wouldn’t?”
“Then it’s settled. Now let’s get down to business. First off, have you seen a doctor?”
“A week ago last Wednesday,” she said, wishing he wouldn’t keep staring at her midriff as if he expected the baby to pop its head out and say hello. “I’m healthy and she doesn’t anticipate any problems. The baby’s due sometime between the end of January and the beginning of February.”
“Okay. Next item—we need to find a place to live.” He cast a glance around the room. “This is a beautiful apartment but it’s not designed for children. We’ll have to look for a house. Any particular area you fancy?”
“I haven’t given the matter any thought.”
“What about style? Old? New? Rancher? Two story?”
“Edmund, I don’t know! And I think you’re rushing things too much. We aren’t even sure this arrangement’s going to work out.”
“It’ll work out,” he informed her flatly. “I won’t have it any other way. What about a wedding date?” He inspected her waistline again. “How long before you start bulging?”
“I don’t know. In case you weren’t aware, I’ve never done this before.”
“Don’t pout, Jenna,” he said. “It doesn’t suit you.”
“Then stop pushing me so hard!”
“It’s for your own good.”
“How do you figure that?”
“We’re engaged,” he said patiently, as if she were none too bright. “Engaged couples discuss these things. When people hear about us, they’ll ask us what our plans are and they’ll expect answers.”
“Well, I think getting to know each other a bit more should take precedence. I still couldn’t tell people much about you, if they were to ask.”
“Sure you could,” he said, a wicked, indecent gleam in his eye. “You could tell them I’m a real pistol in the sack and that we make beautiful music together.”
She opened her mouth to reply, then snapped it closed again as the intercom buzzed announcing she had another visitor waiting to be let into the building’s main door. Flinging him a repressive glare, she went to answer.
A moment later, she came back to where he sprawled on the couch as if he owned the place. “You might want to think of some other reason I find you so fascinating,” she said faintly. “That was my mother. She’s on her way up.”
CHAPTER SIX
J ENNA looked about ready to bolt—headfirst off the balcony, if necessary. “So what’s the big deal?” he said. “From the look on your face, anyone would think we’d been caught romping naked in the street.”
“You haven’t met my mother!” More rattled than he’d ever seen her, she flitted around the room, whisking the jeweler’s bag and box into a desk drawer, fluffing the cushions he’d disturbed, repositioning the flowers he’d sent so that the vase sat exactly in the middle of the coffee table.
“You haven’t met mine, either,” he said, “but I can promise you that when you do, I won’t start running in ever diminishing circles and foaming at the mouth. Calm down, for Pete’s sake! She can’t be that bad.”
She was that bad and worse! Bleached, permed, thin as a rail, and doing her best to pass herself off as closer to forty than sixty, she breezed into the apartment on a wave of perfume that just about knocked him over. “Your father and I are having dinner downtown and thought we’d get you to join us. He couldn’t find parking so he’s waiting in the car,” she chirped fruitily, then skidded to a halt when she clapped eyes on him. “Good gracious, it never occurred to me you’d be entertaining, Jenna. I trust I haven’t come at an inconvenient time?”
Both her tone and expression suggested she’d walked in on something too bawdy to bear the light of day.
“Well,” Jenna said, looking as if she was going to throw up again any second, “as a matter of fact, Mother, Edmund and I were in the middle of something.”
“Edmund?” Eyebrows plucked into near extinction shot up to meet
“Then it’s settled. Now let’s get down to business. First off, have you seen a doctor?”
“A week ago last Wednesday,” she said, wishing he wouldn’t keep staring at her midriff as if he expected the baby to pop its head out and say hello. “I’m healthy and she doesn’t anticipate any problems. The baby’s due sometime between the end of January and the beginning of February.”
“Okay. Next item—we need to find a place to live.” He cast a glance around the room. “This is a beautiful apartment but it’s not designed for children. We’ll have to look for a house. Any particular area you fancy?”
“I haven’t given the matter any thought.”
“What about style? Old? New? Rancher? Two story?”
“Edmund, I don’t know! And I think you’re rushing things too much. We aren’t even sure this arrangement’s going to work out.”
“It’ll work out,” he informed her flatly. “I won’t have it any other way. What about a wedding date?” He inspected her waistline again. “How long before you start bulging?”
“I don’t know. In case you weren’t aware, I’ve never done this before.”
“Don’t pout, Jenna,” he said. “It doesn’t suit you.”
“Then stop pushing me so hard!”
“It’s for your own good.”
“How do you figure that?”
“We’re engaged,” he said patiently, as if she were none too bright. “Engaged couples discuss these things. When people hear about us, they’ll ask us what our plans are and they’ll expect answers.”
“Well, I think getting to know each other a bit more should take precedence. I still couldn’t tell people much about you, if they were to ask.”
“Sure you could,” he said, a wicked, indecent gleam in his eye. “You could tell them I’m a real pistol in the sack and that we make beautiful music together.”
She opened her mouth to reply, then snapped it closed again as the intercom buzzed announcing she had another visitor waiting to be let into the building’s main door. Flinging him a repressive glare, she went to answer.
A moment later, she came back to where he sprawled on the couch as if he owned the place. “You might want to think of some other reason I find you so fascinating,” she said faintly. “That was my mother. She’s on her way up.”
CHAPTER SIX
J ENNA looked about ready to bolt—headfirst off the balcony, if necessary. “So what’s the big deal?” he said. “From the look on your face, anyone would think we’d been caught romping naked in the street.”
“You haven’t met my mother!” More rattled than he’d ever seen her, she flitted around the room, whisking the jeweler’s bag and box into a desk drawer, fluffing the cushions he’d disturbed, repositioning the flowers he’d sent so that the vase sat exactly in the middle of the coffee table.
“You haven’t met mine, either,” he said, “but I can promise you that when you do, I won’t start running in ever diminishing circles and foaming at the mouth. Calm down, for Pete’s sake! She can’t be that bad.”
She was that bad and worse! Bleached, permed, thin as a rail, and doing her best to pass herself off as closer to forty than sixty, she breezed into the apartment on a wave of perfume that just about knocked him over. “Your father and I are having dinner downtown and thought we’d get you to join us. He couldn’t find parking so he’s waiting in the car,” she chirped fruitily, then skidded to a halt when she clapped eyes on him. “Good gracious, it never occurred to me you’d be entertaining, Jenna. I trust I haven’t come at an inconvenient time?”
Both her tone and expression suggested she’d walked in on something too bawdy to bear the light of day.
“Well,” Jenna said, looking as if she was going to throw up again any second, “as a matter of fact, Mother, Edmund and I were in the middle of something.”
“Edmund?” Eyebrows plucked into near extinction shot up to meet
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