Time for Change (14 page)

When he pulled up outside of the bar, she leaned over to kiss him. She
was going to brush lips together. He cupped the back of her head, plunging his
tongue into her mouth. She relaxed against him, moaning.

Arousal coursed through her at his touch.
 

“I’ll see you after work, okay?”

She nodded. “Have fun signing the documents.”

Rachel left him, walking into the bar. It was busy like it was every
other lunchtime. David greeted her, and she held a finger up, escaping to the
staff’s bathroom. Opening the first stall, she threw up everything she’d eaten in
the last couple of days.

“Wow, gross. Erm, not cool of me to say that, but here,” David said,
pressing some tissues into her hand.

“Thanks, you don’t have to stick around.”

“Do you need to go home?” he asked.

“No, it’ll pass in a few minutes. Just give me a little room, and I’ll
be fine.” She stopped speaking as another wave of sickness claimed her.
Throwing up into the toilet, Rachel closed her eyes, wishing Chris was with
her.

Can’t tell him.
Not yet, not
ready to tell him.

After several minutes passed, Rachel pressed the tissues against her
mouth and took deep breaths. When she knew it was over, she stood and faced her
boss.

“Holy crap, you’re pregnant.”

She passed him to lean against the sink. “Are you going to fire me?” she
asked.

“Do you know for certain if you’re pregnant?”

She shook her head. “It only just dawned on me today while looking at
stupid houses. What the hell am I going to tell Chris?”

Why was she talking about this with David? He didn’t even know her that
well.

Feeling sick, she stared down at the sink. She wasn’t going to vomit
anymore.

“Go to the pharmacy at the end of the street. Get one of the kits and
come back here. I’ll cover the bar. Please, get yourself looked after before I
start freaking out some more.”

Rachel wanted to tell him no, but she needed to know the answer for
herself.

Leaving the bar, she checked to make sure Chris wasn’t parked somewhere making
a phone call or anything. She headed in the direction of the pharmacy. Once inside
the shop, she looked through the aisles and couldn’t believe she was looking
for pregnancy test kits. Finding the shelf, she took three boxes with each box
containing two kits. Six tests should give her enough to get started on.

The woman kept smiling as she rang up her order. Why did women have to
look so happy about this?

You’d be happy
if you knew what Chris would think.

Shaking off her thoughts, she walked back to the bar, wishing time would
just stop. So far, her time with Chris had been going wonderful, apart from
working together, which hadn’t gone well. A child would interrupt that, and she
didn’t even know if Chris wanted another child. Hurdles seemed to be throwing
themselves at her over and over again.
First her feelings
with regards to her dead sister, then working with him, and now this.
Okay, so not many hurdles, but one after the other felt like a lot.

David followed her to the bathroom. Another member of staff was seeing
to the bar.

“You don’t have to come with me. There’s no way you’re watching me pee,”
she said, glaring at him.

“I’m not the one taking the tests, Rachel. You are.”

He closed the stall as she went to peeing on the sticks. She actually
liked his company, and her hands shook while peeing on the sticks. “I hate
this,” she said, talking to him.

“I know. Does Chris have any idea?”

“No. He lost a daughter in that plane crash.” She stopped, biting her
lip to keep herself from talking. “I don’t even know if he wants a family.
We’ve never talked about it at all.”

“Didn’t he want whatever made you happy?” David asked.

“Yeah, but I’ve never mentioned a family.”

“Then you’ve got a lot to talk about.”

She rolled her eyes and left the stall. After the required time, Rachel
almost passed out. Every test she took was positive.

Why couldn’t her life be easier instead of harder?

****

Chris had the keys in his hand and was waiting for Rachel to finish
work. Tomorrow was his last day at the hospital. Usually a party was thrown to
say goodbye to the person leaving. Chris made sure no one wanted to say goodbye
to him. The women knew their place. He’d gotten so angry at the thought of
losing Rachel he’d taken it out on all of them. Things he once let slide in the
workplace, he now made sure to let them know about, and he did not let their mistakes
and incompetence go unpunished.

His day got better at the sight of her alone. She held her bag tight to
her side. Her face was a little pale, which he didn’t like.

“Do you want to hear the good news?” he asked.

“Yes, tell me the good news. I’d prefer to hear some good news today,”
Rachel said.

He frowned. “Are you okay?” When he reached out to touch her forehead,
Rachel laughed.

“Of course I’m fine. It was a hard day at the bar.”

“Okay.” He lifted the keys. “It’s ours, and we’ve got the all clear to
stay in there tonight.”

She gasped. “How did you make this happen?” she asked, taking the keys
from his fingers.

“Because I’m a genius, and Samantha didn’t want me telling her superior
about her inappropriate behavior around me.”

“We’re staying there tonight?”

“Yeah, I got some cleaning staff to go there this afternoon to give it a
quick clean. I also wanted to make sure there were no vermin walking around. I
got a call half an hour ago, and everything is clear for us.”

She strapped herself in. He noticed her hands were shaking.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I was nervous in case there were mice or something.” She
smiled at him. There was something off about her. The happiness on her face
looked
forced
.

Staring into her eyes, Chris tried to understand what was going on.

Reaching over, he cupped her cheek, caressing her lips. “You’d tell me
if something was bothering you, wouldn’t you?”

She nodded, a jerk to the head.
“Of course.”

He wasn’t buying it. Turning on the engine, he pressed on the gas and
pulled away from the curb, heading toward their new house. It was dark, and the
roads were getting icy. Keeping a slow space, Chris made his way around the
city, being careful on bends.

Rachel didn’t say a word to him throughout the drive. Parking in front
of the house, he watched her as she looked at the house. To him it was just a
house where a bunch of furniture lay while he slept. Watching her, he saw the
real happiness in her eyes. She really did love the house.

“Are you ready to go inside?” he asked.

“Sure.” She unbuckled her belt, and together they made it to the front
door.

He opened the door, waiting for her to enter. Behind her, he closed the
door and flicked the switch. Chris saw immediately what the cleaning staff had
done. The home actually looked livable. Surfaces gleamed, and the scent of
lavender filled the air.

“Did you have much trouble with Samantha?”

“No. She filled the paperwork in and let me have anything I wanted.”
Removing his jacket, he put his hands on her shoulders. She jumped. Chris chose
to ignore it, wondering what the hell had happened to his woman in the hours
since he’d left her.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

He didn’t say anything. Taking her hand, he took over the tour. “I think
this will go down better with me as the tour guide.”

She laughed, the sound easing his troubled thoughts.

“Keep laughing for me, baby.” Leading the way into one room, he flicked
the light on. “It seems here we have an empty room. I wonder what we could do
with this room.”

Rachel spun around. “Erm, I think this would be perfect for our sitting
room. We could have the television along that wall. Is it all central heating?”

He nodded.

“We’ve got no worries for the fireplace then.
A large
television for you to watch your football games and a nice big sofa to cuddle
up on.”

Chris liked the sound of that. Tugging her in close, he inhaled her
sweet, warm scent. “We’ll need to go shopping to get what we need.”

“We’re both off this weekend. We can go together.”

“Consider it a date.”

“Wow, our first date together.” She rubbed her nose against his.

“The first one of many.
I hope you’re prepared to be wooed.”

She smiled, and he led her into another room. They went through the same
routine of figuring out what room could be what. She even gave him a study and arranged
for a gym to be put in the basement for him to work out.

Rachel expressed a passion for the kitchen’s decoration. For now, she
was happy to keep it like it was. She didn’t like the thought of the kitchen
not being finished in time for Christmas.

“That also reminds me, we need to get some decorations for this place.”

“Okay, we’ll go all out this year.” He took the lead once again taking
her upstairs to the bedroom.

“Chris, can I ask you something?”

He nodded, opening one door then the other. “What are your thoughts
about a family?” she asked.

Chris paused, thinking about her question. “Is there a reason you’re
asking me?”

“No, no reason. I guess with Christmas coming and it being a family
thing, it got me thinking is all.” She looked down at the floor.

How should he answer that question? What if she didn’t want a family? He
couldn’t risk losing her after everything else.

Come on, Chris,
think.

“We’ve got all the time in the world to think about family. We’re still
young enough.”

“So you’re not ready for a family.”

“I’ll be ready for a family when you are. I don’t want to rush you.”

Even though I’m
hoping and praying with everything that is inside me that you’re pregnant right
now.

Rachel smiled. “Okay.”

There was more he wanted to say. Instead, he smiled back and placed a
hand at her back. “Come on, I want to show you something.”

He took her up to the main bedroom. After phoning the cleaning crew,
he’d called a furniture place and organized a bed. Staying behind her, he
placed his hands over her eyes. “This is a surprise.”

“I’m excited,” she said.

Opening the door, he kept his hands over her eyes so she wouldn’t see a
thing he was about to show her.

“What do you think?” he asked, dropping his hands. She looked at the
bed, smiling.

“You bought a bed.”

“We don’t need to go back to the apartment. We’ll collect our stuff, and
I’ve already got it on the market. I want whatever you want, baby.”

Holding her hand, he waited for a reaction.

She kept staring at the bed. Tears appeared in her eyes, and he wiped
them away with his hand. “Please don’t cry. What do you think? Do you hate it?”

“I love it.” She turned her gaze on his. “I really do love it. This
morning, I didn’t think you wanted this as much as I did.”

“I want this with you, Rachel. I’ll do whatever I have to in order to be
with you.” Tugging her close, he wrapped an arm around her waist. “You’re my
future, and nothing is going to change that.”

“I love you,” she said, winding her hands around his neck. “This is
perfect.”

He stared into her eyes and dropped his gaze down to her lips.

“What are you thinking?” she asked. “I see you brought me here under
false pretenses.”

“No, I didn’t. I was thinking about trying that bed out. See how soft or
firm it could be.”

Rachel ran a finger down his chest. “You’re the devil. You know that
right?”

“I’m your devil.” Leaning in close, he claimed her lips, knowing in his
heart, he wanted to claim so much more.

She moaned, gripping his jacket in her hands. “I love you,” she said,
muttering the words against his lips.

“You’re my life, Rachel.”

Sinking his fingers into her hair, Chris knew there was nowhere in the
world he’d rather be than loving his woman.

Chapter Twelve

Pushing all thoughts of her pregnancy aside, Rachel gripped his jacket
tighter and pressed up against his body. Heat filled every part of her body.
She wanted him badly. The ache started at her core and spread out to her
nipples. Her skin felt sensitive to the touch.

Chris plundered her mouth as she shoved the jacket from his body. She needed
him naked, to feel his skin against her own.