Dangerous Embrace (Embrace #1) (36 page)

“Lie down, take a nap.” He brushed his fingers across her cheekbone. “I’ll come wake you up in a little while.”

She walked to the bed and lay down, letting Mark toss a throw blanket over her.

He kissed her cheek and muttered, “Get some rest.”

Then he left her alone in the room.

God, what if she were pregnant? Admitting she wanted a baby meant living with the disappointment of losing a baby.
What if I am pregnant?
She thought again, and her hands moved to her stomach. She actually felt bigger. Her defined abs felt softer, but she could attribute that to her lack of exercise. She’d spent the last several weeks stuck in the house avoiding the press.

What about Mark? And another
what if
echoed in her head...what if he wasn’t ready to be a father again?

He’d talked about more kids...he’d also said he was happy just having Jamie. All these questions swam in her head as she caressed her stomach, the memories of her last pregnancy still fresh. Last time, as her stomach had grown, so did her excitement. Until she’d had to give birth to a lifeless baby.

What if that happened again?

She suddenly felt so vulnerable—almost breakable. She shook the thoughts from her head and closed her eyes.

~

When Mark shook her awake, she jerked up. “Sarah, wake up.”

“What’s wrong,” she slurred, still half asleep.

“Carl called, Ali’s having her baby.” His eyes were bright with excitement. “I have to go pick up Jamie at the hospital.”

“That’s great,” Sarah said. “Are you bringing Jamie back here?”

“Yeah, well, we are,” he said, his smile fading. “You’ll go with me, right?”

“No, Mark...” Sarah didn’t know how to verbalize her excuse for not going. She stared at him, hoping he would understand without an explanation.

“Jamie’s going to be a big brother.” His eyes looked right through her, as if he had no idea what she was feeling, all he could think about was being with Jamie and the excitement of a new baby.

“Okay...of course I’ll go,” she said, trying to get her bearings.

~

When they arrived at the hospital, they found Carl in the waiting room with Jamie.

“Daddy,” Jamie said, running at Mark.

“Hey, buddy. What’s going on?”

Jamie jumped up and down. “Mommy is having a baby.”

“I know. That’s why I’m here to pick you up.”

He stopped jumping and his shoulders slumped. “I have to leave?”

“It could take a long time for her to have the baby and you can’t sit out here by yourself. Carl has to go help Mommy.”

Mark squatted to be eye-to-eye with his son. “I’ll bring you back after Mommy has the baby, okay?”

“Well, okay...” He looked around at Sarah, and then at Carl, trying to hold in his tears.

“Your dad can take you in to say goodbye to Mommy. I’ll wait out here,” Carl said.

Jamie nodded his head and took the hand Mark offered.

Mark and Jamie left Sarah in the waiting room with Carl. She ignored him as she sat in the nearest chair.

“So, Sarah, how are you?” he asked.

She looked up at his smug smile. “I’m fine.”

He sat next to her and leaned toward her.

“You ready to have that drink yet?” He leaned further over the arm of the chair to make eye contact.

“Nope, not interested,” she said, squeezing past him to get out of her chair. What did it take for this jerk to get the hint? She walked over and leaned against the wall next to the entrance of the waiting room, keeping Carl within view, but pretending to be interested in the news show blasting from the TV mounted in the corner of the room.

He stepped in front of her, still wearing his
Carl, The Pig
smile. “You know, Mark may be awhile. We could just,” he paused, as he brushed the tips of his fingers across her jawbone, “sneak away.”

Sarah smacked his hand away and glared at him. “I am truly not interested.”

He leaned closer and Sarah held her hand up.

“Back off, Carl.” The breath caught in her throat when he lifted his hand to touch her again. She inhaled, fighting for air.

When the tips of his fingers touched her collarbone, she laid both hands on his chest and pushed him hard, and then she pulled back her fist and punched him before he could step toward her again.

Carl grabbed his face. “Bitch!”

Sarah’s heart pounded in her chest as she rushed out of the waiting room and directly into Mark’s chest, just as she had the first time she’d been attack by Maylyn.

She yelped and stumbled before meeting his eyes. “I’ll meet you in the truck.”

She huffed out between heavy breaths as she skirted around him and down the hall.

Mark called out to her, but she rushed into the open elevator. As she punched the button for the ground floor, she inhaled deeply trying not to hyperventilate and telling herself to breathe.

By the time she reached Mark’s truck, her face was covered in sweat. Not having the keys, she paced as she waited for him, shaking away the pain in her right hand.

When Mark and Jamie walked up, the look on Mark’s face had her recoiling. He unlocked the door, helped Jamie in, and then he closed the door.

He pulled her into a fierce embrace. “Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded into his shoulder. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...”

“Why are you apologizing?” Mark pulled back to look at her.

She shook her head and lowered her eyes, unable to look at him.

“Do you think I’m blaming you? Dammit, Sarah. I’m not Kevin Lewis.”

She closed her eyes and rested her forehead on his chest.

“I’m sorry I left you alone with him. I had no idea he would do that.”

Sarah lifted her head to meet his eyes. “Let’s go home.”

After her appointment, Sarah drove back to Mark’s house on autopilot. She sat in the driveway, wanting time to reconcile her feelings. She touched her stomach and looked down at the ultrasound picture in her hand.
My and Mark’s baby. Will he be happy?

The memory of Kevin’s reaction came back painfully.

She pushed away the thought and focused on her baby, and Mark...then Jamie, her new family...a real family. Something she never thought she could have.

“My baby,” she whispered. “Nothing is going to happen. We’ll protect you and keep you safe.”

When the front door opened, she slid the picture back into the envelope and stuffed it in her purse. Her pulse jumping as she met Mark’s eyes through the windshield.

He walked around and tugged the car door open for her. “Hey, babe, what’s going on...what happened?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, fighting her nervousness.

“Did something happen with Nancy? You look upset.”

With the ultrasound, she had completely forgotten about her talk with Nancy. Normally, that would’ve been forefront on her mind. She nodded. “I was fired...Nancy fired me.”

“They can’t fire you. You’re on leave.” He helped her out of the car and closed the door for her.

“She called it
extended leave
, but they don’t want me to come back until next fall.” Sarah slid out of the truck and walked with Mark into the house.

“Maybe we should take legal action against them.”

“No, I don’t want to drag down their reputation. God, could you see that on the six o’clock news airing right after...” She sighed and shook her head. “I’m not sure if I want to go back now.”

She moved her hand to her stomach again. Maybe it was a blessing. She looked down at the hand covering her baby and realized she wasn’t as upset as she should have been. At the time, she was so angry at Nancy, she didn’t consider what it would mean to be out of work during her pregnancy.

“Are you feeling sick?” he asked, noticing the gesture.

Before she could answer his question, his cell phone rang.

Mark cleared his throat as he flipped the phone open.

“Hello.” His jaw flexed. “Yeah, what?” After a long pause he said, “No, don’t come to my house. I’ll bring him there.” He shifted and adjusted the phone. “Too fucking bad. I’ll bring him to you. I want to talk to her anyway.” He laughed and said, “You should have thought about that before.”

Mark closed his phone and then tossed it on the table before turning back toward Sarah.

“Who was that?”

“Carl. Ali had the baby early this morning. It’s a boy, she named him Micah.”

“Oh, she had another boy. I guess Jamie will be disappointed. Should we go tell him?”

“I have to drop him off in an hour at the hospital.”

“Are you going to tell Ali what happened?”

“Yeah, I just don’t know when. I don’t think now is the best time.”

“She’s going to hate me.”

“No, she is not going to hate you. She’s no fool to what type of man her husband is.” He closed his eyes for a second. “Are you going to be okay on your own for a while?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I have some Christmas presents to wrap and I might drive by my house and pick up some things.”

He gave her an apprehensive look, and her stomach did a weird flip. “Unless you’re starting to feel crowded with me here all the time.”

When he smiled, his little dimple winked at her. “I would love nothing more than to make this a permanent living situation.” He tugged her hand to pull her closer. “I was planning to ask if you wanted to look for a house together, but I wasn’t sure how to bring it up without making you feel pressured.”

She chuckled. “Sorry, I make you walk on egg shells all the time with my stupid insecurities.”

“So what do you think?”

“About getting a house together?” She watched light dance across his hopeful eyes. “Yeah...I would like to live with you and Jamie.”

“Seriously?” Mark’s smile took over his entire face, and she knew it was the right decision—pregnant or not.

“We should probably wait until after the holidays. Now doesn’t seem to be the best time to move, but I do want to be with you.”

He pulled her closer and kissed her lips. “Oh my God, I’m so happy right now.”

“Me, too,” she said smiling, feeling every bit as excited as he was. Keeping this secret was going to be harder than she thought.

~

The last meeting with the DA was particularly stressful for Sarah and for Mark. With Sarah being one of Rupert Maylyn’s victims, it made his death look like a crime of passion. This was an angle the press loved. They could report on Mark but still include her in their story. They didn’t outright use her name, but her and Mark’s relationship had become a key point in the DA’s investigation, which Sarah and Mark both knew was the reason behind the investigation to begin with. The DA was campaigning for reelection and headlines were the cheapest form of advertising.

The whole idea of Mark being accused of murder was too much for Sarah. He’d done nothing but protect her from day one, and now he was being scrutinized in the media as an out-of-control boyfriend. She could show them an out-of-control boyfriend—and it wasn’t Mark.

Even now, Mark was protecting her, only this time it was from the
official questioning
that always seemed to be swayed against the two of them. And that in itself was a point against them, because whenever they asked Sarah a particularly difficult question, Mark would get angry and lash out at the attorney’s questioning them.

They finally hired a reputable attorney of their own, one recommended by Richard. She found it interesting that once she’d hired Christopher Rhodes, the DA suddenly stopped harassing them and became sickeningly polite. Thanks to Christopher, the DA agreed to conclude his investigation by the end of the following week and agreed to let them know right away when his report was ready.

One of Mark’s clients had given him tickets to the Christmas ball at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco. Sarah couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Friday night, and she couldn’t wait to spend a stress-free evening out with him. She felt like she could breathe without worry, and she decided it was time to finally tell Mark about the baby. The Christmas ball would be the perfect place to do it.

Sarah finished her make-up and hair and then stepped into Mark’s walk-in closet and unzipped the garment bag holding her dress.

It was a pewter gray, silk halter dress that pulled in at the waist and gathered at her lower back, leaving a flow of fabric to trail behind her.

The front came down into a V between her breasts and tied behind her neck leaving the long, thick, silk straps to fall down her bare back. She slipped into the silver strap stilettos and looked herself over in the mirror, turning to see how the dress trailed behind her. The long, flowing skirt gathered at her lower back and fit snugly in the front.