Following Trouble (3 page)

I sat, gathering the robe closed at my throat, and watched as Rob approached a woman I recognized immediately from magazines like
People and US Weekly. It was Catherine, his wife. She was some sort of lingerie model and they’d been separated for over a year now but, according to Rob, she had refused to divorce him until a few months ago. The papers had arrived as a welcome surprise to both of us at his tour date in Detroit. It had been the deciding factor for me when I told him yes—I wanted this, I wanted him. I would wait.

She was, hands down, the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She made Celeste look like Shrek.

“What are you doing here?”

“
It’s still my house too, remember?”

Rob glanced back at me and I know he must have seen the pained expression on my face. I couldn’t hide it, not quickly enough. He shook his head, opened his mouth like he was going to say something to me, but didn’
t. Instead, he turned back to Catherine.

“Inside
. We’ll talk there.”

He held up a hand to me, one finger—
wait a minute
—as he filled the doorway with his frame, forcing her back inside. She glanced over his shoulder at me with a catty little smirk, but then the French door swung closed behind them and all I could hear was the muffled sound of voices.

It wasn’t cold, but I shivered. Without Rob’s light, there was no heat. Our fire had been extinguished by a tall, cool, blonde drink of water. Everything I’d been thinking about, dreaming about, had just disappeared in a puff of smoke. I’d been pretending Rob was mine, when all along, he still belonged to someone else. This thing between us, so bright, so new, had crashed and burned almost immediately once we came face to face with reality.

I put my head in my hands, trying not to listen and still hearing things I didn’t want to know. They even argued like a married couple.

Because they are.

My heart broke into a million pieces as I sat there and shivered on the patio, cold and miserable and wrecked.

Daisy brought dinner out onto the patio. She introduced herself and chatted with me as she set the table and lit low candles while Rob and Catherine argued inside. Daisy was a rather voluptuous brunette with her hair pulled back in a ponytail and bright brown eyes that missed nothing. She knew exactly what was going on, I could tell, but she pretended she didn’t, making small talk with me as I padded over in my robe and bare feet and asked if she had anything non-alcoholic as she began to fill the champagne flutes. She said she did and went off to get it. I didn’t say why I wasn’t drinking. But, as I watched her go back into the house, the sound of Rob and Catherine’s argument wafting out loudly for one brief moment as she opened the French doors, some deeper part of me had just acknowledged the truth.

I’m going to have a baby. With or without Rob, I’m going to have this baby.

It was the first time I’d even let myself think it.

After
Daisy left, it grew quiet—too quiet—and the perpetual thought-hamster in my head began to run even faster, turning wheels, grinding gears. Of course, they’d made up. She’d brought the divorce papers with her so they could burn them in the fireplace and make love in the glow. Rob would apologize and put me on the first plane home tomorrow. And that would be that.

I lifted a heavy, silver cover from one of the plates and peered at
the scallops and lobster tail. There was also some sort of risotto and French green beans with slivered almonds. Fancy.

At least you’ll get a good meal out of the deal.

But I didn’t want to eat. In fact, I felt nauseous as I put the silver cover back on the plate.

Daisy returned with sparkling grape juice and poured that into my glass instead of champagne as Rob came out onto the patio. He’d thrown a shirt on and buttoned it halfway up, I noticed. Well, at least he wasn’t
screwing Catherine in the blaze of their burning divorce papers, I consoled myself as he joined me at the table.

“Sorry about that,” he said, lifting the silver cover on his plate and
smiling up at the chef. “Daisy, you are a goddess. I’m starving.”

“Enjoy
.” She smiled back, glancing briefly at me. I knew she must be thinking how stupid I was to be there, caught in the middle of all of this. And she didn’t even know I’d gotten myself pregnant on top of everything else. “Just call if you need me.”

“Thanks.” Rob set the silver cover aside and picked up his fork. Daisy slipped back into the house without another word.

“Does she always work so late?” I set my silver cover aside and poked at one of the giant scallops with my fork. It was incredibly tender and, in spite of my mind’s protest, my stomach growled again.

He raised his eyebrows at me.
“Only when I’m planning candlelight dinners for my pregnant girlfriend.”

“
Speaking of girlfriends.” I took a bite of the risotto and almost moaned out loud—rich, creamy, delicious. But I didn’t let it distract me. “How’s your wife?”

“Ex-wife.” He gave me a long look.

“Not yet,” I reminded him. The scallops were just as tender as they felt, melting in my mouth.

“Soon enough.”
Rob made a face, cracking open his lobster tail.

“How soon?”

He put down his fork, peering at me across the table. I continued to take small bites of risotto, not meeting his eyes. He couldn’t expect me not to say anything, could he? I’d tried to hold my tongue, to be honest, but pregnancy hormones had already made my temper short and my emotions run high.

“You’ll know,”
he said finally, picking his fork back up, digging into the lobster tail and pulling out a plump piece of meat.

Just leave it.
I knew I should, but I just couldn’t. I kept seeing her smirk, the way her gaze swept over me like I was some sort of bug she’d found on her food.

“How will I know?”
The green beans were buttery and full of garlic. Those, too, melted in my mouth and at least my stomach got some relief, even if the hamster wheel in my head kept on and on.

“Because I’ll propose to you,” he said simply.

My fork clattered to my plate and I stared at him, incredulous, not quite believing what I’d just heard. He chewed thoughtfully, searching my face, my eyes, for what I don’t know. A sign of my ultimate response, maybe?

But it was a moot point, wasn’t it? He couldn’t ask because he wasn’t free.

“What did she want?” I asked, deciding to pretend I hadn’t heard his proposal intentions.

“To cause trouble.” His jaw tightened, just slightly. “
As usual.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.”
He sighed. “Let’s pretend that never happened, okay?”

“What if she comes walking back in?”
I looked at the doors where she’d first appeared as if she might return any moment. And then what? What did you say to the woman whose husband you happened to be sleeping with, the husband whose child you happened to be carrying?

“She can’t.” Rob picked up the cloth napkin beside his plate, shaking it out of its three-dimensional triangle shape. “
I had the security code changed on the house and at the gate.”

I gaped at him.
“You didn’t think to do that before?”

“I haven’t been home,” he reminded me, putting his napkin in his lap. “
I just flew in last night, remember?”

Of course, I knew that. He’d insisted on booking me the first possible flight out of Detroit
the minute the tour was over. I hadn’t even had a chance to see Katie, who had flown home last night. We’d probably passed in mid-air.

“It was a surprise, that’s all.”
I swallowed, poking at my lobster tail like it might come back to life and crawl off my plate.

“To you and me both.” He
sighed again, putting his forearms on the table to lean in closer. “Listen, I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“It just… you know…
reminded me.” I had no doubt he understood what I meant. Her intrusion had been a sudden dose of reality neither of wanted to face. Not now. Not yet.

“What can I do to make you forget?”
Rob asked and I looked up to see him smiling. It wasn’t a full smile—there was still some tension in his jaw, his brow—but he was trying. “How about Daisy’s scallops? Aren’t they fucking amazing?”

I couldn’t help smiling back. The man knew my penchant for good food.

“How about some champagne?” He lifted the bottle from the ice bucket and then frowned, looking at my already full glass. “Oh damn, you can’t have champagne.”

“It’s sparkling grape juice,” I explained, lifting it to my lips and taking a sweet sip.

“You asked Daisy?” He put the champagne bottle back with a soft smile as I nodded, both of us acknowledging our secret in that one glance.

He looked at me differently now. And I liked it.

“I hope she looks just like you.” His expression turned soft, dreamy, as he sat back in his chair, still looking at me that way. Like I’d risen considerably in his estimation somewhere along the line. Then he grinned. “Except I’ll have to lock her in a tower when she turns thirteen.”

“Thir
teen?” I laughed, cracking open my lobster tail and digging in. The memory of our interruption was fading, especially in light of the way he looked at me with those dark eyes across the table. He made me feel like there was no other woman on the planet besides me.

“Have to be proactive these days.” He chewed green beans thoughtfully and I’m sure he was thinking about all those teen girl fans who went crazy for him at shows. What if one of those was his daughter, screaming for some hot rock star?

“Well you’ll just have to lock her in one of the rooms upstairs.” I pointed to a balcony above us. “Same difference.”

“Not a bad idea,” he mused and that made me laugh again.

“Well if it’s a boy and he looks like you,” I said, groaning as I spooned lobster out of a buttery trough and let it melt in my mouth. “He’s going to leave a trail of broken hearts.”

“Only until he finds the right one.” Rob lifted his glass of champagne, downing it with a smile and reaching for the bottle.
“Remind me, I have a surprise for you later.”

“I think we’ve had enough
surprises for the night.” I snorted, finishing the last of my lobster. The scallops and risotto were already gone and my stomach had stopped protesting in hunger.

“Clearly I haven’t done e
nough to get your mind off things.” Rob drank his second glass of champagne.

“Clearly.”
I smirked, drinking the rest of my sparkling grape juice in one gulp. I only missed the champagne a little bit.

“Let’s fix that.”
Rob stood, starting to unbutton his shirt.

“What are you doing?”
I blinked up at him as he revealed his chest, his belly, and then those gloriously defined shoulders and arms. He left his shirt on the chair, unbuttoning his jeans, and I found myself transfixed by his zipper sliding south.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, future mother of my child.” Rob grinned as he stepped out of his jeans and boxers, the sight of him completely nude and already half-hard
making my mouth water. “We’re going swimming.”

I took his hand and let him untie and slip the robe from my shoulders, leaving it
puddled on the patio as we approached the infinity pool. I expected the water to be cold but it was only slightly cooler than a warm bath as I stepped in, following Rob’s lead. He pulled me to him, both of us naked, but it didn’t matter. There were no neighbors who could see us. We were alone.

“It’s like a dream. Did you ever think you would live in a place like this?” I mused, looking up at the palace he called a house. It was more like
a French Chateau, complete with its own moat. Off in the distance, the ocean shimmered, kissed by moonlight.

“No.” He fitted my body to his as we floated deeper into the pool. “But I never thought I’d find a girl like you either. So I guess some dreams really do come true.”

His words, his body, they all made me forget. I didn’t care about anything but him and how he made me feel, our mouths meeting, limbs entwined. I had never felt this way about a man and knew, if something happened and things didn’t work out between us, I never would again.

His hands roamed over me under the water. It made my nipples harden against his chest as he pulled me in for a long
er, deep kiss. His tongue lashed at mine and I gasped when he grabbed my hips, sliding his hands around to my ass and lifting me. I was weightless in the water and wrapped my leg around his waist, feeling the thick throb of him trapped between us.

“I want you,” I whispered against the fullness of hi
s lips. “I want you in my mouth.”

He smiled—I felt it more than saw it—slowly grindi
ng his hips into me, teasing me, his length rubbing against my belly.

“Me first.”

I squealed when he lifted me out of the water, setting me on the edge of the pool. He grinned, so mischievous, dark eyes dancing as he looked up at me, water sheeting down my body and then slowly ebbing to drips that trembled off my nipples and ran in rivulets between my thighs. His gaze followed the water down, down, down, the look in his eyes darkening as it settled between my legs.

“Mine,” he said.

That one word made me shiver with anticipation.

I didn’t protest. Instead, I spread my thighs for him, showing him what he wanted. He buried his wet face into my even wetter
sex, fastening his mouth over my smooth, shaved mound. My clit throbbed against his tongue and I moaned when he slid two fingers slowly inside.

I leaned back on my elbows, my eyes on his, feeling his tongue moving, first in circles, then back and forth, teasing me. His fingers twisted, curled inside me again and again, as if he could turn me inside out, and he was. My thighs quivered, taut, my toes curling, my whole body tense and waiting, wanting. I never wanted it to end. I wanted to stay right here, like this, teetering on a precipice.

But he was too much for me. There was no way I could possibly hold out. The heat of his mouth, the lash of his tongue, the flicker and curl of his fingers twisting inside of me, sent me spiraling upward, soaring so high it made me dizzy.

“Oh God!” I threw my head back, seeing the flash of a thousand stars as he sent me into orbit. My
sex throbbed with release, my body arching all on its own, my hips grinding as Rob moaned too and buried his whole face between my legs. I cried out in pleasure, my hands going to his head, fingers slipping through his wet hair as I quivered on the edge of the pool.

Then I was in the water, my legs over Rob’s shoulders, his mouth still fastened to my mound. I protested, twisted, trying to get away, but he held my hips, holding me at water level as he continued to lick and suck my clit. He was taking me there again. Again!

“Rob!” I arched and climaxed again, so fast and furious it felt as if I was tearing apart, coming completely unglued. He held me tight in his arms, forcing my sex against his face until my trembling began to subside. Then, slowly, let me go, easing me back into the water until I was floating, heart beating hard in my ears, breath coming in harsh gasps.