Trouble In Dixie (34 page)

After he cleaned himself up, he opened the
drain with his toe, and said, "Okay dinner time," then he slid his
legs out from under her, pushed up and stepped out of the tub.

Katie went to stand and he tsked, so she sat
back down, and watched him walk dripping wet across the floor to
the linen closet, where he pulled out three fluffy towels, and
wrapped one around his waist. When he came back, her eyes traveled
up his long muscular legs, across his broad chest to his eyes.

"I'd like to lick you dry," she told him
breathlessly, with renewed desire pushing through her body.

His dark brows lifted, and his jaw clenched,
then he said gruffly, "Behave, woman!"

She grinned at him and batted her eyes
innocently, "I am behaving...when I'm bad you'll know it."

His face flushed and he bent down and put
his arms under hers and helped her stand then held her arm, while
she stepped out of the tub. When she was standing in front of him,
naked as a jaybird, she felt a little self-conscious about her
changing body, and tried to cover herself. He pulled her arm away
from her breasts and his heated eyes traveled slowly over her. She
didn't think he'd have to dry her off after his perusal, because
she was sure all the water on her skin had evaporated.

"You are so beautiful, darlin'...even more
beautiful with my babies growing inside of you," he told her and
his voice crackled with emotion.

Emotion clogged her throat, her heart
squeezed in her chest, and she felt the sting of tears behind her
eyes. This man loved her, really and truly loved her. He didn't
care if she was rough around the edges at times, or if she was rich
or poor, he loved her just like she was...big and pregnant, or sexy
and slim. He was a lifetime kind of man, not just a flash in the
pan good time guy. As mad as she got at him sometimes, she still
loved him, and couldn't live without him...didn't want to live
without him. Taking a step forward, she put her arm around his
waist and hugged him. "I love you, Tommy Tucker...even when you
piss me off."

He trembled, then she heard the breath
whoosh from his lungs. "So, you forgive me?"

"Yeah, I forgive you..." she told him then
looked up into his eyes, and warned, "Just don't do it again."

He took a finger and crossed it over his
heart and said, "Never again, baby...I'm truly sorry," then he bent
down and kissed her gently.

Tommy removed the plastic bag from her
injured arm, and Katie stood there, while he towel-dried her hair,
then skimmed the towel over her body, before dropping it to the
floor. He picked up the robe she'd brought into the bathroom with
her and slid it over the splint, and helped her shrug into it,
before he belted it at her waist. It almost didn't close over the
mound of her ever-growing baby bump.

"I'm getting huge really fast," she said
with a frown, then added, "I'm going to have to get some more
clothes."

"We'll go shopping tomorrow, and buy you a
whole new wardrobe," he told her with a big grin. "I'm sure they
have your size somewhere in town."

She balled her fist and playfully punched
his shoulder, "Hey, this is all your fault, you know!"

"I'm not the one who insisted we use an
expired condom," he volleyed.

"No, you're the one who hadn't had sex in
four years and didn't even have one on him, after you got me all
worked up!"

"Me? I'm not the one who wanted to have car
sex...although, as worked up as
you
got
me
, I'd have
done you on the hood of my truck!"

Katie's breathing stopped at the visual
image that presented, and she told him with a waggle of her brows,
"Put that on our list, will ya?"

"We have a list now?" he chuckled, but she
saw desire spike in his hazel eyes.

"If we don't, we're going to make one...you
need an education," she told him smugly.

He growled and pulled her into his arms, "As
long as you're my teacher, baby, you can give me as many
assignments as you like."

Her eyebrows lifted, "I'll start my lesson
plan today," she told him and kissed his chest.

"Let's go eat, I'm starved..." he said then
took her arm and they walked slowly to the kitchen. The hot bath
must've helped her ribs, because they didn't seem as sore as they
had been earlier today...or maybe it was the stress relief, she
thought and smiled.

When they rounded the breakfast bar, she
gasped when she saw the breakfast table. Tommy had it set with fine
china plates, and silverware, and candles, and...flowers. Red
roses, primroses...true love. "Oh, my god..." she said
breathlessly.

He tensed beside her and she looked up and
saw the insecurity in his eyes. "Are the flowers right this time?"
he asked her.

"They're perfect, Tommy...everything is
perfect," she said and walked over to the table and put her nose in
the bouquet then inhaled the sweet aroma.

He huffed out a relieved breath, then went
to the oven and opened it. Rich smells filled the kitchen and his
stomach growled. "You like Italian?" he asked hopefully.

"Love it...that smells great," she said then
sat down at the table.

"Well you're gonna love this then, Marco is
a master with lasagna," he said then pulled out the tin, and set it
on a warming pad by the stove. He opened the bag of crusty bread
that Marco had given him, and grabbed a cookie sheet from the
cabinet, then laid the slabs open on the sheet, and slid them into
the oven. "Shouldn't be but a second, the bread was hot out of the
oven when I left the restaurant."

"I'm not in a hurry...thanks for doing all
this. You sure know how to apologize," she said with a warm
smile.

"You ain't seen nothing yet, sugar," he told
her, then brought the pan of lasagna to the table and set it
down.

Tommy got serving spoons and a pitcher of
ice tea from the refrigerator and put that on the table as well,
then ran back to the oven and pulled out the bread. He put it
paper-towel lined wicker basket and brought it to the table, then
sat down next to her.

Removing the covering on the lasagna, he
said, "Let's eat," then dished up a huge portion on her plate, and
laid a piece of bread on her bread plate, then filled her glass
with iced tea.

"You better stop all this, or you're gonna
spoil me," she told him and forked a bite of lasagna into her mouth
then moaned. The rich tastes tantalized her tongue and she savored
it appreciatively.

She noticed his fork hovered over his plate
and looked over at him. His eyes were dark and dilated, and his
face flushed, "As long as me spoiling you makes you make those
sounds, count on being spoiled rotten," he told her in a darkly
sensual tone.

"This is really good," she said and took
another bite.

He huffed out a breath, and then dug into
his lasagna. They chatted and laughed between bites, and Katie
thoroughly enjoyed the meal and his company. She was stuffed by the
time she pushed back from the table and rubbed her belly. "I think
the peanuts liked it too," she told Tommy with a chuckle, as the
babies kicked her in the side, rolled around a little then settled.
"They're doing a happy dance, I think."

Tommy looked at her intently a moment, then
took a long swig from his tea glass and set it back down, before he
said, "I'm doing a happy dance too, sugar...I need to go get
something, be right back," before he pushed back from the table and
walked across the living room. She saw him come back across the
living room, then take the stairs two at a time, and raised a brow
wondering what he was up to. When he came back down, he had on a
pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt that stretched across his
muscled chest.

He looked hot, not cowboy hot right now,
just good enough to eat. And if she wasn't so lethargic and
satisfied from the meal, if her limbs would cooperate and she
wasn't banged up, she would've indulged.

A mysterious smile played across his firm
lips, and his eyes glittered as he came back to the table and sat
down. "I have a present for you," he told her and handed her a long
rectangular box.

Katie looked at the box, then back up at
him, before she took it from his hand. With trembling fingers, she
opened it and gasped, then grinned from ear to ear. "Oh, Tommy,
it's beautiful!" she said in awe. Picking up the pendant by the
dainty silver chain, she held it up for a closer look.

Tommy's smile broadened and he told her,
"Now you'll have my heart with you always, and the horseshoe
represents what a lucky man I am," he told her and took it from her
fingers to stand behind her and put it around her neck. After he
clasped it, he placed a soft kiss at her nape and she shivered.

Her heart swelled with emotion, and she
swallowed down the happy sob that threatened to escape. "Oh, god,
Tommy, you're gonna make me bawl...this is so romantic...thank
you," she said in a trembling voice.

"Only happy tears, darlin'...there's more,"
he told her then her heart stopped when he dropped to his knees in
front of her and grabbed her hand. He looked down and pulled a
small square box out of his pocket, then flicked it open with his
thumb. "I haven't done this right yet...I'm fixing that," he told
her then cleared his throat, before he looked deeply into her eyes
and asked reverently, "Katie Upton, you are the love of my life,
would you make me the happiest man in the world by marrying
me?"

Katie was speechless as she dragged her eyes
from his down to the gorgeous ring he held out to her. Her breath
was caught in her throat, and she put a fist to her heart, because
it was so full it hurt.

Tears filled her eyes, and she saw his face
fall as fear showed in his eyes. She finally forced words past the
knot in her throat, "Oh, Tommy...yes, I'll marry you, for the
second time...you didn't have to do all this, sugar, but I
appreciate it. I love you so much."

Katie threw her arm around his neck and
sobbed into his shoulder. He rubbed her back and hugged her
tightly, then pulled back and took the ring from the box, and tried
to put it on her left hand, but her fingers were still too swollen.
He laughed and said, "I forgot your left arm was the one that you
broke...let's try the right for now." He grabbed her right hand and
slid the beautiful ring on her finger and it fit perfectly. She
sighed, and held it up admiring it, then leaned forward and placed
a lingering kiss on his lips.

"You done good sugar, thank you...you're
damned romantic for a rough old cowboy," she told him with a
chuckle, then put her forehead to his.

Katie heard keys scrape the doorknob of the
front door, and he got to his feet and walked that way. Dixie came
bouncing in squealing about the movie she and Karlie had seen, and
Katie smiled, then got up to slowly walk that way too. When she
rounded the door frame, Dixie came running toward her and she held
up a hand to stop her from barreling into her. "Whoa there cowgirl,
I'm still sore," she told her with a chuckle.

Karlie stood right inside the door and
looked from Tommy to her, then asked, "How's the temperature? Do we
need to go out for ice cream now?"

Tommy laughed and so did Katie, then she
grabbed Dixie's hand and walked over to Karlie and Tommy, then
dropped Dixie's hand and stuck hers out to Karlie. The whoop her
sister let out bounced off the walls and about deafened her. Her
sister evidently forgot about Katie's sore ribs, because she threw
herself against Katie and squeezed for all she was worth.

"Congratulations, sis...I'm so happy for
you," she told her in a trembling voice. When she finally let her
go, Katie clutched her ribs and bent over taking short breaths.
Karlie looked at Tommy and grinned, then said, "Bout damned time,
brother-in-law to be."

Dixie walked up and tugged on the sleeve of
Katie's robe then asked with fear in her eyes, "What happened?"

Oh, god, Katie thought, she hadn't even
thought to tell Dixie first. She took her hand again, then walked
back to the kitchen with her and sat down, then pulled her between
her knees.

She put her hand on Dixie's cheek and told
her, "Your daddy and I are getting married, sugar...is that okay
with you?"

Her eyes got very round and a grin split her
round little face, then she let out a whoop identical to Karlie's
and Katie flinched then laughed. "It's okay with you, then?"

"Heck yeah!! You're gonna be my mama!" Dixie
squealed then did a jig around the kitchen. Then she said, "And
we're gonna have two babies, and I'm gonna be a big sister! I can't
wait to tell Susie!"

Tommy stalked across the kitchen and picked
up Dixie in a bear hug, and she squeezed his neck, while he spun
her around. When he set her down, she saw tears pooling in his
eyes, and he wiped them with the back of his arm, then cleared his
throat and said, "You're gonna be the best big sister, ever
squirt...the boys will be very lucky."

Dixie scrunched her face up then said,
"Boys?"

"Yep, you're gonna have two baby brothers in
about five and a half months," he told her and grinned, then turned
to Katie and said, "And a new mama sooner than that."