The Untameable Texan

The Untameable Texan - Part 5

CHAPTER FIVE

Texas financier Jed Farrell finally has Kimberly right where he wants her. But will she stay?

When sunlight spilled into the room hours later, Jed roused bleary-eyed. Kimmie was gone.

Cursing long and low, he crawled from the bed, wondering for a dazed half second if last night had been a dream. But it wasn’t. He knew that. No dream had ever felt so physically sating, so amazing.

Wincing in distaste, he donned his clothes from yesterday. He would like to run out to the ranch, but he didn’t trust Kimberly not to sidetrack him somehow. So he would keep an eye on her. At least until they made it to the doctor.

He found her in the kitchen, hunched over the sink, a saltine cracker in her hand. He wanted to ask why she had left the bed without saying anything, but the sheer misery on her face deflected his ire.

Shaking his head in wonder that he had come to this moment in time, he went to her and encircled her with his arms from behind. “Rough morning?”

She nodded, groaning when that movement brought a return of the dry heaves. Brushing a tear from her cheek, he scooped her up and carried her to the sofa. “Don’t move.”

Minutes later, he returned with a cup of hot tea and a cold rag for her forehead. Supporting her as she took a few sips, his heart contracted with sympathy. His poor Kimmie was in no shape to spar with him. But they were at a crossroads, and it was time to tear away the subterfuge and get at the truth.

After thirty minutes, when he did nothing but hold her and stroke her hair, some of the color returned to her face.

“Better?” he asked.

She nodded, her eyes downcast. “You don’t have to go with me. I’ll tell you everything the doctor says.”

He brushed his thumb across one cheekbone. It seemed as if she had already lost weight from struggling with morning sickness. “I’m going with you, Kimberly. Don’t fight it. Everything will be okay.”

The skepticism in her dark eyes when she looked up at him made him wince inwardly. What would it take to get her to trust him?

By the time they left the house, Kimberly was feeling well enough to argue with him about taking her own car. “That way you can go home afterward. I’m fine,” she insisted. “I’m pregnant, not dying.”

He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and kissed her on the nose. “You’ll have to humor me, my sweet. I’ve never been expecting before.”

She studied his face as if he were the Sphinx, though he was trying hard to give her the message that he was on her side. “You’re not expecting,” she said mulishly. “I am.”

He tucked her into the car and ran around to the driver’s side. “We both are, Kimmie. And I’m expecting more than you can possibly imagine.”

That shut her up. For the remainder of the brief trip, she avoided talking at all. Inside the stylish, cheerful offices of the ob/gyn, the receptionist handed over a sheaf of papers and urged them to be seated. The waiting room was full, but there were three doctors in this practice, so hopefully the wait wouldn’t be too long.

Apparently, the clock didn’t start ticking until the paperwork was complete. Because even after Kimberly turned it in, they had another half hour wait. Jed didn’t recognize anyone in the room, but that didn’t mean anything. The Farrells were well-known around town. If people recognized either Kimberly or Jed and speculated, gossip would spread like wildfire.