Bachelor Mother (25 page)

She arched her back slightly, enough to make her breasts strain against the skimpy top. “Maybe not.” Swaying her hips just a little more than normal, she waltzed over to the couch and sat down close to him. She picked up a balloon. “I just can’t seem to blow hard enough. Will you do these for me?”

He was hooked. His eyes had that slightly glazed look. With any luck, Mel and Bubba would walk in that door within thirty minutes. She had plenty of time.

She touched the corner of his mouth with the tip of her finger and smiled. “You have the most sensuous mouth, you know that?”

* * *

Mel got out of the car, walking slowly, carefully, Alexandra in her arms. Bubba had Danielle. Together, the four of them came up the driveway toward the front door of Bubba’s house.

“Just what do you have planned, Bubba?” she asked. He’d looked as if he were about to pop the entire time they drove home. Now his hand was fumbling with the key and she knew he had something in store for her.

“Something I hope you remember forever.” He kissed her forehead and swung open the door.

As they entered the living room, the first thing Mel saw was the banner. Then tons of pink and white balloons. She squeezed Bubba’s arm and was about to say something when she heard a voice.

Low. Aroused. Intense.

“Oh, yeah. Like that – just like that. Oh,
Joanie
– ”

“Joanie?” Bubba asked loudly.

To Mel’s horror, she saw her brother’s disheveled head bob up from behind the couch. As she watched, he began to scramble around for his pants. It took her befuddled mind a moment to register that Donnie didn’t have any clothes on.

“Donald!” Bubba said loudly, setting Danielle down carefully on one of the large living-room chairs. “On my living room rug – with one of my best friends! How could you do this to me! To Mel!”

Donnie was buttoning his shirt, his eyes darting from Mel’s face to Bubba’s. Then Joanie sat up, the afghan pulled up around her bare shoulders. When Donnie wasn’t looking, Mel was amazed to see her flash a triumphant smile at Bubba and give him a thumbs-up.

She set the whole thing up.
Mel started to laugh, great choking gasps that came from deep in her belly. Donnie looked like a crazed chicken, dancing around the living room and grabbing his shoes and socks.

She decided to play her part. “And in front of the children! Dear God, Donald, have you no shame?”

He ran out the door, slamming it after him. Mel walked quickly around the couch and collapsed, Alexandra still in her arms. But the baby was waking up, her clear blue eyes blinking.

“Oh, Mel, she’s gorgeous,” Joanie said softly. “Where’s her sister?”

“Right here.” Bubba handed her the other twin and Mel smiled. Joanie looked so funny, naked, wrapped in an afghan and holding a baby.

“What was Donnie doing here? I mean…” Suddenly Mel was embarrassed.

“Hey, he had it coming after what he did to you two.” Joanie frowned. “I hope you aren’t mad, Mel.” Now she sounded uncertain.

“Are you kidding? I used to fantasize about moments like this! I loved it!”

“I didn’t get all the balloons blown up, Bubba.”

“Hey, Joanie, I forgive you.” Bubba ruffled the top of her head. “Now let’s get going – we have a party to start!”

“I just want an answer to one question,” Joanie said, gazing down at the sleepy infant in her arms. “Which one of these little guys did you name Moondoggie?”

* * *

They were married in the backyard of Bubba’s house on the Fourth of July, a little more than a year after the twins were born. Mel and her mother made her wedding dress. Alicia and Mel’s sisters were the bridesmaids, Joanie her matron of honor. Terry was the best man. Jonathan was there as well, looking very proud and so happy to be included. Mel noticed that he and Bubba’s mother kept glancing at each other and she wondered if it was ever too late to reconcile when it came to love.

Mel wanted to include everyone today. So many people had helped her and Bubba through that first frantic, crazy year of raising twins. It had been tougher than she’d ever expected but Bubba had been with her every step of the way. She took full advantage of her sisters, Joanie and Alicia and their offers to babysit, because the one thing she wanted to make sure of was that her relationship with Bubba stayed strong.

He felt exactly the same way.

So now, out of the chaos and fun of that first year, they both wanted this wedding to celebrate all the people in their lives they loved and adored. Mel definitely included Henry. She tied a blue ribbon around his neck and he fought furiously with it until the smells of cooking food distracted him.

Bubba’s garden was blooming with flowers Mel had planted. The weather had cooperated and the day promised to be warm and sunny but not uncomfortable. They’d thought about a wedding at the beach but decided they wanted to have the celebration at home.

After the wedding, they had a huge barbecue planned and had invited the entire neighborhood. Their wedding day was to be fun and casual, filled with love and laughter, a moment in time to make memories with the promise of many, many more to come.

* * *

Dusk fell and the twinkling lights Bubba had put up came on, giving the backyard a magical glow. Fireworks exploded in the distance. Family and friends partied far into the night but finally the last few guests were walked out to their cars and the bride and groom were alone.

Sandy had offered to take the twins for the weekend. Henry was confined to the kitchen with a large piece of chicken breast. So Bubba locked up the house and raced upstairs after Mel.

“Alone at last!” he said, sweeping her into his arms.

She couldn’t stop giggling. All the champagne she’d drunk had rushed straight to her head. “Do you want to go down to the beach and see the fireworks?” she asked.

“I think I’d rather create some fireworks of my own.” He wiggled his eyebrows à la Groucho Marx. “Are you going to take that gown off or am I going to have to rip it off your body?”

“I’ll take it off. I’ll take it off!”

She retreated to the bathroom and changed into something she’d saved especially for her wedding night – a black silk nightgown. The garment molded her body like a second skin. She unwound her hair, brushed it out, then took one of the white gardenias she’d brought up from the garden and stuck it behind her ear.

Perfect. She hadn’t wanted anything demure for tonight. It was much more fun anticipating Bubba’s reaction to sexy.

He was lying underneath the covers when she walked back in. His expression when he saw her was everything she could've wished for.

“Wow.”

Moving slowly, sensuously toward him, she felt the silk slide smoothly over her body, clinging in all the right places.

“Mel, you’re killing me. Not that I’m complaining – ”

“Fireworks, huh?” she whispered, just before she cupped his face in her hands and lowered her mouth to his.

Fireworks. Just in his kiss. No one had ever kissed her like Bubba. When he broke their kiss she sighed her pleasure and twined her arms around his neck.

“I know this is an inopportune moment, but I have one more wedding present for you.”

She looked up at him, confused. What more could he possibly give her?

But he was already out of their bed. He took a piece of paper from his top dresser drawer. When he handed it to her, he was smiling broadly.

She couldn’t believe what was in her hands – the deed to the house next door.

“I bought it from Donnie.”

“Oh, Bubba.” The little house she’d loved. The bedroom where they’d first made love. Her garden. Her original nursery. So many hopes and dreams.

“I figured it was insurance against having him as our neighbor.”

She started to laugh. “Oh, come on, Bubba. Joanie’s mellowed him out, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, but she didn’t have to marry him!”

They both laughed, remembering a frantic and naked Donnie dancing around downstairs, trying to find his clothing.

“Anyway, it’s a tactical move, too. When the girls get old enough – say, twelve or thirteen – we can move next door. That way we can have our own bathroom and refrigerator.”

“Uh-huh.” She began to kiss his neck, her fingers tracing the muscles in his chest.

“And a little privacy.”

“Hmm.” She nuzzled the soft skin underneath his ear with her lips, kissed his jaw.

“When they have their friends over, they can play their music as loud as they want.”

She slid her body against his, delighting in the feel of his arousal.

“And their boyfriends can stay over – ”

She stopped nuzzling and looked him straight in the eye.

He smiled that quick, confident grin she loved. “Just checking to see if you were listening.”

“Very funny. No, Alex and Dani are going to do things the right way. None of the crazy stuff we did.”

“Oh, Mel.” Bubba rolled his eyes. “I was afraid of this. Marriage has already made you boring.”

“Boring?” She sat up, peeling the silk gown over her head and throwing it to the floor. “Boring?” She took the flower out of her hair, trying not to laugh.”
I’ll
show you
boring
!
”

She covered his body with hers, loving the feel of his bare skin. Looking down into her husband’s eyes, she whispered a sensual command.

“Now kiss me, you wild and crazy fool.”

Bubba was more than happy to oblige.

To my Readers:

For your special enjoyment, I'm including a preview from my
Baby Collection
series.

In both
Bachelor Mother
and
Teddy Bear Heir
, two very different heroines get pregnant by heroes they adore. But the road to a happy relationship is filled with twists and turns! Each woman experiences pregnancy and motherhood as she falls deeper and deeper in love with the father of her child.

You've just finished
Bachelor Mother
. I've included the first chapter of
Teddy Bear Heir
  for you to enjoy.

Happy reading!

"I've heard of spreading one's seed but you've taken the concept to ridiculous extremes."

Cameron Black sat quietly in the luxurious office as his grandfather continued to expound on one of his least favorite subjects. He'd learned from experience that the best course of resistance was to offer none. Julian Theodore Black could bluster and blow with the best of them but once he'd vented his temper it would all be finished and Cameron could go on his merry way.

"I want a great-grandson!" Julian bellowed, his face flushed, his white hair and beard offering a startling contrast to his agitated complexion. "I've waited long enough! Damn it, Cameron, what's the point of owning the most successful toy company in the world when I don't have a little one to share it with?"

Cameron offered no reply. Julian's bushy eyebrows lowered, his expression ominous.

"I've half a mind to rewrite my will and leave you out of it."

That got his attention. His grandfather had never threatened him this way before. He wasn't sure whether the older man was serious or not but he decided to jump into the fray.

"I've never wanted to be bothered with a family. You know that."

"Damn it, Cameron—"

"I've been honest with you. You have to admit that."

Julian sighed then pulled at his full beard, his manner agitated. He looked almost exactly like Kris Kringle. The image had helped make Teddy's Toys the most respected—and profitable—toy company in the world. Their logo, an adorable teddy called Bandit Bear, was as familiar to the world as McDonald's golden arches.

''You've never been in love?" His grandfather was staring at him in a way that made Cameron think the man had never really looked at him before.

"Never. It's a messy business."

"Messy." Julian snorted. "I had fifty-two years of happiness with your grandmother. There's not a day goes by I don't miss her. Cameron, you don't know what you're talking about."

"It works for me."

"No it doesn't." Julian ran long fingers through his bushy white hair. He was always too busy to cut it. His employees considered him something of an eccentric old madman. But he understood children and how they loved to play. He understood the power of imagination. Those qualities had made him a millionaire many times over.

Though Cameron had known he had a job waiting for him when he graduated from Harvard Business School, he hadn't rested on his family name. He was certainly no slouch. Though he had a rather carefree attitude toward his personal life, he loved the business. He'd worked long and hard hours for his grandfather, whom he usually adored.

And he had nothing against children. He'd just never had the desire to marry and start a family. And at the age of thirty-eight, he didn't see that changing.

"It doesn't work, Cameron. And you'd know it if you had any sense."

Cameron waited, sensing something was about to happen. This argument wasn't following the usual pattern. All his senses were alert waiting for Julian Black to come to his conclusion.

"You have one month, then I'm rewriting my will and leaving my company to charity. I'm sorry, but I'm cutting you out."

"What?" His incredulity was quiet and intense. Cameron rarely lost his temper, he didn't like the feeling of giving in to any sort of emotion. Now he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.

"A month and a day," Julian went on, striding out from behind his desk and warming to his idea. "A month and a day in which to find a woman – any woman – and make her your wife. And within a reasonable time period not to exceed six months, present me with a pregnancy. Fait accompli. An heir."

"You're mad, old man," Cameron replied, sitting back in his chair. The entire idea was so ludicrous it had almost made him laugh out loud. Thank God Julian was joking.

"I'm serious," the older man said quietly. "It's breaking my heart, Cameron, to look at the mess I've helped you make of your life."