One Night, Two Babies / Valente's Baby

“That’s too bad, darlin’.” He rocked back on his heels. “I’m going to the doctor with you and there isn’t a damned thing you can do to stop me.” Smiling, he added, “And I will be doing the right thing and making you my wife.”

“I don’t understand why you’re being so stubborn about this, Zach,” she grumbled.

“I could say the same thing about you.”

Closing her eyes for a second as if trying to keep from belting him one, when she opened them, they sparkled with anger. “I give you my word that I’ll tell you everything the doctor says and even make an extra copy of the picture from the ultrasound for you.”

“I’m sure you would.” He’d like to believe Arielle would be completely honest with him, but he couldn’t be one hundred percent certain. After all, he’d trusted his former fiancée and that had ended in absolute tragedy. “But I’m a hands-on kind of guy, darlin’. I never rely on secondhand information and I want to hear for myself what the man has—”

“Woman,” she corrected him. “My obstetrician is a woman.”

“Okay. I want to hear what the woman has to say.” He smiled as he reached forward and placed his hand on her pregnant stomach. “I’m the daddy. I’m entitled to know what’s going on, as well as finding out whether we’re having a boy or girl at the same time you do.”

She shook her head and removed his hand from her stomach. “I didn’t say you weren’t. But did it ever occur to you that it might make me uncomfortable to have you in the room during an examination?”

Her revelation was unexpected. Before he could stop himself, he reached out to run his index finger along her creamy cheek. “Why, Arielle? It’s not like I haven’t been intimately acquainted with your body before.”

“That was several months ago and a lot of things have changed since then,” she said, looking away.

“Like what?” he asked, fighting the urge to take her back into his arms. “We’re still the same two people who spent an entire week together.”

As he watched, the color on her cheeks deepened. “I didn’t mean that.”

“Then what?”

“After waking up alone to find that I meant absolutely nothing to you, I don’t particularly care to be around you,” she declared flatly. “Nor do I care to hear the reason you left.”

He regretted the emotional pain he’d caused her. But that couldn’t be changed now. “I’m sorry you feel that way, darlin’. But it’s something that’s going to have to change, and damned quick.” He caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger and, tipping it up, forced her to look him straight in the eye. “Once we get married, we’ll be together all of the time. We’re going to live together, go to all your prenatal appointments together and…we’ll be sharing a bed.”

He heard a hitch in her breathing a moment before she backed away from his touch. “I don’t think so.” As she turned to leave, she added, “It’s not going to happen and you might as well get used to that fact just as quick.”

Watching Arielle storm from the room, Zach straightened his stance. Oh, it was going to happen, all right. They would be married as soon as he could get a marriage license. When he wanted something, he went after it with a single-minded determination that never failed to net him the desired results. And that was something else she was going to have to get used to.

From everything she’d said and the way she acted, she was happy and looked forward to having his child. But he would not take it on faith that was the case here. That’s why he fully intended to make her Mrs. Zach Forsythe and ensure his right to monitor everything that took place for the rest of the pregnancy.

Abandoning the book she’d been reading, Arielle shifted to a more comfortable position on the window seat and watched the pouring rain. She had successfully avoided Zach at breakfast by getting up around dawn and bringing a couple of muffins and a glass of milk back to the guest room. But she wasn’t naive enough to think she could do the same thing for lunch. In fact, she was surprised that Zach hadn’t looked for her when she remained in her room all morning.

Sighing heavily, she lovingly placed her hand on her stomach. She could understand Zach’s desire to be with his child, but it didn’t have to be a package deal. Surely they could work out something that was acceptable for both of them without entering into a marriage for all of the wrong reasons.

When she finally did get married, she wanted it all—a home, a family and a husband who loved her. Not the loveless marriage she would be getting if she went along with Zach’s plan.

Lost in thought, she jumped at the sudden rap on the door. Before she had the chance to answer, Zach walked in.

“Are you all right, Arielle?”

“I’m fine.” At least she had been before he entered the room.

Good Lord, if she’d thought he had looked good last night, it couldn’t hold a candle to the way he looked now. Zach wasn’t just attractive, he was drop-dead gorgeous.

The pair of jeans he wore today were faded and rode lower on his lean hips than the ones from the night before. And he hadn’t bothered buttoning his light blue chambray shirt, giving her a very enticing view of his chest and ripped abdominal muscles. Memories of him holding her to that chest as they made love, feeling every perfectly defined muscle pressed against her, caused her heart to skip several beats and her breathing to become shallow.

“Arielle, are you sure you’re okay?” he repeated, frowning.

“Oh…um, sure.” When she started to get up, he shook his head. “Stay right where you are. I know how hard it was for my sister to find a comfortable position, even in the early stages of her pregnancy.”

“Some of the teachers at school said that being comfortable will become a very big issue the further along I get,” she agreed, nodding.

Walking over to the window seat, he lifted her outstretched legs and sat down, lowering them to his lap. “Lana had a lot of trouble with her feet and legs getting tired,” he said, gently massaging her foot. “Does that feel good?”

She could lie and tell him it didn’t, but what was the point? He could tell from her serene expression that it did.

“Actually, it feels like heaven,” she admitted, closing her eyes as he skillfully rubbed her arch.

“Have you had problems with muscle cramps?” he asked as his hands continued to work their magic.

“Not many.” Enjoying his relaxing touch, she’d never realized that a foot rub could chase away tension throughout the rest of her body. “My legs cramped up a few times while I was sleeping, but that’s about it.”

He shoved one leg of her sweatpants up and began to gently move his hands over her calf. “How did your brothers take the news about the baby?” he continued conversationally.

His touch caused a sense of euphoria to sweep over her and it took a moment to realize what he’d asked. Opening her eyes, she shook her head. “I haven’t told them yet.”

“Why not?” He moved to massage her other leg. “I was under the impression that you had a good relationship with them.”

“We are very close.” His hands moving over her leg made it hard to think and she paused to collect her thoughts. “But I’m almost sure they won’t be happy with the decisions I’ve made lately.”

Zach stopped his tender ministrations and a protective sparkle appeared in his dark green eyes. “They wouldn’t talk you into terminating the pregnancy, would they?”

“Oh, no. Not that.” She knew for certain her brothers would never do something like that. “They’ll both be absolute fools over their niece or nephew.”

“Then what’s the problem?” he prodded, his hands once again moving over her legs with care.

“Instead of moving to Dallas, they’d want me to live with one of them.” She sighed. “And as much as I adore both of them, I’d rather eat a big ugly bug than do that.”

Zach threw back his head and laughed. “I see you still express yourself in a way that leaves no doubt what you mean.”

The sound of his rich laughter sent a tingling sensation skipping over every nerve in her body. His sense of humor was one of many things about him that she’d found irresistible.

Shrugging one shoulder, she smiled. “Well, it’s the truth. Luke would want me with him and his new wife, Haley, in Nashville. And Jake would insist that I move into his condo in Los Angeles.”

“In other words, you’d have to choose between them?” Zach summarized.

“Not exactly. Either would be fine with me living with the other.” She tried to concentrate on what she was about to say, but the feel of his hands smoothing over the sensitized skin at the back of her knee made that very hard to do. “For one thing, Luke and Haley have only been married a couple of months and they need their alone time. Plus they have a baby on the way and I don’t think Luke could survive living with two women experiencing mood swings and emotional meltdowns at the same time.”

“Oh God, no.” Zach gave an exaggerated shudder. “One hormonal woman is enough to contend with, but two would send a man running like hell.” He shook his head. “My sister moved in with me for a short time when she was pregnant. Her apartment was being painted. I never knew if what I said would make her angry enough to bite my head off or cause sobbing like her heart was broken.” He lowered his head. “It was like living with Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde.”

“Your sister is single?” If his sister could be a single mother, why was Zach so insistent that they had to be married?

He nodded. “Lana wanted a child, but after several failed relationships, she decided a visit to the sperm bank was the answer for her.” He stopped massaging her legs, but continued to hold them on his lap. “And before you ask, I failed to talk her out of it. But I supported her decision and help out with Derek whenever she needs me.”

“Jake and Luke will be the same way with me.”

“They won’t have to be,” he said, giving her a meaningful look. “I’ll be with you every step of the way.” Before she could comment, he went on, “But what about your brother in L.A.? Why wouldn’t you want to live closer to him?”

“Don’t get me wrong, Jake is a wonderful guy and I love him with all my heart. But living with him would drive me over the edge.” Just the thought was almost laughable. “Besides, I prefer a much quieter lifestyle and I couldn’t have kept up with which one of his women was the flavor of the moment.”

“Moment?” He sounded surprised.

“Jake’s fascination with a woman has never lasted longer than a couple of weeks,” she explained.

“That could present a problem.”

She nodded. “Plus the fact that they still think of me as a child.”

“Hey, give them a break, darlin’.” He grinned. “I pretty much think along the same line when it comes to my sister.”

She sighed. “Your sister has my heartfelt sympathy.”

“So why did you decide to move to Texas?”

Gazing into his questioning green eyes, she wondered how much she should tell him. She’d been cautious about revealing her relationship with Emerald Larson to anyone. Who would believe she’d gone from a struggling preschool teacher, barely making ends meet, to an heiress with a bottomless bank account and a thriving business? She had never openly discussed her financial affairs with anyone but her brothers.

“I was presented with an opportunity to run my own preschool and I took it,” she responded, settling on an honest but sketchy answer to his question. “And Premier Academy just happened to be in Dallas.”

Zach stared at her wanting to ask more about her acquisition, but thankfully her stomach chose to rumble, reminding both of them that it was lunchtime.

“Uh-oh, we’d better get you something to eat before you get sick again,” he stated, lifting her legs from his lap and rising to his feet. He held his hand out to help her up from the window seat. “What would you like me to make? Pasta or hamburgers?”

“You’re going to cook?”

“I can handle things,” he said, nodding his head. “Mattie’s stocked the kitchen for my visit.”

“Why don’t we have something easy for lunch,” she suggested when her stomach made its presence known again. “A sandwich would work.”

“Need something pretty quick, huh?”

“I’m hungry enough to gnaw the legs off the table,” she detailed as she walked into the kitchen and went straight to the refrigerator for a package of roast beef and some cheese.

“My cook in Dallas is going to love having you around,” he said, laughing as he handed her a loaf of bread from the pantry. “Nothing makes her happier than feeding people.”

Arielle stopped piling the sliced meat on two pieces of bread. “I won’t be around for her to feed.”

“Sure you will.” She watched him remove the milk from the fridge, then reach into the cabinet for a couple of glasses. “Once we’re married, you’ll be living there, remember?”

She shook her head. “It’s never going to happen, remember?”

His low masculine chuckle caused her heart to skip several beats. “Like I told you last night, never say ‘never,’ darlin’.”

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