One Unforgettable Kiss

by A. C. Arthur

  As she came closer to the nightstand, she could see that it wasn’t her phone that was vibrating. Garrek’s was charging right beside hers, and the screen on his phone was lit up as the text message came through. She hadn’t meant to...it wasn’t something she would ever do—invading someone else’s privacy was a no-no. And especially since it was a man she was sleeping with. Hadn’t she just been thinking about how he couldn’t possibly trust her? Hadn’t she just been wondering...

  Harper’s breath caught as she read the message, despite her resolutions not to.

  The prenatal paternity test results are in. Call me ASAP. Rochelle

  * * *

  The moment Garrek stepped out of the bathroom, he knew something was very wrong.

  As he’d closed himself in the bathroom minutes before, he’d known something was off. Harper had questions about him. Her family had questions about him. His family had questions. It was past time he started answering them and dealing with the repercussions as they came.

  He was not prepared to find Harper gone.

  But as he moved through the room looking for her purse or her overnight bag, he saw neither. Maybe she’d gone down to the truck to wait for him. They were running a little behind as a result of their early-morning lovemaking and the long, delightful shower. After making sure he had everything in his bag, he decided that was it; she was waiting in the truck. He would just give her a call to let her know he was on his way down.

  His phone rang, and Garrek cursed as he answered it.

  “Yes?” he yelled, as the feeling that something was wrong intensified.

  “Where are you?” Gray asked, his voice sounding just as strained as Garrek’s.

  “I’m in Richmond. Why? What’s wrong?”

  “The navy masters-at-arms just left my house,” Gray said tightly. “Two of them knocked on the door at eight a.m., and when I let them in, they said they were looking for you.”

  Garrek cursed and sat down heavily on the bed. “I can explain,” he said.

  “I know you can, and I won’t waste time by saying you should have explained what the hell was going on the second you stepped foot in Temptation. No, you should have called me the moment you got into trouble. Dammit, Garrek!”

  “I’m not in trouble!” Garrek yelled back. Then he clenched his teeth and shook his head. “I didn’t do anything to get into trouble with the MAs, but I should have known it was going to go down like this.”

  “Like what? What’s going on? They said you’re AWOL.”

  “No. I received an approved-leave chit from my commanding officer. Look, I gotta go find Harper. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.”

  “Have you told Harper about this?”

  Garrek was silent.

  “Man, what are you doing? You’re sleeping with her and lying to her? You’re lying to your family. This isn’t like you, Garrek,” Gray said.

  The disappointment in his voice was not only audible, but Garrek could swear he felt the waves of it flooding him at this very moment.

  “I’m going to fix this. Just let me get to Harper. I just have to talk to her before—” Garrek paused because his call waiting was beeping.

  He pulled the phone from his ear and looked at the screen. Cursing again, he put it back to his ear.

  “Listen, I’ll be back in Temptation in a couple of hours. I’ll come straight to your house. Just wait for me there.”

  “You need to get a lawyer, Garrek. Those MAs plan to stay in town until they pick you up.”

  Yeah, that’s exactly what they would do.

  “Meet me at the Adberry place. At one o’clock,” he told Gray. “I’ll be there at one and I’ll tell you everything.”

  “I’ll be there,” Gray said. “Be careful on your way back, and Garrek?”

  “Yeah?” he answered with a sigh.

  “The time for secrets is over. If you care about Harper at all, the time to come clean is now. While you still have a chance.”

  Garrek hung up with Gray and immediately answered the other call. Something told him he might already be too late for Harper.

  “Yes, Rochelle?” he answered.

  “I told you to call me ASAP. You don’t know what that means anymore?”

  “When did you tell me that?” he asked, squeezing the bridge of his nose, because it seemed all the stress had piled up in that spot.

  “I texted you about fifteen minutes ago.”

  Again, Garrek pulled the phone away from his ear. He saw the text she was referring to, and then he knew.

  Harper’s phone had been right next to his on the nightstand.

  Harper wasn’t outside waiting in the truck. He knew that without even going downstairs.

  “I can’t do this with you right now, Rochelle.”

  “If not now, when? You’re the one who wanted this early paternity test and now you’ve got it,” she said.

  He had wanted the test. He’d wanted to know as soon as possible if the one night he’d gotten so drunk he couldn’t see straight—let alone remind himself that sleeping with his captain’s daughter was a terrible idea—had cost him his career. And made him a father.

  “What did the test say?” he asked her tersely.

  She was silent.

  “Not in the mood for this, Rochelle! You’ve been playing games for months now. First telling your father that we were engaged, then changing that story to say I refused to answer your calls once you told me you were pregnant. I could lose my career over this!” he yelled.

  Then Garrek forced himself to calm down. He knew that he wasn’t innocent in this situation. Anger over the fact that Harper had probably seen that text message and run out on him was overruling his normally calm demeanor. Before coming to Temptation, he’d resigned himself to the fact that he was either going to be a father, or he was going to have to accept a reassignment because Captain Ainsley was never going to want him under his command after what had happened with Rochelle. And he wasn’t certain he’d be promoted to any command post of his own. He’d thought he was fine with either scenario. Until Harper.

  “It’s not your baby, Garrek,” she snapped. “Is that what you wanted to hear? I’m not carrying your baby.”

  Relief would have overwhelmed him if Garrek didn’t know that time was still of the essence.

  “Then get your father to call off the MAs he sent after me,” he told her.

  “He wouldn’t do that. He told you to take leave until we got this straightened out. I was there in his office when he said it.”

  “So was I,” he told her. “But MAs just knocked on my brother’s door looking for me. Now you call your father and get this straight before I return to Washington.”

  “Good,” she said with a sigh. “You’re coming home. When can I expect you?”

  The hopefulness in her voice was annoying. Just as the phone calls at insane hours of the night that had commenced after their one night together and the day she’d camped out in front of his house on the base had been. He’d told her the morning he woke up naked in her bed that it was a mistake. He was very clear about not wanting any type of relationship with her. Garrek had thought that had been reinforced by him not returning her calls or texts in the following weeks.

  He’d been mistaken. His night with Rochelle had definitely turned into a fatal attraction—one that was now threatening to have him arrested.

  Chapter 14

  It took Garrek two hours to get to a rental car facility, secure another car and then drive back to Temptation. All the time there was only one thought on his mind: getting to Harper.

  He’d tried calling and texting her, to no avail. He’d slammed his palms against the steering wheel of the car, yelled at other drivers on the road and cursed his own foolishness. Now, as he turned onto the road leading to the Presley farm, he was rehearsing
what he would say to her. None of it sounded like it would make a difference.

  How was it that they’d come to be invested in each other so soon? He’d never thought this could happen to him. Never even considered that he would fall so hard for one woman, let alone so quickly. Didn’t relationships take a long time to build? Real love a good amount of time to flourish? Maybe he wasn’t in love with her after all.

  Garrek knew that wasn’t true. If it were, he wouldn’t be parking the car and preparing to get out and face whatever was necessary to make her understand. He didn’t see her truck, so Garrek checked his phone one more time. He’d turned the volume all the way up just in case she called him back while he was on the highway with the windows down to let in the light breeze today. Nothing, he realized with a heavy sigh.

  Sticking the phone in his pocket, Garrek grabbed his keys and stepped out of the car. He headed up the steps of the Presley house and knocked on the door.

  Arnold appeared.

  “Half an hour earlier and I would have been watching those MAs arrest you,” he said before Garrek could even speak.

  Garrek bit back a curse and shook his head. “It’s not what you think,” he told the older man.

  Arnold gave him a brief nod. “You’ve got ten minutes to come in here and tell me what I should be thinking about this situation.”

  When he stepped aside, Garrek walked into the house. Linus wasn’t there, which was a relief. It was going to be hard enough explaining this to the father of the woman he’d slept with last night. Having her grandfather there, too, might have required Garrek have a firearm for protection.

  “I made a mistake,” Garrek began. “I was drunk one night and I slept with my captain’s daughter. She took the one night to mean something more. I told her it wasn’t. Repeatedly. Then she said she was pregnant. Before I could react, my captain was calling me into his office. He gave me a leave chit to figure out what I was going to do—marry his daughter or find a new career. I came here to figure it out.”

  “And my daughter,” Arnold began tightly. “She was how you were going to figure out what to do about your unborn child and disgracing everything the navy taught you?”

  He was taller than Garrek by a couple of inches, with broad shoulders and thick hands. An eagle, anchor, globe—honor, courage and commitment—Marine Corps tattoo peeked from beneath the short shirtsleeve on his left bicep. His face was affixed in a scowl, hands fisted.

  Garrek stood tall, legs slightly separated, hands relaxed at his sides. He held eye contact and spoke in a clear and undeterred voice. “Harper had nothing to do with this. She was unexpected, and I never meant for any of this to touch her,” he told Arnold.

  “And how did you think this was all going to play out? You get one woman pregnant and run away. Then you come here and start doing the same irresponsible things with a new woman. And don’t you dare try to hide behind your family troubles. You’re a grown man. I expect you to act like one, even when you’re under the gun,” Arnold said sternly.

  He sounded like an angry father, something Garrek had never had the opportunity to hear in his lifetime. The times he’d seen his father had been so short and far between that Theodor wasn’t given any chance to speak angrily at any of his children.

  “Yes, sir,” Garrek replied. “I understand your irritation at this situation. I can only reiterate that this was not my intention. Things just began happening between Harper and myself, and I should have said something sooner. I know that now.”

  “You’re damn right you should have said something sooner. You stood right in my kitchen and told me there was nothing I needed to know about your position in the military.”

  There’d been nothing Garrek had wanted to tell Arnold or Linus Presley yesterday morning. Now he wished that he could go back and redo the past.

  “I just need to see Harper, sir. I really need to talk to her,” he said. “I know you’re angry with me and that I’m probably the last person in the world you want near your daughter. And I can understand that. Really, I can. But I need to see her. If she tells me to go, I will. But not until I see her, not until I try to explain.”

  For endless moments, it seemed, Arnold simply stared at him. Probably trying to figure out which was the easiest way to kill him. Garrek didn’t care. At this moment he didn’t give a damn if the MAs circled back to find him here. He just needed to see Harper first.

  “She’s not here,” Arnold told him. “Hasn’t been here all night. I thought that meant she was with you.”

  Garrek cursed. “She was.”

  “Then where is she now?”

  “I don’t know,” he answered and turned to head toward the door. “But I’m going to find her.”

  “You’d better hope you do, before the MAs find you,” Arnold said. “Garrek.”

  He stopped at the door and turned back to look at Harper’s father.

  “This is gonna hurt her. You’re the first man I’ve seen my ladybug with, so I know you mean something to her. You swore to me you wouldn’t hurt her. But you did,” he told him solemnly.

  “I know, sir. And I’m so sorry for that. I’m going to try to fix it. I am,” Garrek said and then left the house.

  He climbed back into his car and tried to think of anywhere she would go, because nothing else mattered to him now. Not his career in the navy, not Rochelle, Captain Ainsley, the Adberry house or his father’s money.

  There was nothing without her.

  * * *

  “I can’t do anything without talking to her first,” Garrek said as he stood in one of the front rooms of the Adberry house.

  He’d been there for about fifteen minutes now, telling Gray everything that had happened in Washington.

  “You need an attorney,” Gray said. “I called Phil, my lawyer, while I was waiting for you. He doesn’t handle these types of cases, but he can put us in touch with someone familiar with military law. If your captain approved your leave, but then sent the MAs after you, he’s gotta be in some type of violation. You definitely need representation before you think about going back to Washington.”

  “I’ll go back and I’ll face whatever I have to there. But not until I see Harper,” he said earnestly.

  “She hasn’t called you back since she left the hotel?” Gray asked him.

  Garrek shook his head. “I know she saw that text message from Rochelle. It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”

  “That sucks,” Gray said and shook his head. “But you know what else I’m going to say.”

  “I don’t need you to say it,” Garrek snapped, cutting him off. “I know I should have told her sooner. I just didn’t think we were going to end up here. I didn’t know I was going to be in a position to owe her an explanation.”

  “And what makes you think you are now?”

  “Because I can’t breathe, Gray!” he yelled. “Standing here trying to tell you what’s going on while I’m worried sick about where she might be and what she’s probably thinking is constricting my chest as if a boulder were sitting on it. I want to punch something or someone. I want to yell in frustration over all the rum and Cokes I had that night, over the stupid condom that broke and the woman who couldn’t get it through her head that I was never going to marry her!”

  Gray clapped a hand on Garrek’s shoulder. “Slow down. It’s going to be all right,” he said. “She’s gotta be around here somewhere. When I told Morgan what was going on, she sent Harper a text.”

  “What?” Gray asked. “Did she reply to Morgan? What did she say?”

  “Just that she had to pick up the tile and that the master bathroom would be finished tomorrow,” Gray told him.

  Then Gray was right. She was back in Temptation and she was all right. Or rather, she was physically okay. Emotionally, Garrek believed she was probably a mess. If she were feeling anything like he was at this moment
, a mess would be an understatement.

  “You gotta get yourself together before you see her,” Gray told him.

  Garrek nodded just as his phone rang.

  He hurriedly pulled it from his pocket and answered without looking at the caller ID. It was Gen.

  “Hey. Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked immediately. “Gray said you were in some kind of trouble.”

  Garrek looked over to his brother and frowned.

  “Hey, Gen,” Garrek said, and Gray shrugged as if he hadn’t done anything wrong.

  “I’m not in trouble,” Garrek told her.

  “Military police are looking for you, Garrek. That sounds like trouble.”

  “I can handle it.”

  “Sure. Just like you’ve been handling it so far.”

  “I got this, Gen. Trust me.”

  “No,” she said adamantly. “That’s what’s wrong with us now. We all have trust issues. And don’t deny it. If we knew how to trust each other, you wouldn’t have kept this a secret from the people who care most about you. Now Gray said he contacted an attorney for you. I’m switching things around on my schedule so I’ll be able to meet you in Washington when you get there.”

  “Wait a minute,” Garrek protested. “I don’t need you coming to Washington. I can handle this.”

  “Whatever,” she replied as if he hadn’t said a word. “Tell Gray I’ll be there when he gets there with you. And when I see you—after I hug you—I’m slapping you for making me worry. I told Gemma I’d get one in for her, too.”

  Oh, damn, she’d called Gemma.

  “You’re lucky she can’t get away to come, or she’d be right there, too. I’ll see you soon. Love you, big bro.”

  He clenched his teeth, hating the fact that this crappy feeling seemed to be settling over him comfortably.

  “Love you, little sis,” he said before disconnecting the call.

  A few seconds later, he turned to see Gray leaning against the doorjamb.