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She closed her eyes as if that could block the vision of him in her head. But she could still smell him on her pillow. Growling out a sound of anger, she sat up and ripped the case off the cushion. No way in hell was she going to sleep here all night with his scent torturing her. As she stripped the entire bed, ripping with a savage fury, and put on fresh sheets, she cursed Deputy Raith Malloy's existence.
It didn't matter that she'd ordered him to leave, she hadn't wanted him to go anywhere. She'd wanted him to stay, to come back, apologize for being such a jerk, and tell her it was going to be okay no matter what happened. Why hadn't he freaking come back? She needed him here. She needed him to hold her hand through the scariest night of her life.
Bursting into tears, she finally wept.
God, why didn't the moron feel for her what she felt for him? ~ * ~
Raith was half way home before he remembered the phone call. Cursing under his breath, he dug out his cell phone and called the station. Dispatch picked up on the second ring.
"Who's working the road tonight?" he wanted to know. When the woman on the line gave him a list of names, he thought a second before saying, "Thanks," and hanging up.
He dialed Carl Hinton's cell phone as soon as he disconnected. The young deputy answered in two rings. "Hey, Hinton, this is Malloy. I need you to check out a place for me every once in a while tonight."
"Sure thing, Lieutenant. What's the address?"
Raith rattled off Willow's address. "It's Willow DeVane's place."
"The sexy lawyer with the legs that won't stop?" Hinton asked, suddenly interested.
Raith gritted his teeth, not wanting to picture her legs at the moment and not wanting one of his deputy pals to either.
"I wasn't aware you guys knew each other," Hinton murmured, obviously fishing for some news.
"She's been getting some phone calls lately," Raith continued, not providing the deputy with what he really wanted to hear. "It's nothing big, but I'd still like someone to drive past her house every hour or so, make sure things look okay."
"Yeah, no problem. I can do that."
"Thanks a lot." He hung up and ground his teeth as he tossed his phone into the passenger seat.
This was all DeVane's fault. If the blasted woman hadn't shoved him out the door, he wouldn't have had to call in reinforcements. He'd still be there, curled around her and finding his own comfort in her arms, soothing all this fear coursing through his veins.
Had he knocked her up or not?
He didn't know, but he didn't like the hope rolling around inside him, because he wasn't sure if that hope was rooting for her to be pregnant or not.
Eighteen
A week and a half later, Willow found herself knocking on the front door of her very best friend in the world. When Camille opened the entrance, Willow pulled the box from her shopping bag and held up the First Response Early Result Pregnancy Test. "Will you hold my hand while I get the news?"
Camille's mouth fell open. "Oh, Willow, no." She snagged Willow's wrist and tugged her inside and straight into a comforting hug.
Willow shuddered out a sigh and closed her eyes as she rested her face on her cousin's shoulder. When the baby in Camille's belly kicked at the pressure against it, Willow quickly jumped back, wondering if there was going to something rooting around inside her like that in a few months. She lifted wide eyes.
"I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life," she confessed.
"Camy, who's at the—" Dylan appeared in the foyer and paused to smile at Willow when he saw her. "Hey, cuz. What—" He cut himself off again when he saw the look on both women's faces. Immediately alert, he straightened. "What's going on?"
"It's nothing—" His wife started to answer, but Willow spoke over her.
"I think I'm pregnant."
Dylan paused, looking momentarily blank. "Preg—Oh, God. Who... Malloy?"
Willow frowned. "Yes. Malloy. I'm not that promiscuous. God."
His mouth opened but he quickly shut it. "I wasn't saying that," he defended. "I didn't mean to—"
"This is one of those early warning things," Camille interrupted her husband, before he could talk himself into any more trouble. She snatched the box out of Willow's hand and studied it. "You must know exactly what day you think you conceived." Her face lifted as that realization struck her. "Good Lord, Willow. You didn't forget protection, did you?"
