Fossen Delores - Covert Conception стр 8.

Rick grabbed his keys from the desk and headed for the door. Natalie was right behind him.

Well take my car, she insisted.

Rick glanced over his shoulder and gave her that look. One she instantly recognized. And hated. She called it his blue-collar/chip-on-the-shoulder glare.

This has nothing to do with the price of my vehicle, she pointed out. Its just Im conveniently parked right out front, and Im not exactly dressed to climb onto the back of your Harley.

He made a sound to indicate he didnt believe her explanation.

She made a sound to indicate she didnt care what he thought.

It was going to be a long drive to Macys.

Besides, she added, riding a motorcycle in my condition wouldnt be smart. And even you cant argue with that.

He didnt.

With both of them still stewing and no doubt asking themselves a dozen unanswerable questions, Rick let one of his employees know that he needed to run an errand before they got into her car.

Natalie hadnt thought the tension could get any worse, but she was obviously wrong. Without the noise and the distraction of the shop, the silence settled uncomfortably between them. And with each additional moment of silence, Natalie became more and more upset. More and more frightened.

More and more incensed.

Why was this happening?

Why had she become pregnant with Ricks child?

Rick, of all people.

They had so much bad blood between them. Too much. But it hadnt always been that way. Rick and she had known each other since childhood, and her mother had tried to get them together for years. Why, it was never clear to Natalie, but apparently

Macy felt that Rick and she were the perfect couple destined to lead the perfect life.

Ironic.

Because her family was old money. To the proverbial manor born. Rick, on the other hand, was a self-made businessman with a keen sense of turning nothing into plenty of something. No Ivy League degree for him. No degree at all. Hed shunned his parents investment business and had become everything they hadnt wanted him to bethe owner of a custom motorcycle shop. Yet, the normally socially conscious Macy had seemingly overlooked all of that so she could encourage a relationship that Natalie and Rick knew would never happen.

And it wouldnt happen because of that one lapse in judgment three years earlier.

Neither Rick nor she had had much luck coping with that lapse. Hell on earth wasnt just a meaningless expression for them. They were living it.

Youre totally certain about this pregnancy? Rick asked.

Natalie almost preferred the silence to the question. There was none of that chip-on-the-shoulder animosity in his voice, which meant all of this was likely sinking in, and he wasnt taking it too well.

Dead certain, she assured him.

Rick shook his head, leaned forward. I dont remember even speaking to you that night.

Same here, she agreed.

Yet according to that video, we ended up in the hall outside your bedroom. Kissing. Touching

Oh, yes. Definitely kissing. Definitely touching. Theyd been all over each otherliterally.

Though she knew it wasnt possible, especially since she hadnt remembered anything else, Natalie could have sworn she recalled that kiss.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, and it was as if that one glance opened the hormonal floodgates. There were still no specific memories for the night of the party. But there were other memories, ones that were best forgotten.

As was Rick.

And shed spent the last three years trying not to remember that he was the most unforgettable man shed ever known.

It was hard to believe all of his mismatched features could add up to something extraordinary. But heaven help the female population, they did. The olive, bronzy skin: a DNA contribution from his Greek father. Those sizzling gray eyes framed with indecently long lashes. The cheekbones of a Celtic warrior. Shed yet to meet a woman of any age or any background who hadnt found Rick Gravari hot.

Including her.

Much to her disgust.

That one kiss theyd shared three years ago, that one short lapse in judgment had caused someone to die. Not just someone though. Someone they both loved.

David, she said under her breath.

A little over three years ago David had asked her to marry him. Shed said yes, even though David knew she didnt love him. He also knew she was looking for an out, a way to stop her mothers relentless matchmaking. Thats why Natalie had agreed to be his fiancée. But not his wife. Shed told him upfront that there would be no marriage.

David obviously had thought he could change her mind.

Natalie had thought an engagement ring would stop her from wanting Rick. It hadnt. One night, Rick and she had run into each other at a party. Theyd talked. Had too much to drink. Had gotten way too close. One thing led to another, and they kissed.

Just as David walked in on them.

Obviously feeling betrayed by his two best friends, David had swallowed what turned out to be a lethal dose of sleeping pills. Hed died in the ER only a few hours later.

Davids death would always be with Rick and her. It would always connect them.