Happy Holidays - The Pregnancy Negotiation Part 11

"And you automatically a.s.sume that involves me."

"Yeah, I do."

He hated to lie to his friend, but he would do so for Mallory's sake. "Look, Logan, just because we live

together doesn't necessarily mean-"

"I saw you kissing her in the car."

Double d.a.m.n. "What?"

"Helena and I were coming out of the gate from the backyard, about to head home, and I saw you two in

a lip-lock. So don't even bother denying it."

Whit let go a frustrated sigh. "Okay, I was kissing her. It just happened."

"Nothing just happens with you, Whit. I've known you too many years not to believe you've been planning this. In fact, I'd guess something's been going on between the two of you for a while now."

Try three whole days. "You know something? I don't appreciate you thinking I'd automatically go after Mallory just because she's living under the same roof. Besides, you're the one who convinced me to take her in. If you didn't trust that I would treat her well, you wouldn't have done it."

"I did trust you, Whit, and I trusted Mallory to resist you. Guess I was wrong."

His ears began to ring. "We're both adults, and whatever we do with each other or to each other is none of your d.a.m.n business."

"Then you're not going to deny you're planning to get her pregnant?"

"I'm not going to say anything else, so you can quit grilling me."

"I am going to say something else, Whit, and you're going to listen. Don't do anything to hurt her, or you' ll answer to me. And don't make me regret that you're my friend."

With that, Logan hung up, not giving Whit a chance to respond. But what could he say? He'd never intended to betray his best friend's trust. He sure as h.e.l.l had never intended to bed Logan's sister. But he had bedded Mallory, minus the bed, and he didn't regret it. He didn't regret agreeing to get her pregnant, either. But Mallory might. He intended to find that out and convince her they had nothing to regret.

What the h.e.l.l. He needed a shower anyway.

Seven.

W hen the shower door opened, Mallory released an audible gasp and tried to cover herself. A totally knee-jerk reaction and silly, considering Whit had already seen most of her body. But that had been in the dark, and this was in the glare of fluorescent lights, and what was he doing there anyway?

"I can't believe you'd just waltz right in here and invade my privacy."

"I promise you, Mallory, I wasn't waltzing."

She bit back a smile but that urge faded while others made themselves known when she gave him a quick once-over. "And you're naked, no less." Naked and gorgeous, from the top of his ruffled dark hair to the tips of his seriously cute toes and all those in-between parts that were much too hard to ignore. Literally.

He pushed the nozzle away, sending the spray down the black tiled walls, and folded his arms across his broad chest, looking as indifferent as if they were standing in a conference room, not bare in the bath. "Most people shower naked."

"Yes, but I don't remember inviting you in here."

"We're going to continue our conversation. We can do it in here, or in the den or on the roof, for that matter. Just as long as we do it."

Mallory shouldn't do it, but she did it anyway, zeroed in on a trickle of water leisurely tracking the thin path of dark hair leading down his flat belly. And of all things, she kept right on going to find something sinister, and s.e.xy, stirring down south. "I didn't realize Mr. Happy could talk."

As suspected, she looked up to find him grinning like mad. "Oh, yeah, and he's telling me that if we don'tstart talking soon, we're going to dispense with all talk."Frustrating man. "I really don't know what we need to talk about that can't wait until morning.""Logan called."Great. Just great. "What did he say?"Whit pulled the nozzle back into position and stepped underneath it, entirely too close for Mallory's comfort. "Do you want all the details now?"

The details of Whit's body happened to have garnered all her interest. She simply couldn't concentratewith him standing there, naked and wet. "I'm finished, so I'm going to get dressed now."He slicked his hair back with one hand. "Fine, I'm going to finish, then I'll meet you in the den.""Good.""Fine."She continued to stare at him, one giant macho magnet acting on her as if she were made of iron. She wished she had an iron will but unfortunately, she didn't. At least not around him. At least not anymore.Determined to remain strong, Mallory backed out of the transparent shower stall and closed the door,dried off in record time, tucked her hair into the towel then shrugged on her terry robe. But she couldn'tstop watching Whit from the mirror's reflection as she applied moisturizer to her face and brushed herteeth much longer than required. Couldn't ignore the definite look of disdain when he squeezed some ofher shower gel into his palm. She certainly couldn't disregard his palms rubbing the gel into a soapy film first under his arms, then over his well-toned chest, then down his solid thighs and calves, then back up to...

Mallory yanked open the drawer and rummaged through it, looking for some kind of distraction.

Tweezers seemed in order. She sat on the vanity stool, pulled her two-sided magnifying mirror forward and plucked a few brow hairs that didn't need plucking at all. If not careful, she'd have no brows at all.

"You sure you don't want to come back in here and join me?"She made the fatal mistake of looking behind her to discover Whit holding open the door, his body slickand so was his smile. He sent her a wink, and she sent him a go-to-h.e.l.l look as she tossed the tweezersback into the drawer and came to her feet to face him. "You're getting my shower floor wet."

"I'd rather get you wet.""I've already had my shower.""That's not what I mean and you know it.""I'm leaving now." And she did, on legs that didn't seem to want to work, partly from the position she'd maintained in the car during their little interlude and partly because he still made her knees turn as liquid as the shower spray.

Once in the den, she stacked several pillows on her favorite quirky red s.h.a.g rug and dropped down in

the middle of them. Lying back, she stared at the ceiling and tried to a.n.a.lyze her anger aimed at the world in general.

She was mad because the first time she'd decided to be daring, someone had called out the guard. Mad at Logan for b.u.t.ting into her business. Mad at Whit for making her hot as a bonfire with only a few seductive words. But, most important, mad at herself, exactly where her anger should be directed, not at Whit. He hadn't suggested the park; she had. He hadn't been responsible for the security guards' untimely visit. But he was responsible for the feelings Mallory had been experiencing tonight and not only the pleasurable ones resulting from great s.e.x. Fuzzy ones resulting from the threat of emotional upheaval.

When she really thought about it, those feelings had been trying to worm their way into her heart for some time now. No use in denying that for the past few months, her feelings for him had been changing, ever so slightly, but definitely changing. Every night, she hadn't been able to contain that little nip of excitement when she'd heard the front door open, knowing it was him. Or if she arrived after him, she looked forward to finding him waiting for her, with his bad-boy smile, live-wire charm and off-color jokes.

However, fuzzy feelings should not be in her emotional repertoire. Whit was her friend, the prospective father of her child and nothing more. She should be able to handle that. She'd grown up the only girl in a family full of men, witnessing firsthand the love 'em and leave 'em att.i.tude. She should be able to adopt that att.i.tude with Whit, do what she set out to do, then move on. Problem was, she had no one to move on to. And worse, she couldn't imagine wanting to be with anyone else but Whit.

She had to get over it, and she would, just as she always did when she didn't have a favorable outcome with one of her cases. If luck prevailed, she would make her baby, adhere to an emotional hands-off policy while doing it, then maintain a solid friends.h.i.+p with Whit for the sake of their child. And she certainly would try to not enjoy the process too terribly much. She couldn't afford to start needing him in that way, too. Easy...until he walked into the room.

Mallory's heart took a little vault into her throat when he nailed her with his smile. The low-slung towel and his shower-damp hair did not aid in keeping her resolve to avoid any carnal cravings. She reminded herself that anything she did with her mouth for the next few minutes should involve only talking.

When Whit plopped down onto the rug beside her, Mallory popped up like a springboard. Better to remain off her back in his presence. She grabbed a security pillow and held it tightly against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, even though she was plagued with thoughts of holding him. "So what exactly did Logan say to you?"

Whit stretched out on his side, elbow bent and palm supporting his jaw, looking like a top-rate male model. "He wanted to know if I planned to get you pregnant, and I told him it was none of his business."

"You didn't deny it?"

He rubbed a hand over his chest, capturing Mallory's undivided attention. "Kind of hard to deny something's going on when he saw us kissing in the car."

Wonderful. Caught twice in one night. "He saw us?"

"Yeah, he did. But he'll probably just drop it for now."

"Do you really think he's going to let it go that easily?" Mallory didn't, not in the least.

"He's bound to find out sooner or later when you get pregnant."

If she got pregnant. "You're right, and we'll just worry about that when the time comes." Right now, she had to worry about her strong reaction to his presence, her building desire to have another round of lovemaking with Whit. She raised her arms above her head, yawned and stretched. "I think it's time for bed."

He pulled the pillow from her lap and tossed it aside. "That's exactly what I was thinking. Your bed or mine?"

Be strong, Mallory. "You go to your bed and I'll go to mine. We can try again tomorrow night."

He toyed with the sash on her robe. "It's not that late, Mallory. And I'd really like to do it better this time."

Better? "Come again?"

He presented his crooked smile, the one that would charm any woman from age sixteen to sixty. "That would be a part of the plan."

She should be more careful with her choice of words around Whit. "I'm not sure I want to press my luck, trying twice in one night."

"We won't know unless we try. You'd be surprised what you can achieve in one night."

Mallory had totally surprised herself earlier tonight, and her body was really throwing her for a loop right now. Just hearing his low, compelling voice had her overheated and s.h.i.+very, all at the same time. "I have to be into the office early in the morning."

"I'll make sure you get there on time."

She wanted to say yes. Better still, she wanted to yank off that towel and get down to business. But she was feeling particularly vulnerable at the moment, even if she was also incredibly tempted. "I'd rather wait until tomorrow night."

"Fine." He kissed her on the forehead like a brother, not like a lover, and came to his feet. "Suit yourself."

"That's it? No more argument?"

"No means no, Mallory. Sleep tight."

She watched him walk away, drawn to the breadth of his back and the outline of his tight b.u.t.t showing beneath the towel. But those physical aspects didn't outweigh her growing respect for him. He hadn't pressed the issue of making love again, and she appreciated that more than he knew.

Feeling the need to tell him, Mallory hopped up and rushed up the stairs. He'd already gone into his room and closed the door, but she wouldn't let that stop her. After a quick knock, she called his name. When he didn't immediately answer, she decided he was probably angry and intentionally ignoring her. But after a few seconds, he answered her summons wearing a blue flannel robe and a guarded expression. "Yeah?"

Slipping her hands into the pockets of her own robe, she studied the carpeted floor beneath her bare feet. "I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate your honoring my wishes tonight."

"No problem."

"I also want you to know that no matter what happens, if I get pregnant or if I don't, I'll always be grateful to you."

"Great."

"And after all that's happened tonight, with Logan and my hang-ups, I wouldn't blame you if you changed your mind about this whole thing."

"Change my mind?"

Mallory finally looked up to meet his gaze. "Yes. I could understand why you would."

He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and sighed. "Mallory, more than anything, I want to give you

this baby." He smiled. "Okay, maybe right now more than anything I'd like to get you naked again. But I'

m not going to change my mind. I promised to do this, and I intend to keep that promise."

She released a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

He stepped into the hall and took her in his arms, forming one palm to her jaw and breezing his thumb over her cheek. "There's still the potential for a lot of d.a.m.n good lovemaking between us. But I don't want to push you, or make you regret anything. Especially what happened between us tonight."

"I don't regret it," she said, and she didn't. "But what I did in the car, that really wasn't me at all.""Yeah, Mallory, it was you, or a part of you that wants to come out, only you've been too resistant to let it out. And you know something? I really like that side of you. Makes me hot as h.e.l.l just thinking about it."

Time for more truths. "Actually, I read a magazine article on how to uncover my sensual self. That's

where I got all the ideas, from a list of points on how to do that. The clothes, doing it in the car, that sort

of thing.""Now that's one list I can't object to. But the truth is, you don't need any lists, Mallory. You just need tolet nature take the lead and that's what we need to do from this point forward. Agreed?"

She gave him a small smile. "I still want a girl, but I guess we could compromise on certain things. One night we can do it one way, the other night, the other way, giving us even odds on determining the gender."

"I don't care, as long as we do it. Often.""I could very well wear you out before this is all over.""And I can't think of a better way to get worn out than making love with you."Mallory hugged him hard and when he pulled back, he studied her with a look so sincere, he took her breath. "You're a beautiful woman, inside and out, and you deserve the best of everything."