shut. “I’ve fallen asleep.”

Damien laughed again, pulling the hot rumpled sheet over them. “Nothing. Go to sleep.” His wandering hand traveled north to her breast, stroking over her nipple. “Dream of me between your legs, licking you, sucking your clitoris, and stroking my tongue along your hot wetness.”

Oh, my, there was an image.

“Cunnilingus, you mean?”

He gave a wicked laugh, low and near her ear as they lay on their sides facing each other. “Oh, yeah. In your dreams just imagine me cunnilingusing the hell out of you.”

Mandy fell asleep with an anticipatory smile on her lips.

D
amien was in the kitchen trying to rustle up some coffee when someone knocked on the door. He glanced toward it, debating whether to open it or not. Mandy was still sleeping. Caroline was gone from the couch and the second bedroom door was still firmly shut.

He didn’t want to disturb Mandy or be presumptuous in her apartment, but the knock came again, so he went to the door.

There was a thin guy standing in the hallway looking politely startled. “Oh, good morning. I’m looking for Mandy.”

Mandy? Damien felt a green tidal wave roll over him. This was Ben, the Brit. Ben, the father of Mandy’s baby. Ben the bastard.

“She’s sleeping,” he said in the voice that had made many an assistant cry.

“Really? Well, that’s a bit surprising.” Ben glanced at his watch. “It’s a quarter of nine, and she starts at her office in fifteen minutes. I think you must be mistaken. Perhaps you can get Allison to check?” He held out his hand. “I’m Ben Hurst, by the way. You must be Allison’s new boyfriend.”

He was a friendly enough chap. Too bad Damien hated his guts already. But he gave him a quick handshake, putting excessive force into the pump.

“No, I’m not mistaken. I just left Mandy sleeping in the bedroom five minutes ago.”

Ben’s smile faltered. “You’re not Allison’s boyfriend?”

“No.” Damien stepped back to let him in, thinking this was a golden opportunity to square things away between them. Let Ben know he was sticking around. He hitched up the wrinkled pants he’d pulled back on, in deference to Mandy’s roommates. He hadn’t bothered with a shirt, though, and he could feel the scratchy beginnings of a beard. He knew he looked like a man who had just dragged himself out of a woman’s bed. Good. “I’m Damien Sharpton. I’m here with Mandy.”

Ben raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying you and Mandy are…involved?”

“Yes.” Damien fought the need to cross his arms over his chest and spread out his legs like a bouncer denying admittance to a popular nightclub. Instead, he leaned against the arm of the couch and tried not to glare.

“But she’s pregnant.” Ben glanced down the hallway toward the bedroom, apparently shocked.

Damien thought that was stating the obvious. And he had just about used up his ability to be nice before his first cup of coffee. “Pregnant women like sex, too.”

Ben’s mouth fell open. “You’re saying…?”

“Yep.” He just knew he looked smug, and he wasn’t the least bit ashamed of himself. Mandy was his. He loved her and her baby.

After a second, Ben laughed—not a raucous laugh, but a chuckle of amusement. “My ex-wife never did. She was forbidden territory for nine months.”

Damien crossed his feet. “Not Mandy.”

Then he shut himself up before he started bragging like a teenager in the locker room. Ben needed to know how serious they were about each other, but anything beyond that was private. “But look, I know you’re the baby’s father, and Mandy has every intention of letting you get as involved in her life as you want to be. But you should know that Mandy and I are very serious about each other, and I’m going to be around. Permanently.”

Ben sat down and crossed his leg. He didn’t look perturbed by Damien’s announcement. “Damien Sharpton…that name is familiar. You’re Mandy’s boss, aren’t you?”

Damien nodded, wary. Ben should look angry and he didn’t. At least Damien thought he should. If it were him, and his ex was pregnant, he wouldn’t want her involved with another man.

“And you’re permanent, you say?”

He gave another jerk of his head.

Ben flashed him a smile. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear that.”

Damien stared at Ben. There was something wrong with this man. “Why is that?”

“Look, can I be straight with you?” Ben uncrossed his leg and tapped his knee. “I don’t want to bring up another baby. I wasn’t so keen on it the first two times, but my ex-wife insisted. And this bit with Mandy, it was a total accident as I’m sure you know.”

Words didn’t quite come to Damien, so he just nodded again.

“I’m trying very hard to be supportive because I know Mandy’s all alone here in New York and she hasn’t got much in the way of money without her parents’ help. But I really don’t want to be involved with this child. And if I know that she’s got someone to look after her, I think maybe I should just bow out of the whole mess.”

Damien took a deep breath and tried to suck back his anger. This mother-fucker had just called his daughter a
mess.
He didn’t deserve to be a father. He didn’t deserve a woman like Mandy. He didn’t deserve anything but a boot up his ass.

He managed to control himself, speaking in a cool voice. “Feel free to bow out. I’ve got the situation covered.”

“I can still offer financial support, of course, but the little chap’s probably better off if I don’t pop in and out of his life.”

“Her,” Damien forced out through clenched teeth. He couldn’t stop his hand from curling into a fist.

“Hmm?”

“Her. The baby is a girl.”

“Oh, right. Of course. Anyhow, perhaps I should see if Mandy’s up and we can discuss this.”

Damien pushed off the couch. “She’s exhausted. Don’t wake her up. I’ll let her know you stopped by, and we’ll see if between the three of us we can resolve the situation to mutual satisfaction.”

“Perfect.” Ben stood up and held out his hand. “I’m so glad we understand each other, Damien.”

Oh, Damien understood a lot of things.

He understood that Ben was giving him his daughter. He really could have everything.

A wife. A family.

The thought nearly cut him off at the knees.

“I don’t think it’s any of our business.” Jamie looked to Allison for support, but she was frowning just as fiercely as Caroline. “I’m serious, guys, this is Mandy’s life.”

Caroline set her carrot stick down on a plate on the kitchen counter. “Mandy is flooded with endorphins or pheromones or whatever they’re called. She’s pregnant and clearly not behaving rationally.”

Jamie stared across the breakfast bar at her. “Why is falling in love with her boss irrational?” Personally, she thought it was really romantic, sort of a
Maid in Manhattan
kind of thing, only Mandy wasn’t poor. Or Latina. She forced the image of Jennifer Lopez in shlubby gym shoes out of her head.

“Because men don’t fall in love with pregnant women. Because Damien Sharpton is the most unemotional man I’ve ever encountered, and suddenly he’s head over heels? It doesn’t add up.”

Caroline blotted her mouth with a napkin, though Jamie couldn’t see what a carrot stick could leave behind on her lips.

“But Beckwith predicted Mandy would be happy—”

Allison cut her off. “Oh, God, here we go.” She rolled her eyes and tossed her hair back over her shoulders as she headed for the refrigerator. “I need some ice cream if we’re going to discuss fortune-telling crap.”

When she pulled out a pint of mint chocolate chip, Jamie’s mouth watered. It so wasn’t fair that Allison was five-ten and weighed like two pounds, and never had to watch what she ate. Jamie fought the battle of the bulge on a daily basis.

Caroline whimpered. “Put that thing away! I’m getting married in six weeks! I can’t even
look
at ice cream until I get back from my honeymoon.”

“You can have one spoonful. You can’t deny yourself indefinitely or you’ll leap on a Ben & Jerry’s like a lion on a gazelle carcass. Better to just have one spoonful and get the craving out of your mouth.”

Jamie thought that sounded reasonable. She leaned over the top of the breakfast bar and tried to reach the drawer. Her breasts stopped her. “Damn, I can’t reach. You’d think after like fourteen years lugging these things around I’d be used to them.”

“I should have your problems.” Allison tapped her metal spoon left and right on her chest. She was braless in her tank top. “Nothing. I’m a plastic surgeon’s dream.”

“Can we talk about your breasts after we’ve decided what to do about Mandy?” Caroline dipped a spoon into the ice cream and stared at it with obvious longing.

“I don’t think we should do anything, y’all. I think it’s wonderful she’s found happiness after what’s-his-name dumped her.” Jamie grabbed the spoon Allison was holding out for her and figured it didn’t matter if she gained five pounds. No one was seeing her naked lately anyway.

“She’s y’alling us.” Allison turned to Caroline. “There’s a down-on-the-farm story coming, I just know it.”

Jamie laughed. “Shut up. I wasn’t going to say anything about Kentucky, but now that you mention it, I have an aunt whose no-good drunk husband left her with nothing but a double-wide, three kids, and a baby in her belly. And when she went on down to that bank to argue for mercy when they were on the verge of foreclosing, the loan officer took one look at her and fell in love.”

Caroline swallowed, her lip curled. “What the
hell
does that have to do with Mandy?”

“It means that love can come when you least expect it and you shouldn’t close the door on it.” Jamie shoved a big mouthful of mint chocolate chip in her mouth and sighed, taste buds bursting into an alleluia chorus.

“So your aunt didn’t close the door of the double-wide on love?” Allison grinned.

“Nope. And she’s been happy ever since. Why can’t the same be true for Mandy?”

“Because something is weird about Damien.” Caroline set her spoon down, ice cream uneaten.

The willpower was admirable. Jamie bent back for another scoopful. She wasn’t the one who needed to wear a wedding gown in six weeks. Though she did have to put on a bridesmaid dress and walk down the aisle in front of a hundred people. She set her own spoon down with a sigh.

Caroline looked at both of them. “I think we should run an Internet search on him.”

“Google him?” Allison asked thoughtfully. “I like it. That’s a good idea.”

Jamie was horrified. “You can’t do that! It’s unethical.” She glanced toward the front door, even though she knew Mandy was out at dinner with Damien and probably wouldn’t be home for another hour. Prying into Mandy’s business didn’t sit right with her. “And there’s nothing wrong with Damien, he’s just a little reserved. I’ve met lots of weirdos doing social work, believe me, I know the signs.”

She could also spot a cockroach at twenty paces, but that was another story.

“You want weirdos? Try working retail.” Allison shuddered. “God, I hate my job.”

Caroline was heading into the living room, still dressed in a pale gray suit from work. She picked up her computer case and whipped the machine out.

Jamie abandoned her spoon and rushed to Caroline’s side, tripping over her ankle-length skirt in the process. “I don’t think this is such a good idea. Mandy won’t like it.”

“Mandy will never know we did a search unless something is wrong; then she’ll thank us for warning her before the baby is born.”

“I think you’re smart to do it.” Allison perched on the corner of the couch, ice cream carton in hand. “He could be a deadbeat dad for all you know.”

Caroline was biting her lip, clicking away. Jamie tried to follow on the screen, but computers weren’t her thing, and Caroline was opening windows too fast for her to catch but a glimpse.

Suddenly a big newspaper article popped up and Caroline paused.

“Holy shit,” Allison said, her words mumbled behind a mouthful of ice cream.

“What?” More than a little nervous, Jamie read the headline. “Husband arrested in Southloop slaying…What is this all about?” But somehow she knew what it meant, and her heart started to pound. It couldn’t be, it just couldn’t.

Caroline sucked in a sharp breath. “The cops arrested Damien for killing his wife! Oh. My. God.” The computer went unbalanced on her legs and toppled to the floor with a horrible crash. “I never thought, I mean I never, oh shit, oh shit, what are we going to do?”

“He must not have done it.” Jamie swallowed hard, shock sending a shiver through her. “Otherwise, he’d be in jail, right?” She gripped a throw pillow. “Right?”

Allison reached for the laptop. “That’s a damn good question. One we should answer. Then we need to see if Mandy knows Damien’s fascinating marital history.”

Somehow Jamie didn’t think that would lead to the enrichment that Beckwith had assured Mandy was right around the corner.