Pregnancy Scandal: Bad Boy Bachelors of Orange County BK 2

by Gray, Khardine

  My phone buzzed in my back pocket as Mom started talking about the budget for the campaign.

  I pulled the phone out and stole a glance at it when she turned her back to switch the slides on the overhead projector.

  The text was from Gilly. It said:

  Miss you baby…

  He missed me. I wanted to type back, but if Mom caught me, she would give me that disapproving glare she always gave whenever she thought I didn’t take something serious.

  So, I thought of the next best thing and started coughing.

  Mia immediately saw straight through my bullshit of a ruse and made a face. Vanessa, on the other hand, got up to grab me a glass of water.

  I took it but started coughing again.

  “You guys continue without me. I’ll be back as quickly as I can,” I told them, trying to hold the rasp in my voice.

  It was possible Mom saw through my bullshit too because the girls would have told her something was going on between me and Gilly. I hadn’t said anything to either of my parents, and anything I could say now had to wait because I had to see him.

  I got up and dashed out while keeping up the cough.

  I stopped when I turned down the corridor and practically ran to my car.

  I headed straight to the stadium and made my way to the bleachers just in time to see Gilly running across the field.

  He was fierce even in training. He was trying to get the ball from Tim Baker.

  Watching the guys play out on the field was a thing I’d grown used to over the years. It became second nature to me to watch them fight for the ball and fight each other.

  I was moving down to the last row of benches at the front when Gilly spotted me.

  I waved to him, and he waved back. He waved back and seemed to lose his concentration, like he had the other day when I’d come by.

  He was doing the same thing now, it seemed. He looked from the guys out on the field, then back to me. To them, then to me, and our eyes locked. We must have been fifty feet away from each other, but I saw him gazing at me. Neither of us saw the ball whizzing through the air until it hit him smack in his chest and caught him off guard. It was Eric who’d thrown the ball, and I was pretty certain he threw it like that on purpose.

  The ball fell to the ground, but Gilly picked it up before Ian Summers grabbed it, and I was so proud when he took off like lightning and landed a touchdown.

  Excitement rippled through me when he threw down the ball on the field and continued his dash to me.

  I didn’t get to say a word when he reached me. He reached for me and pulled me straight to his lips, kissing me as if he wanted to devour me.

  I giggled when he picked me up and hoisted me over his shoulder caveman style.

  He might have been dressed in his training gear ready for the field, but he marched out of the stadium, carrying me over his shoulders, right to his truck, where he set me inside.

  “Gilly, what are you doing?”

  “My job,” he answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

  I laughed when he jumped in the driver’s side and revved the engine to life.

  “What job is this?”

  “Woman, are you pregnant yet?” he snapped, giving me an incredulous stare.

  “I have no idea.” I giggled.

  “Well, that just means we have to keep trying until we know, and when we know, we can… well, I don’t see myself being any other way, to be honest. I reckon we’ll even find a way when you get bigger. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

  “Okay,” I laughed, loving this.

  A couple of times over the last week, we’d parked up in the woods and battered this poor truck. Thank God it was a Range Rover, so it could take a beating, or seriously wild sex.

  The kind it was about to get yet again.

  He drove like a maniac and parked in our spot secluded in the woods.

  As soon as he did, our lips found each other and clothes came off.

  My body welcomed him as he settled me down onto his cock and I straddled him, moving with him as he pumped into me.

  He could take me again, and again, and again, and I knew I would always feel like this.

  That fire.

  That fire that consumed us both.

  It was the thing that fueled us and ignited the passion I’d only ever felt with him.

  As he held me, our eyes locked, and the magic of the moment seemed to flow all around us. It was everywhere. Inside me and outside me.

  It was so powerful it amplified our movements and the surge of primitive passion.

  Energy burned my soul, and the orgasm that tore through me took me higher than I’d ever been. My whole body shuddered from the impact. I had to throw my head back to release the scream of ecstasy that tore from my throat.

  Powerful sensations throbbed within me with heat, and we both came in a wild release awash with overlapping waves of pleasure.

  He held me to him, and I knew he felt it too.

  That magic.

  It was beautiful and seemed to bring us closer. Closer than we already were.

  I didn’t think it was possible for that to happen.

  It stayed with me the whole day.

  We went back to his place and continued our love fest well into the night.

  Then, in the peaceful early hours of the morning, we sat in the bathtub. Me sitting between his legs resting against his chest. Him holding a cigar.

  We must have looked like a daring scene from one of those old classic films.

  We sat there in silence. I was listening to the steady rhythm of his heart as he stroked my stomach. Everything felt perfect.

  “I love you,” Gilly suddenly said, breaking the silence. Breaking the silence and adding to the perfection of the moment.

  My heart stilled. My heart stilled, and I wondered if I was so wrapped up in him that I was hearing things.

  I had to twist around in his arms to look at him. “What did you say?”

  He placed the cigar down on the little tray beside the tub and stared at me.

  “I love you, Abby Cartwright.” His eyes clung to mine as if he never wanted to look away. “You don’t have to say it back. I just wanted you to know. Does me saying that scare you?”

  I shook my head. “I love you too, Gilly. How could I not say it back when I’ve always loved you? We just changed into this, and I love you even more than I thought was possible.”

  He smoothed his hand across my cheek, and the corners of his lips turned into a sensual smile.

  “Me too, baby, me too.” He paused for a second and drew in a steady breath. “Abby, I want you to move in with me. I want you to live here with me.”

  My eyes widened. “Really! Oh my God.”

  “Well, you’re hardly ever at your place, and my place loves you too.”

  I laughed. “Yes. I want to. Oh my God yes. I want to live with you.”

  He leaned forward and planted a kiss on the top of my nose. “Next week. I’ll have you moved in here next week,” he promised.

  I could hardly wait or contain myself.

  Chapter 13

  Abby

  * * *

  I had the doctor’s appointment scheduled for next week.

  I’d just missed the doctor I wanted to see by a day.

  One bad thing about my obsession with Gilly was my forgetfulness. I tended to also forget the important stuff too.

  I’d had my heart set on seeing the doctor this week and checking to see if I was pregnant, so I did the next best thing and opted for getting a pregnancy test.

  Mia came with me to the drugstore. I’d spent the day moving some of my stuff into Gilly’s, but I was staying at my actual home tonight. It sort of felt like I was having a sleepover. It had actually been weeks since I’d stayed overnight at the house. Tonight wasn’t going to be my last, but it was a sort of prelude because when I told Mia that Gilly had asked me to move in with him, she cried. She’d cried tears of happiness, and sadness too because
we were the last ones left in the house.

  We’d just parked and were walking down the square to the drugstore. It was eight at night, so darkness had fallen long ago.

  We were talking and laughing about her date last night. She was into buff-looking military types, but last night, she’d decided to give a guy who wasn’t her usual type a chance.

  It turned out he raised chickens to fight, and the whole date was spent with him talking about his chickens and telling her their habits. They even had names.

  When she told me the craziness, I could hardly contain myself. I laughed so much I cried. We hadn’t had anything that hilarious happen in a while.

  “Mia, please tell me you aren’t going on a second date.” I giggled.

  “Abby, are you kidding? This guy could be the one for me. At least he didn’t use me, then leave me. We never got that far at all, and he was cute. I just never imagined myself hopping into bed with him. I’m joking, by the way,” she replied, shaking her head. “There will be no second date.”

  “I know you’re joking, but…” I stopped for a moment and smiled at her. “I noticed the way you keep dropping little comments here or there about a certain someone.”

  She hadn’t stopped talking about Eric in one way or another in weeks. Not since the first time she’d mentioned him.

  “Eric,” I intoned.

  She frowned. “I don’t want to talk about him.” She shook her head at me.

  “Why not? I also noticed that on the days I’ve been home, you were there. Not going out anymore, or seeing anyone seriously?” I quirked a brow.

  She sighed. “Abby, I have the worse taste in men. I have the absolute worst taste. I choose wrong, and I get what I choose. It’s as simple as that. I like fun. It’s all fun until you meet the one asshole you can’t shake out of your head. And like a rash that won’t go away, he’s always there whenever I turn around.”

  “He likes you. I don’t know in detail what happened between you guys, but he likes you. He likes you, and I think he’s a dog, but it looks like he has a soft spot for you.”

  “I’ve had dogs before, but this dog gets on my nerves in the worst way. He was at work again today. This time, he came up with the excuse of wanting to use our services, mine in particular, to set up the campaign for the kids football camp.”

  I laughed. “Yours in particular?”

  She nodded. “I don’t know what to do with him. It’s been awhile since I’ve had anyone play with my mind the way he has. I think it’s because…”

  “Because guys who love you and leave you after one night don’t tend to chase again unless they want more?” I offered.

  “Yeah. Which begs the question… Why’d he do that in the first place?”

  “It’s beyond me.” It truly was, and because we were talking about Eric it was all the more a mystery.

  “At least two of my sisters are happy. I can’t ever speak for Vanessa. She’s a different fish altogether.”

  I smiled at that. “Thanks, Mia. You’ll be fine. I think people always compared us because we seemed to follow the same process and share the same mind.”

  “But I didn’t have the hot best friend like you, who you’d clearly had the hots for forever.”

  I smiled. “I know, and I feel incredibly lucky.”

  We got to the drugstore and headed for the aisle with the pregnancy tests. It felt really strange walking down this aisle. The condoms were stocked next to it, and until tonight, they’d been the only things I was interested in.

  Mia smiled, looking so proud when I picked up a Clearblue test. They claimed to be able to detect pregnancy hormones starting as early as two weeks. That sounded perfect since I’d been with Gilly now for close to two months. It was a week and a few days shy of it being at the two-month mark. My period was supposed to be due next week. I’d had one already just after we got together. That was fine and expected, although I’d been a little sad when it came. My fingers were, however, crossed for next week, or tonight. The test would give the answer in two minutes.

  I planned to do it the second I got home. It would be amazing if it were positive. The plan after that was to tell Gilly.

  “I’m so nervous. Will you do the test when you get in?” Mia bubbled, rubbing her hands together.

  “Straightaway. I’m almost glad I’m not with Gilly tonight. I think I would be more nervous, just in case it’s a negative. Mia, what if it’s positive?” I was a bag of nerves.

  “Then we get pizza and run down the road screaming. This will be the first baby we’ll have in the family.”

  I rested my hand on my heart and gave her a big smile. “I know. I haven’t even told Mom and Dad yet.”

  Mia widened her eyes. “What? Abby. They know about Gilly, though, right?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. They suspect, but they always did, so I just allowed them to carry on suspecting. I wanted to tell them all of it in one go.”

  That was just in case they had any opinions I wouldn’t like. Gilly and I had agreed to keep the baby part of our relationship to ourselves for the moment. It wasn’t news to share until it was news.

  “Wow, look at this,” came a voice from behind me I’d recognize anywhere.

  Shocked, I turned quickly and found myself staring straight at Giselle, who was picking up a box of condoms.

  I couldn’t tamp down the shock from seeing her. The week she’d left Gilly, she and I had an argument. I’d given her a piece of my mind and called her a whore when I saw her all over some guy at a club.

  I never told Gilly that. He’d been crushed enough as it was when she departed from his life. I never saw the need to make the situation worse by fanning the flames.

  “Giselle…” I raised my brows and gave her the same resting bitch face she made at me. “Fancy seeing you here. I guess it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.” I glanced at the condoms in her hands and gave her a conspiratory smile.

  She sighed. “Of course. You know how some guys are. Always forgetting the important stuff. Gilly is king of forgetfulness. Thank goodness I’m the responsible one.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. The way she said that, she made it sound like she was seeing Gilly.

  “I don’t know about that. He remembers enough for the two of us,” I answered.

  Mia tensed next to me when Giselle looked me up and down again and mischief flickered in her eyes. “Well, when he’s with me, I try to remember.”

  “Excuse me?” I raised my brows.

  “What? Didn’t he tell you I was back? I’ve been back for months now and seen him so many times.”

  A steel weight dropped in the pit of my stomach.

  What was she saying to me?

  What the hell was she saying to me?

  “Months? You’ve been back for months?”

  She nodded her blonde head. “Yeah. I thought you were his best friend. It’s odd he wouldn’t say anything about seeing me. That guy is so odd sometimes. It was great to get back together. Like old times. I truly kick myself for letting a guy like that go.”

  “You’re back together?” It was like I was talking, saying the words, but they weren’t registering in my brain.

  The question I asked made no sense because Gilly was with me. He told me he loved me, and he’d asked me to move in with him.

  But this was Giselle…

  She was the love of his life.

  She held up the condoms. “As you can see, I’m working on that part, but let’s just say the few times we’ve hooked up since I’ve been back have been wild.” She giggled. “Great catching up, Abby. Love the hair. Silver. It’s a good look for you.”

  I watched her stride away from me.

  I almost forgot Mia was standing next to me. It was the touch of her hands on my arm that brought me out of the nightmare I’d fallen into.

  She held my gaze. “You should talk to him.” Mia nodded. I didn’t miss the look of worry in her eyes.

  If Giselle was anybody else and talki
ng out of her ass, Mia would have told me not to worry. She didn’t though, and it was because I had something to worry about.

  * * *

  I didn’t take the test.

  I didn’t even buy it. I just decided to park it. If next week came and I got the natural answer that I was pregnant, then I’d know. That failing, there was the doctor’s appointment.

  My brain shut down after I saw Giselle.

  I just shut down, and all I could think about was piecing things together. Giselle had been back for months, she’d seen Gilly, it sounded like she was saying they slept together, and she was buying condoms on a night I wasn’t going to be with him.

  What was I supposed to think?

  Much as I tried not to jump to conclusions, my brain was doing hurdles over one scenario to the next, and the next.

  Talking was definitely best. Talking to him. The only way to resolve anything was to talk to him. Have the conversation I definitely didn’t want to have on the phone.

  I went to his place after lunch. I knew he’d be back then from training and we’d have the privacy we needed.

  When I saw him, instead of the usual welcome I’d give him by skipping into his arms, I held off.

  He still, however, hugged me and kissed me. I kissed him back, but part of me—the part that was holding my heart together—held back.

  “Baby, what’s up with you?” he asked, cupping my face.

  “Um… I just have to talk to you about something.”

  He held up his finger and smiled. “I knew you were irked about something last night. Your text sounded off. It’s strange, when we were just best friends, I could tell straightaway when something was wrong with you. Now, my senses are off. Is this a delayed reaction from Bella?”

  I wished it was. Bella gave birth last month to a beautiful baby boy and I was truly happy for her and Kirk. Nothing besides happiness filled me.

  I no reason to be anything other than that because Gilly and I were working on our own baby.

  “No…” I brought my hands together knowing this conversation could only go left. It always had whenever we talked about Giselle in the past.