Happy Holidays - The Pregnancy Negotiation Part 13

didn't."

"Someone's at the door."

Frankly, Whit didn't care. Only a natural disaster or a SWAT team could stop him now. He pulled her hair back and whispered in her ear, "If we're quiet, they'll go away. Keep that in mind when you want to scream in a few minutes."

Then suddenly he registered the rattling doork.n.o.b and the all too familiar voice calling, "Whit, what are you doing in there?"

Dammit to h.e.l.l.

Whit tipped his forehead against Mallory's and muttered a few more choice oaths. Leave it to Field Manning to interrupt a little afternoon delight.

Eight.

M allory O'Brien had missed her calling. Considering how quickly she'd dressed, Whit decided she should have been a firefighter. On the other hand, he barely had his pants refastened before his father called, "Whit, open the d.a.m.n door."

"I'm in a private meeting, Dad. I'll meet you in your office in ten minutes."

"Who's in there with you?"

He considered lying, but he doubted Field Manning would go away before he could sneak his roommate out. "It's Mallory."

"What could you and Mallory be discussing that you can't discuss at home?"

Think fast, Manning. "A birthday party. For her mother." Not too creative, but anything other than the truth would have to suffice.

Mallory paused with a tube of lipstick poised at her hand and a forlorn look on her flushed face. Whit shrugged as if to say, It was the best I could do. And where in the h.e.l.l was his tie? If he could find it, then maybe he could hide the missing b.u.t.tons.

While he continued to search the premises for the last article of discarded clothing, Field knocked again, this time a little harder than necessary. "The Barclays will be here within the hour, Whit. We need to go over the design before they arrive. That means you need to stop whatever it is you're doing in there."

Whit couldn't discount the suspicion in his father's tone. Field Manning meant business, and that meant Whit better get moving in order to save Mallory from more embarra.s.sment. She finger-combed her hair away from her face, concealed the destroyed zipper behind her purse and nodded. But before he answered the summons, sans tie, Whit gave her a quick kiss on her mouth and a look of apology.

Whit opened the door to his disgruntled dad, who gave him a good, long once-over. "You two are planning a party?" His tone said he recognized they'd been having a party, one that had ended before it had really gotten started. Maybe not such a bad thing. If they had begun to activate their plan in full swing, Whit wouldn't have been able to stop.

"It's a surprise party," Mallory said, then afforded Whit only a quick glance. "I'll see you at home later. We can address the invitations tonight."

"Good idea." Whit wanted-and needed-to address the state she was leaving him in, another fact

probably not lost on his father.

Mallory sent Field a pleasant yet forced smile. "Mr. Manning, it's good to see you again. Have a nice day."

"Nice to see you, too, Mallory," Field said. "We need to have dinner together soon. I'll have Rebecca call you. And give my regards to your family."

"I will."Mallory rushed out, leaving Whit alone to face his father's questions and most likely his father's wrath,which came immediately when he said, "What's really going on between you and Mallory?"

"I told you. She stopped by to discuss a party."

"You're lying, son." He gestured toward the opposite side of the room. "Your tie's on the floor acrossthe room and your shirt's wrinkled. You also have a couple of b.u.t.tons missing."Whit looked down and faked surprise. "d.a.m.n cleaners. They can't do anything right.""Cut out the act. Unless you've suddenly decided to wear lipstick, my guess is you and Mallory weren't talking at all."

Whit swiped a hand over his mouth and came back with a nice shade of coral across his knuckles. He

felt like a kid who'd gotten caught with his pants down, literally. Denying anything else would be anexercise in futility. "Whatever's going on between me and Mallory is none of your business.""It is if you're fooling around on company time in my building."Whit shoved his balled fists into his pockets. "Oh, that's right. This is your building. Your kingdom. You wouldn't want to sully the hallowed ground.""It's not only what you're doing. It's who you're doing it with."Whit was a.s.saulted by a sudden burst of anger he couldn't tamp down. "Don't you even dare to criticize her."

Field maintained his usual calm facade, fueling Whit's building fury. "I'm not criticizing her at all. Mallory'

s a nice woman. She deserves better."

"Better than me, you mean."

"Better than a quick roll in an office. She deserves to not be hurt. She might expect more than you can

give her."

"You just might be surprised about that, Dad." Time for the truth, regardless of the possible

repercussions. "You want to know what's really going on? Mallory wants a baby, and she asked me tobe the father. She picked me."Field's expression heralded momentary shock before he regained his composure. "Does her family know about this?"

"No one knows. We didn't plan to tell anyone until she got pregnant. And I expect you to keep this to yourself out of respect for her."

Field forked a hand through his hair and sighed. "You've both weighed this carefully?""We didn't rush into it, if that's what you're intimating." Only a partial truth. "Mallory has some physical problems and it could take a while. We've discussed it at length and we agreed this is something we bothwant.""A baby without a commitment? Why would you want that at all? And are you sure that's what Mallory wants, or is she just telling you what she thinks you want to hear because she knows your history with

women?"Whit crossed the room and yanked his tie from the floor, then spun on his father. "I don't know why inthe h.e.l.l I bothered to tell you any of this. You wouldn't understand what's it like when a woman wants ababy as badly as Mallory does."

Field wore his practiced stoic expression well. For once Whit wished he would look p.i.s.sed off. "You'reright. I haven't intimately known a woman who wanted a baby that badly. But I have known one whodidn't even though she told me she did."

"Who?""Your mother."For Whit, those two words were body blows. "You're saying my mother never wanted me?"Field's composure seemed to slip a notch, bringing Whit little satisfaction, especially when he checked his watch and smoothed a hand down his jacket lapels. "We don't have time to get into this now. We have

twenty minutes before our meeting."

Whit opened and closed his fists at his sides. "To h.e.l.l with the meeting. You opened this can of worms.

Let's deal with it."

"Can you handle it?"

Whit wasn't sure he could, but he had to know. "Yeah, I can handle it. It's way past time for you to tellme all those dirty details you've always claimed you saved me from."Field crossed to the desk and pulled back a chair. "Sit down.""Fine." Whit took his office chair opposite his father and folded his hands in front of him. "I'm ready."Field leaned back and studied the ceiling for a moment before turning his gaze on Whit. "Before we married, your mother told me she didn't want any kids. I pushed her until she agreed to get pregnant.When she had you, she did the best that she could. But her heart wasn't in it. She wanted her careermore than she wanted a family."

Whit took a moment to digest that revelation, the knowledge burning a hole in his gut. "Why didn't sheexplain that to me?""She didn't want you to blame yourself."

"Then why didn't you tell me?""Because I didn't want you to think less of her because of my mistake. If I hadn't been so obstinate andinsistent we have children, then you wouldn't have suffered her leaving you."

"And I wouldn't be here, would I?"

"No, you wouldn't."

As an adult, Whit had realized that his mother had been less than maternal even if she'd never been cruel. But as a kid, he'd only wanted to fix it, and that hadn't been possible. "I understand a lot now. Probably more than I care to understand."

Field sighed again, a long, weary one. "I wanted to work it out, but she asked for a divorce, and I had to let her go."

All those years, Whit had believed it to be the other way around. All those years, he'd mistakenly blamed his dad. He still resented his father's subterfuge, yet on some level he understood it even though it was a bitter pill to swallow. "You should have told me sooner."

"I know." Field rubbed both hands over his face. "And you should know that I never stopped loving your mother, but I couldn't make her happy."

And neither had Whit. Because of that, she'd taken away his opportunity to have a mother, something he would always resent even though he'd never really admitted it to himself until now.

In fact, he'd tried not to deal with it at all. Now he would have to deal with it and come to terms with the facts-his mother had run away, leaving her son and husband behind because she'd wanted neither.

A heavy silence hung over the room before Field spoke again. "So now you see, I do understand why Mallory wants a baby. But I also want you to understand what that entails. What will happen to your relationship if you're not successful?"

"I don't know." And Whit didn't. He only knew he had to try to give her that baby.

"Do you two plan to get married?" Field asked.

"In this day and time, that's not necessary. We've agreed to raise the child together and remain friends."

"Friends? Is that all she is, your friend?"

The best friend he'd ever had. "Yeah. We have a great relationship. I go home to her every night and we talk about our day, or we don't talk at all. We enjoy each other's company. She knows me better than anyone, and I know her, too. And this might come as a surprise, but I haven't been involved with anyone since she moved in with me. Right now, I don't really want to be with anyone else. I want to give her this baby, and I want that more than anything I've wanted in a long time." He also wanted her more than any woman in his past.

Field smiled. "Did you hear what you just said?"

Whit frowned. "Yeah. I said Mallory and I will still be friends when this over."

"You all but said you're in love with her."

Whit swallowed hard. "I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to say it directly, but your message came through loud and clear." Field leaned forward and sent Whit a look of understanding. "I know you, too, son. You like women. You like being with women. Or maybe I should say you like sleeping with women. You just told me that Mallory means more to you than s.e.x. Probably more to you than you realize."

Whit pondered that for a few moments before he shut down those thoughts. "Believe what you will, but all I know is that I plan to be a father, which will make you a grandfather if we're successful. You might want to get used to that idea."

"And you might want to get used to the idea that you might have found the right woman for you. I think you're going to have trouble if you don't come to terms with it. Otherwise she might get away, and you'l live to regret that the rest of your life."

Whit refused to think about that right now. Refused to believe that his dad might be right-he could be falling for Mallory. h.e.l.l, he might have already fallen. Now he was tempted to book a ticket on a plane bound for the Bahamas for a little weekend R & R, give himself time alone to think about this whole situation. Or avoid thinking about it at all.

Mallory's accusation came back to him then.

This is so typical...The way you're always running away.

Maybe he was running from his feelings, but he couldn't run away from her. Not this time. If she did become pregnant, he would stick around. Funny thing was, he really wanted to stick around, not only for his child but for Mallory, too.

Aside from his usual morning jog, Whit Manning's running days could very well be coming to an end.

Mallory feared that Whit had definitely caught h.e.l.l from his father. Because he hadn't called, she had no idea what had transpired after her departure from his office. Had nary a clue what Field had said to Whit, although she predicted it hadn't been good. She was also beginning to believe she wasn't cut out for spontaneous s.e.x, at least not without the inevitability of discovery, either by park rangers, protective brothers or prying fathers.

Since she'd come home, Mallory had hidden away in her bedroom, waiting and worrying over the outcome-when she hadn't been devouring three separate online articles involving s.e.x tips told from a man's point of view. She now knew enough about male anatomy, talking dirty and preferred positions to fill one of her ma.s.sive volumes of legal case studies. Obviously she was becoming obsessed with the act. More accurately, obsessed with being the kind of lover that would bring Whit Manning to his knees. She planned to try out a little of what she'd learned, if not tonight, then at some point in time. Provided Whit was still speaking to her.

A few moments later, she heard the front door open, announcing Whit's arrival and sending her heart on a mad dash against her chest. She bolted off her bed and, with her ear to the door, listened to his footsteps as he scaled the stairs and then traveled down the hall. After his bedroom door opened then closed, she opted to leave her haven for the den and hurried downstairs.

Mallory collapsed onto the sofa, stretched out lengthwise on the cushions, hugged a throw pillow in her arms and made a vow. From this point forward, or at least for the next few days, she would make love with Whit in the privacy of their shared apartment. Unless he was beginning to reconsider the pregnancy plan. Bearing in mind what she'd put him through, she really couldn't blame him.

Twenty minutes later, she realized she would know his mood soon enough when he walked into the room. Where she had dressed in a slinky slip of a black gown, hoping to provide a little encouragement, he wore a plain white T-shirt, loose navy-blue cotton pajama bottoms and an unreadable expression, leading Mallory to believe he didn't have lovin' on his mind. That thought disappointed her more than a thousand untimely interruptions.

Whit strolled to the sofa and stood above her, visually tracking the length of her body. After seeing a definite spark of heat in his eyes, Mallory clung to hope that he might want to take up where they'd left off-clung to that hope as tightly as she clung to the throw pillow in her arms.

When he didn't move, Mallory decided to take the conversation lead. "Well?"

He lifted her legs, turned and sat down on the sofa, then draped them across his solid thighs, his hands resting casually above her knees. "Well what?"

"I cannot believe you." She tossed the pillow at him and he grabbed it midair then positioned it behind his neck before returning his palms to her legs, this time a little higher up her thighs. "What did your father say after he nearly caught us engaged in some serious hanky-panky?"

"He told me he knew what we'd been doing. It didn't help that I was wearing your lipstick and I had two b.u.t.tons missing on my shirt."

"And after that?"