Weekend Fling (12 page)

Knocking on her door, he realized he couldn’t wait to see her. Staying away intentionally, he forced himself not to call her every day just to check on her and hear her voice. Being used to giving orders, he knew he needed to step away from Kara for a while and let her think about what he said.

There was no doubt in his mind that she would be his wife soon. She was the only woman who had ever made him “want” something more. Sure, he was scared of being a father and a husband, but when he realized she was pregnant with his child, he immediately saw his future with her and knew exactly what he had to do.

Convincing her that he truly wanted to marry her was going to be the hard part, but he was up for it. She had no idea how serious he was about her, but he wasn’t going anywhere.

When she opened the door, his breath caught. She was wearing some black tights with a tank top that fit snugly around her stomach. Her dainty feet were bare, and her toes had what looked to be hot pink nail polish on them. Her hair was messy and framed around her face in loose curls, and her face was scrubbed free of any makeup.

She looked beautiful to him.

“Come on in. I was just deciding how I wanted things set up in the room.”

Walking into her house, he wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her briefly on the mouth. “Good morning.” Reaching down to place his face near her stomach, he whispered to their son, “Hey, buddy, Daddy’s home.”

* * * *

That Thursday morning was the start of
Austin
’s slow seduction of her senses. At the doctor’s appointment later that day, he held her hand the entire time they waited for the doctor and refused to stay in the waiting room while she went back to the examination room.

He was the ever-attentive first-time father and asked question after question to her ob-gyn doctor. Instead of the standard thirty-minute checkup, they didn’t walk out of there until almost an hour and a half later.

He never asked her about her answer to his marriage proposal, but he seemed to have made an assumption that her answer was yes. She knew she needed to talk with him about it, but she didn’t have the nerve to do so. Could she turn him down when he showed her every day, in every action, that he wanted to be a part of their lives?

Did it matter that they did things backwards? Probably not. He was there, and he didn’t seem to be going anywhere.

Austin
called her every night before she went to bed, and before long, she came to anticipate and wait for his calls. He ended every call by asking her to put the phone to her belly so that he could talk to David. She didn’t listen in, but he told her to give him five minutes each and every time, so she did.

He came over every weekend on Friday evening after work, and although he never stayed, he came back on Saturday and Sunday promptly before breakfast and didn’t leave until she went to bed for the night. If she wanted something done around the house, he would do it. If she was having cravings and he wasn’t there, she knew she could call him and he would be there.

Kara knew that he was slowly breaking down her barriers. She was big enough to realize when she had met her match, and she could admit when she was wrong. She had broken down and talked to her family about him this past weekend and explained the situation.

Her dad wasn’t very happy with her, but that was nothing compared to her momma. Her momma was livid. Not about the marriage thing, since she knew that Kara would do what she felt was best. No, she was mad that Kara didn’t feel she could share the entire story with them from the beginning. Kara had felt horrible about keeping secrets from her parents, but it felt really good to let it all out. She knew that she could move forward with a clear conscience now.

She and Austin had talked about why he hadn’t called her back all those months ago. When she realized that he had been pulled to go on a mission with his SEAL team and that’s what he meant when the message said he was “playing,” she felt ever guiltier about the whole situation.

He hadn’t meant to walk away from her, and that felt good.

Austin
was coming over to discuss their marriage tonight, and she knew what her answer would be. She wasn’t going to tell him no. Then again, he probably knew that all along. He was an intelligent guy, and she knew he had planned this whole thing from the beginning. She couldn’t be mad at him, though.

Hearing him entering the house—she had given him the key a few weeks ago—she started to get up off the couch when his voice stopped her.

“Uh, uh, uh, stay right there. I brought food. You can just sit there and look beautiful while I put this in the kitchen. Are you hungry now, or do you want to wait?”

She wasn’t very hungry right now. David had forced her to her eat a half a pound of spiced shrimp earlier, and she had zero appetite. Yeah, she knew it wasn’t polite to blame things on the baby, but that was her story, and she was sticking to it. “No, I’m fine. Can you bring me a soda?”

“No, I don’t think so. I’ll bring you some milk, but that’s about it.” She stuck her tongue out at him as he turned away, and she heard him chuckle. “Real adult, Kara. You’re still getting milk.”

Smiling to herself, she gave a word of thanks that if she was going to get herself in trouble, she was glad it was with
Austin
. He let her act silly when she wanted to, and when she was feeling like a “bee-otch,” he didn’t get too upset. He rubbed her back when she was worn out, and he gave a damn good foot massage.

The only thing that wasn't perfect was that he hadn’t tried to sleep with her since he’d been back. The doctor had told them at the first appointment with the two of them that they could still have intimate relations, but
Austin
had kept his distance on that front. Yeah, he kissed her every night when he left and many more times when they were simply being together in each other’s arms. She knew he was still attracted to her, because she could feel the bulge in his pants when things got a little hot and heavy. Being pregnant, she wanted sex more than ever, and he wasn’t cooperating.

Watching him walk towards her, she gave an internal cheer
Go! Go, Kara! Go, go, go, Kara! Yeah!
Damn, that man was fine. Hell yeah, she was going to marry his ass.

“Hey, what are you smiling about? You look like the cat that ate the canary.” Handing her the glass of milk,
Austin
sat back against the couch.

“Nothing. I’m just thinking about how far we’ve come in such a short time.”

“Speaking of that, I want you to know that I haven’t changed my mind. I still want to marry you, and I hope you realize how serious I am about being your husband. This last month has been rough on me, but I’ve tried to get to know you, and allow you to get to know me, without any additional pressure. This can work, Kara. You see how good we are together and how well we fit. We can make a family together.”

“
Austin
, you have been amazing this past month. You’ve shown me that we can be more than just a hot weekend of sex. I don’t know how long we’ll make this last, but I’m willing to try.”

“When I marry you, it’ll be forever. I won’t let you go, Kara. My main mission in life will be to make you happy and never allow you to regret marrying me. Not even for one day.”

Leaning over to him, Kara gently pressed her lips to his and inhaled his unique scent. Placing her hand on his thigh, she squeezed his leg and heard him moan. Slanting her head, she opened her mouth and pressed her tongue to his lips and coaxed his mouth open. Deepening the kiss, she tried to convey to him all that she was feeling. Her other hand snaked around to the back of his head, and she gripped his neck and pulled him closer to her.

When she felt
Austin
’s arms reach up and wrap around her, she knew this was all she needed. She heard his moans and realized they were coming to the point of no return. Praying he wouldn’t stop, she pressed her upper body closer to him and held on for dear life. She was so hot, her body temperature shot up ten degrees she wanted him so bad.

When he pulled away from her, his breathing was heavy, as if he had just ran the two-hundred-meter dash. “No, Kara, stop. The baby. I don’t want to go any further.”

Her hearing must be failing her. “Did you just tell me no?”

“Kara, please. What about the baby?” She noticed that he lowered his voice and gave a “look” at her stomach as if the baby could hear her. Unable to stop herself, she laughed. Loudly!

“
Austin
, we won’t hurt the baby! Dr. Jones said we could make love as long as I wasn’t uncomfortable.” He looked extremely uncomfortable at the thought, and she couldn’t help from falling just a bit deeper in love with him. Love? Was she really in love with Austin Delaney? Giving him a sideways glance, she realized she was and had probably been in love with him since that long weekend.

“Okay, you big stud. I’ll take pity on you tonight. So, when are we going to get married? If this is going to happen, it had better be soon. My stomach isn’t getting any smaller.”

Pulling her into his arms, he rested his chin on top of her head. “Next weekend. I want you as my wife as soon as possible. We can live here until we find a house that we both want. I already have a realtor looking at houses, but she knows that you’ll have to give approval on anything she finds.”

“What? You’ve already told the realtor about me? Why?”

“Because I wasn’t giving up on us. I knew you would be my wife one day, and you and the baby will need a place where you’re happy. I just want to make you happy, baby. Please let me.”

Realizing that she didn’t mind that he wanted to do so much for her, she relaxed up against his hard chest. Hell, she deserved to be treated well, and since he had just volunteered for the job, she would make sure he had every opportunity to fulfill his promise.

Chapter Eleven

“You look beautiful, baby girl.”

“Thanks, Dad. I’m very happy you and Mom were able to make it for the wedding.”