Kings of California: Bargaining for King's Baby. Maureen Child

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СКАЧАТЬ he entered her, she arched her hips to take him completely. To hold him deep inside her heat. And Adam closed his mind to everything but her.

      They moved together in a rhythm that left them both breathless. Bodies sang, minds emptied and when the first flash of release slammed into Gina, Adam held on to her, watching her eyes, dazzled with pleasure as he surrendered himself to the glory waiting for him.

      Seven

      Thanks to Esperanza Sanchez, Adam’s longtime housekeeper, Gina was pretty sure she’d gained five pounds in four days. The older woman was so happy to see Adam married again, she hadn’t stopped cooking all week. And every time Gina tried to help out in the kitchen, straighten up the living room or even to dust, she was shooed out of the room and told to go spend time with her new husband.

      Not as easy as it sounded.

      Esperanza was determined to see that Gina felt at home. Even if Adam was a little less than welcoming. Staring into a full-length mirror in the bedroom she now shared with Adam, Gina wasn’t looking at her own reflection so much as at the gigantic bed behind her. That was the only place she felt as though Adam was glad to have her in his home.

      “Happy to have me in his bed anyway,” she muttered and tried to find the bright spot in that statement. At least they shared passion. At least they connected occasionally. Even if it was only physically.

      “Pitiful, Gina, just pitiful.” She shook her head, met her own gaze in the mirror and gave her reflection one last glance. Not exactly a femme fatale, she admitted. In her pink T-shirt, worn jeans and boots, she looked more like a ranch hand than a newlywed. Her long dark hair hung down her back in a single braid and her eyes looked huge in her face.

      She’d had a lot of hopes for this bargain. Had counted on Adam being a little easier to maneuver than he was proving. Instead he seemed determined to keep to himself. To keep their relationship as superficial as possible, despite the fact that they were married and living together.

      Gina turned away, opened the French doors to their bedroom terrace and stepped out onto the glossy wood floor. The early morning sky was deep blue, but there were storm clouds banking out over the ocean. Now why, she wondered, did that sound like a perfect metaphor for her marriage?

      They’d been back from Vegas for nearly a week, and it was as if that brief “honeymoon” had never happened. She leaned both hands on the second-story balcony railing and curled her fingers over the sun-warmed decorative iron. The minute they’d arrived back at the ranch, Adam had closed himself off. She actually felt like they were a couple those days and nights together. It was as if a switch inside him had been flipped. He’d become the recluse he’d been for five long years. She hardly saw him during the day and when she did, he was distant, if polite. The only time he warmed to her was at night.

      Then, he was the man she’d always dreamed he would be. Then, he gave himself and took from her. Every time they came together was better than the time before. Frankly the sex was incredible. Gina’d never known anything quite like it. But at the bottom of it, if all they shared was great sex, was there anything between them worth fighting for?

      “Way to go, Gina,” she muttered. “Depress yourself.”

      She squinted into the sun and watched Adam walk with long, determined steps into the barn. Once he’d been swallowed by the shadows, Gina sighed. She wondered what he was doing. What he was thinking. He didn’t talk to her. Didn’t share his plans for the day. Didn’t let her into what was going on in his head. It was as if she were a boarder here at the ranch. Nothing more than a guest who would be moving on shortly.

      Another sigh escaped before she could stop it. Bending slightly, she leaned her elbows on the railing and studied the shiny new gold band on her ring finger. She wasn’t a guest. She was his wife. For now.

      At least, for as long as it took her to get pregnant.

      Which, she thought, explained why she was still using her diaphragm. A tiny thread of guilt whipped through her like summer lightning. She admitted at least to herself that what she was doing wasn’t technically fair. But she was willing to risk everything for the chance at real love. Even if that meant Adam one day finding out what she’d done. If that day came, she’d confess all and hope that he understood.

      Every night, he did everything he could to impregnate her, no doubt so that he could end the marriage quickly and send her on her way.

      He just had no idea that she was sabotaging the bargain she had proposed in the first place.

      “Gina, this might turn out to be a lot harder than you thought it would be.” And maybe, she admitted silently, it would be impossible.

      But even as that thought niggled away in her brain, she vowed she wouldn’t give up so quickly.

      She’d made the decision to keep using her diaphragm before the wedding. Yes, she wanted a baby. Adam’s baby. But she also wanted a chance to make Adam want her for longer than the duration of their arrangement. She wanted time for them to get used to each other. Time for him to realize that they could have something special together.

      Time to make him fall in love with her.

      Risky?

      Oh, yeah.

      But if she could pull it off, so worth it.

      While her mind wandered down the “what if” paths it was getting so used to lately, she noticed a bright red sports car turning into the driveway. Before she could even wonder who their visitor was, though, another vehicle turned onto the ranch road right behind the zippy little car. This one was a huge horse trailer. Instantly excitement shot through her.

      “They’re here!” She grinned, turned and ran back into the bedroom she shared with Adam. She raced through the big room, hardly looking at it, then down the hall and took the stairs two at a time. She was already standing in the driveway when the car and then the horse van pulled up in the yard and stopped.

      A tall, gorgeous man stepped out of the car, took one look at Gina and said, “I’m guessing that eager welcome isn’t for me?”

      Gina gave Adam’s brother a quick smile. Travis was so easygoing. So relaxed. So ready to smile and quick to laugh. How much easier would her life had been if she’d only fallen in love with him? Unfortunately, though, when she looked at him, she didn’t get that “zing” of something hot and sweet inside her. It was just pure female admiration for a gorgeous man.

      “Hi, Travis. Nice to see you.” She waved a hand at the trailer. “My horses are here.”

      “Upstaged by a truck full of horses?” Travis walked around the front of his car, then leaned lazily against the front fender. “Must be losing my touch. Came by to see my new sister-in-law and say welcome to the family.”

      She knew that Travis and Jackson had a feeling of the true circumstances of her marriage, but he’d come anyway. Wanted to welcome her, however briefly, into the King family. For that, she wanted to kiss him. She walked to him and gave him a brief hug. “Thanks. I appreciate it, really.”

      He gave her a hard squeeze and held on to her when she would have backed away. Looking down into her eyes, Travis asked, “How’s it going, Gina? Adam making you nuts yet?”

      “Not completely.” She smiled, grateful for the understanding.

      “Give СКАЧАТЬ