Читать книгу No Ring Required - Laura Wright - Страница 14

Ethan’s body tightened at the sight of Mary walking down the dock toward him. A white T-shirt, pink shorts and bare feet had never looked so dangerous on any woman. Visions swam in his mind, images of soft skin against his mouth and long legs wrapped around his waist, cute round buttocks cupped in his hands. This intense physical reaction was becoming way too famil iar, and he wondered if the only way he was going to get rid of it was to take her to bed again.

Ethan had known many women in his time, but his need for them had faded quickly. Why wasn’t it the same with Mary Kelley? Why had the desire to taste her, fill his nostrils with her scent, open her thighs and bury himself deep inside her only intensified over time? Was it the baby or something else, something more?

Her pale-blue eyes mocked him as she came to stand before him, a grin tugging at her mouth. “You are officially stalking me now, Curtis.”

“Well, one of us has to protect the baby,” he muttered grimly.

“What in the world are you talking about?”

He gestured to the water. “Out there on the open water, no life jacket, no nothing.”

“Open water?” she repeated, laughing. “Come on. This is a lake, calm as a sleeping kitten. There’s no danger here.”

Ethan eyed the man coming up behind her. “Isn’t there?”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Mary said as her sailboat buddy walked by with a smile and a wave. She waved back and called, “I’ll call you on Thursday,” then returned her attention to a very annoyed Ethan. “I was wearing a life jacket, and the captain—he’s just a client.”

“The captain,” Ethan drawled with derision. “Please don’t tell me that he makes you call him that?”

Mary regarded him incredulously. “Let’s not get into crazy demands from clients, shall we?”

“Fine,” he muttered darkly, following her down the dock and toward the parking lot.

As she dug the car keys from her purse, she asked, “Now, what’s brought you all the way out here?”

“Do you have a doctor?”

She stopped, turned to look at him. “Why? Do you have a medical emergency?”

Her joke was lost on him and he scowled. “Be serious for a second.”

“I have a doctor, Ethan.”

“For the pregnancy?”

Her gaze flickered to the ground then back up, and he wondered if that was too intimate a thing to ask her.

“Yes, I have a doctor,” she said finally. “A family-practice type thing. Why?”

He shook his head. “That’s not good enough. You need an Ob/Gyn.”

Exhaling heavily, she walked away from him toward the lot, but he was on her heels. “I’m serious, Mary.”

“I’m going to come to your house and take every one of those books away from you. Foot massage is one thing, buddy, but—” she fumbled in her purse again for her keys “—you’re getting way too knowledgeable on Girlfriends’ Guides and Mothering and You, and frankly, it’s making me feel a little weird.”

Ethan paused. He didn’t have those two books, but he made a mental note to get them. “Listen, I have a client whose wife is Deena Norrison.”

“Never heard of her.”

“She’s only one of the best Ob/Gyn’s in the country.”

When Mary reached her car and still couldn’t find her keys, she looked ready to explode. Undeterred, Ethan continued, “She’s agreed to see you.”

“I have a good doctor, Ethan,” Mary assured him, her hand stuffed inside her purse again, perspiration beading on her brow.

“Good is not great, and Deena’s the best. Doesn’t our child deserve the best?”

“Aha!” Mary held up her keys triumphantly, but her glee was short-lived when she noticed the stern look on Ethan’s face. She sighed. “When is this appointment? This week is swamped for me, and next week we leave for Mackinac Island.”

“How’s today?”

“Today,” she repeated, the blood draining from her face.

“Right now.” He took her cool hand in his. “There’s no reason to be nervous. I’m sure everything is fine.”

“Now?”

“I know. Isn’t that great? She’s a pretty cool lady. She’ll fit you in at four. Ultrasound and everything.”

Mary shook her head. “But—”

Ethan didn’t give her time to refuse. Once she saw the kid’s heartbeat and heard from the best doctor in the country that everything was just as it should be, she’d relax. “Come on,” he said, gently guiding her toward his car. “I’ll drive.”

Dr. Deena Norrison’s reception area looked like a photograph straight out of the pages of Victoria magazine. Surrounded by cabbage-rose wallpaper, clients sank down into soft and cushy deep-pink sofas with rolled arms. The love seats and chairs, Mary was certain, had down pillows.

Mary sat on one of the love seats, her purse perched on the Queen Anne table before her. The scent of flowers was dizzying and made her feel as though she was trapped inside an English garden at the height of summer.

“Are you okay?” Ethan asked beside her.

“No. I don’t know.” The deodorant she’d put on this morning had disappeared, and she felt wet and uncomfortable.

“I can get you some water or something?” Ethan suggested.

The woman at the front desk stood, smiled at them and said in a polite whisper, “Mrs. Curtis?”

“Oh, jeez,” Mary muttered.

“We can correct that later,” Ethan assured her, then turned to the receptionist and said, “She’s right here.”

“We’ll be taking you back soon,” the woman informed them.

Mary saw it all in her mind: an examination table covered in a crisp old English linen sheet with exquisite crocheted trim and white slip-covered booties on the stirrups. She giggled a little hysterically.

“You need to relax,” Ethan suggested gently.

“Easy for you to say,” Mary uttered as the receptionist held out a clipboard with a flower pen attached.

“If you can just fill out this paperwork.”

Sensing that Mary was not about to move, Ethan retrieved the papers for her and placed them in her lap. “I could do this if—”

“No, it’s fine.”

As Mary filled out the forms, the words blurred together, and she had to stop and take a deep breath. The front door to the office opened and a woman came in. She was really far along in her pregnancy and looked exhausted. She dropped down in the chair beside Mary’s love seat and exhaled heavily. When she spotted Mary, she smiled. “Long way to go yet, huh? When are you due?”

“What? Oh…ah…” It was all she could get out. Her heart pounded furiously in her chest, and waves of nausea were hitting her every few minutes. She needed air, needed to breathe something other than that damn flower smell. Suddenly panicked, she stood, dropped the paperwork on the table and ran out of the office. She spotted a stairwell to her left and ran to the door. Down the stairs she flew, her shirt spotted with sweat, her breathing labored. She heard Ethan behind her, calling her name, but she didn’t stop. Once she made it to the lobby, she swung the front door open wide and ran to a grassy spot where a few nurses were eating their lunch.

Breathing heavily, she wanted to collapse on the grass, but instead she started pacing.

“Mary?”

She didn’t look at him, didn’t stop moving. “I can’t do this.”

“It’s okay.” His voice was soothing, and she hated him for his concern. He was the one who’d gotten them into this mess in the first place, damn him. “You don’t have to see her,” he continued. “Use your own doctor. I just thought it would be—”

“It’s not the doctor, Ethan.”

“Then what?” When she wouldn’t stop pacing, he grabbed her shoulders and held her against him, his tone worried now. “What the hell is wrong?”

His chest felt so strong and she wanted to sink into it, disappear inside of it, but he wouldn’t allow her to hide. Easing one hand from her shoulder, he tipped her chin up so she had to look at him.

“Tell me what’s going on, Mary.”

Miserably, she shook her head. “There is no baby.”

“What?”

“No baby, Ethan.”

He went white. “Did something happen…that boat ride…”

“No.” She stared at him, into those beautiful dark-blue eyes she’d believed for so long were soulless. What a damn mess. This whole thing. “I just wanted my father to be okay.”

He still looked confused, but after a moment, realization dawned and confusion was swapped for a fiercely accusing gaze. “You were never pregnant?”

Shame coiled in her belly and she shook her head. “No.”

“You were never pregnant,” he repeated.

“I’m sorry.”

Ethan stared at her, his eyes wide in fury. “Yes, you will be,” he uttered, his jaw knotted with the force of emotion.

“Ethan.”

“I should’ve known.”

“Ethan, please, I—” But her words fell on deaf ears. He had already turned his back on her and was stalking toward his car. Feeling as though she’d just assaulted someone, Mary dropped onto a hard picnic bench and watched his BMW leave the parking lot, tires squealing.