Tantalizing Maria (The Temptation Saga 7)

“Sure they will.” Maria groped in the cabinet under the sink for her box of pads. Meghan was too little for a tampon.

“Here they are.” She pulled out a pad and unwrapped it. “You just pull off the paper here and it sticks to your panties.”

A jolt hit her. Déjà vu. Only it had been…how many weeks since she’d used one of these? Not being sexually active, she hadn’t bothered keeping track, but her cycles were pretty regular. About every four weeks. But her last period had been well over four weeks ago, maybe even five or six.

Oh my God.

She and Jeff had used protection—the second time anyway. But he had pulled out the first time. Not a reliable method. How stupid were they? Truth be told, she hadn’t given it more than a thought. She’d been so overcome with desire… Oh! She wanted to slap herself. Her skin grew cold. She rubbed her arms.

“Are you okay?” Meghan asked.

She cleared her throat. “Yes, yes. Of course.” Her sister was becoming a woman, and she was centered on herself.

But what would she do?

No reason to worry. It was probably nothing. Stress, of course. Jeff had been arrested, and she’d been worried…

God, Jeff had been arrested! A man was dead. He’d be going to jail for sure. For how long, she had no idea.

She wanted to believe he was innocent. In her heart, she knew he was, but even so, he’d been caught red-handed at the scene of a robbery and a murder.

What would she do if she was pregnant?

She inhaled and turned back to Meghan. “Can you handle everything now?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“This is nothing to worry about, Megs. Just a part of growing up. If you have any questions, you know where I am.”

“Should I, like, stay inside or anything?”

“No, of course not. You can do anything you want to do. Except swimming. You need a tampon

for that, and I think you’re probably too young for those. And in five or six days it’ll be gone.”

“Okay.” Meghan walked out of the bathroom.

Maria set the cover on the toilet seat down and plopped onto it. What to do? Her heart skittered. She’d read in McCall’s magazine about a new home pregnancy test that had come on the market. It was ten dollars. She’d scrape together the money and buy one.

No reason to worry until she knew for sure.

But she had a sinking feeling she already knew.

Chapter Twenty-One

Jeff tottered around in the kitchen, looking for something to eat. Maria was asleep in his bed. Where she belonged. He’d closed the door so as not to disturb her when hunger had led him out for a snack.

He glanced at the clock on the counter. Nine thirty. They hadn’t left the house all day. Maria had been there since she’d shown up that morning with breakfast.

His Mia. They were together again. God, so much time lost! But they were on their way to making up for all of it.

He jerked when someone pounded on the door. What the hell?

He went to the door. No peephole. “Who is it?” he asked. Could be Harper. Or maybe one of the hands.

No response.

Well, that’s weird. He lived on a private ranch. The knocking sounded again. Perhaps whoever it was hadn’t heard him? He wasn’t scared, exactly. Still, something whispered to him to leave well enough alone.