Free The Stud by Barbara Delinsky Page A

minutes, " he agreed. His eyes held hers for a heart-stopping moment more before letting her go.

    Spencer took his time in the shower. Long after he had soaped himself from head to toe, he stood with the hot spray concentrated on the tight muscles at the back of his neck. True, the mess with the manuscript had gotten him down, but he suspected that he might have handled it better if Jenna hadn't been weighing heavy on his mind.
    No artificial insemination, he had told her with such smugness. It's the real thing or nothing. Such arrogance. Sexual intercourse, between you and me. Such cocksureness, and why the hell not? He was a handsome guy. He was a super lover. He would show little Jenna McCue the time of her life, and she'd get the baby she wanted, to boot.
    He had believed all that up until several days earlier, when the reality of what he had arranged had hit him—and it wasn't the baby part that bothered him, as much as the Jenna part. She was Caroline's best friend, and he had always liked her. She was gentle and understanding. She accepted his way of life. She was also vulnerable where men were concerned, something he hadn't realized until she had put her proposal to him at his parents' anniversary party.
    He wasn't used to vulnerable women, any more than he was used to petite women. He was used to women who were tall and shapely, who reveled in their sexuality, who came to him with confidence and hunger, and demanded as much as they gave.
    Jenna wasn't like those women at all, but now he felt a responsibility for her. He wanted to please her, but he wasn't sure how best to do it. She wanted their coming together to be a simple, straightforward coupling for the sole purpose of producing a child. His body wanted more.
    He shifted to put the force of the spray on the small of his back, then raised first one arm, then the other to stretch his muscles. He supposed he could find a compromise. He could be gentle, without dwelling on preliminaries. He could make her feel good if she let him. The question was whether she would.
    Turning the water off, he reached for the towel and dried himself. He looked at his foggy reflection in the mirror, pushed his hair around a hole, took a toothbrush from his grooming kit and set about brushing his teeth, and all the while he pictured Jenna in her own bathroom getting ready for him. By the time he'd rinsed his mouth, a slow heat was gathering between his legs.
    No, getting it up wouldn't be a problem. Preparing Jenna to take it in might be.
    He glanced at his watch. It was time. Knotting a dry towel around his waist, he left the bathroom and headed down the hall. Jenna's was the only other room lit. He assumed it had once been her parents' room, but he wasn't thinking about her parents when he came to stand at the door. A single low light glowed by the turned-down bed. She was beside it, with her back to him. She was wearing a robe that was long and white, and her head was bowed. Only when he came closer did he see that she was studying something in her hand.
    "Whatcha got?" he asked softly.
    She held up a tiny bracelet made of glass beads interspersed with ones of ivory that spelled out her name. "My parents had this made when I was a baby. I always loved it. If I have a little girl, I want to give her one with her name on it, too. "
    Spencer looked at the bracelet for a minute, before his gaze was drawn up to Jenna. Her hair was dark as the night, spilling softly around her face and onto her shoulders. Her skin was moist, her cheeks a pale pink. She smelled of spring flowers and looked incredibly young.
    He touched her hair. "I think that sounds like a nice idea. " He ran his fingers through the loose waves.
    She tucked her chin lower. The gesture made him feel that much larger beside her and more protective. Gently he took the bracelet from her hand and set it on the table by the bed. While he was there, he switched off the light. "If it were up to me, " he said, straightening close