WICKED INTENTIONS { Completed}

Chapter 17

"I'm sorry I didn't use protection," Nathan apologized as he sat on the bed watching Shakira comb her hair.

"Don't worry about it." Shakira squeezed out a dollop of lotion on her palm. She patted it into her hair before picking up the vivid purple dryer on the vanity table. Casting a smile at him through the mirror she said, "You're not the only one who got carried away. I'll just drop by the pharmacy later."

He'd been so desperate for her that wrapping up hadn't even crossed his mind and the sensations of being in her unencumbered were indescribable. He wasn't even sure that he could go back to 'that' – not with how good raw had felt. Could he convince her to get on the pill?

Nathan should've been surprised that he was actually considering trusting a woman to take care of the birth control. That wasn't something he would've done a year...no, three months ago. He was too suspicious of women and their motives to not be extremely careful when it came to protection. Everyone knew that pills weren't a hundred percent guarantee anyway. But for some reason getting Shakira pregnant didn't seem like the worst thing that could happen to him.

His eyes skimmed her towel clad back as he watched her dry her hair. He could already imagine her waist getting thicker with his baby. There was no doubt that Shakira would make a good mother. She was caring, loyal and stand-up woman – how could he have doubted her? He gave himself a mental shake. He'd been so blinded by anger that he couldn't see what was right in front of him.

He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice her pause in her actions until she turned down the electronic and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Why do you ask?"

She turned in the seat to fully face him. Tilting her head slightly, she frowned. "I don't know you've just been behaving kind of odd."

Nathan's heart lurched and he paled. "Odd how?"

"Guilty odd." She was frowning more definitely now. "Do you need to tell me something?"

"Something like what? There's nothing to tell." His words rushed out eager to cover his sudden anxiety. "I mean I don't have anything to tell you."

"You're stuttering." Her eyes narrowed to shards.

"I'm not stuttering," he denied even though they both knew his ass was burning in the hot seat she'd just placed him in.

Please don't ask any more questions. Please don't ask any more questions.

"Mm hmm." She gave him another doubtful look as she skimmed what he hoped was his blasé expression. With another, "mm hmm", she turned back to the mirror and switched on the dryer again.

Shit. Shakira was definitely suspicious of him. Did she know something or was she just reaching into the haystack and hoping she came up with a needle? No, there was no possible way she knew. Apart from him, the only other person who knew the extent of his sins was Randall and he would never talk. Eager to erase her doubts, Nathan stood. Adjusting his towel on his waist he made his way towards her.

Her brown eyes met his in the mirror when he stood behind her and she eased the dryer into a low hum as she asked, "Whaddup?"

"Let me help you with that," he said trying to tag the dryer from her hand. Shakira held onto it tightly.

"Uh uh." She shook her head, the thick curls of her hair bouncing with the movement. "Do you even know how to use this?"

"It can't be that hard." He teased, "I mean you're doing it."

"Boy." She kissed her teeth, and slapped his thigh before she let go of the dryer. "I swear if you burn me."

It was not as easy as he thought. The thick curls were tangled and in an effort to disentangle them, he ended up pulling too hard.