Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 135955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135955 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
An electric heat burns between us with an intensity that scales my skin.
“You’re wrong about sex getting us into a predicament. We’re exactly where we need to be.”
“How can you say that? This will change our lives forever.” Panic creeps into my voice.
“Let me rephrase. When we leave this bed this morning, we will be exactly where we need to be. In order to get there, I need you to tell me everything. And I mean every detail.”
“First, how’d you found out?”
“I’m a cop, a trained soldier, and a guy whose woman is wild. Outside of the obvious with your dad, I knew something was bothering you. Decided you’d had enough time and took action. Found the drug store receipts in your house and took the lead.”
He tells me about his encounter at the drug store, and I realize I need to up my game if keeping something from him.
“By the far off look in your eyes, it’s clear we need to have this discussion again.”
“What discussion?” I focus back on him.
“You run, I will find you. Three times now I’ve tracked you down.”
“You knew where I was. How’s that hiding?”
“Physically, you were in Kentucky. Mentally, you were withholding something huge.”
My stubborn side kicks in and I refuse to concede his point.
“Now, your turn,” he orders.
Major is typically a cut-to-the-chase type of conversationalist. Figures today would be the exception. I find his hand and weave our fingers together, take a breath, and talk.
He remains quiet, listening and keeping his eyes locked on mine intently. When I get to the scene in the drug store, his pupils darken to a deep midnight blue, his grip tightening. They only lighten when I get to the last part of my story when I mention the conception was very early on, possibly the weekend at his parents’. I finish with “… stayed in Kentucky to rummage through my scrambled brain about the mess of my life.”
“And what did you come up with?”
Shit! “I never concluded.”
“What were your options?”
“Nothing concrete,” I try again.
“Jewls, what crazy ass scheme am I facing?”
“Nothing… yet.”
“Throw me a bone, so I know what kind of shit is in your head.”
“I am not forcing us on you or imposing on your life. You have dreams and goals. A baby mama and unplanned child wouldn’t have to kill those dreams. I can move to Kentucky and help my mom with her Equestrian Therapy business.”
A low rumble growls from his throat. “So, your solution was to high-tail and take my child two hours away?” There’s an edge to his questions that sends a trill of fear racing through my system.
“I don’t know! My mind is screwed up.”
“I love you,” he says firmly.
“I love you, too. So much that I can’t ask—”
“Jewls, shut up. It’s my turn.”
I snap my mouth shut, narrowing my gaze.
“When I say I love you, it also means you are the love of my life. To me, I thought that was obvious, but I fell down on the job. Since it slipped over your head, I’ll explain it where there is no room for misperception.”
Oh, God. My heart picks up speed because he’s giving me a look that tells me my life is about to change. Even more than the obvious.
“Being the love of my life comes with an eternity of me wanting to wring your neck when you do something irresponsible, like showing up at your friend’s house when her douchebag ex is edging for a fight. Or putting on those ridiculously sexy clothes to stake out something you have no business doing. It also comes with watching you walk into a room where every man in the joint is thinking of getting in your pants. A lifetime of praying for patience and tamping down my need to throw you over my shoulder when you strut behind a bar with your tits on display.”
I’m itching to disagree with that last point, but the fire blazing in his gaze keeps me silent.
“Some men may walk away from the challenge. That’s not me. And that’s you. I wouldn’t change anything in this world about the lifetime of headaches facing me. Because when a man like me finds this, he fights ‘til the end to keep it.”
This time, I open my mouth to argue, but he shushes me by placing his finger to my lips.
“Before you bring out the attitude, let it sink in. This baby may have been unplanned, but he’s not unwanted. He’s a piece of me growing in you. You are attached to me forever, and I’m over the fucking moon about it. You may think you trapped me, but it’s the other way around. If that makes me a barbarian, who cares? I’m not going anywhere.
“One more thing. Darla didn’t get any of this from me. She knew how to get under your skin. You got a slim taste of her manipulation tactics, which fucking sucks because I didn’t protect you. She flat-out lied. She never got my dick pierced. That was a deal between Koby and me. She knew of it. I got it after boot camp. She was out of the picture.”