“So you thought you’d spend it in here checking up on me?”
“Now, darlin’, why would I need to check up on you?”
“To make sure I haven’t bolted.” She gave him a knowing look. “That is what you’re afraid of, isn’t it?”
“It’s true,” he conceded lightly. “I am afraid you might wake up and notice you’re not getting a great bargain.”
Her expression softened and she reached for his hand, one of the few times she had ever initiated any contact between them. Her touch was gentle, but it was enough to make his blood roar.
“You’re wrong about that,” she told him, her tone fierce. “I think I’m doing okay for myself. I just hope you won’t live to regret it.”
“Can’t happen,” he assured her. “Now tell me what your plans are for tonight. I understand all you ladies intend to go out and kick up your heels.”
She blushed slightly. “We’re not going out, but I am told that someone has hired a male stripper for the occasion.”
Cord stared. “Excuse me?”
“Hey, it wasn’t my idea.” A grin tugged at the corners of her lips. “Of course, it might be interesting in a purely educational sort of way.”
“Darlin’, any education you require along those lines, you can get from me.”
She tilted her head and regarded him impishly. “You almost sound jealous. Is that possible?”
“Not jealous,” he insisted, then searched for a different spin to put on the emotions choking him. He finally settled for describing them as protective.
She gave him a mocking, skeptical look. “I am a grown-up. This won’t be a complete shock to me.”
His gaze narrowed. “Exactly how many male bodies are you familiar with?” he asked testily.
“You mean in the intimate sense?”
“Yes, I mean in the intimate sense,” he snapped.
She chuckled. “You should see your expression.”
“What is wrong with my damned expression?”
“It’s so very...male,” she said finally.
Cord studied her intently. “You were teasing me, weren’t you?”
A full-fledged grin spread across her face. “It was more like a test.”
“To see how far you could push me?”
“To see if there was a double standard at work here.”
“Double standard?”
“Harlan Patrick says he hired a stripper for your bachelor party. It just seemed to me as if turnabout was fair play.”
“Couldn’t you have just asked how I’d feel about it?”
She shook her head. “This was definitely better. I got the pure, unvarnished truth.”
“Maybe we should just skip this whole prewedding ritual and go home and spend a quiet evening with Ashley,” he suggested. He wasn’t entirely kidding. Tonight was just something he had to get through before beginning what would be the rest of his life.
Sharon Lynn regarded him as if he’d suggested sunbathing nude at high noon on Main Street. “And disappoint the whole family? I don’t think so. Not when they’ve had to give in about the wedding. Mother is still seething over the fact that we’re having the ceremony in a judge’s chambers, instead of a church.”
“There wasn’t a choice, given the timetable.”
“I know that. I’m perfectly happy that we’re doing it this way. I’m not sure I could have coped with all the hoopla a second time.”
Cord went absolutely still at her words. He took them to mean that the first marriage had been a real one, that this one was only a mockery, that she didn’t want anyone confusing the two. He finally met her gaze and saw that she was regarding him with a perplexed frown.
“What did you think I meant?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t start evading the truth with me now. I can see in your eyes that what I said hurt you. Why?” At his continued silence, she muttered a harsh expletive he’d never heard her use before. “Cord, surely you aren’t thinking that my comment was meant to imply that that ceremony was more important than this one.”
“Well, it was, wasn’t it? You were marrying the man you loved and you were doing it for real.”
“And I lost him just hours after the ceremony. The two events will be forever linked in my mind,” she said. “Do you think I want a repeat?”
He winced at the explanation. “No, of course not. I didn’t think...”
She sighed. “No. Why should you? It’s not as if you’re supposed to be able to read my mind.”
But, oh, how he wished he could. He would give anything to know if there was some tiny little part of her that was glad they were getting married tomorrow, not just to protect the baby, but because of the feelings and chemistry