Part 24 (1/2)

She'd glanced at him more than once this afternoon, as he'd played with the children on the back porch. He wanted her to consider him as a potential father. He loved kids, and he wanted her to see that being in a wheelchair didn't keep him from being both a source of authority and a good deal of fun.

As his sisters made their farewells, each of them hugging Emma, he sat in his wheelchair on the back porch beside her, his arm draped possessively around her waist.

The tail of dust from their Jeeps was just settling when Emma pulled away and said, ”I wish you hadn't done that.”

”Done what?”

”Introduced me to your sisters as though I were something more than your housekeeper.”

Sam realized he could explain away what he'd done or use it as an opportunity to let Emma know how he felt about her. ”I wish you were more than my housekeeper,” he said. ”I think you're a very special person, Emma. I'd like to get to know you better.”

He heard her swallow noisily. ”I'm pregnant,” she said.

He smiled. ”I've noticed.”

”That doesn't bother you?”

He looked her in the eye and said, ”I can't have kids of my own. I think of you being pregnant as a gift from G.o.d.”

She smiled and said, ”You're a very special man, Sam Creed.”

He reached out a hand to her and waited. It was a long wait, but at last she put her hand in his. He tugged her toward him, and when he could reach her waist, he lifted her into his lap.

”I'm always surprised at how strong you are,” she said, bracing herself on his muscular shoulders as she settled into his lap. ”And since you caught me looking, I'll admit you have some pretty spectacular abs. But I'm too heavy to be sitting on you.”

He smiled again. ”You're light as a feather.”

”You couldn't feel a feather,” she said tartly, ”and I a.s.sure you I'm no feather.”

”Please don't go,” he said, looking up into her eyes.

She stayed where she was, but she kept both hands in front of her, folded together in her lap.

He rubbed a lock of her bright red hair between his fingers, then lifted it to his nose and inhaled the scent of her shampoo. ”Women always smell so good.”

She laughed softly and leaned over to smell his hair. ”I'm glad you think so, but we're using the same shampoo.”

He laughed, too. And raised his face just as she lowered hers. He felt her hesitation and waited, letting her come to him.

The touch of her lips was electric. There was nothing wrong with the feeling in his lips, nothing wrong with his taste buds. He was overwhelmed with sensation as her soft lips pressed against his, pliant and giving.

”Relax,” she said as her arms slid around his neck. ”I can feel your shoulder muscles are all bunched up.”

”I haven't done this in a while,” he said. ”I'm a little nervous.”

”That's all right,” she said, lowering her mouth to his. ”I haven't done much of this lately, either.”

But she was d.a.m.ned good at it, Sam thought, as she pressed b.u.t.terfly kisses on his neck and throat, then let her tongue trace the sh.e.l.l of his ear. ”Let me,” he said, returning the favor.

She moaned in pleasure and tightened her hold around his neck.

”Emma,” he murmured. ”I want to see you.”

She froze in his arms. ”I'm ugly. My b.r.e.a.s.t.s are enormous and-”

Sam laughed. ”I'm sorry, Emma, but men pay a fortune to see pictures of enormous b.r.e.a.s.t.s. I promise you I'll enjoy them.”

She crossed her arms over her stomach and said, ”I stick out a foot.”

He put his hand on her pregnant belly for the first time, his touch reverent. ”Believe me, I find this belly of yours a bonus.”

”You're just saying that to get me naked.”

”Is it going to work?”

She laughed and stood up. ”Not on the first date. What kind of girl do you think I am?” She sobered as she realized what she'd said. Pregnant and unwed, she was exactly ”that kind of girl.” She stared at him from stricken eyes, then hurried from the porch.

”Emma, don't go. Emma, it doesn't matter.”

But of course it did. She was pregnant with some other man's child. Some man she'd seduced...as she'd just now been seducing him. And the b.a.s.t.a.r.d had left her high and dry. Why should Emma think he would treat her any differently?

To make matters worse, he was her boss. What if things went wrong between them and he decided he wanted her gone. What would happen to her if she lost this job?

He was going to have to take his time and tread carefully. He was going to have to find a way to convince her that he wasn't like the man who'd taken her favors and abandoned her. He had to convince her that he was willing and able to take care of her and her baby. That he wanted to be a husband and father.

And her lover.

Sam realized he was trembling. He wasn't sure what kind of lover he was going to be. He hadn't had s.e.x with a woman since he'd lost the use of his legs. He'd tried once with a prost.i.tute in Houston, but the whole thing had seemed so sordid he hadn't wanted to repeat it. The fact was, he never knew when or whether he could get it up. It happened when it happened.

He would have to love her in other ways.

She'd revealed her insecurities about being seen naked. He hadn't been able to share his own. He'd made himself as strong as he could from the waist up, where he still had functioning muscles and feeling and spent enough time in the sun to toast his skin a rich brown.

But from the waist down, he was as white as a dead fish, and his muscles were atrophied from disuse. He was afraid she wouldn't think he was much of a bargain. He was glad she'd put off the moment of truth, so he could hang on a little longer to his dream of what it would be like the first time they made love.

In his mind it was always perfect, wonderful. She was understanding and forgiving of his shortcomings. He was a considerate and tender and satisfying lover.

But he didn't dare wait too long. There was always the chance her lover would find out she was pregnant and come to claim her and the baby. He wanted her legally tied to him long before that happened.

”Sam?”

Sam turned to find Emma standing in the kitchen doorway. ”What is it, Emma?”

”I was going to take a bath and cool off. I wondered if you might like to join me.”

Sam thought of all the reasons he should say no thanks. And how often he'd fantasized about exactly what Emma was suggesting.