“Of course it’s real. No one deserves it more than you, hon.”
“Thanks, Catherine,” Gracie said in a shaky voice. “I love you so much.”
“Don’t get all wishy-washy or I’ll start crying, and then we’ll each be an emotional mess.”
“I’ve been like that a lot lately. I wonder if it’s the hormones,” she said.
“Probably,” Catherine replied, since she was feeling pretty darn weepy too.
“Well, I need to go,” Gracie said. “Wade is pestering me to get in touch with the flower shop. He says he needs to keep wielding the whip so things stay on schedule. He’s quite the taskmaster.”
They said their good-byes and Catherine placed the phone back on the cradle. She looked down at the two test sticks in her hand and sighed. She’d ached to tell Gracie, but she hadn’t wanted to dampen her sister’s happiness in any way. Besides, she needed to tell Dean first. She frowned as she considered Dean’s reaction and that of his family. What would they all say once she told them? Either way, it wasn’t going to be a fun conversation.
Would Dean want her after he learned he was about to be a father? Would he want his child? She didn’t know the answers to those questions and that scared her. Before she lost her nerve, Catherine slipped the little pregnancy sticks in the dresser drawer and picked up the phone. She called the airlines and booked the earliest flight to Ohio. Her hands were shaking as she got off the phone. The extra trip would cut into her savings, but she had to have a little faith. She loved Dean and he’d said he loved her too. It was time to put those declarations to the test.
29
It’d been two friggin’ weeks. Two weeks of dreaming of Catherine’s perfect freckled skin and sexy green eyes. He missed her smiles the most. Every time he walked into his bedroom he was confronted with the bed he’d shared with her, and the sketch she’d left behind. She’d done a damn good job of avoiding him, and he’d had enough. He’d tried everything to get her to open up and talk to him. He loved her, damn it. He wanted to share his life with her, but that was going to be damn hard to do if she wouldn’t even answer her phone.
Dean remembered the way she’d looked tied to his bed. He kept seeing her face as she’d exploded all around his cock. And just like that, his dick swelled and hardened. He had to shift around in his chair so his cock didn’t feel strangled in his jeans.
“Damn it,” he muttered as he stared at the screwed-up bid he’d been working on for the last hour. He wadded up the paper and tossed it in the trash before starting to figure it up all over again.
A sound outside his office drew his attention away from his thoughts. It was a woman’s voice. And not just any woman. He’d know that sexy tone anywhere.
Dean shot out of his chair and headed out to the front. She’d come back to him? His heart sped up when he spotted her. For whatever reason, she had come to him, and this time he wouldn’t be letting her go. Never again. He wouldn’t survive it.
“I’m sure he is busy,” Catherine said, “but I want to talk to him.”
Dean watched from across the room as Catherine frowned at his new receptionist, Gloria. The girl was young, but she was smart and he thought she’d been doing a good job so far. But he didn’t much care for her attitude toward Catherine.
While the women were distracted, Dean took a moment to drink Catherine in. God, she looked good. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and she wore a white T-shirt and jeans. Dean had never seen anything more beautiful.
He heard Gloria deny Catherine’s plea, and Dean frowned. Hell, when he’d told his receptionist that he didn’t want to be disturbed, he hadn’t expected Catherine to pop up out of nowhere.
“Look, miss, he’s busy. Come back tomorrow, or better yet, call and make an appointment with him.”
“I don’t need an appointment and I’m not coming back,” Catherine said, clearly frustrated. “I want to see him now.”
Dean figured Catherine had had enough. He cleared his throat, drawing the women’s attention immediately. Gloria rolled her eyes and said, “She said she knows you, but I told her you’re busy.”
Catherine looked up and their gazes locked. Even from across the room, Dean could see how nervous she was. “I’m sorry to just burst in here like this, Dean, but we need to talk.”
Dean crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorjamb to keep from striding across the room and taking her into his arms. “Thanks, Gloria, I’ll take it from here.”
Gloria gave him a grateful look. “Good luck,” she muttered.
Yeah, he’d need all the luck he could get, but he didn’t much care for the way Gloria acted toward Catherine.
“Let’s make something clear,” he said to the young woman. “Catherine doesn’t need an appointment and she is never to be kept waiting. Remember that in the future, okay?”
Gloria visibly paled. “Of course, Mr. Harrison.”
Dean sighed. “I told you to call me Dean,” he muttered. He looked over at Catherine and held out a hand. “Come on, we can talk in my office.” It didn’t escape Dean’s notice when Catherine didn’t take his hand as they headed to the back.
After they entered the small room he closed the door. He moved around the desk and sat, then waited as Catherine sat in the chair across from him. Her back was ramrod straight and she clutched her purse in her lap. God, it was killing him to keep his distance, but until he knew what she was up to he couldn’t very well come at her like a bull in a China shop.
With her