Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set (77 page)

Dr. Morris stood and handed Rini a form and the printouts from the sonogram. "I'll let you two continue this discussion on your own." She helped her up and gave her a towel. "Take it easy, now, and keep those feet up. See you next week." Then she was gone.

Rini looked at the towel in her hand and then at her stomach. "Yuck." She wiped it off as well as she could, then set the towel aside. A shadow fell across her lap and she glanced up.

"You missed a spot." Cole took up the towel and reached out to her belly, but stopped just shy of touching skin. His gaze locked with hers, and a jolt of response surged through her. She was suddenly acutely conscious of sitting with her entire midriff intimately exposed to his eyes.

A coil of sexual awareness tightened around her body like a spring, squeezing to life hurts that had lain dormant for almost seven months. And a lifetime, before that.

A whip of panic cut across her. This was the last way she wanted to be reacting to this man. "It's okay, I can—"

Too late
. He was already gently stroking the side of her belly with the towel. His hand, large and brown against the white towel and her pale skin, caressed her softly, slowly. As she watched, an elemental recognition coursed through every molecule of her body, making her agonizingly aware that this man had touched her before, more intimately than anyone in her whole life.

Suddenly it was difficult to breathe.

Because she was also acutely aware that she wanted him to touch her again.

Chapter Five

Rini looked up into Cole's eyes, her mind a whirlpool of emotion.

This was nuts. No, no,
no
. She did
not
want this man. God help her, she
couldn't!
Not after—

Hormones. It must be the hormones talking.

The searing intensity of his scrutiny short-circuited her brain. Terrified of her body's response, she watched his face come closer and closer—knowing she should under no circumstances let him kiss her.

Knowing she would, anyway.

Helpless to resist, she saw her pride and common sense sacrificed on the altar of her reckless attraction to this man. And she abandoned herself to the moment. She tilted her face up to his and let her lashes flutter to her cheeks. When their lips finally met, it was all she could do to keep from melting into a puddle at the tenderness with which his mouth caressed hers. He was everything she remembered, and more. Much more.

Against strict orders, her disobedient arms slid around his neck. A moan rumbled in his chest like the prelude to an earthquake. He furrowed his fingers in her hair and held her head captive. For a split second the pressure of his lips increased, then he tore away, burying his face in her hair.

"Why, Rini?" he asked in a strangled voice. "Why did you leave me?"

She dug her nails into his shoulders. How could he even ask such a question?

Torn and suddenly miserable, she found her mind replaying those last horrible minutes at the powwow when she had learned, to her everlasting shame and humiliation, that he was no different than David. Replaying the moment he'd cruelly jerked her out of her infernal naiveté.

You'll meet me at the dance circle, won't you?

Try and keep me away.

When he had left for his hoop dance demonstration that morning, Rini had followed a few minutes later. She'd approached the circle just as the dance was ending, and sank down on one of the hay bales to wait for him. As she watched, he was again besieged by well-wishers, as he had been the other times she'd seen him dance.

A young woman had put her arms around him and gave him a hug. Rini had frowned. Well, maybe she was his sister, she'd reasoned, trying desperately not to be jealous when he bent his mouth to her ear and whispered something that made the woman squeal and give him another tight hug. As she watched their loving embrace, Rini had fought the devastating images that flooded her mind—images of the first time she had caught David in the arms of one of his lovers.

No,
she'd prayed silently.
Please no..

A whole group of young women surrounded him then, touching him, flirting with him, and whispering things in his ear. Then another woman approached him. This one was a little older than the teens, about Rini's own age, a little more sophisticated-looking and a whole lot prettier. Rini had watched in consternation as she draped her hands over his shoulders and gave him a long, nuzzling kiss.

Oh, God. It was déjà vu.

The beautiful fantasy Rini had woven about her handsome warrior shattered, and the blood drained from her face. Her heart sank to her feet as the pretty woman spoke intimately with Rini's lover, her arm looped around his waist. Anger and humiliation had swamped Rini as the woman drew a finger along his smiling jaw.

Emotions raw and the hurt cutting deep, Rini had jumped up from the hay bale. She refused to sit there and watch her own betrayal. She absolutely would
not
go through this again. How stupid would she have to be to stick around and have her heart torn apart by yet another man who didn't care enough about her to be faithful for even one day?

What a fool she had been. What an utter, utter fool! How could she have been so taken in by this man? Spinning fancy hopes and dreams about a handsome stranger, when all he wanted was a few hours of pleasure?

Was she really that desperate for validation of her desirability? Would she never learn?

Tears streaming down her face, she'd run all the way to her car and driven away without once looking back, or speaking to him.

Rini's eyes stung now as she remembered the deep shame and humiliation she had felt on that fateful day seven months ago.

Cole's hands moved gently over her hair, snapping her back to the present with a start.

Lord, what was she doing, standing so close to him, his hands cradling her head, their baby nestled between them? Letting him
kiss
her?

Desperately, she tried to take a step backward, but he held her fast.

"Why did you leave me?" he repeated quietly.

She needed to gain some distance. Not fall again for his charm.

But this was all wrong. The hurt in his voice sounded genuine. The anguish in his face looked real.

How could that be?
She
was the one who had been humiliated that day, not him. And he'd do it again if she wasn't careful.

The exam room door opened.

With determined hands, she pushed him away.

She had to be strong. For her baby as well as for herself.

* * *

Cole dropped his grip on Rini and stepped away from her, grateful for the timely interruption when a nurse bustled into the room and began tidying up.

What the hell had come over him?

Ruthlessly, Cole suppressed all trace of the kaleidoscope of emotions that had tipped him off-kilter for the past few minutes. He needed to get a grip.

He still wanted an answer to his question. But maybe if he was on familiar ground he wouldn't be so susceptible to the allure of her.

Pulling a business card from his inside jacket pocket, he pressed it into her hand. "This isn't the place for this conversation. If you want to continue it, come by my office. Anytime." He strode to the door. "If not, I'll be in touch to find out when your next appointment is."

Cole hurried out and down the hallway, not stopping until he was safely ensconced in the Camaro with the motor revved and the windows rolled up tight. He heaved a sigh, leaning his head against the back of the seat. He felt gut-shot.

Damn, what had he gone and done now? He wondered how she felt about their kiss. About him.

Not that he cared, he reminded himself firmly.

But the woman must have some sort of uncanny power over him. How could a simple kiss nearly reduce his resolve to dust? His face still tingled from the caress of her hair. He'd literally had to force himself to step back instead of keeping her in his arms and dragging her home with him.

He stifled a groan.

He was finding it difficult to ignore all the things about her that had won him over seven months ago. Beauty, certainly, even if she wasn't runway pretty. But it was more than looks. Much more. Rini possessed a quiet strength—one he wasn't even sure she was aware of, veiled as it was by a cloak of incredible vulnerability. He couldn't help but notice how surprised and bewildered she'd been at every little kindness he'd shown her, before she'd retreated behind her anger. Almost as if she didn't think she was worthy of consideration.

He shook his head, clearing it of his wayward thoughts. He couldn't let himself think like this or he'd be lost. She'd fooled him once, but he'd be damned if he'd let it happen again.

She'd left him for no reason, abandoned him after everything they'd shared the night before. And deny it though she might, she had also thought about abandoning their baby. She must have, to have been there in Henderson's office. It didn't matter that she'd apparently changed her mind. How could a woman even consider doing something like that?

There was no way he could ever sympathize with a woman who would seriously think about giving away her child. And he certainly couldn't ever love someone like that.

He sat up and ground the Z into gear. He would never, ever let his son grow up knowing he wasn't wanted by his own mother or father.

As he had.

Even if Rini didn't love or want their baby, he did. So she just may as well get used to the idea of him being around.

He would not abandon his child. Not as long as there was a single breath left in his body.

* * *

Rini peered up at the number on the shabby brick building in Old Town Pasadena and shrugged. Hardly the office style she expected for Colton Lonetree, considering the expensive suits he wore and the shiny new convertible he drove. But then again, maybe he only spent money on himself, on outward appearances. He wouldn't be the first man she'd known who did that.

She pulled into an empty spot a block away and trudged back to the building, then groaned out loud at the discovery that there was no elevator to his third floor office. It figured.

Why she had come here was beyond her. Obviously, it was some sort of pregnancy-induced feeblemindedness. But she had to find out what Colton Lonetree really wanted from her. He'd served her with notice of intent to block the adoption he was certain she was pursuing, and had hinted about claiming his paternal rights. Then he'd shown up at Dr. Morris's office yesterday, checking up on her. Obviously he didn't believe she was keeping the baby. She'd have to convince him she was.

But then what? What would he want from her then?

This had to be about his heritage. If she promised he could see the child and teach him about his nation and Native American culture, maybe he'd be satisfied.

Unless it wasn't about his heritage.

But what else could it be?

Alexa was convinced he wanted to sue for full custody. He knew how poor Rini was; he knew she had no job and little hope of completing her degree when the baby arrived. He was a rich lawyer who wouldn't want his child growing up like that. She had no money to hire her own attorney. Cole would surely win and take her baby away from her.

Rini gripped the railing, fighting the feeling of helplessness that threatened to envelop her. It had been impossible to imagine handing over her child to her own sister. How would it feel to be forced to give him to a virtual stranger?

No! It wouldn't happen.
It couldn't.

Taking a deep breath, she remembered the expression of joy and wonder on Cole's face as he'd listened to the baby's heartbeat and watched the sonogram monitor. She thought of her own father and how much he'd loved his two girls.

She let out her breath slowly. Maybe Cole wasn't a heartless brute. Maybe he really loved and wanted the baby.

What would she do then?

Catching her breath on the second floor landing, she leaned back against the wall for a moment. No matter what happened, she could not allow herself to succumb to the physical lure of Colton Lonetree. That would just be inviting disaster.

She recalled with mortification her reaction to him when he'd kissed her yesterday at the doctor's office. Making her yearn for more, longing to relive the soothing touch of his hands and the warm feel of his skin against hers.

Pregnancy must have totally scrambled her common sense. Being attracted to him was not an option. Even if he was the father of her child. And even if she had once lain down with him and shared such a profound experience that she'd come away ready to risk everything to be with him.

Until she'd found out exactly what kind of a man he was.

Apparently, she had a weakness for handsome, sweet-talking cheats who wanted to control her life. She'd spent her childhood trying to please a scornful, overbearing mother, and it seemed that when she grew up she unheedingly fell for men who would take her mother's place without missing a beat.