Page 73 of A Baby for the Texas Cowboy
“Have you felt the baby move yet?”
Tinsley startled. She hadn’t realized he was awake.
“No,” she said. “I think that will freak me out.”
“Really?” He laughed a little. “I can’t wait. The book said it feels like a tingle or a flutter, like tiny wings inside of you.”
Anders kissed the nape of her neck, his fingers combing through her tangled locks. “It’s called quickening.”
“That sounds like something out of Harry Potter,” she said, waiting for the adrenaline surge, the fear, the need to get up, move, get away from Anders and her own body to kick in, but her heartbeat was steady and Anders’ spread palm over her abdomen and his fingers through her hair and kisses along her spine made her feel cherished. There was nothing sexual in his touch.
“Sometimes it’s around sixteen weeks or more before the mother can feel the baby kick inside of her,” he said, proving what she’d learned about Anders early on—he loved to read and learn new things. On their trip, he’d Googled information vociferously. If there were a plaque or a sign, he read it. Even history of restaurants on menus he’d read aloud. It was something she’d found almost painfully endearing.
“I can’t wait. It will be cool.” He kissed her and then climbed out of bed. “I gotta roll, but let me make you some tea and you can drink it in bed.”
He pulled on his jeans.
Anders looked like an ad for Wranglers, bare-footed, bare-chested, perfect specimen of a man grinding coffee beans while the electric kettle was already heating up. His jeans were low on his hips, half unbuttoned, and he was commando. She visually drank him in while he measured out the ground beans and started the coffeepot on brew.
Unable to resist him, she got out of bed, dragging his discarded shirt over her body.
“Don’t cover up,” he said. “You look beautiful.”
She made a face but walked to him and let him take her in his arms just like she knew he would. She sighed, and he brushed his lips against the top of her head and murmured her name. The kettle boiled then turned off. The coffee machine beeped its conclusion, but Anders still held her. She sighed and nestled closer to him.
His phone on the countertop vibrated, but he didn’t let her go to reach for it.
“Go back to bed,” he urged. “Relax a little.”
His phone vibrated again.
He made a sound of annoyance. “Axel needs to stop being such a distrustful hard-ass.”
“Axel?”
“I’m supposed to meet him at six this morning, and he’s no doubt making sure I’m awake.” He made a face. “I’ve woken myself up to do chores since I was twelve. Too bad he’s not clairvoyant so he’d know that we were having a moment.” He smiled and then kissed her. “Let me make your tea and a thermos of coffee for me, and I’ll get on the road. I can still be a few minutes early to prove to big brother that I can handle my own life. Can I take you to dinner tonight?”
“Ahhhhh.” She watched him pour the coffee into a large thermos from his duffel bag. She noted the brand of beans and determined to buy more for her apartment so she didn’t run out.
Was she counting on him moving in? Staying with her when he was in town?
“Dinner? It’s not even breakfast time yet,” she hedged.
“It’s my last night home this week. I have to head out tomorrow. I have a photo shoot—a jeans photo shoot.” He wiggled his ass, and she laughed. “Maybe you could come with me. Help me with the fittings.”
“Very funny. I’m working.”
“I will be too,” he said virtuously.
“I know how good you are taking your jeans off, cowboy,” Tinsley teased, surprising herself with how natural it felt.
He handed her a mug of tea with a splash of honey and then kissed her cheek.
“So tonight?” He pulled on a T-shirt and grabbed a button-down shirt he shrugged into as he headed to the bathroom. “Dinner in town or at the ranch? I can pick you up.”
Tinsley smiled up at him, feeling swamped with an emotion she didn’t dare name. Anders would drive twenty minutes to pick her up and then twenty minutes back to the ranch and then twenty minutes back to the tasting room and not think twice about it. For her. No complaints.
John or her parents never would have inconvenienced themselves for her.
