I shook my head back and forth. “No way. No way is Mace in South Dakota.”
“He is, honey. Now, why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”
I sighed. “I might as well tell you and Mom at the same time.”
“I think that’s a good idea.”
I sat on the bleachers as the Division I football team practiced. My stomach was in knots, and I felt like I was going to puke.
When my father had told me about Mace, I hadn’t thought it could be true. But then my father showed me his name in the school database. It was true. Mace was at SDSU. When I asked Becca if she knew, she said she thought he had gone to college in Texas. Apparently, as far as she knew, he hadn’t told anyone he’d transferred.
I considered calling him, but I knew it had to be done in person.
He was probably going to freak when he saw my protruding stomach. I unconsciously pulled my jacket around my middle.
The coach called the end to practice, and the team filed into the locker room. I got up from the bleachers and went to wait outside for Mace to shower and come out.
After twenty minutes of biting my nails and pacing back and forth, I heard two guys talking as they walked to the exit. One of them was Mace, and I was actually worried I would pass out from my heart beating so fast.
He was laughing as he walked out, and suddenly, he was right there in front of me. His smile fell as soon as he saw me, and despite the look on his face, I wanted to throw myself in his arms. I’d missed him terribly.
But, at the last second, I remembered the Instagram picture and stopped myself. She probably wasn’t going to be happy her new boyfriend was having a baby with his ex-girlfriend.
“Hi,” I said rather lamely.
“Who’s this?” Mace’s teammate said.
“An old friend. Do you mind giving us a minute?”
“Sure. I’ll go wait in the car.”
As soon as his friend was gone, I asked him, “What are you doing here? I thought you were going to school in Texas.”
Mace stalked closer to me, and I backed up.
“What are you doing?”
He didn’t say anything, just continued toward me.
My back hit the wall as Mace reached me. He pulled my jacket aside and put his hands on his baby.
“Why would you keep this from me?”
I gasped. “You knew? How?”
“Connor.”
“Connor? How the hell did he know?” Then, the answer came to me before Mace could say anything. “Becca.”
That traitor.
“You didn’t really expect Becca to keep something this huge from her fiancé, did you?” The corner of his mouth went up in a smile. “Plus, I might have pushed him to find out some information about you since you obviously weren’t going to tell me about the baby.”
“You knew before Connor told you?”
“I suspected.”
“How?”
“Eden, a guy doesn’t have sex almost every day for three months and not notice.”
My face heated. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Why didn’t you?”
For a moment, I forgot all about his new girlfriend and dropped my forehead against his chest. I grabbed the sides of his shirt to keep myself from putting my arms around him. He smelled and felt so familiar that it almost hurt.
“You’re young. These are supposed to be the best years of your life. I didn’t want you throwing your future away for me.”
Mace reached between us and lifted my chin until my eyes met his. “Eden, you are my future.”
I burst into tears.
“Oh, baby.” Mace pulled me into his arms and surrounded me with his warmth.
I let him hold me for quite some time. I didn’t want to let him go, but I knew we couldn’t stay there forever.
I slowly withdrew from his arms. “What happens now? What are you going to tell your girlfriend?”
Mace’s brow furrowed. “Girlfriend? As far as I’m concerned, that’s you.”
“Mace, I’ve seen your Instagram.”
He grinned. “You’ve been keeping tabs on me, huh?”
“Of course. Just because I left doesn’t mean I stopped loving you.”
Somehow, his grin got bigger. “You love me, huh?”
Way to go, big mouth.
“Yes, I love you. That’s why I left. I was putting your happiness before my own.”
Mace grabbed me, pulling me to him again, and kissed me.
I was unable to resist, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him take my mouth.
When he drew his mouth from mine, we were both breathing hard.
“God, I want to be inside you. I am so fucking hard; it hurts.” He rubbed himself against me and kissed my neck. “Can I take you right here?”
“Mace. Girlfriend,” I reminded him.
I felt him smile against my neck.
“I don’t know who you’re specifically referring to, but anyone you saw on my Instagram is my friend. No girlfriend. Now or since you.” He kissed my neck again.
“Are you saying, you haven’t been with anyone since me?”
“No one. That is why I’m so fucking horny.” He pulled the side of my sweater away and sucked on my shoulder. “I need you and soon, or I’m going to come in my pants like some fourteen-year-old.”
He pushed his cock harder into me, and Madison kicked.
Mace jumped back. “Holy shit, was that him?”
I laughed and grabbed his hand to put it on the spot where she had just kicked. “Actually, he’s a she. I’ve been calling her Madison Jane.”
“Madison?”
“It’s Mason with a D and an I in the middle.”
“You’re naming her after me?”
I nodded. “And Jane was my mom’s mom. She’s getting both sides of the family.”
“Madison Jane,” he whispered and looked up at me. “I like it.” He rubbed his thumb over my cheek. “I love you, too, you know.”
I smiled up at him. “So, would you like to come home with me?”
Mace smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.”
EIGHT YEARS LATER
The bed underneath me bounced over and over at a fast rate, waking me from my slumber.
I flung the comforter down off my head. “Carson Paul Wagner, stop jumping on the bed.”
He grinned, jumped up one more time, crossed his legs, and landed on his butt. “But Daddy told me to wake you up.”
“I’m pretty sure Daddy didn’t tell you to jump on the bed though.”
Four-year-old Carson tilted his head to the side. “He didn’t tell me not to.”
Children.
“Where’s Daddy?”
“In the kitchen with Madison. He’s helping her with her science homework, and he said you needed to come rescue him.” Carson’s brown eyes were serious.
I pushed the covers off me and sat up. “He knows just as much about science as me. The man took AP classes after all.” I rubbed my lower back.
“Do you need help getting up, Mommy?”
“Yes, please.”
Carson jumped down and grabbed my hands. I let him “help” me up because he was always so cute and proud of himself when he did.
I waddled into the kitchen where my handsome husband and my beautiful daughter had their heads bent over her science book.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Identical blue eyes looked up at me.
Mace’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Carson woke me up and said that you needed help.”
“It’s fourth grade science, babe. I think I’ve got it.”
“I’m going to kill him.” I looked around but didn’t see our son anywhere. “Carson, you’d better hide,” I called out.
I heard giggling in the corner, but I didn’t have the energy to go after him.
“If this baby is anything like Carson, I quit.”
Mace came around the co
rner and rubbed my gigantic belly. “You can’t quit. You don’t really want to leave me all alone with them.” He looked horrified.
I laughed and kissed him. “I would never do that to you. But I think this is going to be the last baby.”
“Damn, because I love knocking you up,” he whispered.
“We’ll just have to pretend.”
There was a tugging on my nightgown. I looked down to see Carson.
“I’m sorry, Mommy. I just wanted you to get up. I thought maybe baby Ethan could be born today.”
I ran my fingers through his hair. “It’s not up to us, baby. Ethan will come when he’s ready.”
“When is your mom coming?” Mace asked me.
“My parents are supposed to be here next Friday, and then my mom is staying for as long as we need her, but Dad is going home.”
“Thank God.”
After Madison had been born, my mother had been a godsend. She’d watched the baby while I worked and Mace went to school. I had gotten pregnant again his senior year. Thanks to her, Mace had been able to go to graduate school. There was no way I would have been able to afford two kids in daycare on one income.
After Mace had graduated with his master’s, we’d moved to Kansas City, so we could be more in the middle of both sets of grandparents.
As far as visiting Texas, we’d waited several years to go back together. We wanted Madison to be a couple of years old to hopefully stop everyone from doing the math. I was sure some people figured it out anyway, but most were happy for us. Mace was already twenty-one and almost done with college by then.
His parents had been my biggest concern, and while they hadn’t accepted what had happened between us when Mace was in high school with open arms, they hadn’t cast me out of the family right away either.
“When are your parents coming?”
“My dad said he’ll come after my mom visits.”
That didn’t surprise me. That was what had happened the last two times.
“And your mom?”
“I’m supposed to call her the minute you go into labor.”
“Sounds like a solid plan.”
Mace clapped his hands. “Until then, what do you say we all go and get some breakfast?”
Carson jumped up and down. “Yay.”
“I’m starving,” Madison said.
I walked over to her and gave her a hug. “Me, too.” I kissed her on the head and let go. “Okay, everyone, Mom’s going to shower, and then we can go.”
Later, as we all climbed into my minivan, I looked around at my family. I was so grateful Mace had come after me in South Dakota. I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it.
As we were pulling out of the driveway, I felt it. “Uh-oh.”
“What’s wrong?” Mace asked.
I looked over at him. “I think it’s time for you to call your mom and tell her to get on a plane.”
Thank you for reading Passing Grade! We hope you enjoyed Eden & Mace’s story!
If you liked Passing Grade, check out Take Me in the Night! It’s about two lovers separated for twelve years, but when they find each other again, things are not the same between them.
Also, check out Dirty, about a woman who moves back home and has a one-night stand with a guy she knew from high school.
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ALSO BY R.L. KENDERSON
NOVELS IN THE FORBIDDEN SERIES
Paranormal Romance
Forbidden Blood
Forbidden Heat
Forbidden Temptation
Forbidden Addiction
Forbidden Claim
BOOKS IN THE NAUGHTY SERIES
Contemporary Romance
Kinky
Dirty
Sexy: Luke & Elise’s First Night
Nasty
***
SANDALONE NOVELS
Contemporary Romance
Take Me in the Night
Wicked Chemistry
SANDALONE SHORT STORIES
Summer Heat
The Hottest Player
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to our beta readers and our ARC readers! You were the first ones who let us know that our little forbidden story was good and sexy.
Thank you to all the bloggers who took the time to post about our book. And an extra special thank you to those of you who take the time to read our work. We couldn’t do it without you!
Thank you to Jovana Shirley of Unforeseen Editing. As always, you mold our work into something presentable.
Last, but definitely not least, thank you to our families for their support and for understanding that writing is more than a hobby.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
R.L. Kenderson is two best friends writing under one name.
Renae has always loved reading, and in third grade, she wrote her first poem where she learned she might have a knack for this writing thing. Lara remembers sneaking her grandmother’s Harlequin novels when she was probably too young to be reading them, and since then, she knew she wanted to write her own.
When they met in college, they bonded over their love of reading and the TV show Charmed. What really spiced up their friendship was when Lara introduced Renae to romance novels. When they discovered their first vampire romance, they knew there would always be a special place in their hearts for paranormal romance. After being unable to find certain storylines and characteristics they wanted to read about in the hundreds of books they consumed, they decided to write their own.
One lives in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and the other in the Kansas City area where they’re a sonographer/stay-at-home mom/wife and pharmacist/mother by day, and together they’re a sexy author by night. They communicate through phone, email, and whole lot of messaging.
You can find them at http://www.rlkenderson.com, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and Goodreads. Join their Facebook Reader Group. Or you can email them at [email protected], or sign up for their newsletter here. They always love hearing from their readers.
Wicked Chemistry Page 19
