Loving the Lawman by Ruth Logan Herne

Author:Ruth Logan Herne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Stretching pains woke Gianna in the middle of the night. She’d called Julia Harrison when they took hold in earnest the previous morning. Julia had reassured her, but right now, when Gianna wanted nothing more than to sleep undisturbed for another two hours, the stretching abdominal muscles wrenched her awake.

She didn’t want a bracing cup of stupid anemic tea.

She didn’t want to work on cute clothes for skinny people.

And she wasn’t a bit hungry. She glared at the clock, hauled in a deep breath, shrugged into ugly sweats and headed for the nursery. One way or another, this room was getting painted, and if she had to wait for Seth to do it, she’d be climbing the walls. Therefore she’d do it herself. She set up the roller on the long-handled attachment, opened the white paint for the ceiling, grabbed the stepladder and began cutting in along the ceiling’s edge with the tightly bristled brand-new brush.

A small sound made her pause. Then another one followed. Closer. Much closer.

A shiver traveled up her neck. Tiny goose bumps of awareness blanketed her arms. Just as she decided the house might have become home to unnerving rodents, the sound came again. Firmer. Stronger. From outside.

Her heart beat stronger. Harder. Her breath caught unevenly, because whatever was out there, outside the window, was close.

Too close.

“Gianna.”

The familiar voice came from below the window’s edge. Recognition made her heart beat irregularly for different reasons than it had moments ago.

“Gianna, let me in.”

She went downstairs to the kitchen door and cracked it open. “What are you doing out here?” she whispered, and while it was tough to put indignation and censure in a hushed tone, she managed it, because Seth looked half contrite, half amused.

“I saw your lights and wanted to make sure everything was all right. Is it?”

“Get in here. And don’t wake Gram.”

His smile said her scolding didn’t hold much weight, and that was good, because what she really wanted to do was thank him for coming across the road and checking on her. “Who’s with Tori?”

“She’s sound asleep and the doors are locked. I’m sure she has no clue I’m gone, and she was pretty tired after her escapade today. What are you doing?”

“Painting the nursery.”

“At four-fifteen?”

“At three forty-five, actually. That was the start time. First the ceiling, then the walls. I’m determined to get this done.”

“Now?” He followed her through the kitchen and up the stairs to the two-bedroom loft above. “Are you crazy?”

“Some think so, but they’re wrong,” she retorted. She got back to the room, tested the bristles on her brush to make sure they hadn’t gotten tacky while she’d gone downstairs, redipped the end and started on her last side of trim. “I couldn’t sleep. Stretching pains.”

“What are those?”

The word pain brought worry to his eyes, and while that reaction made her feel good, the date with Nikki kept her grounded in reality. “Just something we pregos go through, I guess.”

He put a hand to her arm, and when she looked down he locked gazes with her.

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