lavender.
Smelled like Fay.
It was his last conscious thought before he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. He woke up once, the room dark and the clock on his nightstand flashing 2:49 a.m. The next time he cracked an eyelid, the sun was inching around the edges of the window blinds.
Wow, almost ten in the morning. He’d slept over eighteen hours.
Sitting up, he stretched his neck and back while listening to his thirty-eight-year-old body creak and moan as he slowly came to life.
A shower. Lingering beneath the hot spray of his own shower sounded like a slice of heaven. Adam reached into the closest dresser drawer and pulled out a clean T-shirt, jeans and briefs.
Entering the bathroom, he eyed the large whirlpool tub, realizing for the first time he’d never used it in all the years he’d lived here. Tempting, but chances were he’d fall back asleep and probably drown in the process.
Minutes later he stood, hands braced against the tile wall as hot water pounded his neck and shoulders, washing away the soapy residue. Steam filled the glass enclosure and he breathed deeply, pulling the moist air into his lungs and letting it seep into every pore.
When the water cooled, he turned it off and stepped out. Grabbing a nearby towel, he quickly dried, pausing when he heard a low-pitched creaking. He listened intently, but only silence filled the house. After walking naked back into his bedroom, he pulled on his briefs and heard the creak again.
No, that was footsteps.
It had to be Devlin. He was the only one who could override the security system. Exasperation surged inside him. Hadn’t he made it clear he wanted to be left alone?
“Oh, shoot! Come on, please cooperate.”
The words carried down the hall from the main room. Someone was in his house. A female someone.
The sound of an object shattering and a high-pitched cry had Adam racing down the hall. He entered the living room and found a woman, bent at the waist and clutching one of the stools at the kitchen counter. By her feet lay the remains of a large plant, its bright green leaves and pieces of the broken ceramic pot scattered across the floor.
His anger disappeared and concern took its place. “Hey, are you okay?”
The woman jerked upright and spun around.
Adam stared, the blow to the gut more powerful than any physical contact. Was she a figment of his imagination?
He blinked hard to erase her image. Nope, she still stood less than three feet away from him.
Golden brown curls, pulled back in a messy ponytail, whipped against one cheek. Dark smudges beneath her wide hazel eyes spoke of sleepless nights. She wore a pale green T-shirt with Fay’s Flowers printed across her curves and jean shorts that showed off miles of leg.
One hand pressed against her stomach and as her eyes widened at the sight of him, her other hand quickly covered the first.
Just as beautiful as he remembered.
“Fay.”
Her skin paled even more the moment he spoke her name.
“What—” Adam voice caught and damn if he didn’t have to start again. “What are you doing here?”
Chapter Two
Fay’s lips parted and the breath fled from her lungs. Shock battered her insides like stinging pin pricks at the sight before her.
Adam.
He stood spotlighted in a beam of bright sun, all toned muscles and tanned skin, except for the dark blue boxer briefs that hugged him in all the best huggable places.
The man was nearly naked.
What had he asked her? It had been a simple question, one she should be able to answer, but a now familiar rippling of her stomach had her slapping one hand over her mouth. She bolted past him and disappeared into the hall bathroom.
Keeping her eyes screwed tightly shut, her body retaliated, as it had for the last few mornings since her visit to Liz’s office, and emptied itself of her breakfast.
The one meal of the day that had always been her favorite.
Not anymore. No matter what she ate, from fruit to cereal to eggs, nothing had staying power. She’d hoped the fresh watermelon she’d eaten an hour ago would be the answer.
She’d been wrong.
“Are you okay?”
Adam’s voice, soft but clear, made her jump. He’d followed her and stood close. Very close. Her fingers tightened where she gripped the toilet seat. Of all the humiliating moments in a woman’s life, this had to be the worst.
“No.” She cringed at the hoarseness of her voice.
“Can I get you anything?”
Fay opened her eyes, averting her gaze to the white floor tiles and found one masculine leg in her line of sight. All she could see was from his knee down, but the naturally tanned skin covered with fine hair instantly brought back the full-body image from moments ago when he’d suddenly appeared in his living room.
How was it her body could go from sickness to hunger within the span of a few seconds?
Hormones, hormones, hormones.
Thanks to the “what to expect” book Fay had bought recently, she’d latched on to the most popular reason for all the craziness her body was going through. Blamed for everything from morning sickness to her breasts suddenly being a tad too big for her bras, hormones had to be the reason her first thought at the sight of Adam had been—
“Fay?”
His voice had her stomach flipping over again. “Privacy. I need privacy.”
He stepped back into the hall and she stretched out one leg and kicked the door closed. Curling her feet back beneath her backside and still too weak to move—and not completely sure yet if she should—Fay grabbed a nearby hand towel and wiped at her mouth.
She settled for leaning against the cool porcelain of the bathtub, one hand pressed gently to her stomach.
Adam was home.
So much for one more week to finish the work on his home and to find a way to tell him he was going to be a father.
How could she tell him about the baby?
Soon the changes in her body would be visible—to him, to everyone—and it wouldn’t take Adam long to figure out when she’d gotten pregnant. Not that she’d even think of passing this child off as anyone else’s.
No, this baby was his, and despite all the lunacy her body was going through, she was already so in love with their child. After giving up any hope of experiencing this kind of miracle herself, she planned to enjoy every minute.
