“But what about our agreement?”
“Already gone, isn’t it?” He smiled again and stroked the tip of one finger along her jawline. He didn’t know what he’d been thinking to propose a year of no sex with a woman who could turn him on with a glance. “Look,” he said softly. “We crossed over the line last night. Any real reason we ought to go back?”
“I suppose not….”
“Thanks for the enthusiasm.”
“No, it’s not that.” She looked around, then shifted her gaze back to his. “Travis, we need to talk about something. It didn’t occur to me until this morning and then we had to rush out to meet the judge and it wasn’t the right time to talk to you about it, but now that we’re talking about this, then it’s the right time to bring up the other.”
“What?”
She blew out a breath that ruffled the dark red curls laying on her forehead. “Can we go somewhere a little less crowded?” Her big green eyes were focused on him and didn’t look happy.
“Sure. Come on.” Whatever it was, he wanted to hear her out and take care of it. No more problems. He grabbed her hand, and felt her fingers automatically entwine with his. Leading the way through the crowd, he pulled her in his wake until he spotted a small city park off to the right. He headed for it and didn’t stop until they were sitting on a curved stone bench beneath a shade tree.
The sun was hot, but under the tree, the temperature dropped by at least fifteen degrees. The sounds of the nearby ocean thumped in the air like a heartbeat and birdsong played counterpoint to the bustle of the crowd just a few feet away.
“Okay. Less crowded,” he said, turning to face her on the bench. “Let’s hear it.”
“You’re not going to like it.”
He would have been willing to bet money on that. “Just get it said.”
“Fine,” she blurted, sitting back against the bench. “We didn’t use any protection last night.”
He stared at her, waiting for her to laugh. To tell him she was kidding and of course there was no problem. When she didn’t, he felt an invisible noose tighten around his neck, trying to shut off his air. “Protection? Aren’t you on the Pill?”
She gaped at him. “No, I’m not on the Pill. Why would I be?”
Damn it. “I just assumed…”
Folding her arms across her chest, she tipped her head to one side and arched both eyebrows. “And why would you assume that?”
“Because.” He jumped to his feet, walked a few paces, then spun around and came back. Keeping his voice low, he snapped, “I figured you weren’t interested in getting pregnant.”
“Isn’t that what condoms are for?”
Yes. And damned if he could even remember the last time he’d had unprotected sex. Travis was a careful man. He liked his life the way it was. His only commitment to his work. So when it came to his women, he practically sealed himself up with plastic wrap to avoid being caught by a woman looking for more than a brief sexual relationship.
So why the hell hadn’t he thought of that last night?
Because he hadn’t been thinking at all. He’d gone into this marriage regarding it as nothing more than an in-name-only bargain. They’d agreed to no sex, so he hadn’t even considered that it would be an issue. Then last night, he’d let his hormones lead him down a path that was turning around now to bite him in the ass.
“Perfect,” he muttered. “Just perfect.”
“How do you think I feel?”
He looked at her, one eyebrow arching. “Interesting question. How do you feel? Happy? Excited? Visions of King bank accounts dancing in your head?”
“Excuse me?”
“Well come on, Julie,” he said. “You wouldn’t be the first woman to try this.”
“Just hold on one minute there, buster.”
“Buster?” One corner of his mouth lifted.
“If you think I did this on purpose, you’re way off base.”
“Is that right?”
“Of course it’s right.” She stood up, too, and jabbed his chest with the tip of her index finger. “I’m not one of the hordes of women scheming to trap Travis King into marriage. You came to me, remember?”
One second ticked by, and then another while Julie gritted her teeth and waited for him to be an even bigger jerk. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t happen.
Travis shook his head, stared off at the fast-moving parade of pedestrians such a short distance away from them and then turned his gaze back to her. “You’re right. I did come to you. And what happened last night was both our faults.”
“Wow,” Julie said softly. “I think we’re having a moment, here.”
His mouth quirked, but his eyes were flat and dark. “Doesn’t change the fact that this is a serious situation.”
“Why do you think I brought it up?” She’d been doing some private panicking for most of the day. What if she was pregnant? Then what would happen to their “temporary” marriage? No. She pushed those worries out of her mind and told herself to think positively.
When he didn’t say anything, she took a breath and shook her head. “Look, we’re worried about this for nothing. It was only the one time….”
“Four,” he corrected.
“The one night,” she amended. “What are the chances?”
“Guess we’ll find out,” he muttered, then took her hand and started for the sidewalk again.
“Where are we going now?” she asked as she practically ran after him.
“The nearest drugstore,” he said. “To stock up on condoms.”
A week later, Julie shielded her eyes and craned her neck back to stare up at the sky. Threads of white clouds stretched across the wide, blue expanse and the red-and-yellow sail dipping and swaying in the air currents looked like a gigantic tropical bird.
Of course, this bird was her husband, who was parasailing. Travis’s impulsiveness hadn’t changed any from when he was a kid. He still liked to try everything at least once. And as that thought shot through her mind, her insides melted, then heated up again.
In the last week, they’d put quite a dent in their condom supply. There’d been no reason to cling to a no-sex vow when both of them were more than eager to share their nights in Travis’s huge bed. And just thinking about the hours spent with him was enough to make Julie curl her bare toes into the hot, white sand beneath her.