"Lucky looked ready to kill Sage when they came in," Tanya remarked.
Chase and she were driving home in their car. He'd left the truck at the house, unwilling to subject his wife to its rankness, rattles, and rough ride.
"Sage has always been a pain," he said, but with a grudgingly affectionate smile. "She must've said something to him about their houseguest."
"I like her."
"Sage?"
"No." Tanya corrected him indulgently, knowing he had intentionally misunderstood her. "Their house guest."
"Hmm. She's okay, I guess. She pulled through for us today. Didn't crack under pressure, and stayed as cool as a cucumber. I believed every word she said. A jury will, too."
"Do you think she's attractive?"
Hearing the uncertainty in his wife's voice, Chase parked in their designated space at the apartment complex and turned to face her. "I think you are attractive," he avowed softly, stretching across the seat to gently kiss her forehead.
"But Devon's so smart and sophisticated."
"And you're so pregnant with my baby." Working his way inside her clothing, Chase laid his hand on her bare abdomen. "When did you first suspect?"
"Last week. My period was more than two weeks late. I took a home pregnancy test yesterday, but didn't want to trust i
t entirely, no matter how reliable the guarantee on the box claimed it was. So I called the doctor and made an appointment for this morning. He confirmed it."
"You don't feel any different," he whispered as he caressed her.
Laughing, she ran her fingers through his hair. "I hope not. Not yet."
His caresses increased in intensity. Their kisses became prolonged. Finally Tanya pushed him away. "Maybe we had better go inside."
"Maybe we'd better," he agreed on a suggestive growl.
As soon as they had cleared the door to their apartment, he pulled her toward the living-room sofa. "Chase," she protested, "it's only a few more steps to the bedroom."
"That's too many."
He had already stripped off his shirt. Easing his zipper over his swollen sex, he pulled off his pants and underwear. Impatiently he removed Tanya's clothes, too. It wasn't until he was poised between her thighs that reason penetrated his passion.
"I won't hurt you, will I?"
"No."
"You'll tell me, won't you?"
"Yes, Chase."
"Promise?"
"Promise," she groaned, urging him forward and receiving him fully.
"God, I love you," he whispered into her hair several minutes later as they held each other in the sultry afterglow of their lovemaking.
"I love you too." Snuggling closer to him, she pressed her mouth against his chest. "I feel sorry for anybody who isn't as happy as we are. Especially Devon and Lucky."
Tanya didn't have an envious bone in her body. She was unselfish and generous to a fault. However, she harbored insecurities the same as any other human being. Hers stemmed from her background.
She came from a large, hardworking, but always poor farming family. Schooling beyond high school graduation had been out of the question, and she regarded anyone who had earned a college degree with disproportionate admiration.