In spite of all that, he found himself getting turned on.
“I think,” she said again, unclipping her bra and baring her breasts to him. He shifted. “That you’re freaking out because this is all feeling very real.”
“I’m not freaking out,” he said.
“Oh, okay. I’m just suddenly supposed to believe that you were very concerned with my modesty. And my Social Security number.”
She turned away from him and shimmied out of her leggings, and his eyes went to her ass. And it turned out that even in a doctor’s exam room, he wanted to take a bite out of it.
She turned around, and he groaned in disappointment when she put the white hospital gown over her curves.
“See, not a gentleman.”
He growled. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen you.”
And those words stuck in his head. They stuck in his throat. Because since when had he cared at all about one particular woman? He just hadn’t. Ever. But ever since he’d met Violet she was the only one he wanted. It was her naked body that haunted his dreams. It was her naked body that he wanted. All the time. In front of him, on top of him. Draped over him.
That line of thinking was cut off when the doctor—a young woman with sandy blond hair—came into the room.
She looked way too young to be dealing with this kind of thing. And his irritation and arousal shifted to concern.
“I’m Doctor Peterson. I delivered your brothers,” she said. “I think I remember you from then.”
“Yeah,” Violet said, smiling. “I was there when they were born.”
Wolf was surprised by Violet’s commitment to small-town pleasantries, even while naked lying on a table.
“Just going to do some basic exams today. And put the Doppler on you so that we can hear the heartbeat.”
“Doctor Peterson,” she said, looking directly at Wolf.
“Wolf Garrett,” he said, sticking his hand out. She shook it. Surprisingly firm. And he decided that she was probably all right.
“And you’re the father?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said.
He was the father.
He was the father.
He knew that. It was why he was here. It was why he was in Copper Ridge at all. He knew that. But it was very strange to hear someone else say it. And quite like that. “You can come stand up here,” she said, gesturing to a spot by Violet’s shoulder.
So he did, those words still echoing in his head.
You’re the father.
Eventually, she brought out a little machine and squirted some kind of jelly on Violet’s stomach. Then she placed the wand on her stomach, and a watery sound filled the room.
Followed directly by a pulsing whisper, strong and steady.
“Is that...?”
“That’s the heartbeat,” she said. “Everything sounds good. And from everything you told me it sounds like the due date is probably July fifteenth. But that date may shift around as we do ultrasounds and get measurements. We’ll have you back in four weeks, okay?”
“Okay,” she said.
And just like that...he heard the baby’s heartbeat. It was confirmed. It was happening. It was... It was a real thing.