He yanked his shirt off and gestured to his sweaty physique. “But all this belongs to you and you alone.” With exaggerated dance moves, he gyrated in her direction. “You should protect what is yours, woman. Come on. Stand up and be proud.”
She laughed until she was red-faced and gasping for air. “Stop. Stop. I’m going to pee.”
He sank down beside her, and they laughed until their eyes met. The sound died abruptly. He lightly pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger. Instead of kissing her, he asked, “Do you want me to shower first? I’m all sweaty.”
Her eyes lit up, and she put her arms around his neck like Helen had. Pulling him close, she whispered, “Let’s be naughty and forget the shower.”
“Bedroom?”
She hesitated. “Uh... what about your den? I could pretend to be your secretary, and you couldpretendto be my boss.”
He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Can I chase you around the desk?”
He jumped to his feet, picked her up, and carried her to the den. There were a few perks to being married. He intended to enjoy them for as long as he could. If he had sex with her as often as possible, maybe he’d get bored. Then he wouldn’t care when the day of their divorce arrived.
♥♥♥
“Did you see the doctor today?” Chase asked.
Katie’s grip tightened on the phone until her fingers ached. It was late Monday afternoon, and Chase had returned to the city early that morning for an important meeting. Normally she would have gone with him, but he’d insisted she make an appointment to see a local doctor. He had pointed out that the city doctors would be booked solid and a smalltown practitioner was her best option.
She rolled her eyes. She didn’t want to lie, but he’d asked her straight out. There were at least a dozen reasons for her not to tell him the good news yet. According to the doctor, she was only a couple months pregnant. Deep down she was afraid, terrified that if she said the words out loud, something bad would happen to the baby. Miscarriages ran in her family.
Her hand went to her stomach. “I’ve been super busy.”
“Did you try to make an appointment at least?”
“I promise to go as soon as possible. There’s no rush. I already took a home pregnancy test.”
He sighed in her ear. “But some people get false-negatives.”
She bit her lower lip and held back a frustrated groan. Chase made lying without actually lying extra challenging. She was trying to hide her pregnancy while being technically honest. “I am aware.”
“I’m just surprised because you were so upset about this baby thing yesterday.”
“Baby thing?”
“I didn’t mean anything by my choice of words. You know I want to have a child as much as you do.”
Sure he did. He wanted her to get pregnant so he could have an heir and keep his position at Grayson. Sometimes she forgot he wasn’t emotionally involved with the idea.Her baby, that’s what he’d called their child. Then he always opened his mouth and reminded her.
Tight-lipped, she said, “I will see the doctor when I feel like it.”
There was a lengthy pause followed by, “Are you okay?”
“I’m tired of working on this house. It’s getting monotonous, and you’re in the city more than you are here. How am I supposed to get pregnant when you’re always at work?”
“We agreed on our schedule weeks ago.”
“Well, I’m sick of it. I want to be in the office doing my job, and we both know you need me there. The temps you’ve hired haven’t been doing it for you. I want to work while I still can. From now on, I’m working Monday through Friday, and I’m driving in tomorrow.”
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and counted to ten. What was wrong with her? She’d been on edge lately, impatient and snapping at him for no reason. Was it pregnancy hormones?
“That’s fine by me,” he said. “You are right about the temps. I’m having the same trouble I had before I met you. None of them can do the job half as well as you can.”
The statement brought a smile to her face, mainly because Chase delivered it in his professional ‘boss’ voice. Telling her that she was difficult to replace was high praise coming from him. He didn’t hand out compliments often, and he didn’t believe in insincere flattery.
They spoke for another few minutes about the office and the work that needed to be done. Then he disconnected the call after telling her he was late for his afternoon meeting. She held the phone for a while, pressed it against her mouth and rethought her position. A pang of regret played bumper cars with her conscience. She should have told him about the pregnancy.