The Marriage Solution

And for Tess, the thought of losing Craig’s friendship and support was far worse than the prospect of raising a child on her own.

He didn’t say anything for a minute and she let herself hope he was actually considering what she’d said. She didn’t hear him leave the table, wasn’t aware that he was behind her until he put his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her around to face him.

She met his gaze evenly, almost defiantly. She knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t easily dissuaded from something he wanted, but she could be equally stubborn. And there was no way she was going to further jeopardize their friendship by marrying him. Her mom and Ken had been friends before they married and they’d had nothing left when their marriage had fallen apart. Tess refused to let that happen. Craig could use whatever arguments he wanted, she wasn’t going to change her mind.

But his response wasn’t at all what she expected. He didn’t argue or plead or use any of the other tactics she was confident she could handle. Instead, he lowered his head and he kissed her.

At first, she was too stunned to react. And then, as his lips continued to move over hers, soft but firm, strong yet coaxing, she simply melted.

He slid his fingers into her hair and tipped her head back to deepen the kiss. She opened for him willingly, all thoughts of resistance gone. Whether it was the pregnancy hormones running rampant through her system or her new awareness of Craig as a man, she had no desire to be anywhere but in his arms.

She shivered as his fingers massaged her scalp, moaned as his tongue tangled with hers. Somewhere, in the back recesses of her mind, she knew she should end this kiss. She shouldn’t allow this to happen but she was powerless to stop the desire that flowed hot and thick through her system. She wanted this—she wanted Craig—more than she’d ever thought possible.

He stroked his hands down her back, tugged the blouse from the waistband of her slacks, and she trembled with anticipation. Then his hands were on her skin and she could no longer think. She could only feel and she loved the way it felt to be touched by him, to touch him. She ran her hands up his chest, found the buttons at the front of his shirt and quickly worked them free.

He slid an arm behind her knees and scooped her up, cradling her against his chest as his lips continued their sensual assault. She’d never been swept off her feet before—literally or figuratively—and if she let herself think about it she might worry that Craig was her first on both counts and that it felt so completely right.

He carried her into the living room, laid her down gently on the soft leather sofa and levered himself down beside her. Their bodies were aligned, their legs entwined, on the narrow couch. She could feel the evidence of his arousal against her belly and wriggled her hips to position him between her thighs.

Her blouse was undone now, too, and he slid the garment over her shoulders, letting it drop to the ground. Then he shifted their bodies so that she was lying beneath him and dipped his head to nuzzle her throat, the scrape of his jaw against her tender skin sending deliciously erotic tingles through her body.

His lips moved lower, caressing the swell of her breasts above the lacy cups of her bra. She felt her nipples tighten, the heat spread through her body. As if in response to an unspoken request, he flicked his tongue over the aching peak, then closed his teeth over the thin fabric. Tess gasped and thrust her hips upward. Impatiently Craig pushed the strap off her shoulder and took her nipple in his mouth. He manipulated the peak, tasting, teasing, then he suckled hard on the breast, thrusting it against the roof of his mouth with his tongue. She bit down on her lip to keep from crying out as she rocked her hips against him, aching for the fulfillment of his lovemaking.

“Let me make love with you, Tess.”

His words paralleled her thoughts, proving they were—if at odds over everything else—at least in synch in their desire for one another.

She gripped his shoulders with trembling hands. “Yes.”

He undid the button of her slacks, slid the zipper down. His fingers found the wet heat inside her and she almost flew apart right then.

“Let me remind you how good we are together,” he whispered the words against her lips as his hands continued to tease and torment her. “Let me show you how wonderful it would be to make love every night if we got married.”

It took a minute for his words to penetrate through the fog that surrounded Tess’s brain. When they did, the heat flowing through her veins suddenly chilled.

“What…” She had to pause for breath, forced herself to ignore the traitorous demands of her body that insisted his words didn’t matter. “What did you say?”

He leaned forward again and brushed his lips against hers, softly coaxing. “I said I want to make love with you.”

She wanted to melt against him, to lean into the kiss, to go back to where she’d been before she’d heard the words that had doused her own desire more effectively than an icy rain. “Why?”

He smiled, that slow, sexy smile that made her insides all trembly and weak. “I thought that was obvious.”

“Is it?” She felt her cheeks flush but wouldn’t allow herself to be distracted by his easy charm. Not again.

Instead, she pushed herself up and scrambled off of the couch. She found her discarded top and shoved her arms through the sleeves, turning her back on him to fasten the buttons and zip up her slacks. It wasn’t about modesty so much as hiding the hurt she was afraid he’d see in her eyes when she spoke her next words. “Or was this part of your plan to convince me to marry you?”

She heard him sigh. “I didn’t plan this at all, Tess, things just got out of control. But to be perfectly honest, I think the attraction between us is further proof that our marriage would succeed.”

She turned back to him, confident that any residual hurt would be shrouded by the anger that was beginning to boil inside her. “We should get married because we’re good in bed together?”

He stood up and took a step toward her. “We’re a lot better than good, but that’s only one factor.”

“That’s what this was to you?” She impatiently brushed away the tears that spilled onto her cheeks. “A factor?”

“Of course not,” he denied.

But she knew him well enough to recognize the guilt that flickered in his eyes. Tess straightened her shirt.

“Go to hell, and take your proposal with you.”

Chapter Four

Tess wasn’t really surprised that she didn’t hear from Craig through the following week, but she was sorry. He’d been the one person she’d always felt she could count on and she’d screwed it up by, well, screwing him. It was crude but true. Have sex with a guy once and it changed everything. And now, when she needed his support more than ever, he was conspicuously absent from her life.

More than a month had passed since she’d taken the home pregnancy test and though she’d scheduled her first prenatal appointment, she still didn’t know what was the best thing to do for her baby. What she did know was that she’d drive herself insane if she continued to stare at the same four walls inside her apartment. So Saturday morning, with no destination in mind, she climbed in her Saturn coupe and drove. When she found herself in the west end of town, she decided to drop in on her sister.

Technically, Laurie was Tess’s stepsister but neither of them had any biological siblings and the relationship they’d developed over the years was as strong as any made by blood. Although the marriage between their respective parents hadn’t worked out, the girls had stayed in touch after the divorce. Laurie was the only other person Tess could imagine confiding in about her current situation, and right now she desperately needed to confide in someone.

“It’s not even 10:00 a.m.,” Laurie complained as she pulled open the front door.

Tess held up the tray of coffee and the box of doughnuts. “I brought breakfast.”

Laurie stepped away from the door and Tess followed her into the kitchen. She set the doughnuts and coffee on the table, then scooped ten-week-old Devin out of his infant carrier. She always loved spending time with her sister’s kids, had always dreamed of having a baby of her own someday. Now that day was on the horizon.

“I can’t believe how much he’s grown.” Her voice was filled with awe as she stared at the chubby infant cradled in her arms.

Laurie smiled. “He’s gained five pounds already.”

“Is that normal?” she asked, struck once again by how little she knew about babies, how much she needed to learn.

“The doctor likes to see newborns gain at least a pound a month, so he’s a little ahead of schedule.”

She brushed a kiss on the soft, downy head, breathed in his soft, baby scent. “Already an overachiever, aren’t you?”

The baby, of course, didn’t respond.

But then his big sister wandered into the kitchen.

“Juice, mommy.” Two-year-old Becca waved a plastic cup at her mother.

“Please,” Laurie told her, taking the cup.

Becca shook her head no. “Ap-ple.”

Tess smiled as the child’s mother shook her head.

“She doesn’t quite understand ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ yet,” Laurie explained as she took the juice from the refrigerator and refilled the cup. Becca took the cup back to the living room where she’d been playing with the building blocks scattered across the carpet.