Beauty and the Bull Rider (Hotel Rodeo #3)(31)

“So how exactly is this all gonna play out?” he asked.

“How is what gonna play out?” she replied, fork poised.

“The baby making.”

“Well, it’s pretty simple, Zac. First you’re going to go and get a fertility workup, similar to what I had several months ago. There would be little point in pursuing this if there were any fertility issues.”

Fertility issues? Zac watched her mouth moving, barely comprehending her words. He’d read somewhere years ago that the average man ejaculates two hundred million sperm in one load. He wondered why it took so many of the little f*ckers to get the job done. What if his seed wasn’t up to snuff? That would be the ultimate humiliation.

“When was your last physical?” she asked.

“Physical?” Zac laughed. “Can’t even remember. I only go to the doc shop for repair work.”

Her gaze narrowed. “Don’t you get STD testing?”

He grimaced. “Haven’t needed to for quite some time.”

“What do you mean?”

His mouth compressed. “I haven’t had sex with anyone in months.”

“Months?” she repeated dubiously.

“Yeah. Six or more.”

“Six whole months?” She released a dry laugh. “For the record, it’s been over seven years for me.” The moment she said it, she looked like she wished she hadn’t.

“Wait a minute.” His gaze snagged hers and held it. “Are you saying you haven’t been with anyone since Ty?”

She slowly shook her head. “Nope. And no one before him either. I’m a one-man woman, Zac.”

Holy shit. One man? And celibate for seven years? In his world, she was practically a virgin. The idea excited and terrified him all at once. He didn’t know why he was suddenly so nerved up. Maybe it was just the idea that what he wanted most was finally within his reach. Delaney was practically his. He was scared shitless that he’d somehow f*ck it up.

“Maybe now you can understand why I’ve had reservations about you and me,” she said.

“Do you think I’m not nervous about this too?”

“Why would you be nervous?” she asked.

“Maybe I’m afraid I’ll disappoint you?”

“Based on my experience to date, I doubt that very much,” she replied with a hint of a blush.

“I’m not talking about sex, Delaney. I’m gonna make damn sure you enjoy every minute of that. I’m talking about the rest. This is all new for me, and I want to get it right.”

“Me too, Zac,” she whispered back.

He took a sip of wine, wishing like hell it was whiskey. Sipping seemed such a * way to drink after a lifetime of doing shots. “You still didn’t answer my question about how we’re going to go about this,” he said.

She paused between bites. “Ah. I didn’t think that part needed a whole lot of explaining. If everything checks out okay then we’ll . . .” She rolled her eyes. “You know.”

“Wait a minute. You’re saying as soon as I get my results back we’re going to have sex?”

“Not exactly. We need to wait until the time is right.”

“And how are we supposed to know that?”

“As it turns out, I have an app for that,” she said.

He took another drink and coughed. “A what?”

“An app.” Placing her plate on the blanket, she retrieved her iPhone from her belt holster and began tapping and scrolling.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Consulting my Fertility Friend,” she replied. “According to the app, my next window of opportunity begins in six days.”

“What does that mean?”

“We need to have sex,” she replied. “As much of it as possible until I’ve ovulated.”

Did he hear that right? He shook his head, wondering if he was delusional. “Let me get this straight. First you won’t let me touch you, and now all of a sudden you want us to go at it like rabbits?”

“I want to conceive, Zac, so we need to strike hard while the iron is hot. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Hell no!” He shook his head with a laugh. “Believe me when I say I’m completely committed to holding up my end of this bargain.”

She looked up with a frown. “Six days doesn’t give much time to get you vetted.”

He grimaced. “Hell, Delaney. Couldn’t you at least try to be a little less clinical about this?”

She laughed. “Does that really bother you?”

“Of course it does,” he answered.

“I’m sorry, Zac. I’ll try to be more sensitive. Speaking of which . . . I need to ask a really personal question.”

“What’s that?”

“You said you haven’t had sex for months, but how long has it been since you’ve . . . er”—she glanced down at his crotch—“ejaculated?”

He took a bite and almost choked. He swallowed it down with a healthy swig of wine. “You want to know the last time I jacked off? Why do you need to know that?”

“A proper semen analysis requires you to be abstinent for at least three days before a collection.”