“Pretty much.” Hunter reached for one of the chocolate-chocolate-chip cookies on the baking sheet she’d removed from the oven earlier. “My mom said that once I hit puberty, I ate everything in sight.”
“I guess that’s something I have to look forward to.” Callie smiled at the fluttering in her stomach. It was as if the baby knew she was talking about him.
“You’re having a boy?”
She nodded. “That’s what the sonogram indicates.”
“When are you due?”
“Around the first of the year.” She turned to spoon cookie dough onto a baking sheet. “Of course, that doesn’t mean he won’t decide to come a couple of weeks early or late.”
“That would be anywhere from a week or so before Christmas to mid-January.”
She wondered why Hunter was taking such an interest in when she’d give birth, until it occurred to her that he would need to find someone to cover her shifts at Life Medevac. “I’m planning on taking maternity leave at Thanksgiving and being back to work no later than mid-February. Mary Lou suggested that I bring the baby to work with me and she could watch him when I go out on a call. Is that all right with you?”
He nodded. “But are you sure it’s a good idea to wait that long to take your leave?” He frowned. “I don’t mean to offend you, but won’t it be difficult climbing in and out of the helicopter when you’re that…far along?”
“No offense taken. I know I’ll be quite large.” She slipped the pan of cookies into the oven, then turned to face him. “If I see that it’s a problem, I’ll…take my leave earlier than…I’d planned.”
He took a step toward her. “Are you all right?”
Laughing, she nodded. “It’s just the baby moving. He seems to be particularly active today.”
“Does it hurt?” He looked and sounded genuinely concerned.
“No. If anything, it tickles.” She lovingly placed her hand on her stomach. “At this stage of pregnancy it’s like having a butterfly flapping its wings inside of me. Later on, I’m told it will feel like I have a prizefighter in there.”
“I’ll bet that does feel weird.” When the timer on the oven went off, he reached for a hot pad. “Why don’t you sit down and put your feet up?”
“I’m fine.”
Hunter pointed to one of the kitchen chairs. “Sit.”
He could tell she wasn’t happy about it, but while she sat down and propped her feet up in one of the other chairs, he removed the cookies from the oven. “Damn! That’s hot!” he cursed when the back of his hand touched the top of the oven.
She was at his side in a flash. “Let me see.”
Reluctantly letting her examine his hand, he tried to ignore how nice her soft palms felt holding his calloused one. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s already starting to form a blister,” she said, reaching for a bottle of some kind of clear lotion.
“What’s that?”
“Aloe vera. It will stop it from hurting and help it heal faster.” She flipped the top of the bottle open, then glanced up at him and grinned. “And don’t worry, it won’t make you smell like a flower.”
As he watched her gently spread the clear gel on the small burn, a warmth began to fill his chest. It had been a long time since he’d had a woman fussing over him. And whether it was wise or not, he liked the feeling more than he cared to admit.
“That should take care of it,” she said, closing the bottle.
Amazed at how much better it felt, he flexed his hand. “That stuff really works. Thanks.”
“Not…a problem.”
She sounded slightly winded, and he figured their close proximity had the same effect on her that it had on him. He was having the devil of a time trying to keep from taking her in his arms and kissing her senseless.
“I think I’d better be going.”
“How much do I owe you for fixing the step?” she asked, reaching for her purse on the table.
“I ate enough cookies and brownies to more than pay for the job.”
He edged toward the door. If he didn’t get out of there soon, he was going to take her in his arms—and that could spell disaster to his good intentions. And he’d have succeeded, too, if she hadn’t touched him.
“Hunter, stop being so darned stubborn.”
Her small hand resting on his forearm sent a wave of heat streaking throughout his entire body. Without a single thought to the consequences or that he’d promised himself he’d be able to keep his hands to himself, he pulled her into his arms.
“Darlin’, friends help each other all the time.” He kissed her forehead. “And they don’t ask for anything in return.”
She stared at him for several long seconds before she shook her head. “I’m not sure that you and I could ever be just friends. And right now I’m not looking for anything more.”
“That makes two of us, Callie.” He brushed her perfect lips with his. “But I think as long as we keep that in mind, we’ll be just fine.” He kissed her soundly, then forced himself to set her away from him and walk to the door. Turning back, he smiled. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow evening, friend.”
“Where’s Corey?” Callie asked when she arrived at work the next evening. “I didn’t see his truck in the parking lot.”
“He called to say he’d be a few minutes late,” Mary Lou answered as she opened the container of brownies Callie had placed on the table by the coffeepot. Removing a double-fudge-and-nut chocolate square, she took a bite and shrugged. “I told him that if we get a call before he reports for his shift, I’d give him a talkin’ to he won’t soon forget.”
Callie frowned. “It’s not like Corey to be late. Did he say what’s up?”
“He said he and his girlfriend were on their way back from talking to her parents up in Odessa. He should be here in about a half hour or so.” Mary Lou lowered her voice and leaned forward. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Of course.”
The older woman grinned. “Corey is going to be a daddy in about seven months.”
“You’re kidding.” Callie laughed. “He’s not much more than a boy himself.”
Mary Lou grinned. “I’ve always said he’s twenty-two going on ten.”