Free Mosquito Chase by Jaycee Ford

the room we’d been sharing. I kept my eyes on the fire, trying to process all these thoughts.
    “Hey, Caleb?”
    I turned to see her standing at the entrance of the hallway. She had one hand on the wall, the other rested on her stomach. I couldn’t help but think that regardless of whose baby she carried, she still looked sexy as hell.
    “Is it still okay for me to sleep in your bed?” She bit her lip. My heart slammed in my chest. She had to stop that lip biting.
    “For as long as you’re here. You don’t have to ask anymore.”
    Her small smile still captured by teeth stirred me up. She disappeared into the bedroom, and I found myself staring into the fire, still thinking about those lips.
     

 
     

     
    “Angie, I really don’t like this idea.”
    “You really need to calm down.”
    A standoff was happening in my living room. Me: dressed in my Police khakis. Her: dressed in a long sleeved shirt that fit her chest snugly – provocatively – and yoga pants pulled up to her belly. Her hair hung loose around her face, and those crystal blue eyes stared at me. She’s carrying a dead man’s baby. She’s carrying a dead man’s baby. This concept wasn’t working anymore. We weren’t at war like we once were, things were different now, but she was still grieving the loss of her fiancé. There wasn’t much of a shot for me, no matter what I thought I could read in those eyes.
    “Why can’t Dr. Cooper continue to examine you here?”
    “He will today, but seriously Caleb, this baby is going to come any day now. I know that I’m in hiding, but I need to be hiding closer to a hospital.”
    I moved to the closet and eased into my shoulder holster, secured my gun, and then threw my jacket over the whole get-up. When I turned back to her, the sun was shining through the window, beaming light directly on her. The natural glow of her cheeks brightened, her hair shimmered a golden yellow. I looked away, tried to focus on anything and nothing as I zipped up my jacket. The distance felt too great and I instinctively took a few steps toward her, stopping a few feet away. A whiff of her lotion tickled my nose and warmed my cold chest. I could never figure out what that scent was, I was too embarrassed to ask. It wasn’t floral or fruity. It was … like heaven. Everything about her seemed like heaven … and I didn’t have a shot in hell. I exhaled and gently grabbed her cold hands, clasping them in mine. I rubbed my thumbs over her knuckles under guise of warming them as I continued to stare into her eyes. She relaxed at my touch.
    Dead man’s baby.
    “We have two options then.”
    “We?” she asked, her eyes brightening my hell.
    “You think I’m going to let you go?”
    Her eyes shifted at my response, and I realized how differently she might have interpreted the question. I stared at her twitching lips as she chewed on the inside of her mouth. I kept thinking back to Thanksgiving morning, the morning she’d kissed me in her sleep.
    “What are our options then?”
    I assumed she knew there was no chance I was letting her go out on her own. It felt good to know she wasn’t going to fight it, that she trusted me enough to protect her.
    “We can stay at The Inn or stay with my brother.”
    Her eyes grew wide as she stepped away from my hold.
    “You expect me to live with Ellie Caldwell?”
    “Ellie Harris.”
    “I don’t care what her name is now, that girl hates me. She’s always hated me. And you think that’s a good option?” She crossed her arms, pushing up her swollen breasts. I blinked a quick view. Her nose twitched when she caught me checking her out again. Jesus Christ, if I didn’t get laid soon…
    “I believe it’s safer than The Inn. There are too many strangers coming in and out of there. You’d never be able to leave the room. At least Ellie has been through this before. She could help.”
    She uncrossed her arms and wiped her hands down her face, peeking at me through her fingers.