Wethering the Storm (The Storm 2)

I look at Dr. Glamazon and can see her eyes are flicking to everything but Jake. I know she’s desperately trying not to look at his crotch. Honestly, I can’t blame her. The curiosity would be killing me too.

She clears her throat. “Um, Jake, the baby will be fine during intercourse. Honestly fine. It’s really well protected. There is no way you can hurt it, no matter how big you…um, are.” She looks so uncomfortable right now that I actually feel for her.

But I still want to laugh. I bite down hard on my lip.

I see Jake’s face relax. “Cool, that’s really good to know,” he says, getting to his feet.

He sounds like he’s just finishing up a conversation about the weather, not one about his huge penis.

Penis.

I snuffle another laugh, and Jake fires me another pissed-off look as he turns my way.

I’m so in trouble when we get out of here.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Will you stop fuckin’ laughing?” Jake growls.

He’s not amused that ten minutes later, I’m still laughing about the penis comment.

“I’m not laughing.” I suck my bottom lip into my mouth, staring out the passenger window.

“Sure you’re not,” he mutters. “Look at me.”

I try to compose my face before turning to him, but it betrays me. I scrunch my features up.

“You are so fuckin’ laughing.” He scowls.

“I’m sorry.” A laugh slips out. I try to cover it with a cough. “I just can’t believe you of all people just said the word ‘penis.’”

“What did you want me to call it?” he bites out.

“I would have preferred it if you hadn’t said it at all to Dr. Hot back there.”

He slides me a “let’s not go there” look. Taking a left turn, Jake takes us into the hills toward home.

“Look,” he sighs. “I just wanted to make sure I couldn’t hurt our baby when we have sex, which you know with you, I want to do often—multiple times daily, in fact.” He runs his hand up my thigh and my sex quivers, suddenly desperate for his touch, needing to feel him inside me.

“It’s not like I’m going to say to the doctor, ‘I have a huge cock,’” he adds, and that’s like a bucket of cold water over my libido, setting my laughter off again.

“I’m never going to live this down, am I?” he grumbles, taking hold of the gear stick.

“Nope.” I slide him a humoured look.

“You’re going to tell everyone we know, aren’t you?”

“Not everyone. Maybe just Stuart. And Simone. And my dad.”

My dad would find it hilarious for sure. He has the same warped sense of humour as me.

“If you tell Billy that I said penis to the doctor, then I’m going to tell him exactly what you do to my penis with that hot, dirty mouth of yours.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” I gasp.

“Try me.” He narrows his eyes, challenging.

“You’re such a child,” I huff.

“Says you, who’s been laughing about the word ‘penis’ for the last ten minutes.”

Penis.

I look at him. I’m grinning. Then Jake’s smile cracks, and we both start laughing hard, and it feels good. For a moment, it feels like we’re those carefree teenagers we used to be.

We’re still laughing when Jake pulls up at our gates and Henry lets us in.

Parking the car on the drive, we go inside, and I kick my shoes off and flop down on the sofa.

I pull the envelope containing the baby pictures out of my bag. I’ve been dying to look at them, but I wanted to wait until we were home so we could look at them in private together.

Another happy memory to coat the walls of our home.

Jake sits beside me, taking my feet in his lap. “Can I?” he gestures to the envelope.

I hand it to him and watch as he takes the pictures out.

I move closer to him, sitting beside him, my thigh pressed against his. Jake’s arm goes around me and I rest my shoulder against his chest as we both stare down at the black-and-white picture of our baby. Our tiny, tiny baby.

Jake is so still. All I can hear is the sound of his gentle breathing. I steal a glance at his face, and the emotion I see steals my own.

“It’s really ours,” he says, fingertip touching the image of our baby. His voice is so soft.

“It’s really ours,” I utter, my voice cracking.

“Who knew I could contribute to making something so perfect?” Jake glances at me through his long lashes. “Thank you.” This is the second time today he’s thanked me, and this time I have to ask why.

“For being with me. For giving me a chance at getting my life right. Only with you would I ever have a chance at having a family. You’re everything to me, and now you’ve given me so much more with our baby.”

Tilting his face to mine, I kiss his lips tenderly.

He wraps his arms around me, taking me with him back into the sofa, his lips pressed to my forehead.

I love feeling Jake this way. Contented and at peace with himself.

I trace my finger over the detailed tattoos on his arm. “Life’s good, huh?” I murmur.

“Life’s great.” I feel his smile against my skin.

“You hungry?” I ask.

“I could eat something. You want to order in?”

I shift back from him so I can see his face. “We could cook something once in a while, you know,” I tease.

“You in the mood to cook?”

Too comfortable to consider moving right now, I shake my head.

“Ordering in it is, then.” He chuckles deep. It vibrates through his chest. “What are you in the mood for?”

“Chicken Caesar salad with Parmesan and a crusty roll.”

“Nothing specific, then,” he teases.

“Hey, I’m eating for two here, you know.”

Smiling, Jake gets his phone out and orders my salad and a grilled cheese for himself from the local deli.

While he’s on the phone, my thoughts drift to the scan and how it felt seeing our baby. Then my thoughts move to Dr. Kline and how attractive she is. I wonder if Jake thinks she’s good-looking. Before I can think it through, in usual Tru style, I’m saying, “Dr. Kline is really pretty.”

He shoves his phone back in his pocket. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Sure you hadn’t.” I roll my eyes.

Jake lifts my leg off him. He leans over me, forcing me to lie back, and places his hands either side of me, pelvis pressed hard against my sex. He rests the tip of his nose against mine. “I hadn’t noticed,” he repeats. “When you’re in the room, sweetheart, I don’t see anyone but you.”

A shiver runs down my spine, and I start to hum with desire.

“I’m going to get fat,” I say, pouting.

“No, you’re going to have my baby growing inside of you, and right now I can’t think of anything sexier.”

Jake slants his mouth over mine, kissing me leisurely. I part my lips with a moan, and his tongue moves inside, stroking mine.

Right now, I would like nothing more than to have Jake inside me, but our lunch is on its way, and I have this nagging worry about calling my parents to tell them about the baby. Mainly my mum. I’m worried how she’s going to take the news. I’m already well aware of her concerns over my relationship with Jake and my moving here after such a short time together. Plus the engagement, coupled with the problems Jake’s had—we’ve had. I fear this may push her over the edge.

“Speaking of the baby,” I say, as his tongue trails over my lower lip.

“Were we? I thought we were heading more in the direction of doing what created our baby in the first place.” He puts his hand up my top, pulling back the cup on my bra, and gently rolls my nipple between his thumb and forefinger.

My body instinctively arches into his touch.

“I need to call my folks and tell them about the baby,” I utter, breathless.

“Soon,” he groans, pushing his erection against my sex. The seam of his jeans works through my own, rubbing against my throbbing clit.

“I can’t call my parents straight after we’ve made love.”

“So call them tonight. That’s if I’m done with you by then,” he breathes, nipping my earlobe with his teeth. “I’m desperate for you,” he groans.

Aching from his promise, but worry claiming me more, I put my hands to his chest. “I want you too, Jake, but right now, I need to call them.”

Stopping his assault on my earlobe, he moves back and looks me in the eye. “You’re worried they won’t be happy about the baby, aren’t you?”

I bite my lip and shake my head.

He sits back on his heels, staring down at me, and I see a darkness take his eyes. “Sorry, I’ll rephrase that. You’re worried Eva won’t be happy about you having a baby with me.”

I sigh and push my hands through my hair.

“You know Mama thinks we’ve moved too fast together. She worries for me—a lot—and she lived this life with my dad, having a baby with a musician, on the road, and…” I trail off, struggling to find the right words. “I guess I’m just worried she’ll…”

“What? Want you to go back to England to live? Make you choose?” He frowns.

“No. I don’t know.” I shrug. Sitting up, I wrap my arms around his waist, resting my cheek against his chest. “I just don’t want her to be angry with me.”

“Tru.” He rests his hands on my shoulders and moves down to my eye level. I can see that his hardened expression has softened. “You just said yourself that she’s lived this life.” He tucks my hair behind my ear. “But remember, we are more financially secure than they were back then. I’m not just some singer in a band.”

“But when she gets something in her head, Jake, it’s hard trying to change it.”

“Reminds me of someone I know well,” he implies with a smile. “We’ll call them now and settle your mind, and I’ll screw you mindless later.”

Getting his phone back out, he dials my parents’ home number, putting it on speaker, and sets the phone on the coffee table before us.

“Hello,” comes my dad’s deep voice down the line. Just hearing his voice causes my heart to beat faster.

“Hey, Daddy.”

“Baby girl!” I can almost see his big, bright smile. I miss him so much. “How are you?”

“I’m good, Daddy. Um, is Mama there?” I swallow.

“Yeah, you want me to get her? Your old man not good enough to talk to nowadays?” he teases.

“Actually, I need to talk to you both. Can you put me on speaker?”

“Everything okay, darlin’?”

“Everything’s fine, Daddy. I—we—have some news.”

“Okay, let me get your mum.”

I slide a look at Jake, desperately trying to swallow down my nerves.

Jake rubs my back. “Don’t worry, it’s going to be fine,” he whispers.