Pregnancy Plan (6 page)

“
Why?”

“
I handle the security for oil
executives traveling overseas. I make sure they get there and back
safely and then manage on-site security for their stay.”

She played with her silverware. “How did you
get started doing that?”

“
After college, I decided I wanted to
see the world so I joined the army, and was stationed in the Middle
East. While there, I met several businessmen traveling in the area
and they told me to look them up when I got out. The rest is
history.”

He offered her the plate of eggs and pulled
out a chair. “Dig in.”

She shoved some eggs onto her plate, added
some toast and grabbed a few slices of bacon.

“
Jillian, when will you know if you’re
pregnant?” Derek broke the silence between them.

“
A few weeks. I’m in the middle of my
cycle and should start at the end of the month.”

He couldn’t read her but he didn’t like her
cheerful attitude. Did she want to get rid of him?

“
Who are you going to say is the
baby’s father?” He forced a bite of eggs into his mouth and fought
to swallow his food.

She glanced at her plate. “I hadn’t planned
on telling anyone. Do you want me to tell someone?”

“
No. Yes, I mean, I won’t deny it, if
you want to tell someone.” He laid his hand over hers. “You’ll let
me know?”

“
Sure, but how?” Jillian turned her
hand into his.

“
I’ll give you my email address. You
do have access to the Web. Don’t you?” Uncertain, he
waited.

“
Yes, but do you want me to broadcast
the fact I’m pregnant across the Net?” She appeared unsure about
the prospect of sending the message. “I don’t trust the security of
the Internet.”

“
All you have to do is send me a one
word note. Yes or no. I’ll know what you are referring
to.”

“
I guess you’re right.” She freed her
hand from his and took another bite of her eggs.

He finished his breakfast, leaned back in
his chair and studied her. What did he find so attractive about
her? Her hair still wet, she appeared at home at the table with
him. The fragrant smell of soap from her shower radiated from her
body.

He recalled caressing her soft, silky skin
and knew he could spend a lifetime enjoying making love to her. He
responded to the thought.

“
What do you want to do today?” Maybe
she had changed her mind and they could spend the day upstairs in
bed making love.

“
Shopping, remember?” She peeked up
from her plate, her eyes glittering with amusement. “I know you
have other ideas, but I do have some things I want to pick
up.”

Jillian stacked her dishes on the bar, and
then reached for his plate. Instead of handing it to her, he
captured her hand and guided her onto his lap.

Slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers. He
felt parched without her lips to refresh his soul. Licking her lips
with his tongue, he plunged into the sweet warmth and fed on her,
renewing his memory of her kisses.

His hands roamed over her shoulders, back,
waist until he felt her shiver with desire. Only then, did he raise
his head. “Sure you wouldn’t rather go upstairs?”

She smiled, shifted out of his arms, and
stood. “You know if I do, we’ll never leave here.”

Taking his hand, she tugged him from the
chair and pushed him toward the door. “Why don’t we get going? The
sooner we leave, the sooner we can get back.”

At the door, he waited for her to pass and
stole a quick kiss. “I needed a few of those to hold me over.”

“
Always glad to help a man in need.”
She walked on.

He grabbed her from behind, and drew her
back against his chest. “Well in that case, let me tell about this
one spot...”

“
Derek!”

Laughingly, he kissed her on the neck and
released her. “Whose vehicle do you want to take? Yours or
mine?”

“
Would you mind driving? You know your
way around better than I do.” He led the way to his truck, and
opened the passenger door. He waited for her to climb in, then
handed her the seat belt.

As he walked around the truck, he remembered
how tight her baby blue sweater lay across her bust-line, how her
jeans hugged her hips. His patience already being tested, he fought
the desire to opt out of this trip. “Where do you want to go?”

“
Why don’t we head to Valley
View?”

“
Your wish is my command.”

He turned the key and observed Jillian
scanning the interior.
She’s trying to
guess its age.
It would be hard, because his 1978
midnight blue Chevrolet truck was in pristine condition. Stroking
the black dashboard, he answered her unspoken questions. “This was
my father’s truck. He and I spent months fixing it up. After his
and Mother’s accident, I couldn’t bring myself to part with
it.”

He backed out of the garage. “We sold off
most of their stuff. But this was the one item that I chose to
keep.” He hit the garage door remote. “Jason thinks I’m nuts for
using it. He says if I want to keep it, I should put it in storage.
But that defeats the purpose of having it.”

“
Is it a collector’s item?”

“
Doesn’t matter. That’s not the reason
I drive it.”

“
Why do you?”

“
Because it reminds me of my dad.”
Derek stared at the road, unwilling to share the feelings reflected
in his eyes.

“
Sounds like a good enough reason to
me. That’s why I’m planning to keep the store.”

Hurt bled into her voice and he recognized
the pain of grieving in her rigid posture. Her father hadn’t been
dead very long and she was still suffering.

He covered her hand on the seat. “It takes a
while to get over it.” He offered a warm smile. “Doesn’t it?”

Her eyes filled with tears. “Yes, it
does.”

His heart broke. Holding her became a major
priority, at a stoplight, he hit the latch to free her seat belt,
tugged her across the seat, then drew her into his arms, and
reattached the buckle.

Jillian buried her head in his shoulder. Her
tears fell on his shirt. He recalled the grief he suffered when his
parents died. No words could ease the pain. Instead, he held her
close and let her cry.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had
comforted someone. Surprisingly, it felt good. The last several
years, he hadn’t let himself get close enough to anyone to care
about their problems, much less offer a consoling shoulder. His
relationship with her was defiantly a new experience.

She wiped away her tears. “Sorry about
that.”

“
No problem.” Derek smiled into her
tear-stained face. “We’re almost at the mall. Where do you want to
go first?”

“
It doesn’t matter. I want to visit
every store.”

Grimacing, he drove into the turn lane for
the shopping center.

“
Not a quick trip?”

“
No, I don’t get to shopping much at
home, so I want to see everything there is to see here.”

Derek groaned. The idea of spending hours
surrounded by strangers didn’t appeal to him, but if that’s what
she wanted... He drove the truck into a parking slot and cut the
engine, then turned to hug her close. Her luscious lips tempted
him. “I’m never going to make it.”

His body was already demanding release from
having her sit next to him. How could he survive a whole afternoon
of shopping?

The steamy mist in her eyes kicked his blood
pressure into overdrive. He covered her lips, taking the kiss
swiftly into dangerous water. Her wild, wet tongue avoided his
capture and fired wicked sensations of delirium into his blood.

She tugged free and gasped, “Derek, we have
to stop.”

Unwilling to break the connection, he grazed
his lips along her neck. Wetting her ear with his tongue, he
nibbled on her earlobe. Could he let her go?

After a moment, he raised his head. “You’re
right, I promised I’d take you shopping, and shopping is where
we’re going.” He waited while she grabbed her purse, and scrambled
out of the truck. Together, they walked toward the entrance to the
mall. At the door, he drew her close to whisper. “I may need a fix
every so often.”

Jillian gazed at him in confusion. He
demonstrated by leaning down and stealing a kiss from her surprised
mouth.

“
Oh, I could use one of those every so
often myself.” She captured his hand and stepped
forward.

****

The mall, busy with the weekend crowd, had
people strolling slowly along its pathways, peering at display
cases and talking. No one in a hurry, children darted between their
parents’ footsteps.

Jillian’s feet hurt. They’d been shopping
for hours. She’d enjoyed the time with Derek—he didn’t complain,
and he entered any shop she wanted to go into—but now, she wanted
to go back to his place.

She glanced at the roughened angle of his
jaw. When they had dated almost a year ago, she thought him sexy,
with his linebacker body and rippling muscles. He’d set her on fire
with his kisses, but his attitude of “no strings, no attachments”
had turned her off.. When she’d refused his offer of sex, he’d
left. No more calls. No communication. And until yesterday, she
hadn’t seen him.

Now, being near him made her want things she
couldn’t have. Sliding her arms around his waist, she snuggled
closer. “Thanks for coming shopping with me, Derek. The Dockers and
shirts were the main things I wanted.” She brushed her hair back
over her shoulder. “So now that I have them, we can go if you
want.”

For a moment, he held her to his side, and
then his pace increased. “Wonderful, let’s get out of here!”

His broad palm and long fingers engulfed her
hand when he gripped it. He kept her close as they wove in and out
of the crowd.

“
Do you think the outfits that I
bought for work will project the image I want to present?” Jillian
asked once the aisle cleared and they could walk side by
side.

His arm slid around her waist. “From what
you told me, your customers haven’t adjusted to your being in
charge. I think it’s a great idea for you to show everyone you’ve
transitioned from clerk and bottle washer to shop owner.”

“
Then it’s not a waste of money? After
all, my father wore jeans and T-shirts to work for years. No one
ever doubted his position as owner.”

“
Yes, but he didn’t have to follow in
someone’s footsteps.” Derek kissed the top of her head. “You need
to do things in your own way, and not as he did them.”

“
I guess you’re right.”

He drew her to a stop and picked up a large
teddy bear off a display table. “We have one more purchase to
make.” He handed her the bear.

“
Why are you buying this?”

“
It’s for the baby.” He grinned and
strolled to the register in the middle of the aisle.

Stunned, she stood, gawking at him. “But we
don’t even know yet if I’m pregnant.” She hugged the teddy bear
close and followed him.

“
Well, if you aren’t, then you can
keep it as a way of remembering this weekend. It can keep you
company when I’m not around.”

At the cash register, he shifted her bags to
his other hand, passed the bear to the clerk, and slid out his
wallet. “You don’t want to forget this weekend, do you?”

With a quick glance at the clerk, Jillian
replied in general terms. “You don’t have to worry about me
forgetting anything.”

“
Good.” He signed the credit card
receipt, turned, and handed back her gift.

“
Derek, you didn’t need to do this.”
She slipped her arms around the stuffed animal.

“
Think nothing of it, now let’s get
moving.”

His impatient steps reminded her of what
they would do when they returned to his condo. The thought of lying
in his arms had her giddy with excitement. “Is there a reason why
we’re in such a hurry?” she teased even as she rushed to keep up
with his long strides.

“
Just want to get home,” he said
innocently.

“
Right.”

****

Derek’s respect for Jillian had grown during
the course of the afternoon as she relayed the challenges of
running a small business. She also stimulated his libido with every
move she made. Just sitting beside her, with her arms wrapped
around the stuffed bear sparked images of her body plastered
against him. He opened the garage door then drove in next to her
car. He liked having it in his garage.

“
Do you want to store your bags in the
back of your car or do you want to take them inside?” Derek turned
off the truck and stepped out to help her with her
packages.

“
I’ll go ahead and pack them in the
back of my car. That way I wouldn’t forget them later.” She
retrieved her keys from her purse and tossed them to him. He opened
the rear end and stashed her packages inside, the bear the last
item in.

“
Is that everything?”

“
I think so.”

He slammed the trunk and then directed her
inside, through the kitchen toward the staircase. How had he kept
from going crazy? His body had been demanding release for
hours.

“
Where exactly are we
going?”

“
My bedroom. You must be tired after
all that shopping and want to lie down.” He continued up the
stairs, coaxing her along.