Free Chloe's Donor by Sabine Ferruci Page B

kicking his ass. Or trying to.
    “I’m not jumping into a mission half-assed,” said Rick, “without some idea of what the hell is going on. Especially since it’s your wife we’re talking about. I’d feel safer going back to Baghdad wearing a t-shirt with an American flag.” When Dev remained silent, Rick continued, all humor gone from his eyes. “If you want my cooperation, cough up some Intel. Is it your kid or not?”
    “Yes.” It gave him fierce satisfaction to say it.
    “And you don’t want to hang around the pregnant mom.” Rick stood up and walked closer to the painting, then whistled softly. “It’s obviously not because she’s butt ugly. Is she a nutcase?” He looked back over his shoulder. “A chatty Cathy in the sack?”
    When Dev merely glared at him, he put his hands in his back pockets and forged ahead. “Did she turn off the nookie when she got the ring on her finger?” Rick wiggled his eyebrows with a smirk, obviously willing to keep it up until he got the truth. Or got Dev to go for his throat.
    Since the latter was so tempting, Dev straightened out his sore knee and limped over to the window, which overlooked the not so scenic suburban Fayetteville. “Look. She’s okay. Better than okay.” He turned back to his friend. “But I need to back off before I .…”
    “Can’t leave?”
    “Get screwed by a woman again. It’s only a matter of time before she finds someone else. I’d rather it be sooner than later.”
    Rick’s eyes widened. “And you want me to be the sooner?” He wandered to the kitchen counter and leaned back on his elbows. The casual maneuver strategically positioned the couch between them. “As I recall, you nearly ripped your baby brother’s head off three years ago for doing a similar favor for you with your fiancé.”
    “Yeah, well I didn’t ask Connor to do me any favors with Susan. He plunged in all by himself.”
    “To show you what a two-timing bitch she was.”
    It was true, and he really needed to smooth things over with his brother, but that would wait until this was settled. “All I want you to do is show up, take a few days to put in the alarm system, and see how things go with her, see if she’s interested. I left a note telling her you’d be coming to do the install and that you’d need a place to stay.”
    “That’ll make it convenient for our hump-a-thon.”
    “Do not talk about her like that.”
    “Of course I’ll have to bone up on positions. I’ve never done a pregnant woman before.”
    Dev’s teeth were probably a millimeter shorter from all his grinding. “Just let me know whether she was interested or not, okay?” A flash of taking Chloe from behind against her couch threatened his sanity. “No details.”
    “You know that you’re fucked up, right? This is not normal.”
    “What else is new?”
    “One last item, Einstein. What if I fall for her? What if I’m not afraid of staying? You want me raising your kid?”
    Dev ground his jaw even harder. He pulled the sheet with Chloe’s info off of his printer and handed it to Rick. “Call me when you get back.”
    “Uh huh.” Rick grabbed it with obvious disgust. “ I’m sure you’ll want to kick back and compare notes over a beer.”
    * * * *
    Chloe leaned her head back on the rocker and inwardly groaned when the screen door onto the back porch opened and swished closed. Dev’s ‘buddy’ Rick had arrived two days ago. He’d started work on the alarm system and was popping up unexpectedly in every room in the house. Unfortunately, her sexual-overture-pop-up blocker was seriously outdated for her current environment.
    Her heart wasn’t consumed with Rick, but he was sexy in his own right and her body was definitely on low simmer. It was downright embarrassing.
    “Hey Chloe. Can you come in and hold a window up for me?”
    When she sensed Rick’s presence in front of her, she opened her eyes. Yep. No overnight change. Battered khaki shorts, hiking boots, and