Once More Chance (Chance #2; Rosemary Beach #8) (8 page)

“Around the eighteenth week of pregnancy, we will do a fetal echocardiogram to check and see if the baby has indeed inherited the condition. We need to know this before delivery. It could
save the baby’s life.” The doctor glanced down at his clipboard, then back up, looking first at Harlow and then at me. “I’ve arranged for Harlow to meet with a cardiologist
biweekly. I’ve sent him her records, and we will meet to discuss Harlow before her first visit next week. It is a key factor in making this a successful pregnancy.”

Harlow nodded beside me, and then her small hand slipped into mine and squeezed. She needed my reassurance, and I was standing here trying to deal with my own fear. I wasn’t considering
the fear that she had to be feeling. Yet she was still determined to do this.

“Be aware that you are in the high-risk category, but there are different levels within that. From what we can determine at this point, you’re on the lower end of the scale.
That’s a good thing. A very good thing,” he said, and Harlow’s hand squeezed mine again. “As for intercourse, it’s allowed. However, her heart is working overtime
right now. Nothing too intense.” He looked at me.

“But we can have, uh, sex? Right? Just nothing too, um, creative?”

The doctor bit back a grin in response to Harlow’s timid question. After clearing his throat, he nodded. “Yes. Normal activity is fine. If you follow the other instructions I gave
you, then there should no problem. Pregnancy normally requires more than average activity,” he replied as he moved his gaze back to me. “Now, I’ll see you next week after your
visit with Dr. Nelson. He will fax over your results from the visit, and we will move on from there.”

Harlow nodded and stood up, still holding my hand. “Thank you,” she said with such sincerity it broke my heart. She wanted this so bad. How was I supposed to oppose it? How was I
supposed to convince her not to do it when she wanted it so desperately? “Let’s go,” she said, looking up at me.

“Thanks,” I told the doctor, and walked with Harlow to the door.

A nurse met us in the hallway. “We have a back exit to take you through. That way, Miss Manning doesn’t have to deal with the crowd in the waiting room.”

The way she said “crowd” snapped me out of my emotional haze. What crowd?

“There have been a few arrivals since you got here. We’ve called the police. It should be cleared up soon,” the nurse explained.

Shit. Damn Melody. Had she alerted the fucking media?

“I’m so sorry,” Harlow said. I turned my attention to her and saw the horrified look on her face. Dammit. Why hadn’t I been better prepared to keep her safe from
this?

“Nothing to be sorry for, Miss Manning. We should have brought you in through the back. That was our mistake. From now on, you can enter through this door, and we will send you directly to
an exam room. You can have your privacy then.”

“Thank you,” Harlow muttered, but I didn’t miss the frustrated sound in her voice. She didn’t like the attention, and she had flown under the radar for so long. This
thing with her parents had taken her privacy away from her.

W
e could have sex. As upset as I was by the media showing up at the doctor’s office, it didn’t take away from the fact that we could
have sex. I’d been having vivid fantasies about Grant lately, and I had to fight the urge to climb on top of him when we got to the car.

“How do you feel about this doctor?” Grant asked as he pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the road toward home.

“I like him. I feel better talking to him than I did with the last doctor. This one seems to know more about my specific situation,” I replied honestly. This doctor had explained
things carefully and was thorough with his exam. He had even set up visits to a cardiologist for me. I had a cardiologist in L.A., but I needed one here. I needed one involved in this pregnancy.
The only fear I had now was that our baby might not be healthy. I didn’t want to curse this child with my heart condition.

“He seems positive,” Grant said.

I liked that he seemed positive. It made me feel like I wasn’t the only person on earth who believed I could do this. “I’m low-risk.” I repeated the doctor’s words.
I liked being low-risk.

“Yeah,” was all he said, although I could still see the pinched look on his face. He wasn’t going to accept things that easily. I understood that he was scared. The baby was
hurting me, in his eyes. He needed to accept that the baby was a gift. I believed he would in time.

“Grant,” I said, staring at his arms flexing as he drove. I wanted to lick his biceps. I was close to begging.

He glanced over at me. His eyes took me in, then went wide before he swung his gaze back to the road. “What you thinking about, baby?”

I was thinking I wanted to lick his biceps. Then his abs and that wonderful muscle that made a V and disappeared into his jeans. That was what I was thinking. “About you,” I
said.

“Shit,” he muttered, and he took a deep breath.

“The doctor said it was OK,” I reminded him.

He nodded. “Yeah, I heard him.”

I reached over and ran a finger down his arms and wrapped my hand around the muscle, which flexed as he gripped the steering wheel more tightly.

“What are you doing?” he asked in a shaky voice.

I had jumped on him in a car before. But this time, I wasn’t going to do that. We weren’t far from his apartment. I wanted to have time to explore him and kiss every perfectly
sculpted part of his body.

“Harlow?” he repeated when I didn’t respond.

“I’m just touching you. I can’t wait to do more,” I told him as I ran my finger up over his shoulder. I brushed my fingertips over the vein in his neck, which stood out
as if he were in pain.

“I can feel that, but I won’t be able to drive if you keep that up.”

Maybe I couldn’t wait until we made it back to the apartment. “Could you pull over?” I asked, feeling my breathing pick up with anticipation.

Grant let out a string of curses before pulling off an exit and into the parking lot of the first nice hotel we came to, which we had seen from the highway. He had barely put the truck into park
when he swung his door open and jumped out. I watched in fascination as he stalked around the front of the truck and opened my door.

Both of his hands grabbed my waist, and he pulled me out of the truck, even though I didn’t need his help.

“Not taking you in a damn truck,” was all he said as he grabbed my hand and led us inside.

It took him no time to get a room. When we stepped onto the elevator, he backed me up against the wall and kissed me. Really kissed me for the first time since he’d shown up at
Mase’s. This kiss wasn’t holding back anything. His hands gripped my hips tightly in a possessive, hungry grasp as his mouth moved over mine. When his tongue slid across mine, I tasted
the mint from his gum and shivered at the intimate contact. The dinging of the elevator reminded us that we weren’t alone yet.

Grant broke the kiss and then stepped back to stare down at me. “I need to taste you. All of you,” he said, before taking my hand again and leading me down the hall toward room 2200.
He touched the key card to the door, and the green light blinked. He swung the door open, revealing a suite.

“We just needed a bed,” I said, smiling as I looked around at the large room, complete with a bar and a gas fireplace.

“Once I get you naked, baby,” he said, closing in on me, “I don’t intend to let you get dressed for a while. We need a nice big tub and a place where I can cuddle you.
Not just a bed.”

Oh. OK.

Grant started to lower his mouth to mine, then stopped. Suddenly, I was in the air. “We need a bed. Now,” he said, pressing a kiss to my lips as he walked us toward the bedroom. He
laid me down, then stood back up and stared at me. The hunger and desire were there, but the love . . . it was burning even stronger. “I’m sorry,” he said, without moving to take
off my clothes or his own, even though I really wanted one of us to be getting naked.

“About what?” I asked, confused.

He ran a finger down the side of my face in a gentle caress. “For hurting you. For letting you leave me. For being a son of a bitch,” he whispered as he continued to gaze down at
me.

I leaned up on my elbows. “You’re forgiven. Now, would you get naked?” I said with a smile. He starting laughing as he reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his
head, gifting me with the view of his spectacular chest. Oh, yes. That was what I wanted.

“You’re a little impatient, aren’t you, sweet girl?” he said in a sexy drawl. He unsnapped his jeans and left them open before bending down to press a kiss to my lips.
“I’ve never seen you so needy,” he said as he nibbled on my bottom lip and took small, little licks, sending me into a frenzy.

“I told you I missed you,” I reminded him, feeling a little self-conscious for being so demanding.

“Yeah, you did. I thought you missed my handsome face. Didn’t know you missed the pleasure,” he said in a teasing tone as his hands found the button on my jeans.

I watched his defined muscles move and flex deliciously as he tugged my jeans down and then crawled over me like a hungry lion. He stopped at my stomach and pressed a kiss just below my navel,
then traveled up as he moved my T-shirt up. I lifted my arms so he could slip my shirt off. His hands made quick work of my bra, and he threw it to the floor. The sight of his large, tanned hands
cupping my now-swollen breasts made me tremble.

“They’re bigger,” he said, holding them as if they were something precious.

“Happens during pregnancy,” I explained, but I was barely able to speak above a whisper. He lowered his mouth, and his tongue darted out to lick at one of my very attentive nipples.
Just the sight of him had them standing at attention. I was now so excited they tingled.

“Oh!” I gasped, twisting my hands in the covers underneath me. Grant’s eyes shot up to me, and he watched me closely as he pulled my overly eager nipple into his mouth.
“Ahhhh!” I cried out. There was no use trying not to make noises. I couldn’t control myself.

Grant let it pop from his mouth as he ran his lips over the tip and pressed a trail of kisses to the other one, giving it the same amount of attention, as I made desperate, panting pleas.

When he started to pull away, my hands left their firm grip on the sheets to grab his hair instead and hold him there. I was so close to a release with just his mouth alone. I didn’t want
him leaving me now.

“Let me go lower, baby. I want to taste some more,” he said in a husky whisper as he stared up at me, brushing his lips over my sensitive buds. I eased my firm hold on his ear, and
he grinned before kissing back down my body. He didn’t have to open my legs—I was shamelessly opening them for him. I knew where he was headed, and I wanted him there. More than
anything else in the world at this moment, I wanted Grant Carter’s head between my legs.

I
f Harlow cried out and made that whimpering, begging sound one more time, I was going to lose my shit. I swear to God, I had never been this
worked up in my life. Every time I touched her, she trembled and writhed beneath me like she couldn’t get enough. I felt like I had some magical touch, and it was a fucking heady feeling.

With every swipe of my tongue, she cried out my name, and her hands were back in my hair as if she had to hold on to me to keep from falling. I loved it. I loved this power and knowing she was
receiving pleasure at my hands. With my mouth. Fuck, this was mind-blowing.

“Please, inside me, please,” she said in a desperate pant, and I didn’t let my fears or any other thought stop me. I stood up and got rid of my jeans in one move, then slid
back over her. She opened her legs to me so willingly and grabbed my arms with her hands as her body arched into me. I hadn’t even gotten inside her yet, and she was moaning. Holy fuck.

“Baby, you keep doing that, and I won’t last very long. This will be over way too soon,” I told her as I slid slowly into her. My eyes rolled back, and this time, the moan of
pleasure was mine. She felt tighter and almost swollen inside. There was nothing in my life that had ever felt this good. Not even the first time I’d been inside her. This . . . this was it.
The moment that changed your world. The moment that didn’t just show you heaven but walked you right inside it.

“
Grant
!” she screamed as she wrapped her legs around me. Her silky heat began to squeeze me hard. She clawed at my back and chanted my name. That was all it took for me to
follow her. Throwing back my head, I cried out her name and filled her. Marked her.

Made sure she would never doubt that she was mine.

“Can we do it again?” Harlow asked after we both caught our breath.

Chuckling, I rolled over and pulled her over on top of me. “Not right yet. I’d rather put you in a bath and let you soak while I get us some room service. Then I intend to give you a
foot massage and hold you on that big-ass sofa out there in front of the fireplace.” She needed pampering. Hadn’t she been listening to the doctor?

“I like foot massages . . . but I like sex better.”

“No overdoing it. You heard the doctor. Let’s take it easy on you, OK? Let me take care of you. Please,” I said, needing her to understand.

She let out an exaggerated sigh. “Fine. I guess I’ll let you bathe me and spoil me.
Sacrifices
.”

Laughing, I kissed her head and moved to get up. I couldn’t sit here with her in my arms like this and not get carried away. I only needed a little encouragement. “You stay put.
I’ll go get your bath ready. Then I’ll come get you,” I told her before grabbing my jeans and tugging them back on.

She rolled over to watch me. “You could get into the bath with me,” she said, with her eyes on the zipper of my jeans.

“Not that strong, baby. I’ll have to settle for bathing you instead.” I headed for the bathroom before I caved in and did whatever she asked me to.

“Grant,” she called out after me.

“Yeah?” I turned back to see her sitting up in the bed with the sheet at her waist so that her beautiful, much larger tits were right there for me to drool over.