Authors: Beverly Barton
Tags: #Contemporary, #Fiction, #Romance, #General
Having His Baby (8 page)
Five
"Will you, Donna Deirdre Fields, take this man, James Dean Bishop, to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
Jake felt the four walls of the judge's chamber close in on him. With his brothers, their wives, their two kids and his own infant daughter surrounding him, he was trapped. He couldn't escape now, even if he wanted to. And, heaven help him, there was a big part of him that—right this minute—wanted to run like hell. Everybody knew Jake Bishop wasn't the marrying kind. He was a man who enjoyed a good time without any strings attached. And ten months ago that's just what he'd had—a mighty good time with a woman named Donna. No last names exchanged, no promises made, no hearts broken. Only thing was—this particular good time got pregnant and gave birth to his child. And as scared as he was at the prospect of even a temporary marriage, he was willing to do anything for his little girl.
"I do." Donna's voice was low and uncertain. This was not her idea of what a wedding should be, even for a second marriage. Her wedding to Edward had been an elaborate affair in the huge Presbyterian church in Marshallton. Five hundred people had attended and enjoyed a champagne dinner at the country club afterward.
But this is a marriage in name only, she reminded herself. A marriage with a six-month expiration date. She and Jake had agreed to a temporary marriage that would provide Louisa with a legitimacy that no one could question, secure Donna's position at the college and give Jake a chance to truly bond with his daughter before he became a
weekend dad.
Donna's stomach churned, her nerves screamed and her head pounded. This was a mistake and she knew it, but she'd been unable to think of a viable alternative. And once she'd blurted her proposal to Jake, she knew he'd never let her take it back, no matter how much she had wished she could.
The ceremony was a no-frills affair, Jake thought, and was over within minutes. He was a married man!
"You may kiss the bride," Judge Randall said.
Donna turned to Jake, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright. He knew she expected a kiss—something sedate and appropriate for the occasion. He figured he could knock her panty hose off with a real kiss, but then he'd wind up with a hard-on.
He pulled her into his arms, leaned down and gave her a soft, closemouthed kiss. His body stirred to life. Donna pressed closer. He realized that what she expected and what she wanted were two different things. Jake deepened the kiss. Donna willingly opened her mouth for his invasion. He wanted to devour her, right here and now.
The hooting and hollering from his younger brothers brought Jake to his senses. He ended the kiss, eased Donna out of his arms and smiled sheepishly when he turned to face his siblings.
Hank slapped Jake on the back. "Never thought I'd live to see the day my big brother got married."
Caleb came up on the other side, grabbed Jake's hand and shook it soundly. "Welcome to the club. Once you get used to it, you might like it. Believe it or not, Hank and I do."
Jake hadn't had the heart to tell his brothers that this marriage had a six-month shelf life and was due to be recalled by Christmas.
Susan and Sheila rushed Donna, hugged her, kissed her and whispered girlish nonsense in her ear about love and happiness and forever after. Donna cringed. She didn't like lying to her two best friends, but when she'd told them that she and Jake were getting married, they'd been so thrilled that the truth had died on her lips.
So, for all intents and purposes, the whole county—including the Bishop family—thought this marriage was a real one, meant to last a lifetime.
"I wish you'd waited long enough for us to have put together a nice wedding for you," Susan said.
"Now, Susie Q, if we'd waited for that, Big Brother might have gotten cold feet." Hank slung his arm around Jake's shoulder. "This guy's been sweating like a stuck pig for the past few days. It was better to get him hitched before he came to his senses."
Everyone laughed, including Jake, even though Donna could tell his good humor was forced. She faked a smile herself, then turned to check on Louisa, who rested on the leather sofa alongside her cousin, Lowell Bishop, both infants secure in their infant carriers. Danny stood beside the babies, watching over them, while the adults laughed and talked.
"Congratulations, Miss Donna—" Danny cleared his throat "—er … ah, I guess I should call you Aunt Donna now, huh?"
"I'd like for you to call me Aunt Donna."
"Round 'em up and head 'em out," Caleb said. "Sheila and Susan have got a little reception all set up over at Donna's place."
Jake glanced across the room at his bride. She looked back at him and smiled. He could tell the smile was as fake as their marriage. It was obvious to him that Donna was as scared and uncertain as he was. They both wanted and needed this marriage for different reasons, but his bride was far from happy about the situation. If she hadn't stipulated that there would be no sex during the duration of the marriage, they'd both have something to look forward to after her six-week checkup. He had tried to reason with her, to make her see how foolish it was for them not to enjoy the one thing they had in common, other than their child. But she'd been adamant that she didn't want to have sex with him. Ever again! He had agreed, but with his own stipulation—that they sleep in the same bed together. She had accepted his request, reluctantly.
Jake walked over, lifted Louisa's carrier and slipped his arm around Donna's waist. She looked beautiful today. Good enough to eat with a spoon, and that's just what he'd like to do. The pale green suit she wore was very simple, but elegant, like the lady herself. Susan had pinned a small gardenia corsage on the lapel of the suit. The flowers, plus the diamond and pearl earrings Donna wore, were her only decoration.
The gold bands they had exchanged were real enough, but inexpensive when compared to Donna's other jewelry. He could have bought her a big diamond, but if he had, she'd have figured out he wasn't the penniless cowpoke she thought he was. And despite Hank's and Caleb's warnings not to keep secrets from his new wife, Jake's stubborn male pride wouldn't let him reveal the truth about his finances. If Donna accepted him, she'd have to do it thinking he didn't have a dime to his name. "Let's go home, sugar," Jake said.
Donna put Louisa in her basinet, kicked off her heels and padded across the floor to the bathroom. This had been the longest day of her life! She had appreciated the lovely reception Susan and Sheila had prepared for them, but was glad Jake's family had left and she no longer had to pretend to be the joyful June bride.
She removed her clothes, slipped into her gown, robe and slippers, then loosened her hair from the French twist and brushed it with her fingers.
This was her wedding night, but there would be no honeymoon, no making love all night. Her body tightened and released, sending a quivering sensation through her femininity. Her body remembered the pleasure of Jake's possession, the ecstasy of his touch.
"I can't!" she told her traitorous body. "When he makes love to me, I can't think straight. I lose my good sense." She stared at herself in the mirror.
You are not going to give in to him. Do you hear me! You are not going to care about this man. You are not going to fall in love with him.
She heard Jake enter her bedroom.
Their
bedroom, now. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and opened the bathroom door. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Jake standing there in nothing but his briefs. He was the most magnificent male specimen she'd ever seen. Tall, broad-shouldered, long-legged, slim-hipped and muscular. His dark olive complexion had tanned, giving his skin a golden bronze sheen.
She stood there, watching him as he lifted his suitcase to the bed, unzipped it and removed a pair of jeans and athletic shoes. Just as he slid the jeans over his hips, he cocked his head to one side and glanced toward the bathroom.
"Hello there." He grinned.
The bottom dropped out of her stomach.
Don't you grin at me!
she wanted to scream.
When you smile at me that way, I go weak in the knees.
"I fixed you a plate. I'll get it for you when we go back downstairs," he said, tugging on his shoes. "I noticed you didn't eat much at our reception. I thought you might be hungry."
"Did it ever occur to you that I might be trying to cut back, not eat so much, so I can lose a little of this
baby
fat I put on during my pregnancy?" Donna realized she had practically taken off his head, but she couldn't bear it when he was so damn nice to her.
"You look fine to me, sugar." He took a T-shirt out of his suitcase, pulled it over his head and stuffed the bottom into his unzipped jeans. "Besides, you can't expect to drop all your
baby
fat in just four weeks."
When she didn't respond or move from the doorway, Jake strolled over to her, took her hand and pulled her out into the room. "We're going downstairs and you will eat something, even if I have to spoon-feed you, myself."
He tugged on her hand. She hesitated, then followed his lead, but halted suddenly in the middle of the room. "Get the baby monitor," she said. "Louisa probably won't sleep more than an hour before she'll want to be fed. She has a big appetite for such a young baby."
"She's a big girl with a big appetite, just like her daddy's."
"Well, if I'm honest, I have a pretty big appetite myself." Donna sighed as she glanced down at her round hips.
"Yeah, I know." Jake looked directly at Donna's parted lips. "That's one of the things I like about you—your appetite."
Donna averted her gaze, not wanting Jake to see the realization in her eyes. She knew perfectly well what kind of appetite he meant. She'd been shameless during their weekend together—insatiable in her hunger for him.
Jake retrieved the baby monitor from the nightstand, slipped his arm around Donna's waist and led her out into the hall and down the stairs.
They raided the kitchen, then Donna curled up in the recliner in the den, a plate of edible delights in her lap. Jake stretched out on the hunter green corduroy sofa, a beer in his hand. The thought went through Donna's mind that they were acting like an old married couple instead of a bride and groom on their wedding night. She sighed softly.
"Caleb is pretty excited about Sheila being pregnant," Jake said.
"What? Oh, yes, he is." Donna nibbled on the cucumber sandwich.
"He missed her pregnancy with Danny and all those years with his son." Jake took a swig from the beer bottle. "I'm sorry I wasn't around while you were pregnant, but luckily, I'm here now, so I won't miss Sug—Louisa's babyhood."
"I'm sorry that I didn't try to find you to let you know I was pregnant." Donna shifted in the coral-and-green-plaid recliner, so that she had a better view of Jake. "I honestly didn't think you'd want to know … that you'd care."
"Yeah, well … why should you? After all, we didn't really know each other. You just assumed I was a horny cowboy out for a good time."
"And you weren't?" she asked teasingly.
Jake laughed. "Yeah, you're right. I was. But there's more to me than that. I admit that I deserved my reputation as a bad boy here in Marshall County, and for years after I left Tennessee. But I'm thirty-six and I've slowed down a little." He took another gulp of beer. "Besides, I've never been a father before and I find I take that responsibility very seriously."
"I've noticed." Donna finished off one tiny sandwich, then lifted another to her mouth. "By the way, just what did you do all those years after you left Tennessee? I know you were a cowboy when I met you last summer. How long had you been working on a ranch?"
Jake took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "I guess it is time you and I got to know each other a little better, isn't it? After all, we're married now, and married folks should be a lot better acquainted than you and I are."
"Do you mind talking about your past?"
"Nope. Do you?"
"I'm afraid my life has probably been pretty dull compared to yours."
Jake chuckled, finished off his beer and set it on a coaster on the coffee table. Then he stretched out on the sofa. Twining his fingers together, he placed his hands behind his head. "Where should I start?"
"At the beginning," she suggested. "When you first left Crooked Oak."
"That was a long time ago. I was eighteen and had dropped out of high school a year before to work on a neighbor's farm."
"You didn't like farming?"
"I liked farming just fine." Jake hadn't thought about that long-ago summer for years. It had been a time in his life he preferred to forget. "Let's just say the man I worked for and I had a serious difference of opinion and he gave me a choice—leave town or he'd press charges and I'd wind up spending a few years in the pen."
Donna choked on a bite of mini quiche. Coughing several times, she cleared her throat. "Did I hear you right?"
"Yeah, but it's not what you think. He accused me of stealing some money, but I hadn't stolen anything. What I'd done was attract his young wife. She made a play for me and I thought I was doing the right thing by rejecting her."
"What did she do, tell her husband that you'd come on to her?"
"Yeah, something like that. I think Mr. Acklin knew his wife well enough to suspect the truth, but he had to find a way to get rid of me."
"Where did you go? What did you do?"
"I picked up odd jobs and worked my way across the country."
Jake wondered just how much he should tell Donna. Not everything. Not by a long shot. He'd done some things he'd rather she never know about and a few things he wasn't too proud of. "When I was nineteen, I hooked up with some guys who did jobs out of the country. Jobs that paid well."
"What sort of jobs?"
"Dirty jobs, sometimes illegal jobs. These guys were mercenaries, sugar. I was a crack shot from having hunted since I was a kid and I was a hell-raiser, a bit cocky and full of the devil. At first, I thought being a hired soldier was exciting. And the money was great."
He wasn't going to tell his bride that he had saved a great deal of that money or that in his early thirties, he'd chosen investments that had, within the past couple of years, made him a wealthy man. A man rich enough to buy his own ranch and have plenty left over.
"How long were you a … a mercenary?" Just thinking about the kind of life he'd once lived sent a shiver through Donna. Had Jake actually been a solider for hire, a man who sold his services to the highest bidder?
"I lived dangerously, loved it, got paid well, used that money to enjoy the high life. By the time I was thirty, I'd had enough." He intentionally left out the really bad parts of his life and the real reason he'd given up the soldier of fortune business. He'd been on the verge of losing what humanity he'd had left. He'd almost become an unfeeling machine.
"Is that when you became a cowboy?" Donna picked up the glass of skim milk and sipped. She didn't like milk, but as long as she was nursing Louisa, she'd have to drink several glasses a day.
"I sort of fell into life as a ranch hand," Jake said. "I was bumming around the southwest, met up with some guys in a bar who said their boss was looking for another hand." Donna didn't need to know that he'd been drunk, gotten into a fight over a bosomy blonde and wound up putting two guys in the hospital. His newfound friends had bailed him out of jail and testified in his defense.
"I'd never been in a bar—the honky-tonk kind of bar— until the night I met you at the Blue Bonnet Grill," Donna admitted. "Joanie talked me into trying something different."
Jake lifted himself up until his head rested on the cushioned arm of the sofa, then turned sideways and glanced over at Donna. "I'm glad you took a walk on the wild side. If you hadn't, we wouldn't have Louisa. And you know what? Despite the circumstances, I'm getting to like the idea of being a father." He chuckled when he saw the questioning look in Donna's eyes. "Yeah, well, of course, I'm still scared spitless that I might turn out to be a real dud as a father."
"Edward and I had planned to have two children." Donna closed her eyes and tried to picture Edward's face— the kind, gentle face that she had loved. The image was fuzzy in her mind, like a faded photograph. Suddenly the image changed, Edward's face disappeared and was replaced by the strong, chiseled features of Jake Bishop. Her eyelids flew open. She gasped audibly.
"You're still in love with him, aren't you? Even after all these years, he's still the man you want." Jake sat up, ran his fingers through his hair and stood. "I think I'll get myself another beer."
"Jake?"
He hesitated momentarily. "Yeah?"
"I want you to know that I wasn't thinking about Edward during the weekend I spent with you. I didn't use you as a substitute for him."
"Thanks for telling me." Jake's tense shoulders relaxed. "Want anything else while I'm in the kitchen?"
"Would you mind taking this tray? I've finished."
Jake took the tray from her. When his hand accidently brushed hers, their gazes locked and held. Jake leaned closer, his mouth a hair breadth from hers.
Donna's heartbeat accelerated. He was going to kiss her.
Yes! Please, Jake, kiss me.
Louisa whimpered. The sound came through the baby monitor loud and clear. Jake and Donna paused. Louisa began crying, softly at first and then suddenly she screamed. Jake kissed Donna's forehead.
"Our little princess is calling," he said. "Want me to get her?"
"No, I'll get her. I imagine she's hungry again." Donna handed Jake the tray, then stood. "I'll bring her down here, after I change her diaper."
"Would you like for me to put on a pot of decaf coffee? I could have a cup waiting for you."
"That sounds wonderful. Thanks."
Jake headed for the kitchen. He supposed it was a good thing Sugar Baby interrupted before he could kiss Donna. He'd wanted a lot more than a kiss and he knew his bride wasn't ready for more. Neither physically nor emotionally.
He took his time in the kitchen, cleaning up and preparing their coffee. Fifteen minutes later, he checked in the den and found Donna resting in the big recliner, Louisa at her breast. He stepped inside far enough so that Donna saw him.
"Do you want coffee now?" He mouthed the words in a low whisper.
She nodded that she did, so he returned to the kitchen and came back with a travel mug of rich gourmet coffee in one hand and a beer bottle in the other. He set the covered mug down on the wine table beside the chair. Donna reached out, put the mug to her lips and sipped.
Holding the mug in one hand, she sighed. "This is great. Another talent you have, Mr. Bishop—making superb coffee."
"Thanks for noticing," he said as he sat on the sofa. He held the beer bottle between his legs. "By the way, I appreciate your saying what you did—about that weekend we spent together. I'm glad to know that I was the man you wanted and I wasn't a stand-in for your late husband."
"Edward was the only man I've ever loved … the only man I'll ever love."
I
can't love you, Jake. Not you or anyone else. Loving and losing is far too painful. I will never put myself through that kind of agony again.
"Yeah, you've made that abundantly clear." Jake lifted the bottle to his lips and downed half the beer.
"I'm sorry, I … We did the right thing today, didn't we? I mean, we both get what we want out of this marriage. You get a chance to bond with Louisa, to be a full-time father to her for six months. And I have a marriage certificate to wave around if anyone questions my daughter's legitimacy."