Attraction Series Boxed Set: Books 1-3

by J B Heller

  Gabe looked over to Ivy, and she was beaming while nodding at him. They then turned back to me. “We need a part-time office girl to help Ivy. It’s too much on her, trying to keep up with the books and look after the girls. I’ve been picking up the slack, but I fuckin’ hate paperwork. You think your girl could handle it?”

  I knew Ivy was struggling with the books, but they hadn’t said anything about hiring anyone else. I hadn’t even thought of it when I was trying to figure out something for Mia. “I’m pretty fuckin’ sure she could, but I’ll talk to her. She’s already weirded out by the amount of help we’re willing to give her. She thinks everything has a price, like she keeps waiting for me to tell her I expect something from her in return for my help. It pisses me off.”

  Gabe shrugged. “Whatever. Just ask her. If she wants it, it’s there. If not, I need to know so I can get someone else.”

  I nodded. “Will do.” I shut my laptop down after saving the résumé in case Mia didn’t want the job.

  Just as I stood up to leave, Ivy stopped me with a hand on my wrist. “I called my doctor this morning. They can squeeze Mia in on Wednesday next week at 3 p.m.”

  I kissed the top of Ivy’s head as I thanked her and headed down the hallway to see if Mia was up yet.

  I knocked on the bedroom door softly but didn’t hear an answer, so I quietly opened the door and slipped inside. Mia was snuggled up in my bed, still out like a light. Her dark hair splayed across the cream pillowcase in soft waves. I wanted to run my hands through it to feel if it was as soft as it looked. But I knew better than to wake a pregnant chick.

  I’d woken Ivy up by accident once— never a-fucking-gain. She delivered the most severe glare I’d ever seen. I swear my skin was about to melt off my flesh. Then she proceeded to rant at me about the importance of sleep for pregnant women and to never ever interrupt one of her naps again, or the punishment would be severe. Judging by the look on her face, I didn’t doubt that one bit.

  As quietly as humanly possible, I put my laptop back on my desk and turned back towards the door when Mia’s smooth voice stopped me in my tracks. I glanced over my shoulder to see her propped up on an elbow watching me with a puzzled look on her pretty face.

  “Shit, I’m sorry. I was trying to be quiet,” I said, hoping she wasn’t about to go crazy pregnant chick on me.

  She tilted her chin to the side a little making her hair spill over her shoulder. “It’s okay. You didn’t wake me.”

  “Oh, okay then.” I straightened and decided to talk to her now about Gabe’s job offer since she had woken up. I walked back over to the end of the bed. “Mind if I sit?” Mia shrugged, so I sat on the edge but turned my body towards her. “I was just talking to Gabe and Ivy about finding you a job, and Gabe said they were planning on hiring a second office girl and thought maybe you’d be interested?”

  Mia’s sleepy eyes widened. “For real?”

  I smiled at her reaction. “Yeah, for real. Why not? I told him about the courses you took at the library. You’d be great. Ivy will show you the ropes, and you’ll pick it up in no time.”

  She blinked at me a few times. “That’s, umm,” she shook her head, “it’s more than I was expecting to get. I mean, I’ve never worked an office job before. I thought I’d just pick up work at a supermarket again.”

  I nodded my understanding. “I know. And I don’t mean to be a crusher of dreams here, but I don’t know how easy it would be to pick up where you left off. Why would a supermarket pay a twenty-three-year-old to do what they can pay someone fresh out of high school to do for less money? Do you know what I mean?”

  Mia began chewing on that damn bottom lip again. It drove me nuts. I know it was what she did when she was nervous or thinking. I’d picked up on it pretty quick, since every time she did it, a shock wave went right to my dick and told me to suck on that lip when she was done with it. I inwardly chastised myself for being such a pervy bastard and made myself focus on the issue at hand.

  “Do you get what I’m saying, Mia?” I asked as I reached out to grab her foot that was peeking out of the blankets near where I sat.

  She slowly started nodding. “Yeah, I guess I do.” She closed her eyes, tilted her head up towards the ceiling, and ran her fingers through her hair down to the ends where they got caught in a tangle of knots. “Ow,” she muttered as she struggled to tame the mass of hair.

  I moved closer to her upper body on the bed, took the hair from her, and started untangling it as I spoke. “I think you can do it. Ivy will be a great teacher, and with her help, you’ll pick it up in no time.”

  Mia tilted her face to mine. “You really think so?”

  She was so uncertain of herself that I wanted to find the fucker who took away her self-confidence and beat his arse to a pulp. “Yeah, Mia, I really think so.”

  She smiled her heart-stopping smile at me and leaned into my body. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  I couldn’t help myself. I wrapped my arms around her and leaned back on the pillows taking her small body with me until we lay flat on the bed. She snuggled in closer, and I kissed the top of her head.

  We lay in comfortable silence for a few minutes before I remembered about the appointment Ivy had made for her. “Ivy made that appointment with her doctor for you. It’s on Wednesday.”

  Mia’s body stiffened. “I thought I told you I couldn’t go to Ivy’s doctor?”

  Fuck me. This woman was impossible. “Yeah, you did. And I didn’t listen.”

  Mia squirmed in my arms, trying to pull free, but I tightened my hold. “Let me go, Kai!”

  “No,” I replied with a harshness in my voice I didn’t mean. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Let me do this for you, Mia. If not for you, for the baby. Ivy’s doctor is one of the best. For once in your shitty life, you deserve the best. And goddamn but I want to be the one to give it to you.”

  Mia stopped struggling against me and went completely still. “What do you mean? I, I don’t understand what you’re saying, Kai.” Her words whisper soft.

  I hadn’t meant to say all that, but it was true. Every word of it. I wanted to be the one to give her better. To treat her the way she deserved. I looked into her smooth chocolate eyes and stroked her cheek with the back of my knuckles. “I want…”—I swallowed back my nervousness—“I know you just got out of a relationship, and I understand if this is too much too fast, but I gotta tell you, Pretty Girl, you’ve done something to me. I can’t exactly explain it, but…” I blew out a breath. This was harder than I thought it would be. I took my hand away from the smooth skin of her cheek, ran it through my hair, and fisted it at the back of my neck, frustrated that this was so hard. “I want you, Mia, like I’ve never wanted anything else before. I have this insane urge to wrap you up in cotton wool and protect what’s mine.”

  A slow smile spread across her full lips. Her gaze flicker between my eyes and my mouth. “Nobody has ever wanted to look after me before.” She said with a sigh.

  “I don’t just want to look after you, I want to look after you and the baby,” I explained.

  Her breath caught in her throat as tears gathered in her eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”

  I released the tight grip I had on the hair at the back of my neck and moved my hand to her still flat stomach. Her eyes followed my movements, and the tears that were building spilled over and began to roll down her cheeks. “Say yes, say you’ll let me do this. Say you want me as much as I want you.”

  “I do, Kai, I really do. I don’t understand it, but I do want you.” She reached for my face and held it between her petite hands. “But I don’t know how to let you take care of me without feeling like I’m trapped again. As soon as I found out about the baby, I knew I had to take charge of my life. I can’t let you do this. I have to do it on my own. I just have to.”

  She was still crying, and I knew in my gut she was going to fight this every step of the way. She wouldn’t cave and let me take care of her. I clen
ched my jaw in an attempt to hold my tongue. I didn’t want her to feel trapped. I wanted her to feel secure, safe, protected. How did I do that without making her feel like I was taking away her freedom? I released a deep sigh. “Mia, that’s the last thing I want. But I gotta tell you, Pretty Girl, it’s not in my nature to let you deal with this all by yourself.”

  A hint of a smile reached her eyes as she said, “I’m getting that.” She closed her eyes and snuggled into me. “What about a compromise?”

  I was instantly suspicious. “What kind of compromise?” I asked as I wrapped her more securely in my arms and nuzzled her hair at the crown of her head.

  “How about I let you help me get set up in an apartment, I take the job Gabe is offering, and I go to Ivy’s doctor when I can afford it,” she suggested.

  “No,” I said bluntly refusing her. “This is my counteroffer. You let me help you get an apartment, you take the job, and you go to Ivy’s doctor on Wednesday as planned. The sooner you see a doctor the better. You can start paying for the appointments when you start working. That’s my final offer.”

  Mia lifted her head to peer up at me. “You’re not very good with this whole compromise thing, are you?” she mumbled.

  I shrugged in response. “I did compromise. I’d rather you just stay at home and let me take care of you, but that’s obviously not going to fly with you. So I agreed to you working for Gabe, and I also put in there about you paying for future appointments. I don’t want you to pay for shit, but again, I get the feeling that’s not going to work for you. See, I’m being flexible.”

  She laughed, and it was beautiful. I loved that sound. “Oh yeah, you’re flexible alright.” She rolled her eyes. “As flexible as concrete.”

  My eyes narrowed on her still laughing form. “Bullshit, I’m making concessions. What more do you want from me? It’s going against my nature to stand down on these things, so you better appreciate it, woman.”

  She laughed harder, and I couldn’t help but smile at her as tears leaked from the corner of her eyes. “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  Shaking her head she replied, “I don’t know how I got myself into this mess. Look at me, pregnant and homeless, yet here I am, wrapped up in this amazing man’s arms and laughing harder than I have in as long as I can remember.” She wriggled away from me a little so she could bring her hand up to my cheek again. “I don’t deserve you, but I’m not going to give you up.”

  Emotions I thought I was long past finding again rose in my throat as I stared into her brown eyes, they were like smooth, melted chocolate, and I never wanted to look into another woman’s eyes again.

  I swallowed past the lump of emotion in my throat. “Mia”—I breathed—“I hope you mean that, Pretty Girl, because I can’t give you up. Not even if I tried.” I lowered my head and pressed a whisper soft kiss to her lips.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  He was too good to be true, but for the life of me, I couldn’t turn away from him. I could feel it in my bones that he wasn’t like Trent. No, Kai only wanted what was best for me. Where Trent had wanted to control, Kai just wants to protect.

  I thought constantly about what had happened to his sister. I wondered if what happened to her had shaped Kai into the sometimes overbearing but always caring man I now knew. I wanted to ask him about her, but I knew that conversation would have to wait until he was ready. He had to be the one to bring it up.

  After our chat the other day when Kai had told me he wanted to be with me, he’d asked if he could start sharing his bed with me. I’d refused him. It was hard, like very hard. He’s the most gorgeous man I’ve ever laid eyes on, and he wanted to spoon me all night long, his words.

  But as much as I wanted that, to be wrapped in his strong arms with his warm body pressed against my back all night, I couldn’t just jump into a full-on relationship with him when I’d only left Trent not much longer than a week ago.

  Kai had been so good about my rejecting him—Trent would have put the guilts on me for sure. In fact, that’s how he got me to sleep with him our first time. He said he’d been patient enough and that other guys wouldn’t have waited as long. Like the fool I was, I listened to him. I could see now that I had been a fool about a lot of things involving Trent.

  Kai, on the other hand, had taken it in his stride. He told me he understood and that he was happy to take it at my pace. I’d been so relieved I almost changed my mind, but he silenced me with a kiss and promised me we’d be sharing a bed soon enough. I won’t lie, I totally swooned.

  I had agreed to take the job working for Gabe at his investigation firm, and I’d also caved on the first doctor appointment. Kai was right. It was important that I see a doctor as soon as possible so I could start planning and know what kind of time frame I had to work with.

  Knowing I had a plan of some kind felt great. It felt amazing actually. When I left Trent, I had no destination in mind and no plan of action ahead of me. But now I knew everything would work out. I could feel it. I had never been certain of much in my life, but this, this I was sure of.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  While we sat side by side in a waiting room full of pregnant women and expectant fathers, I started to feel nervous. My knee started to bounce uncontrollably as I flicked through some chick pregnancy magazine.

  “What’s wrong with you? You’re freaking me out,” Mia whispered beside me.

  I lowered the magazine so I could see her over the top. “I feel weird.”

  She scrunched her nose at me. “I told you to just drop me off, but nooo, you insisted on coming in. So suck it up.” The way she drew out the word no made me sound like a petulant child.

  “I don’t mean weird like that. I mean, I feel like this is my kid, and I’m getting this weird feeling in my chest. It’s like I’m nervous about seeing my kid, but it’s not my kid.” I tried to explain but sounded like a jackarse.

  Mia started laughing. “There’s no way Trent would come to a baby appointment. So you’re nothing like Nugget’s father. But I’m glad you’re here. It would have felt off being here alone.”

  I reached over and took her delicate hand in mine. “I’m afraid you’re stuck with me now. I’m going to be around like white on rice. You’ll never be alone again.” I winked and gave her a cheeky smile to cheer her up.

  And it worked. She smiled back and squeezed my hand. Then her name was called, and she stood up to follow the nurse. When I didn’t follow, she turned to me and said, “You’re already doing a crap job of that white on rice thing you just promised me.”

  The other waiting parents looked at us with funny expressions, but I jumped to my feet and walked her down the hall to the open office. I wasn’t expecting her to want me to come in for the actual appointment, but I was keen as to see how all this stuff worked. I’d gone to one of Ivy’s appointments with the twins because Gabe had gastro, and it had been awesome seeing them inside her like that, bouncing around like jelly beans with arms and legs.

  I pulled Mia’s chair out for her, and she took it while giving me an odd look. “What?” I asked as I took my own seat.

  Her nose scrunched up. “You just pulled the chair out for me. That’s weird.”

  “Why is that weird? Guys do that kinda shit all the time.” Don’t they?

  Before she could reply, the doctor walked in and sat on the opposite side of the desk. “I’m Doctor Tony McLellan, but feel free to call me Tony.” He smiled at us and looked down at his paperwork as he addressed Mia. “It says here you’re not sure of your dates, is that correct Ms Lynn?”

  Mia’s cheeks flamed. “Umm no, I mean, yes. Umm, my…” She glanced at me, and I knew she wasn’t comfortable talking about chick stuff in front of me yet.

  The doctor noticed her unease, so he cut her a break. “So you’re unsure of the time of conception, then. That’s not a problem. We’ll run some blood tests, which will give us a good estimate, and I’ll do a quick scan while you’re here, too. The earlier you are, the more accurate t
he scan will be, but we can compare it with your blood test results and get a better sense of things. How does that sound?”

  “Excellent,” Mia said excitedly. “I didn’t know I’d be seeing Nugget today.” That smile of hers was out in full force—beautiful.

  “It’s one of the services I offer expectant mothers,” Tony explained. “How about you jump up on that bed by the wall, and I’ll just get you to lift your shirt for me and roll the top of your pants down a little, too. This early in pregnancy the fetus will still be sitting quite low.”

  Mia was out of her seat and on that table before the doctor had even stopped talking. And for some reason, that made me stupidly happy. “A little excited there, are we, Pretty Girl?”

  She nodded. “I didn’t know I’d be this excited. Will you hold my hand?” she asked.

  In the little time I’d known her, I already knew without a doubt she could ask me anything, and I’d say yes. “Of course.”

  I held Mia’s hand as we both watched the doctor squeeze some blue goo onto her belly. Goosebumps broke out across her stomach and spread up under her shirt. “Sorry, I forgot to warn you this stuff is pretty cold,” Tony apologised.

  A moment later, a noise like radio static filled the room. Then a strong, quick-paced thrumming took its place. Our eyes met briefly before moving to the ultrasound screen, and there it was, Mia’s little Nugget.

  “Hi, Nugget,” Mia whispered at the screen on a choked sob.

  I turned away from the screen to focus on Mia. Her eyes were red and glassy. “You can cry, Pretty Girl. This moment is worth your tears.” This moment was so raw, so intense. I reached for her cheek and cupped it gently in my palm.

  She sniffled once more as fat tears leaked from the corners of her big, brown eyes. “It’s real. Nugget’s real. Until right now, I still thought the test I took could have been a dud and I was just putting on weight because I was stressed or something.”

  The doctor laughed and patted our still-joined hands. “While stress can be the cause of weight gain, I can assure you that this not the case here, Mia. I’m actually surprised it’s taken you this long to come see someone. Judging by my measurements and the fetal development, I’d say you’re just over nine weeks pregnant.”