A Baby...Maybe? & How to Hunt a Husband (14 page)

“I'm already in bed. Naked,” she added, still trying to get the mood back to the Sunday-night level. Just to tease him, because Sunday would be the last night he'd ever have her. Let him weep.

Only she was the one who was going to weep with wanting. She could imagine him in a big leather chair, leaning back, his fingers over his eyes, holding at bay a tension headache. He sounded that tired. Suddenly she felt very sorry for him. She must have worn him out last night and this morning. She had to smile, a soft secret smile. That was a good thing. “But I could put on some clothes, I guess, and you could come over.”

“I'll be there.”

“Rex? What happened with the clinic? Something's different. You sound different. You sound so sad.”

“I had a bad day, and that was the good news.”

“I don't understand. What's the bad news?” In Texas they talked in riddles. Everything he said all seemed to make sense when he said it. Then when she went back and rethought the words nothing made sense.

“The bad news is, it's fixin' to get worse…” He let the rest dangle.

Finally, she could stand it no longer. “There's more?”

“The worst possible news on top of the already bad news, at least to me.”

“Can you tell me?”

“We have to talk. In person. I'll be right there.”

“Rex? Are you mad?”

“No. Don't move.”

Cara jumped out of bed. She didn't have any clothes to receive him in. She threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and waited for him to climb through the window. Her Romeo.

Only he came through the door. And he looked as if he were a bee who got usurped from his hive.

“You took my semen,” he accused.

Oh, my, he thinks I used those pinpricked condoms.
“No, I didn't. I was thinking about it, but I didn't. There's a difference.”

“Yes, you did, and I want it back.”

He wasn't being rational. “Rex, you know when you have an orgasm, you can't take that semen and put it back. That's silly.”

“Don't tell me it's silly. You hand it back.”

“I didn't take your semen. I was going to try but I threw those condoms away.”

“You were going to try and take my semen?”

“I wanted a baby, Rex. I thought Noble Sperm Bank was for people when they needed to be artificially inseminated. I didn't know it was about a bull until you showed me the picture of LuLu.”

“What about last night?”

She lowered her gaze to the carpet. “I had stuck some pinholes in a condom package, but I threw it away. I couldn't do that to you.”

“All last night was about was sex? Having a baby? It didn't mean anything to you?”

That shocked her. How could he say that to her? “Of course it did. What do you think? I realize I don't know you well, but I thought I knew you well enough to think that what we had was special. The way you looked at me. The way you touched me. The way you held me.”

“It was special.”

“Ha! I had lunch today with Kate, and apparently, what is special to you and me is also special to you and a horde, or perhaps I should say a herd, of other women, too.”

“I've had it.” He had raised his voice. The look he gave her was full of scorn, and it hurt her. “I'm done with all you and your feminine manipulation. I've had about all I can handle.” He stormed out of the room, slamming the door, and it wasn't two seconds that he came back. “Your coins, from your bracelet, were found at the lab where the straws of semen were stolen. I'll give you twenty-four hours to bring them back. After that, I call the police.”

He slammed the door so hard it rattled the walls.

T
O ANYONE LOOKING
at Rex Noble, they'd think he was cool and collected. What they couldn't see was how he felt inside, his heart slamming in his chest, his insides ripped apart. Cara had done this to him. How a woman had turned him to this in such a short time, he didn't know. He was hurting. But he'd get over it. He always had before.

The gold coin he had been flipping through his fingers he now placed in the middle of his desk as if it deserved a place of honor. Was there honor among thieves? Hell, no. Yet, in a bizarre way, the coin did deserve its place of honor, because without the coin, he never would have known who had stolen the semen.

Not only bull semen, but possibly his own. His baby. How would he ever know? And if she was pregnant with his child, how could he possibly keep her from going back to Erie?

There was one way—by holding her captive. He doubted, after what he'd accused her of doing, that she'd willingly stay here with him.

The only other way was to make her a prisoner. She deserved to go to jail because of what she had stolen.

He released the condom wrappers he'd found in the trash can at the cottage from his fist, put them on the desk and gently smoothed them out. There were six of them. One had pinpricks through the foil. He had
even found the safety pin, still open, in one of the bathroom drawers.

Cathy and Barbara and the old boys had found some of the coins and the police had found several more of Cara's coins near other freezer units.

Rex knew he had been a chump. He'd been set up. Set up by a woman who he thought he loved. No. Make that definitely loved. He had always believed in love at first sight, but until she'd hit him over the head with hot wings, it had never happened to him.

Now she'd made him too mad to be in love. She'd made him look like a fool. No one, not even Cara, would make a fool out of him and get away with it. And any woman who might be pregnant with his child was not going to get away from him either.

He had to call Les Herman, Pegleg's police chief, and report her, hand over the evidence. While no one had told the police officers their suspicions about Cara when they were here, and had pretended the coins near the freezing units meant nothing, now was the time to face the truth. Rex had no choice. Rex cleared the foil wrappers off the desk and hid them in the back of the top middle drawer. The chief could know about LuLu's stolen semen. That Cara had also stolen semen from Rex was between Cara and him and no one else.

Les came in a while later bearing his fingerprint kit. “Come on, Les,” Rex said. “Call Houston and see if they'll send someone out with more up-to-date investigative equipment. Don't waste your time with that stuff.”

“There's nothing wrong with this.” Les dropped the kit on Rex's desk. It made a loud plunk and only bounced once. “It works perfectly fine.”

“I hope there wasn't glass in there.”

“I don't think so.” He only looked worried for a second.

“When was the last time you used it?” Rex asked.

The chief actually turned red. Then with boldness and bluster he said, “It's never been used. There's no crime in Pegleg.”

“There is now,” Rex said darkly. He told Les his suspicions about Cara. It was one of the most difficult things he had ever done. He handed Les the coins they had collected.

“Why would she do it?” the chief asked. “What's the motive?”

“I don't know. Maybe she's a spy or something.”

Thinking about Cara and the way she looked the first time he saw her in her very urban, very un-Pegleg-like clothing made him smile. Not a big smile, mind you, but a smile all the same.

Then he remembered her in the cottage, sitting on the floor, naked. Her breasts, so perfectly formed, firm, and when she'd crossed her legs— He closed his eyes for only a second then popped them open again. Yet, even in that brief second he could see the dark triangle of soft curls, the moist center that he had tasted, touched, entered. An acute desire for her made him hard and very uncomfortable in his jeans. He needed release, and he needed it from her.

Les opened his fingerprint kit, reading the directions while he talked in his monotone voice about why it would work just as well as anything Houston would have. Rex thought about Cara's nipples, which were a lot nicer to think about than some stupid fingerprint kit that wasn't going to work anyway.

Her nipples were sweetness. He could still taste them, feel how they stood up to his touch, grew erect under his tongue. The soft moan she made deep in her throat spurred him on. “Cara,” he said, not even realizing he had spoken her name out loud until Les said, “She's a dog, huh?” The chief's question sliced through Rex's thoughts.

Rex snorted. “Not at all.”

“She's good-lookin'?” he asked, sounding surprised.

“She's okay, if you like that type.”

“I'd still like to know the motive.”

He had a sneaking suspicion that she probably got the idea when they were talking about it Sunday afternoon. She may have thought to use that ridiculous cow and cottage story as a cover-up for her real intention. To steal his personal semen. For her own means.

Women were funny about things like that, going the indirect way when there was a perfectly straight line.

He refused to admit to himself that it hurt to know that his feelings for her were deep, and to Cara, he was nothing more than stud service.

By the time the chief left, leaving behind a lot of black dust and probably taking nothing with him, Rex had started receiving the phone calls.

Tony called inviting him to dinner, apologizing for whatever Cara might have done.

Kate called. “You're a cad,” she yelled and hung up.

And that was the crux of the difference between men and women. Women were always wrong, and Tony and him had it right.

Tony called back again, “I'm sorry about Kate. She doesn't understand these things. Come to the restaurant for dinner tonight.”

“I'll think about it.”

“Drinks on me. As much as you want. I'll be the designated driver. Get drunk and let the anger out.”

“I'm not angry.”

“Good, then my liquor bill won't send me to bankruptcy court.”

“I'll think about it, Tony. Thanks.”

Then Clay called. “It's all my fault. I never should have put that cow billboard up. It gave her fancy ideas. Why don't you meet me at Tony's tonight and I'll buy you a drink.”

After Clay, the calls were rapid, from Arthur, Tigger, Clyde, Cathy and Barbara. “Why do they all think I need to get drunk?” he asked Cathy. “I'm fine.”

“Good. Meet me at Donetti's. I have a girl I want you to meet.”

That held zero interest for him. So he told her “No, not interested.” He couldn't even pretend to himself he wanted to go out with anyone else.

“You're a stupid guy, Rex. Call Cara, kill her with kindness, apologize for being such a mule, and then, when you get her all melted and jelly in your arms, go in for the attack. She'll never know where it came from.”

Now, that wasn't a bad idea, Rex thought. It would give him a reason to call her back. Not that he needed one. But maybe he'd get the semen back. And maybe he'd get Les over there to arrest her, and make it impossible for her to go back to Erie until they found out if she was pregnant with their child.

Rex placed the call to Mandelay. Cara answered on the fourth ring. Her “Hello” was all breathless and damn sexy. His mind went blank for a moment and it took a second for him to round up his composure. It took almost a full minute to remember the reason why he was calling. She had that forget-everything-and-only-remember-her effect on him.

“Am I catching you at a bad time?” he asked, keeping his voice cool and controlled.

“Not really,” she answered. “I don't want to talk to you.”

“Cara, let's not say something you don't really mean.”

“I mean it with all my heart.”

She didn't sound so sure though and that was a good sign. “What're you doing?”

“I was taking a shower.”

He had sudden visions of her sitting on the bed, wet and naked. He knew what she looked like wet and naked and that made his breathing stop. “Are you naked?” He almost choked out the words.

“I may be naked,” she said, her accent charming, all eastern and softly clipped. On second thought, maybe disarming was more like it. Her voice was almost lyrical. Everything about her had made him forget what it was he had planned to do, and he couldn't allow that to happen. “Because when people take showers, they usually don't wear blue jeans.”

“Go put on clothes.”

“I can't.”

“You have to,” he said with all his charm. “I'm going to take you to Donetti's tonight, and I can't if you're naked.”

“I can't go with you tonight.”

“We'll talk, I'll apologize, you'll forgive me, and we'll pretend none of this ever happened.” He paused. “You can't?”

“Yes. I can't.”

She wasn't supposed to say that. It wasn't in his plan. “What do you mean you can't?”

“I have plans tonight.”

“You have a date?” He wasn't jealous. Not one bit.

“Not a date really. I'm going with Tony and Kate for dinner. At Donetti's.”

“Donetti's?” He had to close his eyes and count to three, taking deep breaths before he could go on. “I'll join you.”

“I don't want you to join us.”

Oh, she was a coy one, that Cara. “Yes, you do.”

“And if you show up, I won't talk to you.”

He'd join them all right. “Well, then, there's nothing to talk about, now, is there?” He just wouldn't let on about his plan.

The tone of her voice turned to sugary brightness. “I hope I get to see you soon.”

“Liar,” he said instead of goodbye.

She only hung up the phone.

Poor Cara, Rex thought. She didn't know it yet, but she was going to be putty in his hands.

 

C
ARA AGAIN WORE
her hair loose tonight. It had looked good when she left the hotel, but that was a top-down-Mustang ride ago. Now she raked her fingers through the thick mass of tangles and curls, doing her best to make sure it was still presentable, hoping it was, because there was no way she was getting up to use the rest-room mirror, or take one out of her purse. She wasn't going to take her gaze off the man over there by the entry. She couldn't believe Rex was here. After she'd told him not to show up. The nerve of him.

Lipstick? Where was it? Had she even put some on? Her finger glided over her bottom lip and came off pink. That was good. Then she realized she might have taken the cosmetic off the bottom, and her lipstick was top heavy, so she mashed her lips together trying to even out the color.

“Look!” Cara's elbow nudged Kate's arm. Her voice couldn't conceal the excitement and touch of urgency she felt. “Rex.” She almost swallowed the name Rex.

“Where?” Kate asked.

“There.” Cara nodded toward the entry, tucking stray strands of hair behind her ear.

“Hmm,” Kate murmured, kind of dreamy-like.
“He looks real nice tonight. Ignore him. Maybe he'll go away.”

“I will. Believe me, he's not going to get near me.”

Tony looked at the two women, shook his head and continued to eat his sushi.

“Kate, look over there, that's Tigger, one of the old men who I thought was donating semen. And that's Barbara, the office manager, over there.” Cara waved at them. They lowered their heads and ignored her.

Rex immediately found Cara sitting with Kate and Tony. Hell, he was so attuned to her he would have found her even if she were inside and he was outside.

As he walked to the table he saw Tigger and Barbara. Those two were up to something. That Barbara, she was a wild woman. When Tigger started to wave at him, Rex started to head in that direction, but he saw Tony, and Tony was waving at him, too. Not that he didn't love Tig as a grandfather, but Tony had Cara at his table, and there wasn't a contest of where he was heading.

Cara didn't care about any stolen semen. All she wanted was for him to sit next to her so she could rub her hand across his muscled thigh and feel those muscles twitch under her touch.

“I thought you told him not to come here,” Kate said. She could barely be heard over the laughter, music and conversations taking place at every table.

“I guess he didn't listen to me. He must be unable to resist my charm.”

Kate smiled. “I would bet that's it.”

As close as they had been yesterday, Cara still stared almost awestruck as he walked toward their table. She couldn't help it. His jeans were so tight they would be almost indecent anywhere except in Pegleg where peel-on jeans were the uniform of
choice for both men and women. What was more, she knew what was underneath those jeans.

He weaved his way slowly through the throng of customers and waitstaff, busboys and wine stewards. The room was crowded and not easy to navigate without stepping on, over or through someone.

Her mouth was dry, her tongue stuck in there, not having enough moisture to move around, or to let her speak in anything other than the croak she heard when she tried to tell Tony and Kate that Rex was coming over.

She reached for the water, but stopped midway, bringing her hands back to her lap. Her hands had betrayed her, getting all clammy.

Rex was halfway to their table, and she had to get some fluid down her or she'd end up making a froggy-sounding fool of herself. She tried for the glass of water again. When her hands slid over the glass and didn't get even a grasp on it, she stopped herself from picking it up. She knew if she pushed it anymore she'd have nothing but a wet mess and probably broken glass.

So instead of drinking water, she just watched him watch her as he walked toward their table. Watching him was so wonderful she almost forgot her heart was breaking because of him. The jerk.