“So you work with Jonah?” I asked curiously.
Pace dropped my hand and tilted his head. “How did you know? Was it the hooker clothes that gave it away?”
I burst out laughing.
I liked him. I liked him a lot.
“You know,” Jonah said, sounding amused. “I have to tell her at least once a shift that these aren’t stripper boots, and there you are telling her they’re stripper clothes.”
Pace shrugged unrepentantly. “It is what it is.”
Jonah rolled his eyes then caught my hand, leading me into the spare bathroom.
I frowned when he stopped at the door, then pushed it open.
That’s when I saw my new Roomba on the floor.
I frowned. “Why are you showing me this?”
Jonah bent down and hit the button, then gestured at me to watch.
I did, and before my eyes, the Roomba drove forward, hit the toilet brush, then backed up, hitting the stool. Over and over it did this, hitting various things in the bathroom over and over again, causing me to wince.
“Oh, no,” I murmured softly. “Shit.”
Jonah pulled me into his side and dropped his head to rest on top of mine.
“Don’t worry,” he said teasingly. “I’ll only catch a little shit for this at the station.”
I snorted.
“They don’t talk to you anyway, Jonah,” Pace teased from behind us. “They’ll be thinking it, but they won’t actually say it.”
I gasped and turned. “They don’t talk to Jonah? Why?”
The worry in my tone had my husband squeezing me back to his side as he turned around.
“They think I’m an asshole,” my husband said. “Because I am an asshole.”
I blinked. “But that doesn’t mean that they can’t still talk to you.”
Pace’s lips tipped up into a grin. “He’s a likable asshole.”
“I know!” I said. “He’s a likable asshole. Once you get to know him, though, he’s super sweet. Right, Jonah?”
He snorted.
“Right.”
I popped him on the belly with the back of my hand, then tugged free of his arms and turned around to turn the Roomba off.
“Guess I need to add this area to the ‘no go’ zone on my app,” I muttered darkly when I stood up straight. “I can’t believe I did this to y’all. I’m so sorry.”
Jonah’s hand went to my hair and tugged loosely on my already messy curls.
I hadn’t gotten a chance to add my usual amount of goop to my hair, so it was drying in a riot of curls that went every which way but the way I wanted them to.
Jonah loved it. Me? Not so much.
“Don’t worry, baby,” he said. “After the initial terror finally dissipated from my veins, I was quite excited to come home and see you in my uniform shirt. Though just sayin’, you may want to take another shower. I got pissed on yesterday by a small baby.”
I laughed and pushed him away from me, turned to Pace, and then said, “I have donuts if y’all want them.”
Jonah growled under his breath, causing me to smile widely.
“I love donuts,” Pace said. “But only the chocolate ones.”
I glanced at Jonah. “I only bought two chocolate. Those are Jonah’s least favorite, but he still likes a variety.”
“Then I’ll take you up on the offer.” Pace paused. “For the two chocolate.”
I pulled free of Jonah once again and walked to the bedroom, gathering the donuts that I’d yet to take to the kitchen. Once I had them, I turned to find Jonah standing in the doorway.
“What?” I asked softly.
“I was terrified on the way home,” he said as he walked forward and pulled the donuts from my hands. “Scared to death of what I’d find when I arrived.”
I swallowed hard at the emotion that was pouring from him.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated for the millionth time. “I’m so sorry.”
He dropped his mouth to mine, giving me a sweet kiss.
“I love you.”
I drew in a deep breath, stealing the breath right out of his mouth.
“You…you love me?” I squeaked.
“Yeah,” he murmured. “I’ve felt this way for a while. It was just on the ride over today that I realized I should probably share that with you.”
I felt tears prick my eyes as I tried to get my emotions under control.
“I love you, too,” I murmured. “I don’t know why I waited either, to be honest. Just that I didn’t want to scare you off. It’s hard because I’ve wanted to say those three words to you since the first day that we were married but…I didn’t want to seem like some psycho.”
He snorted and pulled away from me.
“I have to go,” he murmured. “I’ll probably have to skip lunch now.”
I dropped my lip and pouted. “Bummer.”
He tugged my curl one last time. “I’ll see you at dinner, though. Will you remember to grab me a change of clothes?”
I nodded. “Of course I will. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
He pulled back, then pressed a single finger to my belly, his eyes going soft.
“Shit, I’m so screwed,” he whispered.
Then he left, making me smile.
The man was right. He was so screwed.
And that’s exactly like I liked him.
Chapter 17
I gotta get my life together. This damn heat made me realize that I can’t go to hell.
-Piper to Jonah
Piper
My luck seemed to hold true, too.
I was driving to the dog groomer to pick up my babies, lost in my own world, and heading down the street just past our driveway. I wasn’t paying attention as closely as I should have, otherwise I would’ve seen the accelerating lifted truck that was half in, half out of the road.
I cursed and tried to stop, but it was no use.
Instead of doing any damage to the truck and having to pay for their damages, too, I chose option B and swerved into the ditch.
The Jeep bounced and bobbled, and then all of a sudden, it was on its side, and I was staring at the world sideways.
I tried to get out, but the seatbelt was stuck.
I let my head rest against the seat next to me for a few seconds before realizing what I would have to do.
I wasn’t even off of our road yet, and since Jonah and I were one of three other houses that lived on said road, there was likely no one that would be passing by any time soon.
However, I knew that Jonah was on his way home to change.
After he’d left our house earlier that morning, apparently his day had gone from bad to worse. And then had gone even further from worse to awful as he worked wreck after wreck.
I was told to go ahead and get the dogs without him, which was what I was on my way to do.
Which led to now, me on the side of the road, in a ditch, tipped over.
He was going to freak.
I just knew it.
Knowing I just needed to get it over with, I bit the bullet and reached for my phone that was still miraculously in the holder where I’d put it.
Though, granted, it hadn’t been a hard roll. More of a tip, really.
But it was still enough that I couldn’t get out.
Shit, shit, shit.
Pressing the phone button, I dialed the first name on the list.
“Jonah?” I said the moment he said ‘hello.’
“Hey, baby. What’s wrong?” he asked.
I licked my lips.
“Well…” I hedged a bit. “I kind of sort of found myself in the ditch again, and I can’t get out.”
That wasn’t a complete lie.
And he wouldn’t be hurrying over here like a bat out of hell if he only knew part of the story.
“I’m about ten minutes away,” he said, sounding amused. “What happened?”
“Did he stop to see if you were okay?” he asked, sounding miffed.
“No,” I mumbled, my eyes going out the windshield that wasn’t even cracked. “They drove off.”
And they had, the dicks.
There was no way in hell that they hadn’t seen what happened.
“Assholes,” Jonah muttered. “I had two hit and runs today.”
There had almost been three…
“All right. Well, I’ll see you when I get there, then we can go together to go get the dogs. Will you call them and tell them you might be a few minutes late?” he suggested.
I nodded.
“Yeah, I can do that,” I said softly.
And I could.
I was only hanging sideways while I would be doing it.
“All right. I’ll see you in a few minutes. Love you.”
Then he was gone, leaving me feeling a fluttering sensation in my chest.
My next call was to my mom.
“Hello?”
She sounded frustrated and short, and I bit my lip.
“Umm, is this a bad time?” I asked carefully.
“No,” she said. “I’m just frustrated with your father because he refuses to use his crutches. What’s up, baby?”
I brought my hand to my hair and scratched my scalp. “Do you think you could do me a favor and pick my dogs up and bring them to me? I’ll pay you back. I just…find myself in a bit of a pickle.”
“Of course,” she answered immediately. “Do you want me to just keep them at our place and then you can come get dinner or bring them all the way to you? I’m fine with either, but if I bring them to you, I’ll have to have someone else come get your father. Which…now that I think about it, I might be okay with.”
I snickered. “I’m okay with either, Mom. Whatever is easiest for you.”
I heard something said in the background, then my mother sighed.
“Your father wants to come with me. He wants to see Jonah’s place anyway,” she murmured. “We’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”
After saying our goodbyes, I once again tried to get myself free of the seatbelt only to find that I still couldn’t. The way all my weight was hanging on the buckle made it almost impossible to slip my hand into the crack. And when I pressed down on the button as best as I could, I still couldn’t quite push it in far enough to release the latch.
Which left me hanging there.
I wasn’t there for long, and Jonah definitely hadn’t been the ten minutes that he said he was going to be, because not even a minute later I heard the pipes of his bike turning off the main road and onto our road.
Ten seconds after that, I heard the pipes go from sedate to almost insane, and knew he’d spotted the Jeep.
Jonah’s worried face appeared in my front windshield about fifteen seconds later.
He was dressed in his uniform, and I licked my lips, completely turned on by it despite the situation I found myself in.
“Piper!” he cried out, finally reaching me.
I winced at the worry in his tone.
“What the absolute fuck?!” he cried out. “Why didn’t you tell me this had happened?”
Honestly? Because I didn’t want him driving how he was acting right this very second.
I’d also scared the shit out of him today, and I really didn’t want him to get hurt when I had the ability to control the situation.
“I’m okay,” I murmured. “I swear. I’m okay. I just can’t get the seatbelt unlatched because my fat thighs are pushing the buckle too close to the console. Can you help me out?”
He pulled out a knife, and I started to screech. “No, no! Just help me unbuckle it. I swear, all I literally did was tip over. The Jeep is fine. It was just at a really bad angle due to your tractor work. I swear it.”
He grumbled something to himself, then started to work his way in. Which, might I add, was quite hard seeing as I was in the way.
“If I hold you up slightly, can you press the button?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Let’s try it and see.”
So we did, and it did, indeed, work.
“Score!” I clapped.
He rolled his eyes at me, then helped me out of the Jeep.
I looked at my new Wrangler that I’d just purchased with his help last week, then winced.
“If this thing is dented, I’m going to be pissed,” I found myself saying.
“If you really did just roll over a bit, I bet the only thing wrong with it is the mirror,” he said. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ, Piper.”
I jumped down off the Jeep and he followed suit.
The moment his feet were on the ground, I threw my arms around him.
“It’s okay,” I promised. “I’m okay.”
“This makes twice today that you scared the absolute shit out of me,” he muttered darkly.
I squeezed him tighter. “I’m sorry.”
He pulled me to him and rested his forehead on mine. “We’re going to the doctor to get you checked out.”
I started to protest, but he shook his head. “No. No, you’re doing this. It won’t take long. We can go to the clinic in town so it’s not the hospital, but you’re going.”
I sighed, knowing that he was going to force me whether I wanted to go or not.
“I promise that I’m fine,” I pleaded.
He pulled back only far enough that I could see his face, then let me see the intensity in his eyes. “Baby, you’re pregnant. I just want to be sure.”
And I couldn’t argue with that. Not at all.
“Okay,” I admitted. “I’ll go.”
And that was when my parents arrived.
My dad was just as unhappy about it as Jonah was, but instead of being concerned about my well-being, he looked as if his wheels were spinning.
“Do you find it funny that you, me, and Jonah have all experienced accidents?” my father asked.
I opened my mouth to deny it when it closed just as abruptly. “Oh, shit.”
“My sentiments exactly,” I muttered, turning to my father. “So is it you or Jonah?”
“My guess? It’s me,” he said. “I was the first one.”
That was true.
My father was the first one. He was here when Jonah and I were not.
“Your chick wasn’t a hit and run, though,” I found myself saying.
“No,” he paused. “True.”
“I’ve actually been involved in two,” Jonah interrupted. “One before I left in the police cruiser, and one on the motorbike.”
“Something to look into,” Sam said as he glanced at the Jeep. “You got a tractor?”
Jonah nodded. “I do. But I’m going to take her to the clinic first. I’ll come back later and pull it out.”
“You’re hurt?” my mother asked, looking concerned now.
She’d just been taking in the scene, and now she was zeroed in on me like a homing beacon.
“I’m okay,” I said, looking at Jonah.
Jonah’s mouth twitched.
“Then why are you going to the clinic?” she pushed.
Jonah lifted his chin. “Because we found out today that she might be pregnant, and I’m not taking any chances.”
There was a long pause while my parents took that in, then my mother started to jump up and down. “Holy shit!”
“Holy shit,” my father muttered, sounding less than enthused. “You do realize, right, that that makes all three of our girls pregnant at once, right? I’m going to go fuckin’ bankrupt.”
“It’s a good thing that you have a promising business and you’ve mostly retired. Just think of all the time you have now to spend with your grandkids.” Cheyenne smacked him in the stomach with the back
of her hand.
Jonah pulled me into the curve of his arm. “I’m going to take her to the clinic in town. When we get back, we’ll…”
“I got a couple of favors I can pull with a local towing company. We’ll have it out in the next half hour, and I’ll have it towed to the repair shop.”
I swallowed hard as my father looked at me with an intensity in his eyes that I’d never seen before.
“Take care of yourself, baby.”
I smiled then. “Jonah will.”
“Damn straight,” Jonah muttered.
***
Jonah
I was still feeling sick to my stomach when we were called back into the clinic.
“Mrs. Crew?”
I stood up so abruptly at hearing her name called, that I dropped the magazine I’d been lazily looking at in between asking Piper if she was all right.
The woman’s eyes came to me, and I saw her take in my attire.
I didn’t care.
For once, I didn’t mind that she was staring at me with a ‘come hither’ smile on her face. My focus was well and truly on the woman at my side.
“Ready?” the nurse asked.
At least, I thought she was a nurse.
She was dressed like one, anyway.
“Yes, ma’am,” Piper said as she stood and started to make her way toward the door.
On her way past me, she latched onto my hand and drug me with her.
Not that I was going to stay out here anyway. I’d have gone in there and listened whether she wanted me there or not. Mostly because I didn’t want her to do this alone, but another part of me thought for sure she’d downplay any injuries she might’ve sustained. Just like she’d downplayed just how bad the accident was.
Turns out, I shouldn’t have worried.
Also turns out, I definitely should’ve been sitting down when I’d gotten the news that I got five minutes later.
***
I was in a state of shock as I drove all of twenty miles an hour down the road that would take us to the restaurant where we were meeting our family.
And I did say our family.
After coming upon the wreck as he was heading my way to check on me since apparently, I ‘hadn’t checked in in a while,’ Downy had invited himself, his wife, his son and my sister to the already going to be full family dinner that we were meeting at.
It Wasn't Me Page 17
