Delores Fossen - Josh

Even if the pregnancy was unplanned, like this one.

Josh’s mouth tightened. His nostrils flared a bit. “It’s my baby. Expect something.”

That didn’t sound like an offer of child support or shared custody.

It sounded like a threat.

And maybe it was.

Josh hated her. But she couldn’t go back and undo this baby, and even if she could, she wouldn’t. Though Josh might not believe her if she told him, she loved this baby with all her heart and would do anything to protect it.

“Expect something?” she repeated.

“Yeah,” he snapped. And that was all he said for several moments. “Don’t expect me just to walk away. I slept with you knowing there could be consequences, and I’m man enough to accept it.”

She lifted her shoulder, ran her hand over her stomach. “But you probably didn’t expect this consequence. We did use protection.”

And clearly something had gone wrong. Jaycee had had a lot of time to think about every detail of that weekend, and while becoming pregnant had been the last thing on her mind, Josh was right. Sex, even safe sex, could make babies. And in this case, it had.

She waited to see if he intended to say more about consequences and expectations, but he didn’t. He just kept staring at her and looking far better than he should have. His good looks weren’t something he worked at. They were just there. And even now, she felt that little tug that she always felt when she looked at Josh.

Even when he was glaring at her.

“How are you?” she risked asking. Normally it was a polite, rote question, but this time, she truly wanted to know. And she figured he wouldn’t want her to know.

“Fine,” he snapped.

Translation: he was not going to talk about this. But she had five months of catching up to do.

She glanced at the badge clipped to his rawhide belt. “You left the FBI?”

“For a while.” His jaw muscles went crazy again. “I’m on a leave of absence.”

“Because you’re recovering from the gunshot wounds,” she finished for him.

He made a sound, a rumble deep in his throat. No doubt a back-off warning. But Jaycee didn’t listen to that warning. “You’re a deputy sheriff?”

He nodded.

Getting information from him was like pulling teeth. “Well, the job seems to suit you.”

The clothes, too. She’d known about his cowboy roots but had usually seen him in a suit or his undercover outfits. Now he wore jeans, a black T-shirt and boots. He had his Stetson in his left hand as if he’d always carried it there.

“Something wrong?” he asked. Definitely not a friendly question. “You’re looking at my clothes.”

Actually, she’d been looking at the man in the clothes, but it was best to keep that to herself. “I want to thank you again. If you hadn’t discovered where the baby farm was—”

“I didn’t discover it.” His words were clipped. Almost angry. But Jaycee got the feeling that this particular anger was aimed at himself and not at her. “I got lucky, that’s all. But I didn’t get lucky enough to save those other women that the guards took.”

No. But maybe that’d be remedied soon if the sheriff could find something at the now-destroyed ranch. Yes, it was a long shot, but it was the only shot they had unless the woman in labor could give them some much-needed answers.

Before Jaycee had a chance to rile Josh further with more questions, a nurse came back in. According to her nametag, she was Lillian Renfrew. She took Jaycee’s blood pressure and temperature—both were normal. That was a good start, and Jaycee hoped everything else proved to be normal.

“The doctor wants you to have an ultrasound,” the nurse said, and she started to wheel Jaycee out of the cubicle. However, she stopped when Josh followed them. “You can wait outside.”

“He’s the baby’s father,” Jaycee volunteered when Josh didn’t budge or say anything. “If he wants to come, I don’t mind.”

It was another risk, saying that out loud, but Josh kept the same expression that he’d had since they arrived at the hospital.

He was one angry, confused man.

“I want to see the ultrasound,” he insisted, not like an argument but more a declaration of war.

Nurse Renfrew nodded and took them to a room in another hall. There was a tech waiting for them, a middle-aged woman with brunette hair, and she didn’t waste any time hiking up Jaycee’s scrub top all the way to her breasts. The scrub pants came down too, all the way to her panty line.

Even though Josh had seen her stark-naked, this seemed way more intimate.

“You don’t expect anything from me?” Josh mumbled under his breath. And he repeated it, using that same “declaration of war” tone.

Oh, so that was what was still eating away at him. Jaycee tried to make eye contact with him, but the tech moved between them and squirted some cold goop all over Jaycee’s stomach.

“I’ve heard you say plenty of times that you weren’t looking for marriage or a family,” Jaycee reminded him.

The tech finally went back to the other side of the gurney. Josh’s and Jaycee’s gazes met.

Collided, actually.

“I wasn’t looking to be a father,” he stated, enunciating each word as if she were mentally deficient, “but I’m not running from it, either. That’s my baby, and he or she should expect everything from me. Because he or she will get just that—everything.”

He stopped, muttered some profanity. Rubbed his forehead. And got his teeth unclenched. “I’m glad you made it out of there.” His voice was a lot softer than before.

“Yes. Thank you for saving me.”

He nodded, and she hoped that meant they’d reached a tentative truce. No time to linger on it, though, because the tech started moving the wand over Jaycee’s stomach. She immediately saw something.

Maybe the heart beating.

The images weren’t very clear so Jaycee didn’t know exactly what she was looking at, but it was her baby. And she hadn’t expected that seeing all those blurry images would pack such a wallop.

“Is the baby okay?” Josh asked.

Jaycee was glad he had said that because her mouth was suddenly bone-dry, and her heart was pounding. She was terrified that this ordeal had been too much for her precious child.

“Everything appears to be okay. Good, solid heartbeat. Good movement.” The tech stopped, volleyed glances at both of them, her attention finally stopping on Jaycee. “How much did your doctor tell you about the pregnancy?”

Oh, God. Just like that the fear returned. “Is something wrong? I had other ultrasounds, but they kept the screen hidden from me. Did they do that because something’s wrong with the baby?”

The woman shook her head. “I don’t think anything’s wrong.” She glanced at the screen again. “But the doctor will need to see the images and talk to you.” She paused, cleared her throat. “Some people just don’t want to know the sex of the baby, and sometimes we can’t tell. This time, we can.”

The relief came as fast as the fear. Nothing was wrong.

“Do you want to know the sex of the baby?” the woman asked.

“No,” Jaycee said at the same moment that Josh said, “Yes.”

“I’ve just had too many surprises today,” Jaycee added. “I’d like to hear it at a time when I’m not about ready to jump out of my skin. But you can tell him,” she said to the tech. “I’ll just cover my ears.”

Jaycee did. Closed her eyes, too. And when she opened them, she couldn’t detect a darn thing from Josh’s expression.

“I’ll show the ultrasound to the doctor,” the tech said, turning off the machine. “Someone will be in shortly to take you back to the E.R.”

The tech had hardly made it out the door when Josh’s phone buzzed. Just like that Jaycee was reminded of the three missing women and the nightmare that wouldn’t end until they were all safe.