Page 58 of Miracles and Marriage
He’d hate to stop, but the bigger picture was more important. If she wasn’t ready, he would stop.
“Yes, are you?” she said, her voice breathless and sexy.
“Oh, yes,” he said, kissing her again.
His hands tangled with hers as they removed clothing. Shirts dropped to the floor. The feel of her heated skin was heaven. He trailed kisses across her shoulders, along the tops of her breasts. She was warm and sweet and he wanted her more than he had ever wanted another woman. And for a moment, that scared the bejeesus out of him.
Slowly he lowered her on the bed and came down beside her. The timing was off for a baby, but not for a night of love.
Chapter Eight
Cal hated to leave before dawn. Zoe was asleep, curled next to him, one hand on his arm. He woke early, knowing he’d have to hustle to get home, shower and change and make it to work before the call came through. But he didn’t want to move.
He took a breath, smelling the perfume she wore. Or was it her own special scent? He wished it were light enough to see her sleeping. He remembered how she’d looked at the cottage one morning. Her eyelashes were long and thick. Her cheeks had held faint color. Her hair had been tousled and spread across the pillow.
He sucked in another breath and slipped from the bed. Any further reminiscing and he’d never leave.
The streets were almost empty of traffic, it was too early for the morning commute to be in full swing. He made it to his flat in record time, trying to focus on the aspects of the important call, but his mind kept drifting back to Zoe.
Tomorrow she was moving into his flat. He wouldn’t have to leave in the cold dark of predawn in the future. He could have those extra minutes he’d wanted. He knew he’d offered the second bedroom, but either she’d sleep in his, or he’d sleep in hers. A year ago having a baby was the farthest thing from his mind. Now his uncle was dead, Suzanne was no longer in the picture and the most important goal he could go for right now was having a baby with Zoe.
And then what?
Cal took a quick shower, shaved and dressed in under twenty minutes, focused on the call coming in, he deliberately turned his mind away from thinking about the future. Time enough to think about that after the baby was born.
When Zoe woke, she was alone. Lying in bed to claim a few more minutes before she had to get up, she began to think about what she’d agreed to. She wasn’t at all sure she should have said she’d move into Cal’s apartment. They were playing with fire, trying to build a relationship with the chance of having a child together not a sure thing.
What was he going to do if they tried for months and nothing happened? She couldn’t go on forever dealing with the pain. Sooner or later she had to take her doctor’s advice. It was early yet—she couldn’t say she’d given getting pregnant much of a chance so far. But she was becoming more involved with Cal and if things didn’t cool down a bit, she was afraid of what might happen.
Not that she thought Cal would give any complaints.
She worried about her own feelings—what if she fell in love with the man? It wasn’t a bad thing to love a baby’s father, but usually that came about before a baby was born—and the feeling was shared.
When she arrived at work, she put the matter from her mind. There were a flurry of notes on her normally cleared desk. The situation in the Balkans was heating up again and they had an operative there guarding from an assassination attempt. She scanned the messages and began calling up every scrap of recent information she had on the politician they were guarding, and the terrorist activities in the area.
Shortly after nine, Emily called her.
“Cal wants to see you.”
“I’m busy right now,” Zoe said, glancing between her computer screen and the notes she jotted down a couple of weeks ago.
“He’s leaving soon. He says he needs to see you now,” Emily said.
“Leaving? Okay, I need to talk to him anyway. I’ll be right there.”
She gathered some notes and a printout of the latest AP report of activity in the area and headed for Cal’s office.
“Go on in,” Emily said when Zoe arrived. “He doesn’t have much time.”
Zoe opened the door and stepped inside.
Cal was putting files into a briefcase. He glanced up when she entered.
“Close the door,” he said, reaching for another stack of papers.
“What’s up?” Zoe asked.
“That call from London changes a few things. I need to get to Europe.”
