Forged in Steele (KGI #7)(77)

“Thank you,” she said. “Have I told you how wonderful you are lately?”

He grinned up at her, and she marveled, as she had so many other times, just how heart-stoppingly gorgeous he was when he smiled.

“Maybe you have, but feel free to say it as often as you like.”

“You’re wonderful,” she said softly.

He lifted his head just as he curled one hand around her nape and dragged her down to meet his mouth. They kissed for several long seconds until her chest burned with the need for air. She dragged herself away, inhaling deeply to catch up.

“I came in to tell you breakfast is ready and that you need to get a move on if we’re going to get everything done today that needs to be done,” Steele said as he stroked her face with one hand.

“You sound like a total slave driver,” she groaned.

“Bet your ass. I run a tight ship around here.”

“Oh God, save me. Have I told you how disorganized I am? And that I’m absentminded? Oh, and I’m a complete klutz too. Just so you know. I’m pretty much a walking disaster, which should drive someone as anal as you are absolutely insane.”

His eyebrows rose. “Anal?”

“Um, yeah. Anal. You’re one of those OCD people who freak out if everything isn’t a certain way. You’re a control freak too. And I’d bet my last dollar you’re also a clean freak and that you have everything in your house organized. I also bet you never forget anything and that your mind is like a steel trap. Stupid pun intended.”

To her amusement, color rose in his cheeks.

“Busted!” she crowed. “That look says everything.”

“Just because I like to lead an orderly existence doesn’t mean that I have some compulsive disorder.”

“Whatever you say,” she said innocently.

“Besides, if you’re all the things you say you are, such as absentminded, klutzy and disorganized? You need me just to even all that out.”

She grinned and leaned down to kiss him again. “Not going to argue that you balance me out quite nicely. But what do I do for you then? I doubt you have the desire to add forgetfulness, disorganization and clumsiness to your well-ordered existence.”

“There’s no doubt you balance me, Maren,” he said, his voice suddenly very serious. “I have fun when I’m with you and I can’t remember the last time I actually had fun with another person. You make me laugh. You give that to me. That makes you very special and what you offer me very precious.”

“Well, damn,” she murmured. “I don’t even know what to say to that.”

“Guess we’ll add speechlessness to your list of faults,” he said.

She smacked his chest and then rolled off the bed. “Guess I’ll wear the same stuff I had on last night.”

“I put out a clean pair of sweats and a new shirt for you in the bathroom,” he said. “After breakfast we’ll go shopping for some clothes for you before we run the rest of our errands.”

“Errands?”

“Yeah. We’re going to buy you clothes and then we’re heading out to the KGI compound. On the way back, we’ll stop off and get groceries so nothing goes bad. Think you’re up to something so domestic as grocery shopping? You’ll need to get all your feminine stuff too, like shampoo, toothbrush and whatever else it is women must have to survive. And do you need to see an eye doctor to get new glasses? Are they prescription? Or can we just pick up something at the pharmacy? I know they won’t be ideal, but maybe it would work until we can get you something better.”

“They are prescription,” she said. “But it can wait. Really. I’m not working right now, and that’s when I needed them the most.”

“I like them on you,” he said gruffly. “And I don’t want to think about you going without the things you need, even for a minute.”

She smiled and then her brow furrowed as a much more pressing concern pushed its way to the forefront.

“Steele, do you think you could check into a local obstetrician? I haven’t had the first checkup since finding out I’m pregnant. I’m sure everything is okay, but I’d sure like to have the peace of mind of having a doctor oversee the care of this baby.”

His gaze softened. “Already ahead of you. I talked to Sam this morning to get the names of the doctors that Sophie and Rachel saw.”

Her mouth rounded into an O. “You told him I’m pregnant?”

He sent her a puzzled look. “Well, yeah. They’ll all find out later today when I tell them.”

Her cheeks warmed and she warred with pleasure and self-consciousness. On one hand, it gave her a giddy thrill that Steele was so openly embracing fatherhood, but on the other hand, she dreaded the looks and stares from the others. They’d have a hard enough time picturing the badass team leader as a daddy, but then they’d look at her and wonder how the hell the two of them ever hooked up to begin with.

“Um, how did he react to that piece of news?” she asked.

Steele shrugged. “He gave me the names of obstetricians and said there is a clinic in Murray, Kentucky, that both women have used. I didn’t tell him it was my baby, just that you’re pregnant. They’ll all find that out soon enough.”

She groaned and closed her eyes. “Oh God, Steele. He’ll probably draw the same conclusion that you initially did and think Caldwell forced himself on me and got me pregnant.”