Page 14 of The Baby Behind Their Marriage Merger

‘I’m sorry I didn’t answer, my phone was on silent, and I didn’t hear any of your calls or messages. I was about to call you when I saw your headlights lighting up my house.’

He looked as though he wanted to argue but, instead of doing that, he dragged in another long breath and yanked her to him, holding her against his hard body. Despite not wanting to, despite telling herself that she had to be strong and keep her spine straight, she sagged against him, resting her temple against his collarbone and letting his heat envelop her. He was so warm and so solid, so damn capable. He felt like a barrier between the world and her, a place she could rest, where she couldbe. Silly, but for a moment, just one or two, she wanted to lean in, to soak in his strength—something she never did.

It wasn’t her way, but how wonderful it would be to be looked after, not to feel so alone, so responsible, to be the one everyone relied on for everything. To be in a partnership, a give-and-take. But dreams were for fools, and she’d never been offered the time, space or opportunity to be foolish.

His hand held the back of her head, his fingers massaging her scalp. ‘You’ve had a bit of a day, haven’t you?’

‘Yes,’ she agreed. She pulled back to look up at him. ‘So, to be fair, did you.’

He almost smiled.

‘The soup was good,’ she told him, wanting to lighten the atmosphere between them. She knew she should pull away and put some distance between them. But, before she could find the will to do that, he lifted his hand to touch her cheek, his thumb gliding over her cheekbone and then over her bottom lip.

Addi held her breath, knowing that sharing a kiss would be stupid—she was working for him, with him, they were going to have a child together and they had things to discuss—but she didn’t care. His kisses and touch had the ability to take her away, to make her forget that it was a cold, rainy night and that her life was currently the emotional equivalent of a storm surge.

His mouth met hers and, like before, heat skittered through her, desire on its heels. Jude nibbled at her mouth, his soft touch more erotic than she remembered, and she couldn’t help closing the gap between them, pushing her breasts into his chest and trying to hold as much of his broad back as possible. She felt the dip of his spine beneath his clothes and told herself that she couldn’t, shouldn’t, slide her hand up and under, looking for bare skin.

But her body decided to ignore her brain and she sighed when she felt his warm, bare skin under her cool hands. Her mouth opened, Jude’s tongue slid inside, and stress faded away. There was only his warm mouth, his minty but masculine taste, and his bare hand sliding up her ribcage and over her lace-covered breast to find her nipple. He tipped her head to the side, seeking deeper access to her mouth, his tongue twisting around hers. Addi slipped her thigh between his, needing to get closer, wanting her feminine core against his hard erection. Nobody had ever made her feel so out of control...

She was just a few feet from her back door, and a few doors down was her bedroom...

Jude pulled away, released a curse and moved his hands back to her shoulders, putting a few feet between them. The sound of his ragged breathing filled the space between them and she felt adrift, as if she’d been wrenched from a lovely, sexy dream and drop-kicked back into reality.

She didn’t like it.

Jude dropped his hands and took another step back, creating more distance between them. From inside the house, she could hear Lex talking to the girls and the sound of their ancient washing machine. The next-door neighbour’s dog released a series of yippy barks. Addi didn’t know how life could carry on like normal around them. When Jude had kissed her, she’d felt something move in the universe, as though there was a crack in the night sky, that a black hole had formed and sucked her into it.

But wasn’t that all airy-fairy and terribly woo-woo for a practical, down-to-earth girl like herself? She needed to stop thinking and feeling like that—immediately.

She rubbed her hand over her face and fought the urge to ask what that kiss had meant, where they went from here to put plans in place. She felt uneasy and turned on, a completely horrible combination.

Jude ran his hand over his jaw. ‘I’m glad you’re safely home, Addison.’

Addi looked at him, waiting for more. That was it? That was all he was going to say?

He nodded at his car. ‘I’m going to go.’

He was going? But they had things to discuss and plans to make. He couldn’t just walk away.

Before she could say anything, he held up his hand. ‘Addi, I can see the words on your tongue—a million questions, even more ideas. Let’s park it for now, okay? I need to think; you do too. We’ve argued, we’ve kissed, we’ve had life-changing news. I think we need to let it settle before we go into the ifs, whys and hows.’

That sounded sensible, but Addi didn’t want to be sensible, she wanted a plan. Now. Tonight. She felt in control when she had a plan and liked knowing where she was going and what her next steps needed to be.

‘But...’

He shook his head. ‘Have a bath, get an early night. Try to chill. We’ll talk soon.’

Chill—he thought she couldchill? Had that kiss scrambled his brains? ‘I’m not achilledtype of person.’

A smile hit his mouth, then his eyes. ‘I gathered that. But nothing will change overnight, nothingcan. So, maybe just give yourself a break and allow me time to catch up.’

He was right—spending the night worrying and running scenarios wouldn’t change anything between now and tomorrow. She’d try to relax, but she doubted she could, as she told Jude.

‘I’ll talk to you soon, Addison,’ he told her, moving closer to her to drop a kiss on her temple. ‘We’ll work something out.’

His reassurance was just four words—we’ll work something out—but it made her feel as though she wasn’t alone, as though she had someone standing by her side. Maybe she was being overly optimistic, because his kiss had scrambledherbrain, but she felt calmer, less panicky and able to get a bit more air into her lungs.

But, as Jude walked to his car, she told herself to stop conning herself. People routinely let her down, and she must have rocks in her head if she thought that Jude Fisher would be any different.

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