Free Bodyguard's Baby Surprise by LISA CHILDS Page B

already full lips swollen from his kisses. Her arms and legs clinging to his body as he moved inside her.
    â€œAnnalise!” a male voice shouted her name.
    And Nick realized who’d called her. “Gage?”
    â€œNick? What the hell are you doing with Annalise’s phone?” her brother asked.
    He’d been wondering that himself—until now. Now he realized that Annalise hadn’t wanted to worry her brother, and she’d thought she might give away something if she talked to him.
    â€œShe’s here, of course,” Nick replied.
    â€œAt our place?” Gage asked. Then his curse rattled the phone. “I thought she might show up after I sent that email. That’s why I called.”
    â€œYou’ve owed her a call for a while,” Nick admonished him. But Gage hadn’t wanted to worry Annalise any more than she wanted to worry him now. The Huxtons were like the Paynes in how unselfishly they loved each other.
    â€œThen why did you answer the phone instead of her?” Gage asked, his voice even gruffer than usual with suspicion.
    Annalise’s face paled, and she shook her head. She wasn’t a liar. So she couldn’t come up with an excuse on the spot. That was why she’d handed Nick the phone: to lie.
    â€œShe’s...”
    What the hell would Annalise be doing if she’d come up for a regular visit?
    â€œShe’s cooking,” he said. She had made a habit of coming over to Gage’s and cooking for him when he’d worked for the Bureau. Nick had always been invited over, as well. Maybe that was why he hadn’t considered that she could have another guy. She’d always had time for her brother.
    And him.
    She’d never dragged a boyfriend along. Nick’s stomach tensed at the thought of Annalise with another man—the way she’d been with him.
    How she’d clung to him and moved beneath him.
    The way she’d shuddered and screamed as she...
    â€œWhat’s she cooking?” Gage asked wistfully.
    Sweat beaded on his upper lip. She was cooking him—scorching him with just the memory of her passion. “I don’t know.”
    Gage chuckled, and his voice wasn’t as rusty-sounding as it had been. “She won’t let you in the kitchen?”
    â€œYou’re the one she doesn’t let in the kitchen,” Nick reminded him. Gage had no domestic abilities whatsoever. Their mom had been a real mom—like Penny Payne—who’d enjoyed taking care of her family. Gage never had to fend for himself or starve like Nick had.
    Nick knew his way around the kitchen. So Annalise used to let him help. But she’d always stood too close, always touched him too much.
    Even her innocent touches—her hand on his back as she leaned around him to grab a utensil, her hip bumping his as she dried the dishes he’d washed—had affected him. Made his body tense and needy.
    But he’d denied what he had been feeling for her, had denied that need—until six months ago.
    â€œI wish I was there,” Gage murmured. He missed his sister.
    Nick could understand. He’d missed her, too, so badly, the past six months. His gaze moved down her body to the swell of her pregnant belly. He’d had no idea.
    â€œI thought you weren’t ready to see her,” Nick said.
    Annalise flinched.
    Gage’s sigh rattled the phone. “I didn’t think I was.”
    But he was changing his mind. And Nick couldn’t have that yet. He couldn’t let Gage come home too soon, before he’d had a chance to explain what had happened that night when he’d lost all control.
    Hell, it didn’t matter what excuse he used. Gage wouldn’t understand. He lived by a code, and Nick had violated that code when he’d crossed the line with Annalise.
    â€œBe sure you’re ready before you see her,” Nick advised.
    Gage sighed again. “You’re right. I don’t want