He broke off the kiss to pant out, "Let's move to the bedroom." His face glowed with lust, mirroring the desire coursing through her veins, thick and dark as molasses.
She nodded without hesitation, her anguish forgotten. Tonight their passion felt different, suffused with poignancy and tenderness. She needed this escape from life's harsh reality. Ardent affection softened Derek's face as he scooped her into his arms and carried her to her bedroom.
The following morning, Derek was woken by the sounds of Hannah puking in the bathroom. He rushed in to see if he could help, but she scowled at him through her hair and told him to go away, so he did.
At least he could make himself useful in the kitchen. He pulled on his jeans but left his shirt off, since the day was already hot. There was only enough ginger tea for one glass, so he poured it out and set about making a fresh batch. The tea was steeping in a saucepan when Hannah joined him, her hair falling untidily over her bathrobe.
He handed her the glass of cold ginger tea. "I've made some more for later," he said, tilting his chin toward the saucepan.
Hannah lifted her eyebrows. "You know how to make ginger tea?"
"It's not hard. I looked it up on the internet. Want a cracker, too?"
Her eyes crinkled at the corners. "You're becoming quite a pro at morning sickness."
He loved that smile of hers. It made him feel ten feet tall. "I'm a pro at a lot of things." He winked at her.
Her smile slipped a little. "Um, about last night … "
Inwardly he winced. But he was determined not to get too worked up. "You don't have to say anything. I know. Last night was a one-off, etcetera, etcetera."
She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyes growing misty. "I'm not saying it wasn't wonderful … "
Yeah, it had been all kinds of wonderful. Last night she'd turned to him for comfort, and he had made her feel happy again. That had been incredible, and maybe he could do it again. Maybe he could be the rock she could depend on. Again, the vision of the crib fired his imagination. The design was clear in his head. He could already picture it in that big family home just a few blocks away. The image warmed him. Maybe he could tell Hannah about the house, maybe even take her to see it …
Hannah set the glass down with a groan and clutched at her stomach. "Ugh, I think I need to … " She rushed off to the bathroom again.
He poured the fresh ginger tea into a jug and stored it in the refrigerator. He could handle morning sickness, no problem. But maybe he should hold off telling Hannah about the house and the crib because what if he wasn't up to all this parenting stuff? He didn't want to raise people's hopes only to hurt and disappoint them.
The doorbell rang, and he ambled through to answer it.
Caleb stood on the threshold.
Blank astonishment robbed Derek of speech.
Caleb frowned at him. "Thought I recognized your car outside, but what're you doing here so early?"
"Uh … "
"Did something happen to Hannah?" Caleb shouldered past him. "Hannah! Where the hell are you?"
Hannah appeared at the other end of the tiny hallway. The next few moments felt like a slow-mo scene from a horror movie. Derek saw Caleb taking in Hannah's messy hair and loose bathrobe. Caleb turned to Derek. His gaze registered his bare chest, bare feet, jeans unbuttoned.
A shirtless guy, a girl in a bathrobe, anyone could do the math.
Chapter Sixteen
"What the fuck, man? Are you sleeping with my sister?"
Derek met Caleb's furious gaze head-on. "Yes."
A cord swelled in Caleb's neck. "You. Fucking. Bastard."
Hannah reached for her brother's arm. "Caleb, listen to me. You're getting worked up over nothing."
"Nothing?" He turned to her, eyes filled with seething disbelief. "It's nothing, is it? To drop in and find the guy I thought was my best friend porking my big sister?"
She winced at his crudeness.
Derek took a step forward. "Hey, that's no way to talk to your sister."
"Talk! You've done a helluva lot more than just talk to her," Caleb bellowed. He shook Hannah off and lunged at Derek with his fist.
Derek had enough experience with fights to be able to dodge the fist. But he didn't move an inch. If it made Caleb feel better, then he'd let his friend hit him. Caleb's wildly aimed fist glanced off Derek's jaw. Derek staggered back a pace but made no move to defend himself, his arms hanging at his sides.
"Dirtbag. Chickenweed." Caleb held up his fists, his chest heaving. "C'mon. Too scared to fight?"
"You don't want to fight me."
"I said put up your fists, jerkwad!"
He couldn't. Tremors ran through Derek's arms. He'd always thought Caleb was his best friend, but his best friend thought he was scum. Thought he wasn't good enough to touch his sister. The betrayal tightened the rope around his throat.
"Stop it you two," Hannah cried out, her face ashen. "I'm not some piece of steak for you to fight over. I'm an adult, a grown woman, and let me remind you that I'm five years older than the both of you. So you can just put a lid on your testosterone and start behaving like civilized human beings."
Caleb shifted toward her. "Why, Hannah? You coulda picked anyone, but you chose him?"
"Oh for God's sake, I didn't purposely pick anyone. It just happened."
Derek flinched inside. She made it sound like he was a nobody, like it could have been any guy at Jimmy's.
"But you were so cut up after Rick," Caleb protested. "You were crying and saying you wished you'd chosen someone else. And then you end up pregnant with this guy." He flicked his hand at Derek.
Anger burned in Derek. "What the hell are you implying? There's no way I'm a scumbag like Rick. I don't cheat or lie."
"Maybe not, but you're a player, all right. The kind that likes to hang out with Marla Beaudry." The corner of Caleb's lip lifted scornfully.
"I'm not hanging out with Marla Beaudry!" Derek wanted to roar with frustration. "I'm here with Hannah, aren't I?"
"Oh, yeah?" Caleb pushed out his jaw, his body bristling with antagonism. "So what are you saying? You've fallen crazy in love with Hannah? Is that it?"
The jeer in Caleb's voice splintered through Derek's head. Love. No one had ever told him they loved him. Not even his mom. Once, he'd made her a Valentine's card, and for a minute she had aw'd over it, but later he'd found the card tossed in the waste bin. Since then, he'd never told another person he loved them.
Crazy in love with Hannah? The idea froze his blood. He'd nursed a crush on her for years, and she was so special to him-even before she was expecting his baby-but did that mean he was in love with her? And what did she make of it? He sneaked a glance at her. Her shoulders were hunched, her mouth was pinched, and she looked like she wanted to puke.
His stomach dropped. Yeah, she wanted to puke at the thought of him falling in love with her. She couldn't even meet his eyes, her gaze sliding away as she wrapped her arms around her waist. He was no expert on body language, but hers was saying loud and clear Back Off!
"Well?" Caleb was glowering at him from beneath lowered brows.
He didn't know what to make of the sick feeling churning through him, but he sure as hell wasn't going to make himself vulnerable again. He wasn't going to have his heart tossed in the garbage again.
"Hannah and I weren't after anything serious."
Hannah made a choking noise before she stared down at the floor. Caleb's hands twitched like he was thinking of punching Derek again. Derek's heart thumped against his ribs. Was he saying the wrong thing? Making a big mistake? Shit, why was this so painful?
Here were the two people he cared for most in the world, and they both looked like they hated him. He had to say something, anything, to fix the situation.
"But now there's a baby on the way, I'm all in. I'm prepared to shoulder my responsibilities." He couldn't seem to stop himself sounding so goddamn stuffy. "I'm happy to marry Hannah, and I promise I won't cheat or lie."
Hannah flung back her hair as a stifled howl rose from her lips. "You ass! Screw you and your responsibilities."
Ass? Did she mean him? Derek floundered back as if she'd punched him. "Huh?"
"I'm not something you have to shoulder." Her eyes were glazed over with a weird sheen, and he actually felt scared of her. "You're not doing me a favor offering to marry me and promising not to cheat or lie. How dare you?" She stamped her foot. He had never seen her do that before. "I deserve better! Better, d'you hear me?"
Bile rose in Derek's throat. Finally, Hannah was speaking the truth. She didn't want him because he wasn't good enough.
Hannah couldn't stop shaking. She'd lost control of her muscles and her mind. Why had she yelled at Derek like that? What had she said to him?
"Derek-"
He cut her off with an icy glare. "Good to know how you really feel."