“Ahem,” Spencer cleared his throat, drawing our attention to where he stood about ten feet away from us. “As I said, unexpected visits come in handy when I’m investigating a petition like yours. You learn a lot about a couple when you can see how they react under stress. It makes it easier to see who’s in love and who’s pretending.”
In love? Was he saying Landon and I looked like a couple in love with each other?
“There are still some additional steps in the process, but from what I’ve seen so far, I feel comfortable in telling you not to plan a move to Canada anytime soon.”
Yeah, that was exactly what he was saying. And the happiness filling me up inside made me wonder—was he right? Had I fallen in love with my husband as quickly and easily as I’d fallen into his bed?
Chapter 10
Landon
After Spencer left, Zoe was oddly quiet for the rest of the morning. I would have thought she’d be overjoyed that we were almost done with the immigration stuff. Was she second guessing it all now? Wanting out of the relationship as soon as her status was final?
If so, she had another thing coming. I’d been as clear as possible when I’d told her our marriage was permanent. What Spencer had seen between us, it was genuine. I loved Zoe more than anything and I’d been certain she felt the same. She had to. There was no fucking way I was letting her go.
The impromptu visit kept us from being able to have a lazy breakfast, forcing us to grab something quick and get ready before leaving for the office. This conversation wasn’t one I wanted to rush, so I put it on the back burner for later.
I had a staff meeting first thing, but then I had a short break before I went off site to meet with a client. The talk with my dad had reminded me of a buddy who was a former CIA operative and now worked in operations.
Grabbing my cell phone from my desk, I scrolled through the contacts until I found Weston’s number. Then hit send.
It picked up after the third ring and a woman’s voice came across the line. “Landon! It’s been forever, handsome!”
“Aspen,” I greeted his wife warmly. “Still beautiful?”
She laughed. “Beautiful? More like sleep deprived and frazzled.” I grinned when I suddenly heard some shuffling and muffled words before the feminine tone was replaced with the gravelly voice of my friend. “Are you flirting with my wife, Heath? Because I have no problem flying to Wisconsin just to kick your ass.”
A noise at my door caused me to look up and see Zoe standing in my doorway, looking confused and hurt. I motioned her in and when she took a step back, I scowled at her. “Weston, hold on a sec,” I told him, and put the phone on mute. “Baby, get your ass in here.” She gave me a mutinous look and didn’t come forward, but she didn’t retreat either. I sighed, “I’ve got a friend who can help us look into Penderson. I called him and his wife, Aspen, answered. Now he’s threatening my life for giving her a compliment.” She looked relieved and took a step inside.
“Come over here and reassure him that I’m insanely obsessed with my wife, would you?” Her face lit up a little more and she sashayed over to me, allowing me to pull her down into my lap. I unmuted the phone and put it on speaker.
“Weston, I think my wife would manage to do your job first if she thought I was flirting with Aspen.”
“No need for your assistance, Weston,” Zoe chimed in. “My foot knows how to find its way up his ass. Nice to meet you, by the way, I’m Zoe.”
His laughter boomed through the phone. “You got married? It’s about damn time, man,” he finally replied. “I was afraid your virginity was growing back.” Zoe looked at me curiously but didn’t comment. “It’s nice to know he found someone to keep him in line, Zoe. I hope you two will come to Atlanta to visit one of these days.”
“Of course,” she murmured sweetly. “We’d love to.”
“I’ll put you in touch with my wife before we hang up,” he promised. “Now, I’m assuming you didn’t call just to shoot the shit, Landon?”
“I was hoping you could help us out with something.”
“Sure.”
I explained the circumstances surrounding Zoe’s visa and the theory we had that Steve Penderson might have been behind the tip to USCIS.
“Would it be possible for you to reach out to someone in Homeland and have them dig into Immigration Services? Maybe they could get the name of the tipster, or at least confirm the links in the chain?”
Weston blew out a breath, “I’ll do what I can. I do have a couple of contacts over there. But, Homeland Security oversees a lot of other departments, so I don’t know if either of them work with USCIS.”
“Anything you can do would be helpful,” I urged.
There was a beat of silence before Weston asked, “You got married so that Zoe could stay in the country?”
“Fuck no,” I growled. “It only sped up the wedding date.”
Zoe’s mouth dropped open and I gently closed it with a finger under her chin.
“She was mine the minute she stepped into my office,” I stated in an overly possessive tone.
Weston snorted in amusement. “I get it. You know how I was about Aspen. But,” he drawled, “I vaguely remember you telling me to chill and stop acting like a fucking caveman so I didn’t scare her away...How did that work out for you?”
Zoe covered her mouth, trying to stifle her giggle. I shrugged unashamedly, even though he couldn’t see it. “Yeah, yeah, shut it, asshole.”
Weston gave Zoe Aspen’s number, then we said our goodbyes and I ended the call before setting my phone down. I wrapped my arms around Zoe, peeking at my watch as they surrounded her. Her head turned and I rested my forehead on hers. “You’re mine, right?” I tried to hide it, but a hint of the vulnerability I was feeling escaped in my tone.
“Yes.”
“Forever.”
“Yes.”
“Say it, Zoe,” I snarled.
She sighed and cupped my cheeks, leaning back to stare into my eyes. “I’m yours forever, Landon.”
Satisfied, I kissed her deeply, wishing I had the time to fuck her before my appointment. I needed to leave so I had a chance to talk down my erection.
“I’ve got to go, baby,” I grumbled. “When I get back, we’ll head home and order dinner. Then I’ll have you for dessert.”
Zoe shook her head as she hopped off my lap. “We have dinner with your parents tonight.”
Fuck. I’d forgotten about that. I considered cancelling, impatient to have a talk with Zoe and get answers about her mood that morning. But, that would only further piss off my mom and facing her wrath tonight was already a frightening thought.
“Right,” I grumped. With another lingering kiss, I left her in a daze. I retrieved my cell and keys, then headed out. But before I reached the door, Zoe called my name. I halted and did an about face.
“Why did Weston joke about your—um”—her cheeks turned adorably pink—“virginity growing back?”
I laughed but to my surprise, I also felt my face heat. Shit, I was totally blushing. “He was referring to my dry spell,” I admitted. “It had been a long time since I was with anyone, hell since I’d even gone out on a date, before you.”
Zoe’s face was maddeningly blank, leaving me with no clue what she thought about this information. “How long?”
I cleared my throat and shifted my weight from one foot to another, thinking. Honestly, I hadn’t been keeping track so I had to think about my last date and do the math. Twenty-nine years old and she was the first woman I’d been with in... “Three years? I think?”
“Okay,” she answered simply, her face still void. Then I saw it. One corner of her mouth ghosted up and a smug satisfaction blazed in her eyes.
Chuckling, I shook my head and resumed exiting.
***
As expected, my mother lectured me for a good ten minutes about sneaking off and leaving her out of her only son’s wedding. But, not before she lavished all kinds of love on my wife. She got
hugs and kisses, while I got a hug and a smack upside my head. Quite a feat for my mom since she was barely five foot one. My sisters and I got our height from my dad.
My other sister, Amelia, was home on break from college and she and Stephanie both watched as I got my ass handed to me. Their amusement was duly noted and would be retaliated against. I didn’t care how old you are, you never stopped being a big brother.
It came as no surprise that Zoe fit right in with my family. They adored her and it became clear that they would help to fill a little of the hole in her heart from missing her own family.
As much as I loved my parents and sisters, I was counting down the minutes until I could take my wife home. At last, it came time and we said our rounds of goodbye before taking off.
The car ride was comfortably silent, and I laced my fingers with Zoe’s before resting our joined hands on my thigh. Once I pulled into the driveway and had turned off the car, I got out and went around to open her door.
“Your family is awesome, Landon,” she announced as we entered the house.
She was walking ahead of me and I stretched my arm to take hold of her hand, keeping her from going any further. We were in the living room, so I led her to a comfy recliner and sat, then yanked so she tumbled into my lap.
“They are, but this family”—I put my hand on her stomach—“you, me, and our children. Nothing can compare.”
Zoe’s whole countenance softened and she put her arms around me, hugging tight. I returned the embrace, but then guided her to sit back a little so I could see her face.
“This morning, after Spencer left, something was on your mind. I want to know what.”
Her eyes darted away and she started to fidget, chewing on her bottom lip, cuing me in to her nerves. I sighed and pulled it from between her teeth. “Talk to me, baby.”
“Why do you want to stay married to me?” she blurted out.
My eyebrows shot to my hairline. “Are you serious?”
She nodded, watching me uncertainly. “You tell me I’m yours and you’re keeping me. And, you’ve done your best to freaking knock me up. But...you’ve never told me why?” Her eyes weren’t shuttered and I could clearly see her insecurity.
It suddenly hit me like ton of bricks. Well, fuck. How could I have over looked it?
“Because I love you, baby.”
Chapter 11
Zoe
“I love you,” I whispered against Landon’s chest. It felt so good to say the words, knowing he felt the same way. Not a single morning had passed all week without me blurting them out shortly after waking up. I think there was a small part of me that felt guilty because Landon was the first to say it, and I might have been overdoing it to make it up to him. But he didn’t seem to mind since every time I said those three little words, he lit up like a kid at Christmas. And this morning, I was hoping to have the perfect present for him.
“I’ll be back in a second,” I murmured regretfully, rolling out of his arms to climb out of bed. I was beyond tempted to stay right where I was since I knew where this was headed, but there was something I needed to do that couldn’t wait. “I need to go pee first.”
“A full bladder will only make you come harder,” he purred as he kissed down my back.
I turned and giggled, thinking he was joking, but the heated look in his eyes told me he wasn’t. It was hard to imagine having an orgasm stronger than what he usually gave me, but this wasn’t the morning to test his theory. “That might be true, but I don’t want to run the risk of messing up the test results. I need a clean stream from what the instructions said.”
“Test results?” he echoed as he popped out of bed.
“It’s Saturday morning,” I reminded him. “It might still be too early for the test to detect any pregnancy hormones in my system, though. From what I read, the amount increases as the pregnancy progresses so it’s more accurate the longer you wait. But you bought so many of them, I figured it couldn’t hurt to give it a try this morning, right?”
He swept me up in his arms and carried me into the bathroom. “Not without me, you won’t.”
“Nuh-uh,” I grumbled when he set me down on my feet near the toilet. “I am not going to pee in front of you.”
“I’ll turn my back,” he offered, flinging open the cabinet door in search of the stack of pregnancy tests.
I nudged him out of the way and pulled open one of the drawers to grab the foil package I’d tucked inside the night before. “This is the one I need.”
He swiveled around to stare at the wall. “Go ahead, but tell me the minute you’re done because I don’t want to miss any of this.”
With trembling fingers, I ripped open the foil wrapper and popped the cap off the tip of the test. I shimmied the boy shorts I’d tugged on in the middle of the night down my legs and sat down on the toilet. Taking a couple deep breaths, I tried to calm myself down so I didn’t do something stupid like drop the stick into the toilet bowl. Once my hands stopped shaking, I lowered my hand, ready to stick the absorbent tip into my urine stream and waited. My bladder felt close to bursting, but nothing came out. I waited some more, until I heard the tapping of Landon’s foot and giggled.
“I don’t think I can do it while you’re in here with me.”
“Baby, I’ve had my cock deep inside you. Had my tongue shoved inside your pussy while you shuddered from your orgasm. Come down your throat, in your womb, on your back and all over your tits. There isn’t anything to be embarrassed about. If you’re carrying my baby, I don’t want to miss a moment of it.” He reached over and turned on the faucet. “Here, maybe the sound of running water will help.”
My hubby was a genius because even as weird as it felt to pee with him in the same room, as soon as I heard the water my bladder started to unload itself. I hurriedly stuck the stick into the stream and counted to five as slowly as I could. Then I slowly moved the stick away, trying not to fling any pee on myself, and replaced the cap before setting it back on the counter. As soon as I flushed the toilet, Landon turned back my way and peered down at the test.
“It doesn’t say anything yet.”
“That’s because you’re supposed to wait three minutes before looking,” I chided, bumping him to the side to reach the sink and wash my hands.
“Wait! There’s some pink starting to show up.”
“There is?” I gasped, sliding in front of him so I could see too. With his arms wrapped around me, his hands resting over my belly, I watched as one pink line started to appear in the result window. At first, I hadn’t been sure if I was ready for a pregnancy quite so soon in our relationship, but Landon had seemed so certain and I’d grown used to the idea of being pregnant. But as the seconds ticked by with only one pink line on the test, tears started to gather in my eyes. Squeezing my lids shut, I tried to stem the flow as disappointment crashed through me. Sniffling, I turned my head and buried my face in Landon’s chest.
“I’m sorry,” I cried.
“For what, baby?”
“That I’m not pregnant.”
“Open your eyes and look, baby.” He titled my head up, giving me a kiss followed by a reassuring smile, and then turned me by my shoulders until I was facing the counter again. Glancing down, I saw the reason for the beaming expression on his face.
“Two lines,” I whispered.
The second one was faint, but it was there. No doubt about it, I was seeing two pink lines.
“I’m pregnant.”
“I knew it,” Landon crowed triumphantly, picking me up and twirling me around.
“Holy crap! We’re having a baby!” I squealed.
Instead of setting me back down on my feet, he carried me back into the bedroom and gently tossed me onto the mattress. He followed me down but didn’t put any of his weight on my body, keeping his forearms on the mattress and holding himself over me. Leaning down, he took my mouth in a soul-wrenching kiss that left us both panting.
“Our little family is growing,” he w
hispered against my lips when he lifted his head.
Tears filled my eyes again, happy ones this time. But they were bittersweet too because my family was so many miles away. I’d left because they could be overwhelming at times, but I wished we were close enough for us to drive over to my parents’ house and share the news with them in person. I wanted to tell all of my siblings eventually, but right then, I wanted to share it with just my parents. A girl kind of needed her mom at a moment like this.
“Can we call my parents?”
“Of course we can, baby.”
Landon lifted up and crossed the room to grab my phone. After he handed it to me, he threw a shirt on and settled us at the top of the bed. He leaned against the headboard and wrapped me in his arms. It felt like the safest place in the world, with his hands resting over my lower belly where our baby was growing inside me.
“You ready to do this thing?” he asked.
“Yup,” I breathed out, lifting my phone up and pressing the button to Facetime with my mom’s cell. Less than a minute later, her face with peering back at me with my dad visible over her shoulder.
“Hey, baby girl. Everything okay?”
My parents knew I wasn’t much of a morning person, so the question wasn’t a surprise. Plus, the tears streaming down my face were a giveaway too.
“Definitely okay,” I sniffed.
“Better than okay,” Landon corrected.
“If things are good, why is my daughter crying and calling us first thing in the morning?” my dad growled.
“Because we just found out I’m pregnant, Daddy.”
“Oh my goodness!” my mom shrieked. “My baby girl is going to have a baby!”
The screen tilted upwards, and we ended up looking at the ceiling while she jumped up and down. My tears turned into giggles while my dad took the phone away from her and settled her back down.
“That’s what I like to hear, my little girl laughing instead of crying.”
My mom jostled my dad to the side to wrestle the phone away from him. “Don’t give Landon a hard time. You know how much of an emotional wreck I was whenever I was pregnant. It’s no surprise that Zoe is the same.”
Not-So Temporarily Married Page 6
