An Officer, a Baby and a Bride

Great. Pregnancy had turned her into a human Weeble. Except, unlike the toy, she could and would fall if she wasn’t careful.

She tried her aerobic step next. Raising it to its highest level, she pressed her bottom against the living-room wall, planted one foot on the step, leaned forward and, once again, nearly fell on her face. Fine, then. She’d go about it a different way.

Rebecca kicked off her sneakers, tied each of them into loose bows, dropped them to the floor and slipped her feet into them. Feeling absolutely victorious, she let herself out of the house into the beautiful afternoon. The still-shining sun warmed her face and the crisp scent of rain lingered in the air, left over from that morning’s unexpected downpour.

No way was she ruining the loveliness of the day or her walk by thinking of the Foster men, their oversize egos or the diamond ring that resided somewhere in her rosebushes.

Though that last one was harder. Every time she left and entered her house, she had to stop herself from searching the prickly bushes. And okay, she probably shouldn’t have tossed the ring. Even if Seth’s commanding, I’m-in-charge attitude had ticked her off.

But leaving something so valuable in a place where anyone—her mailman, a solicitor, anyone—could find and walk off with it rattled her. It shouldn’t. Seth obviously didn’t care, so why should she? Yet, for whatever reason, she did.

Rebecca swept a cursory glance over the bush as she descended the front porch stairs. Nothing sparkly jumped out at her, so she continued.

It was a beautiful ring. Simple and elegant, with a traditional princess-cut diamond—not too large, not too small—set in a wide band of shimmering white gold. It was as if Seth had glimpsed into her dreams and chosen the exact right ring for her, which was about as absurd as his proposal. They certainly hadn’t chatted about her sense of style during their weekend.

A hot flush stole over her cheeks as she turned right on the sidewalk in front of her house. The memory of the woman she was that weekend continued to stun her.

Maybe it shouldn’t. Seth’s letters piqued her curiosity about the man behind them almost as soon as they began writing. And Lord, how she’d looked forward to receiving those letters. To answering them. And while she hadn’t told him about Jesse, she had shared more personal details of her life than she had with any of the other people she corresponded with.

Doing so had seemed natural.

And when she’d finally spoken with Seth on the phone, her pulse had jumped and her palms had grown sweaty, as if she were sixteen and the high-school quarterback had asked her to prom. The sound of Seth’s voice had filled her with elation.

She’d tried to resist the need to meet him, but curiosity and a hunger to see his face won out over practicality. When she walked into the café they’d agreed on, his dark-eyed gaze landed on her and a triple-shot of energy, of intense recognition, turned her stomach on its side.

No, she shouldn’t be stunned by the woman she was that weekend. But that didn’t mean she had to make sense of it. What happened, happened.

Keeping her pace leisurely, Rebecca headed toward the elementary school that was located three blocks south from her house. Her daughter would attend that school someday. Most days, Rebecca would probably drop her off on her way into work. But every now and then, they might walk hand in hand down the same path Rebecca was now walking.

The tightness in her muscles relaxed as she continued, and within a block, her mind cleared. Her hand came to rest on her stomach and when she crossed the street, her thoughts turned to possible names.

Emily, maybe. She liked Sarah and Hannah, as well. Would Seth want input on their daughter’s name? Dumb question. Of course he would. Knowing her luck, he’d favor something obscure and untraditional, like the sometimes odd names celebrities chose for their children.

Her stomach tightened with a Braxton Hicks contraction. Any type of physical exercise tended to bring them on, but her doctor said they were harmless. Rebecca paused, let the contraction pass and then started forward again. She’d only taken a few more steps when a far-too-familiar form fell into stride next to her.

Her heart leaped and blood rushed to her head. Seth.

“What are you doing here?” she asked without slowing down, somewhat dazed she hadn’t sensed his approach. “As of today, I know you know where I work, so don’t give me the excuse that you couldn’t call to set up a meeting.”

“Actually, I did call,” he said in that resonant, severe, sexy voice that made her feel like a cat being taunted with a bowlful of cream. “But alas, you’d already left for the day.”

“And you decided another surprise visit would somehow be a good idea?”

“It’s been several days, Becca. You can’t expect me to wait forever.”

Breathing in through her nose, she stopped and faced him. Dressed in khakis and a casual, short-sleeved royal blue shirt, he shouldn’t have held the same austere, commanding presence that he had on Saturday in his dress blues. But somehow, he did. Her eyes slid down the length of him before embarrassment dragged them back up. “I know what you’re doing.”

“Do you?” he asked in a humor-drenched voice. “Please fill me in. What am I doing?”

“You’re trying to keep me in a perpetual state of… of—” Dang it! What was the word she wanted. Unable to find it or deal with his self-satisfied smirk, she settled for, “Weakness. Strike when the enemy is least prepared, right?”

“I don’t consider you my enemy, Rebecca. But yes, surprise is a method often employed to achieve the upper hand in most types of negotiations.” Shadows, dark and searching, entered his eyes, his expression. “We both know what Saturday was about. I’d rather not waste additional minutes backtracking over already-covered ground.”

“Agreed. As long as you understand I’m not accepting your proposal.”

“That would be called backtracking, as you made that quite clear three days ago.”

She couldn’t decide if he was up to something or simply trying to put her at ease. Raising her chin, she said in a bore-no-room-for-argument tone, “I won’t change my mind.”

“Understood.” Seth reached out to touch her, but pulled back. “You look upset. I’ve heard that stress can sometimes cause problems during pregnancy. My goal isn’t to upset you.”

“I’m fine and so is the baby.” She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “We’re okay.”

Relief eased the furrows that etched his brow. He bent slightly at the waist, as if he were a gentleman from a long-ago time and she his lady, and held out his hand. “Shall we continue with your walk then?”

Because the idea of walking side by side with Seth was so very appealing, she pointed to the school a few blocks up. “I’m going there. Then, I’ll go home. Why don’t you wait on my porch and let me finish my walk in peace. We can talk when I get back.”

“I’d rather stay with you.”

“I won’t be long and you… you can spend the time searching for your ring.”

One corner of his mouth quirked in a delicious sort of half smile. “Drives you crazy that I left the ring there, doesn’t it?”

“Not crazy. I happen to think it’s… senseless.”

“It’s a valuable ring,” Seth said with less concern than he might show for a lost quarter. “Someone could find it… probably resell it for a decent amount. Finders keepers, I guess.”

“Exactly. Which is why you should locate the dang ring.”

“I find I’m… content knowing the ring is on your property. So, Rebecca,” he said, lifting his fingers to flutter gently in her hair. “If you really want to return your engagement ring, you’ll have to conduct your own search.”

Her breath caught at his touch, at the tingles of pleasure that teased and bobbed along her skin so effortlessly. “Your ring,” she said in a husky whisper. “I never accepted it.”

“But you did, sweetheart. I have vivid recall of that moment.”

She pulled out of his hold, fast, before she did something utterly stupid and kissed him. Because yes, that was exactly what her traitorous body craved. Nothing but hormones. “I can claim what was in my head far more accurately than you can. And I did not accept your ring.”

“Hmm. I suppose we’ll have to agree to disagree.” Seth captured her hand in his. “Let’s finish our walk before it gets dark. Have you eaten dinner yet?”

“Um… no. I thought I’d make dinner later.” Without thinking, she matched her stride to Seth’s when he took off toward the school. “Sandwiches and fresh fruit. Nothing special, but enough for two. If you’re hungry, that is. Since we have to talk, anyway.”

Gracious. Now she was blabbering.

“That sounds good.” Seth’s thumb traced an invisible circle on the outside of her hand. “Maybe we can go out for ice cream after.”

“Maybe.”

Seth continued to absently rub his thumb in that lazy, circular motion. Warmth followed his touch, wherever skin met skin, until she’d have sworn a circle of fire had been branded on her hand. She wasn’t supposed to be doing this—holding hands with Seth, taking an evening stroll together and talking about what their plans were for the evening.