EXPECTING HIS CHILD by Leanne Banks Read Free Book Online

said.
    "Don't do what?" she asked, hiding her own jittery nerves. "I had to get out of your truck."
    "Just wait for me to help you," he said irritably, his jaw tight with tension. "Don't let your mile-wide independent streak end up hurting you or the baby."
    His accusation stung. It felt so good to be held by him at the same time that his words hurt her. "You don't really think I would do anything to hurt the baby."
    He loosened his grip and the fierce glint in his eyes faded. "I don't think you'd do anything to hurt the baby. I want you to be careful with yourself. I'm not around as much as I'd like to make sure you're okay."
    "I'm okay," she insisted as much for herself as for him. "I'll be okay."
    He released her, but stayed close as they walked into the doctor's office. The lobby was used as the classroom and several couples were already seated. A nurse approached Martina with a folder.
    "Hi, I'm Emily Ross and I will be your teacher for the next several weeks. You are?"
    "Martina Logan and—"
    "And you must be Mr. Logan," Emily said with a smile.
    "No," Martina and Noah said at the same time.
    "His name is Noah Coltrane," Martina said. "We aren't married."
    "But I plan to change that," Noah said.
    Emily's smile broadened. "Oh. Well, welcome to the class."
    Martina frowned at him. "Did you have to tell her that?"
    He shrugged, momentarily distracting her. She wished he wouldn't do that. The simple movement conjured up images of nights when she had traced the contours of his shoulder muscles with her hands and mouth. Stop it, she told herself.
    "Would you rather I tell her you were the best lover I'd ever had and I have every intention of making you mine for good?"
    Martina blinked and her stomach filled with butterflies. "If that were true," she said, "then you would have sought me out before seven months had passed."
    "I did," he said. "Your employer said you were doing Web design from your home, there was no forwarding address or phone number from your previous apartment, and no one in West Texas seemed to know where you were. And for some reason your brothers weren't inclined to discuss your whereabouts with me."
    Martina stared at Noah, feeling an odd knot of emotion form in her throat. Looking into his eyes, she could almost believe that her leaving abruptly had mattered to him. But that couldn't be, she told herself. He'd been so light about their relationship, so firm about not discussing the future. He'd teased her out of her clothes and into his bed so quickly it had made her head spin. Every time she was around him, it seemed he made her head spin.
    Gulping over her tight throat, she shook her head. "You told me one of the things you liked most about our relationship was that neither of us had any long-term expectations. You told me that the last night we spent together."
    He narrowed his eyes. "Neither of us knew what we had, what we could have."
    Her heart ached, but she needed to remind him and herself. "And we'll never know now," she said firmly, and looked around for a seat. "Time for class."
    Throughout the session, Martina felt Noah's gaze on her, but she tried to concentrate as the instructor gave a brief overview of the warning signs and stages of labor, and instructions on sex during pregnancy. When Martina looked at her full abdomen, she wondered if she would ever have sex again. When she thought about the warning signs of complications, she thought about her mother.
    She wondered if her mother had felt a premonition about her pregnancy or if she'd been eagerly looking forward to the birth of her third baby. Martina knew her mother's death had been a complete shock to her father and brothers.
    A familiar longing swept over her. Lately, not a day passed that Martina didn't wish she could talk to her mother. Noah touched her arm, shaking her out of her reverie.
    "You're supposed to be breathing," he whispered.
    "I was," she told him.
    He shook his head. "Deep breathing for relaxation. First stage of