Brooke lay as quietly as possible but her heart was beating so fast with excitement that she was trembling.
Gently she rested her hand on her stomach. "She moved," she murmured. "I felt this fluttery feeling, and then I felt it again."
"You're sure that's what it was?" Lucas propped himself on one elbow and leaned over her. "What if something's wrong? What if we caused a problem with the baby?"
"I seriously doubt that. All my reading told me that sex would be fine, especially at this stage, but yesterday I called my obstetrician to be absolutely sure. She gave me the go-ahead."
"You told her we were having sex?"
"She's my doctor. She has to know everything."
"Everything?" he sounded horrified.
"If you're asking if I gave her a detailed description of our activities, the answer is no, but we did discuss positions."
"Dear God."
She smiled. "I guess it's a good thing I'm having the baby not you, huh?"
"Yes. A very good thing. I can't imagine how I'd …"
"There! She did it again." She grabbed Lucas' hand and put it on her stomach. "Let's see if you can feel her."
He hovered over her, his hand resting on her belly. Nothing happened.
"Maybe she went back to sleep."
"Maybe." He began stroking her stomach. "You have the softest skin."
'Don't give up. And keep your hand still. If you move around, you'll miss it."
"It's just that I love touching you."
"And I'm rathe fond of having you touch me. But right now I … Oh! Did you feel that?"
"Yes! Yes, I did!" he sucked in a breath. "There it is again. That's her. That's Henley."
"It is. I know it is. According to my research, this happens a little later for first time moms, but this is exactly how the book describes the sensation.
"So she's precocious before she'd even born."
She smiled. "Guess so."
"Does it hurt you when she does that?" he rested his hand on her stomach in a protective gesture.
"Not now. My doctor said when she gets bigger it can be uncomfortable if she decides to practice her cheer moves in there, especially at night. She said I might have some nights when it's hard to sleep."
"I'm sure." He leaned down toward her stomach.
"Hey, Henley, sweet girl. Take it easy on your mom, okay? Don't be kicking her at three in the morning."
"She must have heard you. She's quiet now."
"They do hear what's going on around them. I read that last night." He glanced up at her. "I want her to recognize my voice."
"Mmm." That made her heart hurt. She planned to spend most of her pregnancy in New York getting her line up and running. He had an obligation to be here for the garage and the team. Henley wouldn't be listening to her daddy's voice much."
"I hadn't thought about how you'd deal with sleeping as she grows. I know you usually sleep on your stomach."
"I've been practicing sleeping on my side."
"I can help with that."
"You have some sort of trick?"
"It's called spooning."
"That sounds great except in a couple of nights I'll be in New York without a big spoon."
He was quiet for a moment. "Look I know you have to go back eventually, but why not stay here a little longer so I can help you practice sleeping on your side? What's the rush to get back?"
"I didn't pack enough clothes, for one thing."
"I have a washer and dryer."
"Thank you for the offer but it's more thank running out of things to wear. I'm impatient to get back to work. I have a lot I want to do before Henley is born."
"You really do have it all figured out."
"I have my part figured out, but not yours. I thought we could talk about your schedule and work out when you'll be able to come and see Henley. Unfortunately, I left my things in the car. My notebook, my suitcase, the cookies and…"
"I'll fetch everything. I think Henley's zonked out for the time being, anyway." Rolling away from her, Lucas climbed out of bed.
"But it's still raining."
"Not so hard anymore and the lightening's stopped. Cover your eyes. I'm turning on the lamp. Of course it might not come on if that strike hit a transformer like last night."
She put her hand over her eyes. "I should've piled everything on the porch, but that seemed kind of dopey. I wanted to be the only thing you saw when you arrived."
"Considering how you presented yourself, I would have been blind to anything else, anyway." He snapped on the light. "Aha. We have electricity."
"That's good." Slowly she took her hand away and allowed her eyes to adjust. Lucas had opened the closet's sliding doors and stood with his back to her while he took out some clothes. She admired the view; broad back, slim hips, tight buns and muscled thighs and calves.
He pulled on briefs and jeans and boots, then turned, a man's bathrobe in his hand. "Want to wear this? I'm not saying you have to. You're more than welcome to walk around naked."
"Sure, you know how modest I am."
"Oh, I know." He smiled and handed it to her. Black velour without a bit of color on it. "That's what made your plan tonight even better. Where were you when you took off your clothes?"
"Under the blanket." She got out of bed and put on the bathrobe."
"That blanket's a lot smaller than the one we used last night."
"And I doubt I was completely covered at all times. I told myself it was dark and, besides, nobody was here." The velour swam on her, She snuggled into it, enjoying the scent of his aftershave as she tied the belt and rolled back the sleeves.
"Cute." He grinned. "It never looked that good on me. So where are your keys?"
"The car's unlocked, but let's forget about getting the stuff from my car. It can wait."
"I agree that most of it can wait, but I have a hankering for some of Haley's home-baked cookies."
"Well now that you mention it, so do I." She walked with him to the living room. "They're in a tin in the back seat."
"Be right back with our dessert."
She stood by the open door and watched him dash through the rain until he disappeared around the side of the house. Moments later, lightening slashed across the sky and she cried out as thunder followed right after. "Lucas!"
"I'm okay!" The car door slammed and he came running back. Light from the open porch door glistened on his broad chest and his hair was plastered to his head. Flashing her a rakish smile he leaped onto the porch as another bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.
She grabbed him and pulled him inside. Thunder like a sonic boom shook the house. "You almost got yourself killed for cookies!"
Tossing his wet hair back from his forehead, he laughed. "That would look great in the newspaper wouldn't it? Man struck by lightning while fetching cookies or the mother of his child."
"I'm really glad that story won't be running in the next issues. Stay right there while I get you a towel." By the time she returned with it, he'd taken off his boots and was in the process of exchanging his wet jeans for the dry ones lying in the pile of clothes by the door.
Once again, he was facing away from her.
He hadn't heard her come in on bare feet. She stood for a moment and watched him, fascinated by his toned body. He moved with grace for such a big guy. After zipping his jeans he gently massaged his left shoulder.
She walked towards him holding out the towel.
He began to dry his hair. He lowered the towel and gave her a lopsided grin. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." She picked up the tin of cookies he'd set on the floor. "I'll set up our snack. What's to drink?"
He gave his hair one last rub with the towel. It wasn't dripping anymore but it stuck out in all directions.
"Same thing as last night. I'll have a beer and there's more root beer if you want some. Plus there's water, of course. I'd make some coffee but all I have is leaded."
She resisted the urge to reach up and finger-comb his hair. She didn't care to experience his reactions to an overdose of feminine concern. "Water's fine with me."
"Then I'll meet you in the kitchen."
Setting the cookie tin on the table, she got a glass of water for herself and took a beer out of the refrigerator. Opening it, she set the bottle on the table. The thought of beer and cookies made her grimace.
When he came into the kitchen, he'd combed his hair. He sipped his beer and gazed at her. The wheels were definitely turning. "Look, I don't know how to say this right, and I'll probably mess it up, but I need to throw it out there to give you an alternative to your plan."
She'd been about to grab a cookie but she changed her mind, she dreaded what he might say next. "I like my plan. It's perfect for me."
"Are you sure? Because from where I sit, it makes a lot more sense to sell your apartment and buy something here, a house with an office space for designing."
The relaxed mood she'd been enjoying disappeared. "You're talking about a whole lot of work for no reason."
"First of all, I'd help you every step of the way because last thing I want is to give you more to do. As for reasons to move, you will have family to support you."
"Don't you see? If I do it my way, I won't need any help."
"I do see that." He rubbed a hand over his face. "Damn it, Brooke, I felt her move tonight. She's real to me now." He held her gaze. "I know I'm asking a lot, but if you'd be willing to move back here, I could be with you or most o the pregnancy."
"I understand why you'd want that, but we're only talking about a few months. Then you'll be traveling for your book tour while I'm adjusting to a new house in an old town. I know Haley and Nathan would be supportive, but it is a lot to ask."
"That's not all I want to ask you." He leaned toward her and reached for her hand.
"Lucas." She tried to pull it away, as I that would stop what was coming.
"Marry me, Brooke. I want to be that little girl's father in every sense of the word."
She squeezed her eyes shut to blot out the plea reflected in his blue eyes. Is sincerity broke her heart. He'd completely accepted his responsibility as a father and in his mind that should include marriage. But he'd never mentioned love and she wouldn't take those vows with a man who only wanted to do the right thing for his daughter. If that was selfish of her, so be it.
He didn't realize that a marriage of convenience without love, which as basically what he was suggesting, would slowly kill her spirt. That certainly wouldn't be a healthy atmosphere for Henley. She couldn't explain that to Lucas. It wasn't his fault that he wasn't in love with her.
She drew in a shaky breath. "I'm not going to marry you."
"Why not? He looked confused. "We get along great. I know you enjoy the sex and I sure as hell do. Moving back here would be a pain, but in the long run it would be so much better for us, for Henley and even for my family."
She looked into his eyes. He was doing all this for the sake of the baby. "I'm sorry, Lucas. More sorry than you know. But marrying you wouldn't work for me." She pushed back her chair. "I need to get going."
"Going? Where?"
"Back to the city."
"Tonight? Are you crazy?"
She shook her head. "On the contrary. I've never felt more sane."