Marriage of Inconvenience (Those Manning Men #1)

Marriage of Inconvenience (Those Manning Men #1) Page 20

Rich brushed off his coat sleeves and chuckled. “I can take a hint.”

Grinning, Jason shook his head. “No, you can’t.”

“Dr. Fullerton’s office.”

“Hello,” Jamie said, her hand tightening on the receiver. “I …need to cancel my appointment with Dr. Fullerton.” She gave the date and time.

“Would you like to reschedule now?”

Jamie would’ve liked nothing better, but not knowing what Rich would decide made that futile. “Not now, thank you. I’ll call you next week.”

Jamie had delayed contacting Dr. Fullerton’s office all day. She’d hoped to hear from Rich early that morning. In her optimistic imagination, she’d had him phoning first thing with the assurance that he felt as strongly committed to their marriage and their child as ever.

When she hadn’t heard from him by noon, she had no option but to cancel her appointment. It wasn’t the end of the world. Yet she was overwhelmed by her emotions for the rest of the afternoon. She had to struggle to keep her feelings from interfering with her ability to make sound business decisions.

She’d thrown a frozen entrée into her microwave for dinner and munched on miniature marshmallows while watching a cable-TV reality dating show. So much for good eating habits or any semblance of healthy emotion. She’d sunk about as low as she could.

Jamie, normally meticulous about her clothes, didn’t bother to change after work. Instead, she wandered around the condo in her suit, her blouse pulled out from the waist. Her slippers made scuffing noises as she shuffled from room to room with no real purpose or direction. She would’ve liked to blame her lethargy on her recent bout with the flu, but she knew otherwise.

What was really bothering her was her husband. Or rather, her lack of one. A real one. In their discussion the night before, she’d tried to be as forthright and honest with Rich as she could. She’d been careful not to hint at her feelings or preferences. She was no longer so sure she’d made the right decision. Maybe she should’ve mentioned, even casually, how much Rich’s willingness to follow through on their agreement meant to her. Perhaps if she’d assured him she’d be a good mother, their evening might have turned out differently.

No. That would’ve been emotional blackmail.

She couldn’t have said any of those things, any more than she could’ve admitted how much she loved him. Or how eager she was to explore the sensuality they’d so recently discovered.

Jamie was pacing in front of the television, clutching the plastic bag of marshmallows, when the doorbell chimed.

Her heart lurched. It could be Rich, but she was afraid to hope. More likely it was her neighbor coming to complain that the television was too loud.

Her mouth was full of marshmallows, which she attempted to swallow quickly. It didn’t work, although she was chewing as fast as she could. She unlocked the door and nearly choked when Rich smiled in her direction.

“Hi.”

She raised her right hand, as though she were making a pledge.

“There’s something wrong with your cheeks. Have you got the mumps?”

Pointing at the bag of marshmallows, she chewed some more and swallowed a mouthful of marshmallows. “Hi,” she said, her heart leaping against her ribs. “I … I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I know. Rather than risk leaving a message, I decided to stop over. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not.” If he had the slightest idea how pleased she was to see him, he’d be really smiling instead of grinning at her with those blue eyes of his. She knew she was staring, but Jamie couldn’t stop looking at Rich.

“Something doesn’t smell right,” he said, wrinkling his nose and sniffing the air. He walked into her kitchen, and opened the microwave. Cringing, he waved his hand in front of the now-cooked—overcooked—entrée.

“My dinner,” she explained, stuffing the bag of marshmallows in the silverware drawer.

“I thought you’d given up on this stuff.”

“I did…but I wasn’t in the mood to cook tonight.”

“Why not?”

“Because I had to cancel my appointment with Dr. Fullerton and I was depressed. I know I’m depressed when I crave marshmallows and turn on junk television. Life doesn’t get any bleaker than that.”

Rich was looking at her as though he’d never seen her before.

“Go ahead and make fun of me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Sure you would.” She swiped the back of her hand under her nose. “I’ll have you know I didn’t get into the marshmallows when I broke up with Tony.”

“In other words I’m responsible for reducing you to this?”

“Not exactly. I can’t blame you for everything. Let’s just say you’re responsible for my choice in TV viewing.”

Rich grinned and brushed a strand of hair from her temple. “Would it help if I told you I’ve come to a decision?”

“Probably.” She was almost afraid to hope….

Instead of telling her what he’d decided, he removed her unappetizing dinner from the microwave, carried it to the garbage can and dumped it inside.

“If you want junk food, we’ll order pizza, all right?”

She nodded eagerly. The we part didn’t escape her. Apparently he intended to stay a while, which was fine with her. More than fine.

“While we’re at it, I think it would be best if you ditched the marshmallows, too.”

Wordlessly she jerked open her silverware drawer and handed him her stash.

“One more thing.”

“Yes?” She gazed up at him, her heart in her eyes. She tried not to let her feelings show but it was impossible.

“Why did you cancel the appointment with Dr. Fullerton?”

“Because…you know.” She rubbed her palms together. “I didn’t hear from you this morning—not that I expected I would. I mean, overnight was much too soon for you to make up your mind. It would’ve been unreasonable for me to expect anything of the sort.” Jamie knew she was rambling, but she couldn’t make herself stop. “My…our appointment with Dr. Fullerton is…was for tomorrow and I couldn’t very well go through with the insemination process, could I?”

“You’ve already been through one insemination process.” He seemed to enjoy reminding her of that.

“Yes, I know, but…this is different.”

His mouth slanted upward, his eyes bright with laughter. “I should hope so.”

“I didn’t want to cancel the appointment.”

“Any chance you can reschedule?”

“Uh…” Her eyes connected with his, her heart pounding so loudly she thought he could hear it. “Are you saying you want to stay married and have the baby and—”

“That’s exactly what I want.”

Jamie couldn’t help herself. She let out a cry of sheer joy, threw her arms around his neck and brought his mouth down to hers.

Ten

Rich moaned in surprise and welcome as Jamie’s mouth sought his. He wrapped his arms around her as she stepped deeper into his embrace. His breath—and her breath, too—was heavy, abrupt, as if they’d both been caught off guard by the power of their attraction. The power of their need.

Rich tried to discipline his response to her, but his arousal was fierce and sudden.

He wanted Jamie as he’d never wanted anyone. He needed her. The kiss, which had began as a spontaneous reaction of joy and excitement, quickly became a sensuous feast of desperation and desire.

Rich groaned. He couldn’t stop himself. His wife was in his arms, where she belonged, where he intended to keep her.

Patience, patience, his mind chanted. They’d make love soon, very soon and when they did, it would be a celebration of their marriage. There would be no grounds for regret or misgivings. No room for doubts. It would all come in time. Soon, Rich promised himself. Soon.

By a supreme act of will, Rich drew in a tattered, shaky breath and buried his face in her hair. “You taste of marshmallows.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” It demanded more control than he’d ever imagined to ease himself from her arms. “What about ordering that pizza?”

“Sure.” She recovered quickly, Rich noted. Far more quickly than he did. She smiled shakily up at him. “There was a coupon in Tuesday’s mail….”

“Do you want pepperoni and sausage?”

“Sounds good to me,” she said over her shoulder. She moved away from him as if they’d never touched. Rich envied her ability to do so. He had difficulty disguising her effect on him.

Jamie pulled out a kitchen drawer where she maintained a small file for coupons. Once again he was astonished—although he shouldn’t have been—at how organized she was. In no time, she’d located the right coupon and placed the order.

The pizza arrived promptly, thirty minutes later, and by then they were back on an even keel with each other. Rich would’ve liked to discuss their kiss, but didn’t want to say or do anything to destroy this fragile peace. There’d be lots of time later to talk about their feelings. For now, he would bask in the warm glow of his love for Jamie and wait patiently for her to love him back.

It shouldn’t take long. He didn’t mean to be cocky about his attractiveness or charm, but their love would be built on the firm foundation of friendship. All he had to do was exhibit patience and tenderness. The way he figured, in a week or two he’d be confident enough to approach her with the truth about his love. By the end of the month he’d be moving in with her.

No one would fault his plan. Least of all Jamie. He’d bide his time, give her the love and attention she needed, prove that he’d be a good husband to her and a good father to their child.

If everything went according to his plans, Jamie would be pregnant long before they could see Dr. Fullerton again.

Soon the pizza box lay open on the kitchen table. Jamie had set out plates and napkins and two cold cans of pop.

“This is delicious.”

Rich agreed with a nod of his head. The pizza was excellent, but its taste couldn’t compare to Jamie’s kisses. In fact, he could easily become addicted to the flavor that was hers alone.

“I’ll call Dr. Fullerton’s office in the morning,” she said casually. “I probably won’t be able to get in until next month.” Her eyes briefly met his, as though she was seeking his approval.

“That sounds fine to me.”

Her dark eyes brightened and her hand reached for his. “We’re going to make this work. We can, I know it.”

“Of course we can,” Rich told her. If things went the way he wanted them to, they’d soon be a family—and that was exactly how they’d stay, at least if he had anything to say about it. Jamie didn’t know that yet, but she’d discover his intentions soon, and by that time she’d be as eager as he was.