“It’s gorgeous,” she choked, and then she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold it back for one second more. Her throat was constricting and tears were threatening to spill over. She had to go, had to be alone to collect herself. “I’ll be right back.”
Tawny bolted out of her chair and rushed up the steps so quickly that her steps practically thundered through the rest of the house.
“Darn. Was it the blanket or maybe the food? I knew I shouldn’t have done the tuna dip,” Luke’s mother fretted, as she watched Tawny’s retreating back.
“Don’t worry about it, Mom. Why don’t you get the cake and I’ll go check on Tawny, okay? I think she’s just overwhelmed, is all,” he said. She nodded and he made his way toward the stairs.
It didn’t take long to figure out which room Tawny had escaped into—he could hear her racking sobs from all the way down the hall, and when he made it to the door, he rapped lightly with his knuckle before creaking the door open.
“Tawny?” he called softly.
She was lying on the guest room bed, curled in a little ball, and when she looked up and saw him there, she shoved a pillow over her face.
“Please go away.” Her voice was muffled, but he could just make out the words. “I’m being silly. I’m so embarrassed.”
“It’s okay. If you don’t like the blanket, we don’t have to use it. I don’t—”
She sat up straight and ran the back of her hand under her eyes, swatting away her tears. “I love the blanket. It’s beautiful. And the toys your brother gave us. And the rocking horse Rex made. It’s just…I’ve just been really emotional. Pregnancy hormones.”
She shook her head, and he moved into the room, careful to close the door behind him. Settling onto the bed next to her, he considered pulling her close, letting her rest her head on his chest and running his fingers through her long, soft hair.
But if he did that, if he smelled the sweet floral scent of her shampoo or felt the warmth of her skin against him, it would be next to impossible to keep himself from kissing her again. And if he felt her lips on his…
His jaw clenched. It had been eight long weeks, but he could get through another. He wouldn’t make a move, wouldn’t touch her until it was safe. And the safest way to ensure that was to keep his distance, because with every passing day, Tawny seemed to get sexier. His hands itched to touch her. His cock ached to be inside her. Some nights, he lay awake, hard and wanting, in a cold sweat. Others, when he couldn’t take it anymore…when she smelled too good, or got too close…when the cold showers didn’t work anymore, he took care of himself. Jerking off while he thought of her, legs spread on his bed. The taste of her. The way her breath caught when she came.
Asshole. She’s up here crying and all you can think about is sleeping with her again.
He shook his head and tried to refocus.
“Do you want to talk about how you’re feeling? Tell me what’s going on?” he asked. “Maybe I can help.”
She shook her head. “It’s hard to explain.” She sniffled. “A lot of different stuff. Your family is so frigging awesome and sweet. I can’t believe they did all this for me, so it’s like happy tears. But then two seconds later, I feel really low and sad because it’s weird to not know my body anymore. I’ve just been feeling so clumsy and, I don’t know.” A little pink flush rose in her cheeks. “I feel ugly. It’s hard.”
She averted her gaze, but he tucked his hand under her chin and lifted her face to look at him. “You’re not ugly.”
“I’m not telling you that so you have to compliment me, Luke. I just know I owe you some sort of explanation of why I’m acting so crazy and emotional lately.”
“I know that. But I want to compliment you. You’re not, and have never been, ugly. These changes--” He swept his gaze over her and his groin instantly tightened. Jesus, it had been so long. “I have to keep myself from staring at you, but it’s because I love the way you look. You are so incredibly beautiful and sexy, it’s killing me.”
She pulled away from him and shook her head dubiously. “Look, that’s nice of you to say, but I know that I’m sort of past the point of being sexually desirable, you know?”
He gritted his teeth, knowing he was going to pay for it with a brutal case of blue balls, and took her hand in his. Then he laid it on his already stiff cock. Even through the thick fabric, he could feel her fingers as they traced the outline of his thick erection, and she let out a little gasp of shock.