Beach Bar Baby (14 page)

He’d hardly told her anything, she thought, but she didn’t call him on it. Surely telling him more about herself could only increase the intimacy between them, and make it easier for him to open up too?

‘Okay, well...’ She paused, his question triggering memories of a time in her life that she barely remembered now, but had been so painful once. ‘Funnily enough, I think it was watching my parents and seeing what they went through that made me an optimist.’

‘How come?’

‘Because they had an incredibly acrimonious divorce when I was eight.’

His eyebrows shot up. ‘And that made you an optimist?’

‘Well, yes. Because it taught me how important second chances are,’ she continued, choosing to ignore the sceptical expression. ‘They’d tried to stay together for me and my brother and it had been a disaster. Children always see more than you think.’ She sighed, remembering the whisper arguments, the bitter silences, the terror and confusion when she and her brother had been told Daddy would be moving out. ‘I missed my dad terribly and it was awful to see my mum so sad and angry all the time. But then, eventually, they both found the people they were meant to be with. And I ended up with a stepmum who makes to-die-for chocolate cake and a stepdad who drove me and Ruby to cookery fairs without complaint. It totally transformed them both, made them much better people and much better parents. Because they were finally happy.’

He rolled onto his side, and suddenly she became aware of his nakedness, and hers, and the low-level hum of arousal that always seemed to be there. He placed a warm palm on her hip, slid it up to cup her breast. ‘That’s sweet,’ he said, the comment only mildly condescending. Then he ducked his head, to lick a pouting nipple. ‘But not as sweet as you are. You know, your breasts look incredible. Have they got bigger?’

Right, it seemed their deep and meaningful conversation appeared to be over. She knew a distraction technique when she heard one—and felt it hardening against her hip.

‘Yes, they have...’

He leant down and sucked at the tip of her breast, gently, provocatively.

‘The obstetrician says it’s to do with the pregnancy hormones,’ she continued, trying to focus despite the glorious feel of her nipple swelling against his tongue. ‘They’re much more sensitive too.’

He grinned up at her. ‘Awesome.’

Wrapping his lips around the stiffened peak, he drew it against the roof of his mouth. Her fingers plunged into his hair as she held his head and gasped, the pleasure almost too intense to bear now. ‘Oh, God...’

His growing erection nudged her belly, and she reached to stroke the shaft instinctively. But as she brushed her thumb across the bead of liquid at the head, rejoicing at his growl of need, her stomach rumbled loudly.

‘Enough.’ He gave a strained laugh, carefully dislodging her hand. Then kissed her fingers, his smile mocking. ‘I guess I’m going to have to offer you food. I don’t want you passing out your first day.’

At the mention of food, her stomach growled again. Colour tainted her cheeks as he laughed. ‘How about you go grab a shower, and I’ll put out the food my housekeeper prepared for us? We can eat out on the deck.’

‘I’d like that,’ she said, suddenly grateful for the respite, and the chance to examine all the emotions careering through her system.

Although she’d discovered in the last twenty minutes that he had a few ‘issues’ about his role as a father to overcome, it felt good to have got her first proper glimpse of the man behind the confident façade he wore so well. And exciting to know that they’d already started to establish a new intimacy between them.

Despite all Ruby’s dire warnings not to confuse her joy about the pregnancy with anything else, she wasn’t the least bit worried about jumping back into bed with Coop.

The one good thing about her terrible experience with Randall was, she’d never be delusional enough to mistake hot sex for love again.

Just because Coop looked great, smelled amazing, knew how to hit all her happy buttons—endorphin-wise—had sperm supersonic enough to impregnate her virtually barren body, and made everything inside her gather and tighten when he looked at her a certain way, she knew she could remain totally objective about their relationship. Such as it was.

Her main priority was the baby. And that would never change.

She lay back in the bed, and took a moment to appreciate the delicious view of Coop’s naked backside as he tugged his jeans back on. And stifled the sigh as the pale strip of defined muscle disappeared behind battered denim.

Her stomach fluttered as if it were filled with hyperactive butterflies when he leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. ‘Supper will be served in twenty minutes, Little Miss Sunshine. Don’t be late.’

‘Aye aye, Captain.’

He strolled out, and her gaze dipped back down to that beautifully tight butt—while the swooping sensation in her stomach bottomed out.

Okay, maybe sleeping with Coop would be a tiny bit distracting, but surely they were going to need some light relief from all the heavy stuff they had to deal with? And the truth was, the intimacy of sex seemed to be a great way to get him to lower his guard.

She squinted as the setting sun dipped lower and the light peaked past the four-poster’s gauzy curtains onto the bed. In fact, now she thought about it, maybe she should consider it her duty to seduce him as often as possible.

* * *

Damn, you nearly blew it.

Coop put the last of the platters Inez had prepared on the outdoor table. The generous plate of lobster salad, Inez’s salted crab cakes and colourful sides of fruit salsa, fried plantain and cornbread had saliva gathering under his tongue.

Good, hopefully Inez’s mouth-watering spread would keep his mouth and hands busy when Ella came down for her supper. He uncorked a chilled bottle of Pouilly Fuissé and splashed a couple of slugs into a glass before planting the bottle in the ice bucket next to the table.

Time to cool the hell down.

What the hell had got into him? He’d seen her less than a week ago. Had made love to her less than ten days ago. And yet, he’d jumped her as soon as she’d arrived.

One gasp of breath, one look from those trusting eyes and he’d been all over her like a rash. His first night with her had already caused more problems than he knew how to solve. And now he was losing all his cool points too? What the hell?

He gulped the pricey wine without tasting a single drop—the thought of the baby going some way to dousing the heat in his pants.

She loved this kid already; he could see it in the dreamy look every time she mentioned it. And then there were all those questions about how he felt about the baby. Making him pretty sure she wasn’t going to be impressed with his initial thought that maybe his role in the child’s life could be limited to setting up a hefty college fund and giving her a monthly allowance to cover her expenses.

On the balcony above, the white cotton curtains billowed out of the open balcony doors caught by the early evening breeze off the ocean. The sound of running water drifted down from the guest room’s shower.

The image of Ella, naked and flushed, her rosy nipples begging to be sucked, swirled into his brain.

He drained the glass. Snagged one of the patties off the plate, wrapped it in some arugula and stuffed it in his mouth.

Enjoy it, Delaney, because crab cakes are the only cakes you’re going to be sucking on for the rest of the night.

He needed to keep his wits about him. And not fall into the trap of getting hot and heavy about anything other than the sex. Until he had some answers to Ella’s questions.

With that in mind...

Picking his smartphone off the table, he keyed in his housekeeper’s home number. When Inez picked up he told her to take a holiday for a couple of weeks, all expenses paid. He could hear the suspicion in the older woman’s voice—Inez had six grown kids and eight grandbabies and was nobody’s fool—but after checking he’d remember to water the plants and suggesting a local girl to come in and do the laundry and cleaning while she was away, she finally took the bait.

Then he rang Sonny, listened to a lengthy update on the wedding arrangements, and then told his friend that he wouldn’t be around for a while and if he needed anyone to help out with tours to contact his business manager. Then he carefully layered in a request to tell Josie he’d be mostly off island till the wedding.

He knew Josie was likely to be his biggest problem. Like any annoying little sister, that girl was more curious than the proverbial cat, had got into the bad habit of thinking she could drop in on him any time unannounced—and had an even bigger mouth than Inez.

He tucked the phone into the back pocket of his jeans. And dispelled the small tug of guilt. Ella would get to meet all his friends at Josie’s wedding in three weeks’ time if she was still here, but until then it would be better if they both kept a low profile.

Their little heart-to-heart and that poignant insight into her childhood had been unsettling and he didn’t want any more weird moments like that again if he could avoid them.

When she’d told him about her parents’ break-up, the urge to take away the unhappiness in her eyes had been dumb enough. But much worse had been the freaky feeling of connection. Because he remembered exactly what it was like to be scared, to be confused, to feel as if your world were being ripped apart and there wasn’t a damn thing you could do about it. When he was a child, his mother’s black moods, those dark days when she couldn’t function, or when she cried—usually after his father had been by to screw her for old times’ sake—had scared the hell out of him.

He’d almost told Ella about it. Thank God, he’d managed to stop himself just in time. Because the last thing he needed was them sharing confidences about stuff that meant nothing now.

He’d ridden out the storm long ago and he’d survived. And Ella had too.

But, unlike Ella, his takeaway from his childhood had been nowhere near as sunny and sweet as hers. And that made her vulnerable in a way he hadn’t really considered until now.

Ella was an optimist, unrealistic expectations came with the territory, and he didn’t want her getting any unrealistic ideas about him and what he was able to offer her and the kid.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy seeing that bright light in her eyes, or knowing she thought more of him than he knew was there. He certainly didn’t plan to extinguish that light unnecessarily. Plus, after way too many bruising fights and angry words in his youth, and all those endless pointless arguments with his mom to get her to see the truth about his old man, he’d also become a big fan of avoidance when it came to talking about your feelings.

Especially if you had nothing to say on the matter.

Getting Ella together with Sonny and Josie and telling them about the baby would just create loads of unnecessary drama. He shivered as goosebumps pebbled down his spine at the thought. Because neither one of them could keep their noses out of his business and they had an opinion about every damn thing. And Inez was one of the biggest gossips on the island, so it made sense to keep her out of the loop too. He didn’t want anyone knowing his business before he knew it himself.

He put the glass down at the soft pad of footsteps on the stairs and glanced up, his pulse slowing to a harsh, jerky beat as Ella walked towards him.

The filmy dress she wore blew around her legs. The bodice only showed a small amount of cleavage, but he could still make out that magnificent rack and the bullet-tipped nipples outlined by the snug fabric.

Well, he guessed that was some compensation—however many problems this pregnancy was going to cause in the long term, he could totally get behind the changes his child was making to her body now.

He put a dampener on the thought when she opened her mouth in a jaw-breaking yawn. He needed to keep his dick under control tonight, at least until she’d slept off the effects of her flight. And suffering through another sleepless night might make him think twice before losing his cool with her again.

‘Hi, this looks amazing,’ she said, surveying the table. ‘I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.’

‘You’re not the only one.’

She laughed, that musical lilt that had beguiled him from the get-go. ‘Why do I have the strange feeling it’s not a horse you want to eat?’

Smart girl.

He took her hand, kissed the knuckles. ‘As much as I’d like to eat you, tonight, it’s probably best if you stay in the guest room.’ He pulled out her chair so she could take a seat. ‘Alone.’ He bit down on the groan as she tucked the pretty dress round that tempting butt.

‘You don’t have to do that.’ The furrow of surprise and disappointment on her brow was almost comical. ‘Unless you want to,’ she added, as if his wanting her was actually in doubt.

‘Honey, you’ve just got off an eight-hour flight.’ He forced himself to be noble and ignore the growing ache in his crotch. ‘It’s the early hours by my count in the UK and...’ He was about to point out that she was pregnant, but stopped himself. No need to bring up that topic unnecessarily. ‘And I don’t want to wear you out,’ he finished.

The heart-pumping smile brightened her whole face. ‘That’s very considerate of you.’ Wasn’t it just? ‘But I should warn you, I’m not good with jet lag. I’ll probably wake up at the crack of dawn.’

He allowed himself a firm kiss, of exactly two seconds’ duration. Because any longer would only increase the torment. ‘Once you’re awake, you’ll find me in the bedroom at the end of the veranda.’ Most likely wide awake and ready for action. ‘I’m sure I can figure out a way to cure your jet lag.’ She blushed prettily and his voice lowered. ‘Sleep therapy happens to be a speciality of mine.’

‘I’ll bet.’ The eagerness on her face crucified him. ‘I’m sure that will come in handy, come cougar time.’

He chuckled, the sound rough, as he pulled up a chair and began piling the food onto their plates. He listed the different dishes Inez had prepared, reeled off some suggested activities she might like to try in the next couple of days, and neatly sidestepped a couple of questions about the snorkel tour. And Sonny.