Only You (22 page)

He slipped his hand in front of her and unbuttoned her jeans. “Lift your hips,” he said in a gruff voice.

Silently she lifted herself off the bed enough for him to slide her jeans off. He hooked his fingers inside the top of her pink, lacy panties. “If I had known what you had on under your jeans, I’d have dragged you into bed hours ago.” He traced the contours of her behind through the silky lace and smiled to himself when she inhaled sharply. He slipped off her panties and tossed them aside.

He skimmed his fingers over her back and down her legs, savoring her softness. He lingered at her opening, and felt her tremble as he slipped his fingertips into her wet heat. He felt heavy and ready to take her, but wanted to make this time about her. He pulled away, shucked off his clothes and climbed back on to the bed. He rested his length against her, letting her feel how hard he was, rubbing himself against the softness of her behind. She pushed up against him.

“I can’t stand it,” she pleaded.

He smiled into her neck as he tasted her sweat. “If I can, you can. Roll over.”

He knelt above her as she rolled onto her back. She glowed, her skin a rosy pink covered with a fine sheen of sweat. He bent and licked a drop that had lodged in the hollow of her throat. She made him think of the electrical storms he’d watched from this very room last year. The air crackled around her, and when he took her mouth in a drugging kiss, she moaned deep in her throat and arched up into him.

Suddenly, he lost control of his intention to prolong their lovemaking. He positioned himself above her, and she grabbed his shoulders as he surged into her, her tightness creating an almost unbearable friction. She clenched beneath him and cried out his name as he felt his tension build to the breaking point. He tried to hold himself back, but it proved impossible as Maggie convulsed around him. Her body vibrated under his, and knowing she was as out of control as he felt, he poured himself into her.

When his panting had calmed to almost normal breathing, he heard Maggie sniff beneath him. His heart froze at the sound, and he peeled himself off of her, cursing himself for taking her too roughly.

“I’m sorry.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her slender body close. He kissed her forehead. “I can’t seem to control myself around you. I’m so sorry if I hurt you. Please forgive me.”

She thumped her fist against his chest. “You didn’t hurt me.”

He leaned back to look at her. She sure looked like one happy lady. If her smile got any wider, it would split her face.

“You weren’t crying?”

She blushed. “Maybe a little. Making love to you is like . . . I don’t know. I want to say mind-blowing, but that’s not a strong enough word.”

He knew his smile was smug, but damned if he could help himself. “Maybe someday I’ll control myself enough to give you more than the fast edition. With you . . .” He slid his hand into her wild curls and poured all the tenderness he felt for her into a kiss. “You make me wild.”

“Maybe if we have sex a lot, someday we’ll be able to prolong the experience. Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”

“I think I could get on board with that,” he said as he settled down on the bed and pulled her into his arms again.

Having sex with Maggie didn’t pose a problem. Making love to her—what they’d just done—brought a whole host of problems. Maggie was smart enough to know that as well. So where did they go from here? It wasn’t going to be easy to walk away from Maggie Kennedy. He’d known that from the first day he’d met her, but he’d still been in hermit mode then, and the impact hadn’t been as powerful as it was now.

Strange how one person could make such a drastic change in his life. He’d laughed more since he’d met Maggie than he had for the last two years.

And she’d brought his whole sensual self to life again. He loved holding her in his arms, kissing her, making love to her. As ridiculous as it sounded, he kind of felt like Sleeping Beauty, only nix the beauty part. Maggie’s kisses had awakened him. And it wasn’t just his sex life she’d impacted. Food tasted better, the air smelled cleaner. Hell, he’d even started to get interested in designing houses again. Was it possible to attribute all the changes in his life to one woman?

 He couldn’t imagine his life without her in it.

Lydia had lied to him about Donnie being his child. No way would Maggie do the same thing. If she said she was pregnant with his child, he believed her. Maggie wasn’t Lydia. End of argument.

“Do you mind if we stop by the barn on our way home?” Maggie asked a few hours later. “I meant to stop this morning to see Lulu.”

Had it only been this morning that she’d set out in Sammie’s car? So much had happened: the detectives, the photos of Donnie, making love with JD.

Watching JD struggle with his feelings for Donnie had made her admit to herself that she was in love with him and probably would always love him. She felt his pain as acutely as though it were her own. That only happened to her with people she loved, and she’d loved precious few people in her life.

She loved JD. Or could, if she could find a way to get past the obstacle of not knowing how to open her heart completely. She loved Claire and Sammie, but they hardly counted, because they’d always been there for her. They were family. She’d tried to love the Kennedys, but maybe not as hard as she should have. And she wanted to believe, at least in the beginning, that she’d loved Dominic, but now she realized what she’d felt for her ex-husband had more to do with neediness than true love. She hadn’t felt the fierceness of emotion that she did with JD.

“Sorry. I was cloud gathering. What did you say?” JD said from the driver’s seat.

Maggie laughed. “Cloud gathering?”

“What my dad used to call daydreaming.”

“What were you cloud gathering about?” She cringed. She hated when someone asked her what she was thinking. If she wanted to tell them, she’d tell them.

“I was wondering where Ethan is. He’s not answering his phone. And I was thinking about those detectives. I’d like to know who hired them. What was it you asked me?”

She looked at her clasped hands. “I’d like to visit Lulu. I want to buy her.”

JD glanced at her before turning his attention back to the road. “You want to buy Lulu.”

“She suits me, and I plan on sticking around for a few years. I’d like to have a horse again.”

“What if you don’t stick around?”

“JD, I bought a house. I’m starting a business and having a child. I’m not going anywhere.” What was going on here? Why would he think she’d just up and leave?

“What happens if you find out who your parents are?”

“Then I’ll have my family medical history. Which will be good once Blueberry arrives.”

“Blueberry? What kind of name is that?”

Maggie tucked her smile out of sight. He sounded as if he had a vested interest in the baby’s name. “It’s how big she is this week, the size of a blueberry.”

JD let his gaze drop to her belly. “A blueberry. Amazing.”

“Next week is raspberry.”

“Good to know. But to get back to the point I was trying to make, what if your parents want you to be part of their life? They might ask you to move.”

She settled her hands over her stomach protectively. She’d noticed she was doing that more and more often. It felt good to cradle her baby. “I doubt very much that’s going to happen. They haven’t wanted to be a part of my life so far, and like I said, I’m building a life here. I’m not going to drop everything and run to them because they’re suddenly interested in me. If I even find out who they are,” she added. Damn. She hadn’t meant to sound so wistful.

JD pulled up to the barn and parked. He covered her hands with his. “If they want to meet you, you don’t have to face them alone. I’ll go with you, Maggie. Whatever happens, you’re not on your own.”

She pressed her lips together. “Are you trying to make me cry?”

He grinned and squeezed her hand. “I was trying to make you feel better, but it’s a risky proposition these days. Come on.” He opened his door. “Let’s go see Lulu.”

When he opened her door and held his arms open, she slid into them from the raised front cab. “So you’ll sell her to me?”  

“As long as you plan on sticking around. I can’t have you leaving her and breaking her heart.”

She held on to his forearms for longer than necessary. She loved the way his muscles corded under her touch. “I’m not in the habit of breaking hearts.”

“I know it. But Lulu’s had a rough ride up till now, and she’s fragile.”

Maggie peered at him. Was he talking about the horse or himself? Did he even know what was he doing? When Clay and Dave came out of the barn, she put the thought aside to be examined later.

“You look better than you did this morning.” Clay put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her.

“Thanks for coming to my rescue.” From the corner of her eye, she saw JD answer his phone and wander off a few yards.

“I was sorry to hear about all the shenanigans, Maggie,” Dave said. “I still think you should call the police.” He scowled at Clay. Obviously, they’d argued about contacting the authorities. But if her real parents were involved in some way, she felt an odd need to protect them. Not that she owed them anything.

“Clay came and got me, and we hauled Sammie’s car into the garage to be fixed. I don’t know, though.” Dave took his cowboy hat off, ran a hand through his hair and put his hat back on. “The mechanic says it needs a lot of work. Sammie should buy another car.”

“Did you phone and tell her?”

She watched a blush climb into Dave’s cheeks. “No, ma’am. I thought you’d want to.”

“You know the details about the car. You should phone her. You have her number, right?”

“Suppose I do. Guess I could do that for you.”

He looked like he’d agreed to wrestle a bull or something equally disagreeable. She winked at Clay, hooked her arm through Dave’s and steered him toward the barn. “Coming, Clay?”

“I’ve got to get back to work,” he called out to them as he made his way to his truck. “See you later.”

She waved and turned back to Dave. “If I bought Lulu, do you think I could leave her here? I won’t be able to ride her for a few months, but I’d stop by as often as I could to help with chores.”

“You wanna buy Lulu? She’s a good horse, I keep telling JD.”

“I like her a lot.” As they entered the barn, she stopped to allow her eyes to adjust to the dark interior. “But I don’t want to make more work for you. You probably know I’m pregnant?”

She couldn’t be certain, but she thought he blushed again. “I heard. Congratulations. I think you’ll be a great mother.”

“Thank you, Dave.”

He looked over his shoulder toward the barn opening. “Is JD really the father?”

“He is, but he’s a little slow getting up to speed.”

“I thought we were going to lose him after Donnie died.” He leaned against Lulu’s stall. “It wasn’t really until you showed up that he started acting like himself again.”

“I can’t imagine how anyone recovers from losing a child.” She blinked back tears. She was such an idiot. Had she thought if she jollied JD along, he’d pull out of his depression and everything would be peachy keen? Really? She put her hands on her stomach. The thought of losing her child was unimaginable. Absolutely horrifying.

“Don’t start crying. JD’ll have my hide if you do. Don’t you worry about a thing. JD’s good, through and through. You’ll see. Things’ll work out.”

“Thanks.” She swallowed her fear. “So, how much is Lulu worth?”

“You’ll have to talk to JD about that. He paid a couple grand for her.”

“Okay.” She smiled when Lulu stuck her head over the stall and snorted softly. Maggie ran her hand over the horse’s velvet nose. “Hey there, you. Miss me?”

When Lulu pushed against her hand, Maggie laughed. Dave handed Maggie a carrot, and she held her palm open as Lulu gently nipped it out of her hand. “I guess I should talk to Ethan about leaving her here. I keep forgetting it’s his ranch.”

“I think half the time he forgets it, too.” His eyes turned bleak.

Maggie’s gaze shot to Dave’s. He was such a mild-mannered man that his sudden bitterness surprised her. “There’s a lot of change going round these days. No doubt things will settle down soon.”

“I’m not good with change. Comes with getting old.”

“You’re hardly old, Dave.”

“That’s what I keep telling him.” JD walked out of the sunlight into the dark barn. “How’s Lulu?”

Maggie rubbed her cheek against Lulu’s. “I wish I could ride her.”

“Don’t even think about it. Ready to go?”

She and Dave exchanged grins. JD didn’t realize he was acting like a father-to-be. They said their good-byes to Dave. JD took her elbow and guided her out into the sunshine and back into his truck.

“You’re very quiet,” JD murmured partway to her house. “Everything okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I? Today, I mean, when we . . . you know.”

She reached over and covered his hand on the steering wheel. “I’m fine. Really. I was wondering when Claire and Sammie are coming back. I miss them. Plus, I don’t imagine you’ll let me stay at the house by myself.”

“You’ve got that right. I brought my wash-up kit, but if you need space, I don’t mind sleeping on the living room couch.”

She gave him a saucy grin. “I hope you don’t. I don’t think there’s enough room for both of us on that old couch.”

“Good one.” He grinned. “Sammie and Claire are coming home tomorrow. That was Ethan on the phone back at the barn.” He pulled into her driveway and turned off the engine. “Ethan flew to San Francisco yesterday.”

“No way!”

“Guess he wanted to make sure Claire was coming back. He flew his jet down there to pick them up.” JD’s smile dimmed. “He also met with his detective, Stan Campbell. ”

Maggie put her hand on her stomach. It felt like there was a nest of hornets buzzing in her belly. “What did Mr. Campbell have to say?”

JD leaned his back against the door. “The two detectives who were here are legitimate. They work out of LA and are apparently favorites among actors for making problems go away.”

The buzzing in her stomach increased. “Someone thinks I’m a problem that needs to disappear?”