“Not in my bathroom,” he corrected. “But in the one off reception.” He paused, stared at her with his now intense brown eyes while he took in more of those long, steadying breaths. He looked as if she’d punched him in the gut, and in a way she had. What she’d just told him must have packed a wallop, and now the wallop was on top of the one he’d gotten from what he’d seen in the bathroom.
“So, whose test was it?” she pressed.
“Don’t have a clue. Well, I actually have a clue,” Harley amended. “Liv says it’s not hers, so that leaves Mom and Darla as the most likely candidates. But Liv says Darla doesn’t have a boyfriend.”
Amelia didn’t know about Darla’s personal life, but she did know a little about his mother. Tracy had been a teenager when she’d had Harley, so it was possible she was still young enough to get pregnant. And it was sad that any gossipmonger who got wind of the pregnancy test in the bathroom would almost certainly jump right to that conclusion. Yes, Tracy seemed to gravitate toward men with less than stellar reputations. But that didn’t mean Tracy was pregnant. Heck, even if she was, Amelia certainly wasn’t in a position to judge her for it.
“Maybe one of the people staying at the ranch came in when Darla was at lunch and you were in your meeting,” she suggested. If so, then this was the day for pregnancy scares and tests on Rustler’s Ridge.
“You’re really pregnant?” he asked. He still looked shocked, but he was coming out of it.
“I think I might be.”
She groaned, and because she could no longer stand still, Amelia started walking. Not ideal weather for it, though, since the temps were already in the nineties and without so much as a stirring of a breeze.
“I’ve taken one of the home tests. It was negative, but I’m over a week late. I’ve never been late before,” she added.
Both of them did more deep breathing, and she figured it was somewhat of a miracle that they both managed to keep taking steps toward Marty’s cabin.
Harley was likely doing some mental math right about now. She certainly had when she’d first realized she was late. The last time they’d been together was exactly one month ago today. He’d come over to her house in Wrangler’s Creek and had spent the night. As usual, the sex had been great. It always was with Harley. Also as usual, they’d used protection. Still, no form of birth control was 100 percent.
“I’ll repeat the home test,” she went on a moment later. “I also made an appointment with the doctor here in Lone Star Ridge for tomorrow since they didn’t have any openings today. I couldn’t go to my regular doctor because she’s friends with my parents.”
Of course, considering her parents’ rift, they might not even tune in to any gossip about her. Which was something at least. They always seemed to be breathing down her back and judging her for the career she’d chosen. They would have preferred her having a job that required her to wear designer clothes. Or better yet, no job at all since they wanted her to be married to the “right” man.
Harley was in no way right in their eyes, but then her folks weren’t right in his, either. He wasn’t the sort to put up with their snooty insults and lofty expectations, and that was yet another reason why he suited Amelia.
“I’m sorry,” Amelia continued a moment later. “I swear, I didn’t mean for this to happen.” She paused, nibbled on her bottom lip. “I considered not telling you until I was sure one way or the other. But I couldn’t keep this to myself, and there wasn’t anyone else I could talk to about it.”
She hadn’t realized that she was holding her breath until her lungs started to ache, but she was indeed waiting for Harley to tell her that everything would be okay, that they’d somehow get through this. In other words, she needed a miracle.
Harley glanced at her, groaned and then seemed to steel himself up. She was certain he would have attempted to give her that miracle or maybe some kind of reassurance, but someone called out to them.
Darla.
“Did you see your mom?” Darla asked, hurrying toward them.
Harley shook his head. “Where is she?”
Darla shook her head as well. “Not your mom. Yours,” she said to Amelia.
“Uh, she’s really here?” Amelia glanced around as if she expected her mother to materialize out of thin air.
“I think so. I mean, I’ve never actually met her, but I’ve seen her pictures a lot on the society pages and on social media. I’m pretty sure she drove by the main house a little while ago, just as I was taking my lunch break.”
“She’s with Marty,” Amelia muttered under her breath.
She hadn’t actually believed her mother would come here, but maybe she’d been wrong about that. It seemed too much of a coincidence that Darla would see someone resembling her mother on the very day that Amelia had reason to believe she’d come to the ranch. Of course, Amelia still didn’t know why her mom would want to see Marty, but the singer’s name had come up during the part of her parents’ argument that she’d overheard.
“Thank you,” Amelia managed to say to Darla, and she started walking toward the cabin area as the receptionist headed back to the main house.
“I think we both need at least a couple of minutes to wrap our heads around all of this,” Harley said, taking hold of her hand.
By this, he probably hadn’t meant her parents’ argument. No. This was about the possible pregnancy. Amelia hated that she had done this to him. Hated that she’d done it to herself, too. Amazing sex evidently came with a price. A huge one that Harley and she might have to pay. But there was something that she hated even more. Part of her was actually a little thrilled at the possibility of having a child.
A part of her that she needed to tamp down.
Because this wasn’t just about her and her thrilled parts. It was about Harley, and he’d told her too many times to count that he wasn’t a family man. Which led her to something she needed to say to him.
“If I am pregnant, you don’t have to do anything. I can raise the baby by myself.” She said it just as she’d rehearsed it, but during her rehearsal, she hadn’t anticipated seeing anything but relief on his face.
This wasn’t relief.
His eyes narrowed a little. His mouth tightened. “We need to talk.”
That didn’t sound like the start of what would be a pleasant conversation, and Amelia nearly repeated that comment about her being able to raise the baby herself. But his steely expression stopped her. Apparently, they did indeed need to talk. Very soon. However, first she needed to find her mother.
“Marty’s cabin,” she reminded him, tipping her head in that direction.
The steel in Harley’s expression remained. “If your mother’s with Marty, you should put off seeing her. For now anyway.” That didn’t sound like a suggestion, either. “We need to talk,” he repeated. “And we can go to my place to do that.”
Harley tried to get her moving toward the road that led to his house, but Amelia held her ground. “I just need you to hear me when I say that I don’t expect anything from you.”
He stared at her. Nope, that was a glare. And then Harley leaned in and kissed her.
Amelia didn’t know who was more surprised. With all his usual finesse, which was plentiful, his mouth moved over hers as if he were claiming every inch of her. That wasn’t unusual. Harley always gave it his all when he kissed her. But normally those kisses were the beginning of foreplay that would lead them straight to bed. Nothing about this could be foreplay. Or hot.
But it was.
Mercy, it was.
She wasn’t sure why Harley had always been able to make her body zing and turn her mind to mush, but he was proving that he still had that ability despite their situation.
He didn’t stop with just a kiss, either. He hooked his arm around her waist, pulled her to him and added some delicious body to body contact. It should hav
e reminded her that such contact wasn’t a good thing when they had something so important to hash out. But it felt so good to be in his arms. To have him hold her like this. To have his mouth on hers.
She could feel her nerves settle. Could feel herself melting into him.
Again, not good.
A month ago, this would have been yet another amazing start to some great sex, but at this moment it was a deflection and a distraction that they didn’t need. Even though it took great effort on her part, Amelia mustered up every ounce of willpower and tore her mouth from his.
“Why did you do that?” she managed to ask. Of course, since she didn’t have much breath left in her body, it came out not as a demand but rather a silky whisper. Very much like the way she whispered things when they were in bed.
Harley didn’t hesitate. “To remind you of how we got into this position in the first place.”
She was about to tell him that she needed no such reminder and that the kiss in no way helped this discussion they needed to have. However, Amelia didn’t have time to say anything because someone cleared their throat, and it caused them to whirl in the direction of the sound.
“Uh, this might not be any of my beeswax, but this isn’t exactly a private place for you two to make out,” Liv commented.
Liv was already close, very close, and Amelia had no idea how she’d gotten just a couple of feet away without either of them hearing Harley’s sister’s approach. Of course, it was hard to hear much of anything with her pulse throbbing in her ears and the rest of her body buzzing from the heat the kiss had caused.
Since Amelia didn’t have a comeback for Liv, she waited for Harley to respond. “You’re right. It’s not any of your beeswax.”
Liv slid suspicious glances between the two of them, and Amelia hoped that in addition to witnessing the scalding kiss that Liv hadn’t also heard any of the conversation about the possible pregnancy.
“Something you want to tell me?” Liv asked, her right eyebrow winging up.
Amelia sighed. Obviously, Liv knew about the test that Harley had found in the garbage can, and even if she hadn’t heard that part of the conversation, Liv wasn’t stupid. She could put one and one together. However, in this case, the one and one didn’t lead to Amelia.
“No, there’s absolutely nothing I want to tell you,” Harley insisted.
That didn’t appease Liv because she simply shifted her attention and her still raised eyebrow to Amelia. Amelia would have given her a nicer version of what Harley had said, but she didn’t get the chance. That was because Amelia spotted Marty coming up the road toward them.
It’d been over a year since Amelia had seen him and that’d been on one of his trips back to Lone Star Ridge. He’d been in the diner when Harley and she had gone in for breakfast. Even though Marty was in his sixties, she could still see the “been there, done that” hot rocker looks that had no doubt attracted many women over the years.
Maybe had even attracted her own mother.
It was hard to imagine the prim and proper Nadine hooking up with Marty, but the man’s name had definitely come up during her parents’ argument.
“Ah,” Marty said with a sheepish smile. “You’re here.”
It took Amelia a moment to realize the comment was aimed at her. “Have you seen my mother?” she asked.
Marty smiled again in a way that she figured most would consider “good ol’ boy charming,” but it didn’t charm her one little bit. Amelia got a knot in her stomach. Correction—the knot that was already there tightened as if multiple fists and wrenches had been applied to it. Along with her parents’ argument and the pregnancy bombshell she’d had to deliver to Harley, this day definitely wasn’t going well.
“Nadine’s in my cabin,” Marty admitted. “I ran out of coffee, so I thought I’d bum some off that cute receptionist.”
So, it was true. Nadine had come to Marty. “Do you want to tell me why my mother came to see you?”
Marty didn’t hesitate. “That should come from her.” He started walking toward the main house.
“And what about my mother?” Harley asked, causing Marty to stop.
Marty eyed him, and Amelia thought the man might be trying to suss out exactly what Harley meant by that question. Unless Marty knew about the pregnancy test in the bathroom, though, he probably wouldn’t make the connection between Tracy and the hard stare that Harley was now giving him.
“She’s with Nadine,” Marty answered after several crawling moments.
“Mom’s in your cabin with Amelia’s mother?” Liv sounded as stunned by that as Amelia was.
With good reason.
Nadine and Tracy weren’t friends. In fact, the only encounter that Amelia remembered the women having was when Nadine came to Rustler’s Ridge to see if she could convince Tracy to run some interference in Amelia’s relationship with Harley. Tracy hadn’t taken the bait on that, and even though Amelia wasn’t sure exactly what had been said in that particular conversation, she doubted it’d been pleasant for either woman.
Marty nodded in response to Liv’s question. “I think it’d be a good idea to give them some time. They’re talking.”
Harley, Liv and Amelia all just gaped at him, and Amelia figured the three of them were on the same thought page. She couldn’t imagine what Tracy and her mother had to discuss.
Unless...
Oh, God. Was it possible her mother had learned about the pregnancy scare? Amelia didn’t live at home, hadn’t for years now, but her mom had a key to her house in Wrangler’s Creek. If Nadine had gone snooping, she might have found the pregnancy test or the note that Amelia had scribbled about her appointment time with the doctor in Lone Star Ridge. It wouldn’t have taken much digging to figure out that the doctor was an ob-gyn.
The anger rolled through Amelia, a low simmering boil because once again her mother might have stuck her nose where it didn’t belong. Not only was she going to have it out with her mom, she was also going to change the locks on her doors so there wouldn’t be other surprise visits.
Amelia started toward the cabin, not caring if she interrupted the chat time that Marty seemed to think the women needed. Liv and Marty stayed put, but Harley hurried to keep up with her while calling out to Marty.
“There’s a paparazzo at the end of the road,” Harley told Marty. “You need to take care of it.” Then he turned his attention back to Amelia. “I can see the fire in your eyes. Maybe it’s not a good time to see your mother.”
“She might know about the pregnancy,” Amelia spat out.
He nodded right away, so obviously he’d come to the same conclusion. Of course, Harley had personally witnessed one of her mother’s impromptu visits when Nadine had dropped by unannounced while Harley had still been in her bed.
“Just hold up a second,” Harley said, taking hold of her arm. Despite her huff, he turned her to face him. “Maybe we should settle some things between us first before you tackle dealing with your mother.” When she gave him a blank stare, he added, “We have to do the right thing, Amelia.”
“The right thing?” she repeated. “And what exactly would that be?”
“Simple.” Harley shrugged. “We need to get married.”
CHAPTER THREE
“WH-WHAT?” Amelia stuttered out.
Harley watched as the color drained from her face, letting him know that she hadn’t been expecting his offer of marriage. Of course, maybe it had something to do with the way he’d worded it. In hindsight, it had sounded more like a demand than a proposal.
“Will you marry me?” he amended.
That didn’t help her regain her color, but she did start shaking her head before she even spoke. “You can’t marry me just because I might be pregnant.”
That wasn’t the only reason, no. Harley wasn’t one to explore his feelings, but he knew he cared for Amelia. De
eply cared for her. And he hadn’t been with another woman in years, not since Amelia and he had become lovers. Maybe that wasn’t enough for her to say yes and deal with the criticism she’d almost certainly get from her parents. Still, they were adults, and he could see himself making a life with her.
The question, though, was could she make a life with him?
Apparently, Amelia had no intentions of answering his proposal right now. “We can discuss this later,” she insisted.
Crap. Yeah, he’d messed up all right. He should have laid some groundwork first before popping the question. He should have emphasized the pros of them getting married. But for him to be able to do that, he had to come up with a pro that didn’t involve a baby or those deep feelings for her. Amelia would want more.
A hell of a lot more.
And she deserved it, too.
She’d want, well, love and other stuff. He groaned and wanted to punch himself in the face. The fact that he could tack on and other stuff with a big-assed word like love meant that he needed to have a serious sit-down with himself to figure out how to get his head screwed back on straight.
“Later,” Amelia emphasized, and she started walking again toward the cabin that Marty was renting.
The moment the cabin came into sight, the front door opened, and his mother and Nadine stepped out onto the porch. Even though they were still a good twenty feet away, Harley could feel the thick tension in the air. Tension that he didn’t believe had anything to do with Amelia’s possible pregnancy or his botched marriage proposal.
What the devil was going on?
Whatever it was, he was positive he didn’t want to deal with it right now. Especially since he hadn’t gotten his stomach unclenched over hearing Amelia’s baby news. But apparently babies, marriage proposals and personal conversations were going to have to wait because Amelia made a beeline for the porch.
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