Baby's Got Bite (3 page)

He’d been thinking a lot about touching her lately. He’d never admit it, but she’d been the inspiration behind his newest collection. She was a combination of edgy innocence—at least she’d appeared that way when he first met her.

But that night in Greece that they’d slept together? Jesus. Innocence wasn’t a word he’d use. Ever since then, he’d wanted nothing more than to call her, but she’d made it clear they were only using each other’s body for that night and nothing else.

“What’s wrong?” he said. “Is Casey all right?”

She stared at the ceiling. A single tear slipped down her cheek.

What the fuck?
The tear tugged at his gut. Something was wrong. She wasn’t the crying type.

“Everyone,” he yelled to the small crew, who were milling around the set with his Ducati center stage. He always tried to get his bikes into the shoots. It was his thing. The Times had called his collections
Biker Chic
. “Take twenty. I need the studio.”

He led her into his office, just left of where the shoot had been. “Sit down and tell me what’s going on. Is Casey sick?”

“No,” she said hoarsely.

“Okay.” He opened the fridge behind the panel in the wall where he kept fabrics. “Do you want a beer?”

She huffed. “No. I don’t want a fucking beer.” Her hand flew to her mouth. “Great, now I have no impulse control. What the hell else is going to happen? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here.” She rose, but then grabbed her head as if she were dizzy.

“Hey.” He helped her back into the seat. “I know we aren’t that close. But you can tell me anything. What’s wrong?”

“I need to go home.” She pulled her keys from her purse and started away, but she only managed a few steps before she had to lean against the wall to hold back the wave of emotion he could see coming over her.

“You’re in no shape to go anywhere,” he said. “Just tell me. Let me help you.”

“You’re not going to be any better at this than I am.”

“You’re not making any sense. Any better at what?”

She gestured to her body. “Can’t you tell?”

“What is it? Are you sick?”

She gave him a look like he was an idiot. “I’m pregnant. With your baby. With your stupid, super-sperm-busting-through-condoms baby.”

Holy fuck
.

Chapter Three

In a way, Bennett felt a little sorry for Linc. She’d thought he was going to pass out in the chair there for a second. He sort of collapsed in on himself and ran his hand through his hair.

She remembered him doing something similar to her. How it had felt as he’d run his hand through her—

Oh my
gawd
. Not the time.

He stared at her as if assessing her in some way.

“The CVS bags were full of pregnancy tests?”

How the hell did he know that?

Probably Nick. Casey had refused to let him into the penthouse until they’d finished the tests. She couldn’t believe he’d call Linc.

“Yes.”

“How many?”

“What do you mean?” Did he mean weeks? He should be able to do the math on that one.

“Tests? How many did you do?”

Oh. “Uh, I think ten all together.” Would he think less of her if he knew they hadn’t done all ten tests at once? That they’d gone back for another three tests after the first seven had shown positive? “All pink, all plus signs. I was going to wait to talk to you about it until after I went to the doctor, but it was like a homing device drew me here. I’m scared. And Casey, bless her sweet little heart, was trying to help, but I think she’s more scared than I am. She knows what a God awful mother I’m going to be.”

“You won’t.” His shoulders straightened. “Be awful,” he added. “You’re going to be a great mom. You’re smart and you’re kind. Those are the two biggest things a mom needs to be.”

She snorted. “So you’re like an expert on mothers? What, was yours so perfect?”

His jaw tightened. Darn. She’d hit a nerve. She hadn’t meant to. Grumpy had become her new state of mind.

“I mean—”

“I didn’t know her very well. She died when I was young,” he said, his voice low and thoughtful. “But my brother says she was those very things I described. She defended me to her death.”

Wow. God, Bennett felt like a bitch. “Sorry.” She wanted to ask more questions. Had someone attacked his family? But she’d been rude enough.

“You don’t need to apologize. How would you know?” He stood then and sat on the desk in front of her. He took her hand in his and squeezed gently. “I’m going to be here for you, Bennett. I will be whatever you need me to be. I will take care of you and the babe, luv. You’re never going to have worry about anything.”

She pulled her hand from his. “Whoa. Calm yourself, dude. I don’t need any help.”

That was pretty dumb. She was clueless about parenthood. Her mom had done her best but perhaps hadn’t been the greatest role model.

“You will need help, though,” he said. “And I’m the father. I will do whatever is necessary to protect you both.”

What was with all the protection crap?

“I’ll make some calls,” he said. “We’ll get you the best care possible.”

“Uh. You’re not such a good listener, are you? I got this. I have a doctor. Well, she’s not an obstetrician. But Casey says she has a doctor friend who can help.”

“Is it Jacinda?”

Bennett nodded. How did he know that? Had he dated her? He’d pretty much dated all of Dallas, New York, and Los Angeles. Not that she read the tabloids, but it was hard to miss his exploits on the entertainment shows. People loved the bad boy fashion designer who had a different girl on his arm every day.

Yep. And you’re having his baby.

If she had a million dollars, she’d give it away to know what was going through his head. He had to be just as scared as she was.

“You okay?” He snapped his fingers in front of her face.

And just like that, she went from concerned to pissed off. “Get your hands out of my face, asshole. Yes, it’s Jacinda. I’ll go to the doc, but the rest of this crap you can stick up your ass.”

She rose to leave and then grabbed the chair when a wave of dizziness hit her. Damn, pregnancy sucked.

His arms touched her shoulders, helping her to balance. She hated that his touch sent spirals of need to her—

No. Stop it.

“Fine. Do what you want, but I’m driving you home.” He was all authoritative, and she was dizzy as shit, so she wasn’t going to say no.

“Whatever.”

The next day in Doctor Jacinda’s office, Casey was on one side of the table, glaring at Linc, while he stood on the other waiting for the gynecologist and the sonogram. It was all Bennett could do not to giggle, which was weird since she was scared shitless.

Her best friend was furious with Linc for knocking her up. Bennett had never seen her friend so mad. She wouldn’t have blamed Linc for staying behind just to save himself from Casey’s wrath.

Yet here he was.

So fucking hot.

No man had ever made jeans and a T-shirt look so good. He filled the room with his presence.

“I’m sorry,” Linc said softly.

She glanced up to see he was staring at Casey.

“You hooked up with my best friend. Out of all the women you could sleep with, you had to choose her?”

“To be fair, it wasn’t all him,” Bennett said. “I kind of seduced him.”

“That’s not the point,” Casey said. “He’s out with a different woman every single night. Now look what you’ve done.” Casey pointed down to Bennett’s stomach.

“You know better than anyone I don’t sleep with most of the women I date. You
know
that crap is for publicity.”

All of that was news to Bennett. She’d just assumed he was a man whore.

Casey patted his hand. “It’s okay. I believe you.”

He’d been really angry with Casey, but he glanced down at her hand on his and smiled. “And I told you, there’s no way it could happen.” He’d calmed down a bit. “We used condoms…” He shared a glance with Casey, like they both knew what he meant but didn’t want to say it. “Besides, that night was…”

“A little crazy for all of us,” Casey added. “I get that. But she’s my best friend.” Casey’s hand went to her hip, but before she could say anything, the door opened, and the doctor entered. She didn’t look much older than Bennett, and she had a kind face.

She held out her hand. “Hi, Bennett, I’m Dr. Henderson. You can call me Jacinda.”

Bennett smiled nervously. “Hi. You know my friend, Casey.”

The doctor shook hands with Casey, then gestured at Linc. “And this is…?”

“This is my, uh…Linc.”

Eloquent as always.

What was she supposed to call him? Her friend? Her fuck buddy? The father?

“I’ve known Linc for years,” Jacinda said and bumped shoulders with him.

What
was that?

“And as for what to call him,” she continued, “you guys will figure it out. There’s plenty of room in this modern era for whatever kind of family unit you two find works for you. I’m just here to help you confirm you’re going to have a beautiful baby and when it will be. Are you ready for that?”

“If I say I’m not?” Bennett said.

“Then you can wait a few months and find out anyway, but I promise, this way’s a lot easier.”

Bennett laughed and squeezed Casey’s hand. Her friend had said this doctor had a good sense of humor.

“I’m ready,” she said.

Jacinda clapped her hands together. “Okay. Before we do the sonogram, I’m going to listen for the heartbeat. Lie back, please.”

She took out a small, handheld machine that had a wand attached. She placed the cold tip of the wand on Bennett’s lower belly.

There was a weird whooshing sound and then a fast
thump thump, thump thump, thump thump.

“There it is, nice and strong,” the doctor said.

A heartbeat.

No denying it now.

Shit just got real.

Linc grabbed her hand and squeezed gently. He glanced down at her with the strangest look in his eyes, almost as if he were in awe.

“All right, Casey, I need you to come to the other side of the table so we can do the sonogram.”

Casey mouthed, “It’s going to be okay.”

Bennett didn’t know about that.

The gel the doc had squirted on her belly was cold.

Linc rubbed his thumb across her knuckles, and the action calmed her nerves.

The doctor turned on the machine and slid the silver ball across her belly. There was a clicking noise as she made measurements. The doc bit her lip and frowned.

“Is something wrong?” Bennett asked.

“Nothing at all. The baby is healthy.”

But that didn’t look like a nothing-at-all kind of face.

“Eight weeks since conception?” the doctor asked.

Bennett squeezed Linc’s hand hard. To his credit, he didn’t wince.

He was staring at the doctor with an intense focus. “If there’s something wrong, you need to tell us right now.”

Jacinda gave a gentle smile. “There’s nothing wrong that I can see. Let me get these photos printed out for you and we’ll have a more detailed conversation. I need to plug a few numbers into the computer, and then I’ll have a due date for you.” She handed some tissues to Bennett. “Casey, why don’t you come with me to give them some time alone?”

Casey looked like she was about to argue, but then she caught another of those weird looks from Linc.

“Just give us a minute,” he said.

Casey finally seemed to resign herself to leaving the room and exited with the doc.

“What was all that about?” Bennett asked.

Linc shrugged. “Here, you missed a spot.” He took the tissues and wiped the goop off Bennett’s belly. His touch sent all kinds of shivers through her.

“The doctor had a weird look on her face,” she fretted.

Linc took both of her hands and helped her sit up. “There’s something you need to know. About my, uh…medical history.”

“What is it? Are you sick?”

He shook his head. “No. Far from it, actually.”

“So what is it?”

He took a deep breath but didn’t say anything.

“Jesus. Listen,” she said. “You hesitating like this is making me more nervous than whatever it is you need to say. I didn’t freak out—uh, much—when I found out I was pregnant. I can’t imagine whatever you have to say can be any bigger. So bring it on.”

He pursed his lips. “There’s no easy way to say this.” He turned away for a second and ran his hands through his hair. He’d done that when she’d told him about the baby, too.

He was always so confident and self-assured. What could trouble the most alpha man she’d ever met?

“You need to know now, before the doctor comes back in. Because when she tells you the due date, you’re going to be shocked.”

“Dude, did you take crazy pills this morning? I could tell you the due date on my own. We know when you knocked me up.”

“Right, right.” He shifted so he could sit on the edge of the table, but he didn’t let go of her hands. “How open-minded are you?”

She had no idea where this was going, but a knot formed tight in her chest, which had nothing to do with the breakfast tacos she’d inhaled earlier.

“I consider myself pretty open-minded. I slept with you, didn’t I?” she joked.

He grinned briefly, but then he was serious again.

“Have you ever wondered if werewolves, witches, and vampires were real?”

She had to stifle a laugh. The poor guy. The news of the baby had broken him. He was having a nervous breakdown.

“Linc, I didn’t bewitch you or something. I mean, that night of the wedding I was hornier than I’d ever been in my life. But I didn’t roofie you or anything so you could get me pregnant. The last thing I wanted was a baby.”

He took a deep breath. “Yes, I remember you told me any guy with a dick would do. That’s not what I’m talking about.”

She tried to take the question seriously. “Do I believe in those things? No. I mean, I guess anything is possible, but you’re talking about fictional characters.”

“Sort of. I’m talking about the basis for fictional characters.”

She looked at the door. Where was the doctor, anyway?

“The basis? I don’t see where you’re going with this,” she said.

“You’re expecting a nine month pregnancy. But the thing is, that’s for human babies.”

Hold on. Was he putting on some act so that she’d kick him out of her life? No. That absolutely wasn’t going to happen.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Hell. She’d promised herself she’d stop saying “fuck” for the baby’s sake, but desperate times called for graphic language. “I understand if you don’t want anything to do with this. You don’t have to pretend to be crazy. I can handle this on my own. To be honest, I’d
prefer
to handle it on my own.” Jerk.

“I’m a werewolf. That’s why you shouldn’t have been able to get pregnant. I can’t get humans pregnant.”

Great. He was doubling down on crazy.

“Asshole.” She shoved him hard, but he didn’t budge.

Before he could explain further, the door opened and Casey and the doctor returned.

“Did you tell her?” Casey asked.

“I tried. She doesn’t believe me.”

“Can’t say I blame her,” Casey said as she sat next to Bennett on the other side of the table.

“You guys, this is not a funny joke. I’m already kind of nervous about all of this. You aren’t helping.” She again shoved Linc, who finally moved. She sat up and slid her legs off the side of the table.

The doctor motioned for Linc to sit down on the chair in the corner.

“There are things you need to understand,” the doc said to Bennett. “I need you to take a deep breath and then listen carefully. Look at me, please.”

Bennett stared into the doctor’s dark brown eyes. She could have sworn they turned kind of an amber color.

Maybe
I’m
the one going nuts.

“Stay calm,” the doctor said.

“Okay, you telling me to ‘stay calm’ isn’t exactly helping. What the hell is the matter with all of you?”

“What Linc told you is true. He is a supernatural being, and because of that, your gestation period is a little shorter than normal.”

Something had happened to her head. This was all a bad dream.

A weird wave of calm came over her. That was what this was. A bad dream. The wedding. The sex. The pregnancy.

The doctor snapped her fingers. “Look at me. Did you hear what I said?”

“Something about my digestion.” Bennett’s tongue felt heavy. “Am I having a stroke?”