Tempting Boundaries

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  Austin squeezed her foot, and she blinked back to attention. “First, hello, it’s your lips. Of course I’m going to want to kiss you. I’m never not going to want to kiss you, so get that thought right out of your head. Second, honey, you can’t work yourself to the bone. That’s why you have the girls there. If you’re not up to working, then don’t go. It will just make recovery harder. You know that. When did the doctor say he’d call?”

  “Tonight hopefully.” She wasn’t too worried about it since that was what she was forcing herself to think. The fact that the doctor hadn’t immediately known what was wrong with her had put an odd ache in her stomach. Hopefully, it was nothing and the man was just being thorough. After all, she had a weird medical history, so the man might not want to jump to conclusions. As long as he was speedy with the phone call, she wouldn’t freak out.

  Much.

  The doorbell rang, and Sierra frowned. “Who could that be?” she asked.

  Leif got up and ran to the door. “I’ve got it!”

  Austin sighed and stood up after patting her leg. “Check the peephole, Leif. Don’t open it unless it’s family.” He followed his son to the door, and Sierra closed her eyes, exhausted all of a sudden.

  “What the fuck?”

  At Austin’s words, Sierra sat up, not so tired anymore, and got off the couch, her heart racing.

  She froze when she got to the foyer. “Oh, Griffin, honey.”

  The man looked like he’d gone a few rounds with an MMA fighter. One eye was swollen shut, he had a cut on his lip, and his face held the signs of future bruising. He was holding his side and tried to smile.

  “Hey, Sierra, darling. You think you can help me clean up?”

  There was something in his eyes that worried her. He wasn’t here to get cleaned up. He was here to tell the story of what had happened. She had a feeling they weren’t going to like it.

  “Leif, can you go to your room for a bit?” she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

  “Uncle Grif? What happened?” Leif asked, his voice low.

  She put her hand on his shoulder and brought him closer. “We’ll tell you once we figure it out, but why don’t you go to your room? Okay?”

  He met her gaze and nodded. He was a good kid, but he didn’t like being left out. That much was clear.

  “Come into the kitchen, honey,” she said to Grif once Leif was in his room.

  “Thought you’d never ask.”

  “Stop flirting with Sierra, and tell me who the fuck did this,” Austin growled.

  She shot him a look behind Griffin’s back, but Austin didn’t back down.

  “It was Decker,” Griffin said simply when he sat down on one of the stools.

  Sierra froze. He couldn’t have said Decker. Not the man who was Griffin’s best friend. She’d thought they were closer than most of the Montgomery brothers in general. Austin had told her that brothers sometimes fought to relieve tension and steam, but she didn’t think it was like this—not with the angry set to Griffin’s shoulders and the bruises on his face.

  Griffin didn’t say anything as she looked over his face and felt around for broken bones. She honestly had no idea what she was doing, and if it looked like he needed to go to the hospital, she’d freaking drive him there herself.

  Men.

  He didn’t speak while she looked him over, and Austin loomed over her shoulder, waiting.

  She went back to the bathroom for their first aid kit after giving Austin a look. Maybe Griffin didn’t want to spill in front of Sierra. That was fine, but the man would tell them what happened.

  When she got back to the room, Austin had his back to his brother, and she knew it was bad.

  “Okay, stop with the macho bullshit, and tell me what happened.”

  Austin sighed and turned. “Apparently Decker and Miranda are…together.”

  She blinked and ignored the little dancer in her brain that was excited about one of her good friends finally getting what she wanted.

  “And?”

  Austin took a deep breath while Griffin sputtered. “And?” her soon to be brother-in-law gasped. “And? They fucking hid it!”

  She crossed her arms over her chest, remembered the first aid kit, and then threw it at her fiancé. “Take care of your idiot brother, will you? And by the way, Griffin, listen to what you just said. They. You said they. Miranda and Decker. Together. They hid it. Maybe they hid it—and it can’t have been too long considering—because maybe they were worried about some people’s reactions.”

  Griffin opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand. “It’s been what, maybe a week that they’ve been together? Do they have to tell you everything they do?”

  “He should have come to us, or at least Griffin, to tell us things were changing,” Austin said softly. “It’s a big change, Sierra.”

  She sighed. “Maybe they should have, maybe not. It’s not up to us to decide. What is up to us to decide is not to get into a fucking fight over it.” She gestured toward Griffin’s bloody face. “Look at you. What did this accomplish, hmm? All it did was make you look like an idiot for hitting your best friend.”

  “He’s sleeping with our sister, Sierra,” Griffin said, his voice low.

  “Yeah? So? You beat up all the men your sister sleeps with?”

  Austin growled lowly. “First. She’s innocent.”

  Sierra rolled her eyes, but she knew her man was only kidding himself with that statement.

  “Second. We didn’t get a chance to hurt the man who hurt her.”

  That time Sierra growled. “You’ve got to be freaking kidding me. You took out your anger on Decker? What the hell?”

  Griffin shook his head then winced. She didn’t feel any sympathy for him. “That wasn’t it. Or at least not all of it. Shit. He hid it, Sierra. Why did he hide it? I was pissed because of that and because of the fact that, if he hid it, he’s ashamed. And he shouldn’t be ashamed of Miranda.”

  She closed her eyes and counted to ten. “You’re going around in stupid circles that make no sense. You got into a fight because you didn’t think. I hope you haven’t ruined what you had with him. He’s your best friend.”

  Griffin raised his chin, and she knew that nothing was going to be resolved right then.

  “Okay, fine. Don’t listen to me. But remember, they are consenting adults. Miranda has been through shit, and if Decker makes her happy, then good for her. Decker is family. Maybe not the same way Miranda is, but he’s family. Remember the man you love and grew up with, and try to think about that. Trust the friend you love. Trust the sister you love, too. Okay?”

  Her cellphone rang, and she sighed. This was as good a break time as any. “I need to answer that. Austin, take care of your brother’s face. I don’t want him bleeding in my kitchen anymore.”

  With that, she went to the foyer, grabbed her phone from her purse, and answered. Her doctor on the other end of the line sounded pleasant, not like she needed to freak out or anything, but her heart still raced.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Sit down, Sierra,” her doctor said kindly.

  She didn’t want to sit down. She wanted to hear about the test results. The results to the test she wasn’t sure what it was for. However, she sat down on the couch, as ready as she was going to be.

  “What is it? It’s the flu, right? It has to be the flu.” She didn’t know why she was panicking so much about this.

  “No, Sierra, it’s not the flu. You’re pregnant.”

  She blinked. That couldn’t be right. She’d misheard. “I’m sorry. What?”

  He let out a small chuckle, and she wanted to wring his neck. “You’re pregnant, Sierra. Not that far along at all, but just enough that the test is positive.”

  “But…” Her head spun. “But I thought I couldn’t. Or it would be hard. I mean, I was on birth control. I am on birth control. You know, just in case.”

  “And you know that birth control isn’t foolproof. You�
�re going to want to quit taking your pills and then come in so we can do a full exam and make sure everything is okay.”

  She clutched her phone. She’d lost a baby before and remembered the pain of finding out the life she hadn’t thought she’d wanted had been lost forever. She wasn’t ready for this. How could she be?

  “I…I…”

  “Breathe, Sierra. I’ll have my office call you for an appointment. Hang up, and go get Austin. Tell him, if that’s what you’re ready for, and then we can talk options.”

  “Options?” she squeaked.

  He sighed. “We’ll discuss everything during your appointment.”

  They said their goodbyes, and she ended the call.

  Pregnant.

  They’d told her it was a small chance that she’d ever get pregnant if she’d tried, and yet here she was, knocked up and having to talk about options, whatever that meant.

  “Sierra? Baby? What’s wrong?”

  Austin sat on the coffee table in front of her and cupped her face.

  “I…I…”

  He searched her face and sucked in a breath. “Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it. Tell me, honey.”

  “I’m pregnant,” she blurted out.

  He froze and quit blinking. Right when she was about to open her mouth to ask if he was okay, a slow smile crawled over his face.

  “Pregnant?” he asked, his voice breathy.

  “Yes. I know it wasn’t what we planned. Or rather, when we planned it, but yeah.” Oh, God. What were they going to do?

  He grinned then kissed her. Hard. “Jesus Christ. We’re pregnant. Fuck. That’s why you’ve been so sick. I should have known. Shea hadn’t been as ill, but she was pretty weak when she was here with Shep and found out she was pregnant.” He laughed. “How about that? You and Shea pregnant at the same time. The cousins, or second cousins or whatever, will be the same age.”

  Her mind whirled. “So you’re happy?”

  He looked at her like she was crazy. “Hell yeah, Sierra. We wanted this, remember?”

  “But what if something goes wrong?” There. She’d said what had been worrying her.

  His smile fell, but he still held her. “Then we’ll deal with it. I’m with you and by your side, no matter what.”

  She launched herself at him and cried into his shoulder when he caught her. Damn, her emotions were all over the place.

  “Shh, baby. We’ll take care of this. Take care of you.” He cursed. “I left Griffin in the kitchen, so he probably heard all of that. He won’t tell the family since baby news is something we don’t share without permission. But we won’t be able to hold him back for long.”

  She pulled back and shook her head. “We need to talk to the doctor first. To make sure.”

  He searched her gaze and nodded. “Will do. Now I’m going to go finish cleaning up my idiot brother and send him on his way. You lie down and do nothing. You get me?”

  She smiled softly. “I get you.” She paused. “Are you okay with Decker and Miranda?”

  He frowned for a moment, as if he’d forgotten what had happened five minutes prior in the kitchen, then shrugged. “It’s not my business.” At her surprised look, he rolled his eyes. “Okay, I’m trying to tell myself it isn’t my business. We have other, more important things to worry about. They can deal with their own relationships—and is that weird to say—and we’ll be here if they need us. How’s that?”

  She smiled and reached out to cup his face. “You’re a good man, Austin Montgomery.”

  “I’m your man, Sierra soon-to-be Montgomery.”

  Yes, yes he was.

  Thank God.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “He did what?” Miranda said slowly. She set the papers she was grading down on her kitchen table and frowned. She couldn’t have heard right. There was no way that could have happened. No freaking way.

  Maya crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow. “Griffin hit Decker. Then Decker hit Griffin.”

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” That didn’t compute. They were best friends. The only reason they’d fight was…

  She stood up. “You told Griffin?”

  Maya had the grace to look ashamed. “No, I told Meghan and Mom. Come on, it’s us girls, and it’s a big deal, Miranda. Mom got really excited. Point for you two by the way. So Mom got excited, and when Griffin came over to help with Dad, she told him. She didn’t know that Griffin would react like an asshole.”

  Miranda closed her eyes and counted to ten. Nope. Didn’t work. “What the hell, Maya? Why couldn’t you have waited? Why did you have to go and tell everyone?”

  Maya tilted her head. “Why didn’t you? And for what it’s worth, Meghan and Mom weren’t surprised. I wasn’t either, and I know Jake won’t be once he finds out. I am sorry the guys found out like that.”

  Miranda wasn’t going to think about her mom’s and Meghan’s reactions. Not yet. She had bigger fish to fry.

  “Tell me exactly what happened.”

  Maya sighed. “Apparently, Griffin freaked out when he found out. He went over to the job site and confronted Decker. According to Wes, Decker let Griffin get a punch or two in, and then Griffin said something about you, or something that sounded like it could have been derogatory about you, and Decker reacted.”

  Miranda paced her kitchen, her hands fisting. “So Wes knows. And if it was at the job site, Storm and the rest of the world know.”

  “Pretty much. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry it happened like this. I was just so happy for you, I gossiped. I suck.”

  She picked up her phone to call…someone then thought better. “Yeah, you suck. You need to learn to not spread our family business within the family so fast. Okay?” Sure Maya wasn’t the youngest of them, and for sure wasn’t the least mature, but the other woman firmly believed that telling family members everything meant that they would always be there for each other. That worked only in a perfect world.

  Clearly it didn’t work for Griffin.

  Or Decker for that matter.

  “I’m sorry,” Maya repeated, and Miranda nodded.

  “I know, and I forgive you only because you’re happy about me and Decker.” She closed her eyes. She’d done her best not to think of her and Decker as a her-and-Decker, but it was getting harder and harder to keep on that track.

  She loved him, true, and now she was falling in love with the man she had in her bed and her life. She had no idea what he felt and was doing her best not to worry about that. Instead, she focused on work, avoiding Jack, and enjoying herself with Decker while she had him.

  Now her family knew, and things were falling apart.

  “What are you going to do?” Maya asked.

  That was the question, wasn’t it?

  “I’m going to go over to Decker’s and see if he actually needs to go the emergency room. Knowing him and Grif, they both are probably broken and bleeding, and too macho and brainless to do something about it.”

  Maya came up and hugged her softly then trailed her fingers down Miranda’s fading bruises. “My family keeps turning black and blue. I don’t like it.”

  Miranda swallowed hard. “I don’t like it either.”

  “Go fix him and then give him a piece of your mind. Austin texted and said Grif was at their place, so that’s something.”

  “How on earth do you keep all that information straight? And how do you get it so quickly?”

  Maya smiled sadly. “I have skills. Someone needs to keep you all in line. I fucked up, and now you have to deal with consequences. I’m sorry.”

  “Stop apologizing. You might have told the family, but Griffin was the one who took it upon himself to hit someone so close to our family. Someone that is our family. That’s on him.” And Decker.

  Damn it. She didn’t want to deal with this, but she was at fault as well. She should have told…someone. It was a big deal even if she’d been trying to downplay it. Now she’d have to live with the consequences.
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  “You want me to lock up?” Maya asked.

  Miranda rolled her eyes. “You can just leave, you know?”

  “But you have better food.”

  Miranda kissed her sister’s cheek then waved her off. “Fine, but stock up when you clean me out.”

  “Always do.” Hence why she always had better food. It made no sense, but that was Maya.

  That was family. She loved it even when it exhausted her. If only things weren’t blown so out of proportion.

  She pulled up to Decker’s house and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his truck and no one else. Maya said that Storm had sent Decker home, but there was always a possibility that Decker had gone somewhere else.

  She got out and walked up to the door, knocking instead of going right in. They weren’t at that stage in their relationship yet, and she needed to get her emotions under control anyway. Blowing up and yelling at him wouldn’t solve anything.

  Decker opened the door, and that last thought went out the window.

  “You’re fucking kidding me,” she snapped then brushed past him.

  “Come on in, Mir,” he said dryly.

  “Don’t be a sarcastic ass, Deck. Look at your face.” Your beautiful, bearded face.

  “You liked my face last night.”

  She flipped him off then went into his kitchen for his first aid kit. The man kept it in his pantry so at least she wouldn’t have to move far for when she needed ice. And from the look of Decker, she’d need lots of ice.

  “Sit down on the damn stool, and let me clean you up.”

  Decker walked past her and raised a brow. “I take it you heard.”

  “Uh yeah. And thanks for calling me to tell me what happened.” God, she was so fucking angry with him. With Griffin. With herself.

  With everyone.

  She slammed around the cabinets until she found what she wanted and pointed to the stool.

  “I said sit.”

  “You’re being pushy,” he grumbled.

  “Yeah? Well, you just had my brother’s fist on your face.” She looked down at his knuckles and cursed. “And from the look of those, Griffin probably looks pretty much the same.”