When the last shred of patience evaporated, she shoved at his shoulders until he tumbled laughing on his bed against the pillows. Boxers and nightgown hit the floor and she straddled him, bracing herself with her hands on his solid shoulders. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness now and she could just see him there against the white linen
s, grinning up at her with a flash of white teeth that gave her a glimpse of the warrior hidden deep inside this self-proclaimed computer nerd. And as always, that tantalizing peek made her even hungrier for more.
His hands on her hips, her hair falling around them, their moans and murmurs blending as their bodies merged, they reached that dazzling summit together, clinging there for as long as they could draw it out before they plunged almost simultaneously over the edge into a maelstrom of mindless sensation. Collapsing into his strong arms afterward, she wasn’t sure she’d ever catch another full breath or form another coherent sentence, but at the moment, she just didn’t care.
She was so glad to have him back home.
* * *
The doctor’s appointment the following Monday went well. With the exception of slightly elevated blood pressure, Stevie was pronounced healthy, as was the baby. Though she’d been seeing the doctor only once a month until then, she was instructed to come in every other week from that point on. Dr. Prescott didn’t seem overly concerned about the blood pressure reading, but she said they should monitor it closely just to be on the safe side. Stevie didn’t argue.
“You were right,” Cole said as he drove them away from the appointment. “I liked your doctor very much.”
“I thought you would. She’s great.”
He was frowning a little when he asked, “Do you have a history of high blood pressure?”
“No. But it’s okay. She said it’s probably nothing to worry about, remember? It wasn’t much higher than usual. How cool was it when she said those funny little feelings I’ve noticed during the past week are probably the baby kicking? I mean, I thought it could be, but they were just little flutters, not like real kicks yet, so I wasn’t completely sure. But she said it’s very likely that’s what I’m feeling and it should start getting strong and it won’t be long until you’ll be able to feel it from the outside. And they’re doing the next ultrasound in just four more weeks and we should be able to tell the gender by then so we can start narrowing down our list of names and it’s all just so exciting.”
He chuckled and she realized she’d let her enthusiasm carry her away for the moment. “Sorry. I know you heard her say all of that. I’m just glad the checkup went well. I get nervous every time beforehand.”
“I noticed,” he said, and she made a little face as she remembered how restless she’d been that morning, pacing through the house and checking the clock every few minutes until it was time to leave. “You were too nervous to eat much this morning. Want to stop for a bite somewhere?”
She tilted her head in consideration, then nodded. “Actually, I’m starving. You know what sounds good? Sushi.”
“Aren’t you supposed to avoid—”
“I know, raw fish is a bad idea in pregnancy. So maybe I’ll just have udon noodles with chicken. That’s sort of like sushi, right?”
He laughed. “That’s nothing like sushi, other than being from the same country, but okay. We’ll find udon noodles. Whatever you want.”
Whatever you want. He said those words a lot, she mused, thoughtfully twisting a lock of hair. Sometimes she still felt as if their relationship was very uneven, as though she were the one getting most of the benefits while he was the one doing the bulk of the giving. That was still hard for her to get used to.
Someday, she promised herself, she’d find a way to do something special for Cole, other than preparing good meals for him and trying to make a nice home with him.
They chose to dine at a small Asian fusion chain restaurant located in a midtown shopping center. It was a popular destination for workday lunch crowds, and though it was a bit later than the work rush, the place was still busy. They’d just spotted an available two-top and Cole had pulled out a chair for Stevie when a woman said his name.
“Cole? I thought that was you.”
The woman was tall and fit, her skin lightly tanned and her brown hair sun-streaked as if she spent a lot of time outdoors. Something about the way she smiled at Cole made Stevie’s feminine nerve endings tingle in awareness. She had to resist an urge to take a step closer to him. She’d never in her life been the possessive or jealous type. She wondered in bewilderment if pregnancy hormones were messing with her again.
“Oh, hi, Jessica. Nice to see you,” Cole said cordially, his hands still on the back of the chair.
“Sorry you didn’t make it for sparring last week,” she commented. “We missed you there.”
“I was out of town on business. I’ll try to make it next time. Oh, uh, Jessica Lopez, this is my wife, Stevie.”
Stevie noted that the other woman’s gaze slid down to her little baby bump, paused there a moment, then lifted back to her face. Jessica definitely had had a little crush on Cole, and was fully resigned now that nothing would ever come of it.
Because Stevie couldn’t blame any woman for being drawn to Cole, she added a bit more warmth to her voice when she said, “It’s very nice to meet you.”
“Yeah, you, too. See you, Cole.”
Cole motioned Stevie into the chair he still held for her. Drinks were self-serve at this ultracasual place, so he asked what she wanted then went to fetch it while she thought about the little encounter with Jessica.
She doubted Jessica was the only woman who’d been drawn to Cole during the past few years. She was sure he met nice women at his gym, on his business trips, in other everyday pursuits. He’d said he liked being married, but he’d apparently made no effort to court anyone during the five years he’d been single, not until her own situation had spurred him into action. So had he really been satisfied living on his own—or had no one lived up to his memories?
He’d implied on their wedding night that he’d been attracted to her for a while, though he’d done a good job of masking it during their year of platonic friendship. Would he ever have acted on that attraction had it not been for her pregnancy? Could she take encouragement in the fact that he’d chosen to finally change his single status for her, even though it had taken a fairly significant development to prod him into it?