The Renegade

by Rhonda Nelson

  Bizarre.

  She’d been gone all of two minutes when his doorbell rang again. She must have forgotten something, Tanner thought, as he made his way to the door. Though he’d been out of the house for more than a dozen years, he had to admit that having his mom here had been unexpectedly nice. She’d doted on him and her hovering had actually been a pleasant distraction from the fact that he was well and truly miserable without Mia.

  He’d been miserable before, of course, but it was a damned sight more noticeable now.

  Simply put…he missed her.

  He’d called her a couple of times since getting home and just hearing her voice had made something ache inside him. Unfortunately, though she always sounded happy to hear from him, she didn’t seem to be suffering from the same heartsickness he’d been stricken with.

  She always sounded busy. She was making time to talk to him, sure, but he got the impression that, were she not talking to him, she’d have something else to do. Some other pressing matter. Her work, he imagined.

  Meanwhile, he’d been put out of commission for an other two weeks. Damned gunshot wound. He’d man aged to do half a dozen tours of duty without getting himself shot, but his first assignment for Ranger Security, he ended up taking metal. It was unbelievable.

  Jamie had noted the opened condom box when he’d come over to do an upgrade on his computer and had simply raised an eyebrow in response. What could Tanner say? His lips twisted with humor. Somehow “thank you” didn’t seem appropriate.

  He opened the door and shock glued his tongue to the roof of his mouth. Mia.

  “Hi,” she said, almost shyly. “I hope you don’t mind that I showed up without asking first.”

  He gave his head a shake. “No, of course, not. Come in,” he said, stepping back to allow her into the apartment. He gave her a hug, inhaling the scent of peaches, and pressed a kiss to her lips. He could have lingered forever, but didn’t. Instead, he showed her down the hall to the living room. “Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Beer? Whiskey?”

  “No,” she said, sitting on the edge of his couch. She looked around, inspecting his place. “This is nice,” she said. “The perfect bachelor pad, eh?”

  “The technology is nice,” he admitted. “But my taste runs to natural woods and antiques.”

  She blinked, seemingly surprised. “Really?”

  “Yeah,” he said, delighted that he’d shocked her. It was nice to put that shoe on the other foot for a change.

  “You would have liked my place then. A Craftsman. I just put it on the market.” She said it casually, but his antennae twitched all the same.

  “You’re selling your house? You’re moving?”

  She turned to look at him, fidgeted uncertainly. It was so out of character of her that he started to get nervous. Was something wrong? Had she been transferred? Was she going to study the mating habits of the some unknown culture in Africa? The idea punched his heart rate into the panic zone.

  He couldn’t let her leave, couldn’t let her go. Four hours was too far already. He’d been going crazy for the past two weeks. He’d come to the decision that if she could stand him for four days the way he’d been, then he wasn’t giving her enough credit. She could obviously stand him for a longer period of time.

  Like forever.

  “I am moving, actually. To Atlanta.”

  “What?” Joy bolted through him.

  “I’m transferring to The High Museum.”

  He felt his grin broaden. “You are? That’s wonderful.

  Was this a request or a mandate?” Dare he hope she wanted to be closer to him? That she wanted to give this a go between them?

  “It was a request, actually,” she admitted. She studied the volumes on his coffee table, smiling when she saw the book of Poe he’d added. He was wearing the hell out of eBay. He’d also been looking for something else, but hadn’t found it yet. “You see…I wanted my baby to be closer to its father.”

  Sound receded for a minute. “Your baby,” he repeated. “Its father.”

  His gaze tangled with hers and she gave a little laugh.

  She rubbed her hand over her still flat belly. “Proof positive Moe works,” she said. Her voice was unnaturally high and woefully uncertain.

  It took him much longer than it should to connect the dots, but when he did, his eyes widened and he smiled wonderingly. “You’re pregnant?”

  “I am. Quite happily, by the way.” She watched him cautiously, still waiting for his reaction. “I know that you—”

  He dropped to his knees and knelt between her legs, placed his hand over hers. His eyes burned. “I’m going to be a father,” he interrupted, still stunned, knocked stupid with happiness.

  “You are,” she confirmed, laughing softly, seemingly surprised at his response. “Are you okay with this, Tanner? I’ve been taking a shot every three months for years. My birth control shouldn’t have failed, but—”

  “But your birth control was no match for my virility,” he said, practically chortling with glee. He suddenly wanted to beat his chest and roar. “You’re pregnant,” he said again. “We’re pregnant. We’re going to have a baby.”

  He peered at her belly as though he could see through her abdomen to the little life nestled safely inside.

  “So you’re happy?” she asked.

  He looked up at her. “You know the answer to that already. Nobody knows me better than you, Mia. No one ever has.” He kissed her fingers. “I love you, Bossy. You ought to know that, as well.”

  Her eyes welled with tears and a watery smile shaped her lips. “I think you should propose to me now.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “I was getting to that part,” he said. “You pre-empted me.”

  “That’s because I’m always one step ahead of you.”

  He sighed. “I had a plan,” he said.

  She inclined her head. “Does it involve me following your lead?”

  “It does.”

  Mia looped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Good,” she murmured. “Because that one, as you know, is my all-time favorite.”

  Epilogue

  Two weeks later…

  “THEY LOVE YOU, YOU KNOW,” Tanner told her.

  Mia looked around at her new family and felt more at peace, accepted and content than she ever had in her life. She and Tanner had traveled to Asheville and had married there, in his sister’s backyard. Roxy lived in an old antebellum house, with a beautiful courtyard in the back. It was the perfect place for tossing a football or hosting a wedding, one that her new sister-in-law had organized with amazing rapidity without sacrificing class.

  Mia wore her mother’s dress—she’d been saving it—and Tanner’s grandfather had offered to give her away. She’d been more touched by that than anything else. Tanner’s father was absent and sadly, Mia didn’t think that the relationship would ever be repaired, but some relationships were like that, she thought. Better left to die a natural death than to try and hold on to something that was toxic.

  Their baby would have a doting grandmother and great-grandfather and a host of aunts and uncles—some related and some not—to help round out his or her family. It would be loved and that was all that mattered.

  All three founders of Ranger Security had made the drive for the occasion, two of them bringing their wives. Mia had taken an instant liking to Payne’s wife, Emma, and Guy McCann’s other half was sure to be a fast friend, as well. Mia looked forward to meeting Jamie’s wife, Audrey, who was in Maine at the moment. Jamie had intended to go up and see her this weekend, but had come to their wedding instead. That gesture spoke volumes about how these men regarded her new husband and she was eternally grateful for that regard.

  Mia smiled up at Tanner and pressed a kiss against his lips, licking a bit of cake from the corner of his mouth in the process.

  “Unless you want to start the honeymoon in front of everyone, you’d better quit that right now.”

  “I don’t
want to start the honeymoon in front of everyone, but I am ready to start it right this very second,” she said. She looped her arms around his neck. “I’m extraordinarily ready,” she said significantly.

  Tanner chuckled low, her favorite sound. “Are we dealing with pregnancy hormones already? I’ve heard about those.”

  “I don’t think so,” she told him. “You just make me hot. You always have. You’re the only one who’s ever done it for me, you know. The only one who has ever rung my bell, so to speak.”

  He drew back and looked down at her. “I’m the only one? But I thought you said—”

  She winced. “I might have told a little fib or two regarding—”

  Tanner’s smile was laced with pure masculine satisfaction. “You lied,” he said, seemingly impressed with her duplicity.

  “And you said I wasn’t good at it,” she reminded him, preening a bit. “Fooled you, didn’t I?”

  “So I’m the only one who has ever made you—”

  “Yes,” she confirmed. “Only ever you. Now spit the canary out of your mouth,” she said, referred to his smile. “Those feathers don’t match your tux.”

  “I hope you didn’t waste money on a wedding gift,” Tanner told her, all but rocking back on his heels. “Because as far as I’m concerned that was it.”

  “It’ll just have to be a bonus then,” Mia said. “Because I’ve already got your gift. It’s packed in my lug gage. I was going to give it to you tonight, but I’d like to tell you what it is.”

  “Is it a nightie?” he asked hopefully. “Something see-through?”

  She chuckled. “I’ve got one of those, too, but that’s not your wedding gift, either.”

  “Damn,” he said. “This feels like Christmas. Go on, then. Tell me,” he said indulgently.

  “I’ve got two tickets to Baltimore for January 19th.”

  His eyes crinkled at the corners. “To see the Poe Toaster?”

  She nodded. “If anyone carries on the tradition, we’re going to be there for it. Just don’t let me freeze to death.”

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “I can think of several ways to keep you warm.”

  Of that, she had no doubt.

  “I’ve got something for you, too,” Tanner told her. “And it’s not in my luggage. It’s in my pocket.”

  Her heart-rate kicked up a notch. “Are you going to let me have it.”

  He withdrew a small velvet box and handed it to her.

  Hands shaking, Mia opened it and gasped.

  Her great-grandmother’s ring, the one that had belonged to her mother. Tears filled her eyes. “Tanner,” she said, for lack of anything better.

  “It’s a replica,” he said. “I took the photo to a jeweler and had him make it for you. I know it’s not the real thing, but I wanted you to have it anyway. We’ll keep looking for the original, but in the meantime…” He stopped, as though suddenly uncertain of his gift.

  She slid it onto her finger and watched the opal, diamonds and rubies catch the light, then she looked up at him. “Thank you,” she said thickly. “It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect. You couldn’t have given me anything I would have loved more.”

  He nodded, seemingly relieved. His gaze searched hers. “I’m the one making out like a bandit here,” he said. “I got you.”

  And she’d gotten him.

  Finally.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-6429-2

  THE RENEGADE

  Copyright © 2010 by Rhonda Nelson.

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