From Dare to Due Date

by Christy Jeffries

  “Yeah, you said that. He’s some self-absorbed football player. Big deal. They... Oh, wait. You mean he was Neville Galveston’s son?”

  “You guessed it.” She pointed the cleaned-off spoon at him. “His father’s a big deal in the Florida business world and was a big sponsor at the time. Since the season was over and I was planning on going back to school for my MFA anyway, I didn’t make a big deal of it. Plus, his coach assured me that he would be going to mandated counseling.”

  She shook her head. “Looking back, I wish I would have at least filed a formal complaint.”

  “So Nick was your stalker? He was the guy who attacked you?” Her neck angled back in surprise, as if she thought she’d been able to keep this awful episode completely hidden before now. “See, I looked you up online, too. But I could only find one article and it was pretty brief. Sorry for interrupting. Go on.”

  She took a deep breath. “A couple weeks later, I came home to my apartment. It was dark and I hadn’t seen or heard from the guy in a while and thought I was safe enough. But out of nowhere, here comes Nick. And he glares at me with such hate in his eyes. Crazy hate.” He felt her whole body shiver. “I’d never seen anybody look like that at another human being before. I couldn’t move, couldn’t blink. I didn’t even see the golf club he was holding. He told me that if I wasn’t going to be his little dancer, then he’d make sure I never danced again. That’s when he swung at me and smashed my kneecap.”

  “That son of a...” Garrett wished he had access to a nine iron and a dark room with the bastard trapped inside it. But he could still feel the tenseness in her leg and he realized he’d stopped massaging and was gripping her tighter. “Sorry.”

  But she didn’t seem to hear him, so lost was she in her terrifying memory. “I screamed and one of the neighbors ran out, but not before he hit me several more times. One was to the back of my head. I was in a coma for a week.” A tear trickled down her proud, high cheekbone and she shook her head, as if she could shake loose the pain she’d been holding inside. “After I woke up, I found out about my knee and I knew it was all over. My dancing career, my whole life. Everything.”

  Neither one said a word for a few seconds and he could tell the dam holding back the rest of her tears was threatening to come loose.

  “They caught him, though, right?” he asked, trying to divert her.

  “They did. It helped that I lived at a complex with video surveillance in the parking lot so the cops had everything on record. They charged him with attempted murder and he pled down to assault with a deadly weapon. He’s serving time and his dad paid off the right people and everything was kept hush-hush.”

  Mia shuddered, then used the edge of her knitted sleeve to wipe her face. Garrett had to exhale and count to ten to get his anger in check. He could only imagine the toll that kind of event had taken on her. Years had gone by and he could still see the way it had impacted her.

  It really explained why she was so skittish and looked at him sideways any time he walked in the room. He used to wonder if she was pretending to be coy, but there was no way to act out this kind of anguish.

  He was a healer and not at all prone to violence. But he had never wanted to hurt anyone the way he wanted to hurt the man who had crushed Mia’s leg. Her dreams. Her trust...

  “It’s okay. He can’t hurt you anymore. I’ve got you now,” he said and pulled her into his arms. Her body shook as she finally let out a small sob, but she allowed Garrett to hold her as the dam inside her finally broke, to let him absorb all the hurt she’d been hiding for way too long.

  Chapter Ten

  Mia hadn’t told the story to more than a handful of people, including the police officer who’d taken the initial report, and her best friends when she’d first moved to Sugar Falls.

  She had expected to cry her way through it as she usually did, especially considering the hormonal imbalance she’d been experiencing lately. But she’d never allowed herself to be this vulnerable before. Especially not in a man’s strong embrace. When she finally had her tears under control, she wiped her face and scooted away from Garrett, but her knee was still awkwardly draped across his lap.

  Yet for some reason, she didn’t feel as embarrassed as she had before. Although she’d gone through an awful lot of peanut butter and her tears had left a damp spot on the shoulder of Garrett’s shirt where she’d been crying, Mia felt emotionally drained, but also surprisingly stronger.

  Talking about Nick with Garrett was like getting a root canal. Now that she’d gotten to the core of her problem and eased some of the ache, her nerves were still throbbing, but more out of a sense of relief.

  “So everything worked out in the end, then?” Garrett asked. His hands had dropped back to her leg, but this time, they were a bit higher on her thigh.

  “I never thought of it that way before.” She angled her head. “But I guess if it hadn’t been for that incident, I wouldn’t be sitting with you at a mansion on Lake Rush right now. At the time, I was in such a dark and scary place. Not only from being stalked and attacked, but also from the surgery that had taken longer than expected and the fact that my knee had never healed quite right. Kylie and Maxine thought I should get a second opinion, that I shouldn’t rely on the team doctors whose best interest was their franchise and keeping things out of the news. But afterward, I just wanted to get as far away from it all as I could.”

  “So that’s why you moved to Sugar Falls?”

  “Yep. My best friends were already established here and there was no way I was going to move back in with my mom. Ballet had always been my goal, not living in some small remote town in Idaho, teaching dance classes to little kids.” She shook her head ruefully. “Spending day after day explaining to parents that it’s okay if their child isn’t the best one on the stage as long as they were having fun was never my dream. But dreams have a way of changing.”

  He nodded and took the empty jar of peanut butter from her, setting it down on the table in front of them. Her leg was still across his lap, and the movement caused him to shift in a way that brought his free hand farther up her thigh. “But at least you no longer have to worry about that bastard following you around.”

  Mia shivered. “Actually, last year I had a feeling someone was. I’ve never really been able to shake that sense of unease, and then I got a letter from the parole board advising me that Nick might get an early release due to budget cuts and the fact that he was a first time offender. Cooper called in some favors from a buddy with the Florida Department of Corrections and when they searched his cell, they found a bunch of recent pictures of me and the dance studio and my apartment. The jerk had hired a private investigator to look me up.”

  Garrett’s hands stilled and when she finally chanced a peek at him, she realized his jaw was unusually rigid. She’d seen him look at his father in frustration, but she’d never seen him look so intently furious. For a moment, she wondered what kind of anger he was capable of.

  She reached out and rubbed his arm. “Hey, don’t be so upset. The parole board found out and denied him. Plus, they’re watching him more closely now.”

  “I just hate what he did to you. What he put you through. No human being should have to go through that.”

  “I know. I used to run around afraid of my own shadow. I still do sometimes. But now that I have a little one to think about, I can’t keep living my life in fear. I have to be strong for both of us.”

  Saying it out loud made it ring even more true.

  He looked at her face, then at her hand on his biceps. She felt his muscles flex ever so slightly, and her thumb slipped into the ridge along his muscle. Underneath those starched custom-made shirts, Garrett McCormick was solid as a rock.

  She glanced down at his fingers, which were still on her thigh, commanding herself not to move, even as the rest of her was bubbling up insi
de, wanting to feel more of him.

  The morning had been intense, to say the least, and now she’d just let down this huge emotional wall in front of him. If she truly knew what was good for her, she’d jump off this sofa and never look back.

  “So you’re not afraid anymore?” His voice was deeper and she knew he was equally aware of their proximity—both physical and emotional.

  “Of you? No. Two months ago—heck, even two weeks ago—I would’ve been terrified to be in the same room with a strange man. But ever since I met you in that hotel bar, my entire body feels at peace around you. Even when my brain is trying to tell it to stay on high alert. And now, for some strange reason that I can’t explain, being with you gives me this sense of empowerment. It’s made me realize that I’m tired of running. Tired of being afraid.”

  It was the truth. She could have told this story to anyone, but it was Garrett who made her feel safe. It was Garrett whom she’d chosen to open her heart to. And if she was being one hundred percent honest, it was Garrett whom she loved.

  She felt the weight of her hair slip loose, so she reached up to unclip it from its makeshift knot, allowing it to tumble down her back. And like the heavy raven locks, her stored-up self-consciousness followed suit and she relished the freedom.

  She brought her hand up to his smoothly shaved cheek and watched his nostrils flare slightly when she traced her fingers along his jaw, behind his ear and toward the back of his scalp.

  His close-cropped hair prickled at her fingers like spiky little speed bumps, warning her to proceed with caution.

  Screw that. She was done with caution. No more living in the dark, she vowed, right before pulling his head down to hers.

  When her lips touched his, she was no longer tentative or ashamed. She was eager and reckless and on a mission to make up for lost time. There had been so much she’d given up and so much more she’d never allowed herself to experience. But not anymore.

  Just as she’d done in that hotel bar on the night she’d met him, she set her inhibitions free and exploded in his arms. His hand traveled up to her ribs, and her skin couldn’t contain her any more than a glass bottle could contain the bubbling champagne released by its cork.

  His mouth wasn’t enough. She needed to feel him, needed to get closer.

  She brought her other leg up and maneuvered herself into a plié before straddling his lap. Her lips caught his groan and heat shot through her core when she felt his zipper pressed against her thin cotton leggings. He grabbed her hips and pulled her tighter against his arousal until she was the one moaning.

  She threw back her head as he kissed his way down her neck and along her collarbone. When he pulled down the spaghetti straps of her sports tank, she released him long enough to yank the entire thing over her head, not wanting to keep him or his incredible hands away from her aching breasts any longer.

  He rewarded her by drawing one tight nipple into his hot mouth, before kissing his way over to the other one and loving it equally.

  “Garrett, you make me feel so good.” He paused and she opened her eyes, wondering what she’d said wrong.

  “I couldn’t remember if I’d even told you my name that night we met. But afterward, all I could think about was making love to you and hearing you scream it out.”

  She put her palm to his face, cupping his cheek, and whispered it again. “Garrett.”

  “That sounds even better,” he said before slipping his hands inside her waistband.

  She reached for the buttons on his shirt, but when the first one proved too difficult for her restless fingers, she yanked through the rest. The sound of tearing fabric didn’t cause her to slow down as she pushed the material off his shoulders and ran her hands over the well-formed pectoral muscles of his chest.

  Bringing her lips back to his, she moved with him when he leaned forward to shove his shirt off. The light hair on his chest tickled her breasts and when she arched up, he used her leverage as an opportunity to push her black leggings down to her thighs.

  Twenty-five years of dance enabled her to maneuver her limbs effortlessly as he removed the rest of her clothing while she remained firmly in place on his lap.

  Now that she’d decided to take control of her life, she wasn’t about to waste a second.

  Raising her body slightly, she allowed him to kiss the sensitive area just above her rib cage while he unbuckled his pants. But before he could take the time to remove them, she came back down until the tip of his erection was situated directly below her.

  She paused, relishing this small act of power. She was in charge now.

  Briefly, she thought of the dark fear that had ruled her life for too long. And she remembered the dark hotel room where they’d once made love. Then she pulled her face back, taking in the bright light streaming in from the vast wall of windows. She needed to see him, needed to watch him.

  When she finally allowed herself to slide down over his hard shaft, it felt as if she was claiming him, claiming her life.

  “Aw, Mia. My sweet Mia,” he whispered.

  He’d been right. Hearing her name cherished by his lips was something she hadn’t realized she’d missed out on the last time.

  She moved slowly at first, letting her body become accustomed to him once again. She watched his lids grow heavy, heard his breathing become more shallow and rapid. He held her waist firmly, but didn’t try to manage her movements.

  “I don’t know how much more I can take.” His voice was ragged and his hands trailed down along her backside until they fully cupped her bottom. Mia took him deeper and quicker, her eyes never leaving his face.

  It was like focusing on the brightest spotlight in the theater as she danced in sync—her pirouettes becoming faster and faster until she didn’t think she could hold her spin any longer. When he gripped her tighter and her muscles contracted around him, she finally let go as though she was floating off the stage and twirling through the air without a cable.

  * * *

  Garrett held Mia to him until they both got their breathing under control. But the woman who had been so graceful just a few moments ago, defying the laws of physics with her balancing and flexibility, was slowly toppling over like an untied satin ribbon on a well-used ballet shoe.

  And he was falling with her.

  As they drifted to their sides and nestled into the cushions, he pulled a brown throw blanket off the back of the sofa and wrapped it around them. She had straightened her legs, but he could feel her breasts pressed firmly to his chest, her stomach softly resting against his.

  His child was growing there.

  As a medical professional he knew what they’d done hadn’t endangered their baby. But he wondered what kind of father didn’t even bother to fully remove his khakis before so thoroughly ravishing the mother.

  Actually, it felt more as if he’d been the one ravished. Mia had seemed intent on taking the lead and for once in Garrett’s life, he’d allowed himself to sit back and let someone else take control. He was learning that as much as he’d fought to establish his independence from his father and take charge of his own future, he couldn’t micromanage every single detail.

  He would have to start getting used to relinquishing power some of the time, especially to Mia, who had just proved herself to be more than capable of leading him to paradise.

  He kissed her forehead and her sigh was the last thing he heard before drifting off into a blissful sleep.

  Which was better than what woke him.

  “Okay, you two, company’s here,” Maxine’s voice called from the closed-off kitchen before two sets of distinctly male laughter echoed through the room.

  “Oh, no.” Mia pulled the blanket over her head. “I forgot they were coming over.”

  So had Garrett. Which wasn’t like him. Enough of this reckless leisure. He neede
d to get himself back in charge.

  But not until they got dressed. He gave her one last kiss and sat up, watching her walk around the room gathering their clothes as she tried to keep the blanket wrapped around her.

  “Here.” She tossed a wrinkled wad of cloth at him before pulling on her top and leggings. He put his arms through the sleeves, not taking his eyes off her. Watching her wiggle into the tight, stretchy fabric was almost as pleasurable as watching her remove it.

  She looked at his shirt, which was hanging open, its buttons probably scattered somewhere in the sofa cushions or along the hardwood floors. She gasped then blushed. “I’m so sorry I ripped it like that.”

  He grinned. “I’m not.”

  She glanced around the room. “Did we miss anything?”

  He stood up, revealing the fact that he was still wearing his pants and that they hadn’t wasted time when it came to disrobing. He chuckled when her blush got even deeper.

  He attempted to tuck his shirt in so he would at least look presentable and then thought, why bother? Surely the couples politely hiding out in the kitchen already knew what they’d been doing in here.

  “They’re going to know,” Mia said, their thoughts on the same page.

  He looked pointedly at her still-flat belly. “I don’t think it’s much of a surprise to anyone that we’ve made love.” She returned his appraising look and he couldn’t help but add, “Your top thingy is on inside out.”

  She slapped her hand to her chest, then quickly threw her sweater on over the whole ensemble.

  He chuckled at her embarrassment, and then to his surprise, she joined him. They were looking at each other, giggling, and Mia finally walked up to him and tried to straighten his shirt so the button holes at least lined up. But when he felt her fingers on his bare skin, he couldn’t help but pull her in for another deep kiss.