“Really?”
I reached over and cupped her jaw in my hands. “No.”
“But you have this huge sexual appetite—”
“Says the girl who wouldn’t stop having sex with me long enough to tell me about her pregnancy.” I smiled and she laughed softly. My thumb grazed her cheek. “You and this baby, you’re my priority, okay? Anything else will just have to wait. Plus, there’s something to be said for using your left hand.”
She smiled, and again I had to resist the urge to kiss her. I licked my lips, feeling the temptation roll through me. And for the briefest moment I wondered if we’d gotten it all wrong. If we were being too cautious. If being together was something we should be running toward instead of running away from.
Why couldn’t we be together?
Because you don’t do commitment and I won’t ever let myself be vulnerable again.
Honey’s words came back to remind me.
Her past was holding her back.
So I would ride out the pregnancy.
But then when our baby was born, I was coming for her.
In every way imaginable.
HONEY
“You know this is crazy, right?” I laughed, touching the bandana Caleb had wrapped around my head to cover my eyes.
“You need cheering up. That’s exactly what I am doing.”
“It looks like you’re kidnapping me.”
“How would you know how it looks? You’re blindfolded.”
I laughed and touched the bandana again. But Caleb quickly told me off. “No looking!”
“That’s like saying don’t eat the cupcake and then putting the cupcake right in front of me.”
“Why do all your analogies involve food?”
“Because food is my obsession at the moment. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m pregnant and this baby is practically holding me hostage, forcing me to seek out calories in every situation.” I let my hands drop to my lap. “I’m pretty sure Bump’s father is an eater.”
“Bump’s father is an incredibly handsome guy, or so I’ve heard.”
I grinned again, and when I touched my blindfold Caleb brushed my hand away.
“Do I need to tie you up, too?”
Lust pooled between my thighs at the thought of Caleb tying me up. Because it had been weeks and weeks since we’d had sex, and sometimes it felt like I was in a permanent state of arousal. I licked my lips and clenched my thighs together. And living with Caleb didn’t help. Not with him walking around shirtless all the time, with those black slacks and belts hanging low on his hips, and that impressive six-pack and deeply carved chest always on display.
But now my body was positively aching for it. If I wanted an orgasm I had to give it to myself, and it seemed so unfair when I lived with such a sexy beast.
I exhaled deeply and decided to change the subject.
“So where are you taking me?” I asked for the hundredth time since he had picked me up from work and told me he had a surprise for me. He had put the blindfold on me and very carefully led me out to the car.
“You really don’t like surprises, do you?”
“I love them—when I don’t have to wait for them,” I replied, fighting the urge to lift my chin and sneak a peek out of the bottom of the bandana wrapped across my eyes.
I heard Caleb chuckle as he pulled the car over and killed the engine.
“We’re here?” I asked.
In response, Caleb climbed out of the car, and a few seconds later my door opened. He gently guided me out of the car, careful to make sure I had my footing right so I didn’t fall over. I didn’t have a clue where we were. It was somewhere with people because I could hear cars coming and going, and I could feel people around us.
“You’re going to be arrested for sure,” I joked as he closed the car door behind me. Caleb’s hand was warm around mine as he led me along what I guessed was a sidewalk.
“People can see us, can’t they?” I asked.
“Yep.”
“They can see I’m blindfolded, can’t they?”
“Yep.”
“Do they look alarmed?”
“Nope.”
“Geez, people. What if I was being kidnapped and brought here against my will?”
He stopped walking and turned me to face him.
“I’m taking you inside now,” he said, with a hint of amusement in his deep, rich voice. “Everything is going to make sense in a minute, okay, beautiful?”
Beautiful. My heart curled at his use of the word. I nodded and let him lead me through a doorway. Immediately the outside noise was replaced by the gentle lullaby of store music.
Where the hell were we?
“Ready?” he asked.
I nodded and Caleb peeled the blindfold from around my head.
“Open your eyes,” he said.
As I did, the inside of the store came into focus. For as far as the eye could see there was baby furniture, baby strollers, baby clothes, and accessories, as well as linen and bedding. The store was huge.