A Little Harmless Military Romance Bundle (A Little Harmless Military Bundle)

by Melissa Schroeder

  He nodded. “I took a job at PACOM.”

  That stopped her in her tracks. “A desk job?”

  He jerked one shoulder. Samantha knew that it was a definite Berg reaction to life in general. All the guys in his family were like that. “In a way. I’ll be doing some work with plans, etc, or whatever.”

  Sam shook her head. “But you wanted to teach?”

  He gave her a smile. “I wanted to be here more.”

  He stepped closer, and she felt her stomach give way.

  “I need to—“

  He furrowed his brow. “Sam?”

  She shook her head and tried to get away, but he wouldn’t let go of her, and she couldn’t hold it any longer. She threw up on him.

  Chapter Seven

  Several minutes and a fresh shirt later, Deke joined Samantha back in her kitchen, but he kept a respectful distance. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but he didn't want to think he was causing her to get sick at the sight of him. And if she had something, he didn’t want to end up with it.

  "Have you been sick for long?"

  She gave him a look that told him his question didn't set well. It was part of that mean look she had always given him, but there was something else to it, something that made her look so damned vulnerable.

  "No. Why didn't you answer my calls?" she asked.

  This was going to be hard to explain. He hadn’t really expected her to think he was dodging her for other reasons. He could lie and say he was too busy because of the move, but lying just didn’t feel right, even if it was just a little fib tonight. Samantha always did better when you told her the truth head-on. Well, most of it.

  “Truth is I was afraid I would tell you about moving here and you would tell me that you didn't want me to do that."

  "But once you had the assignment, the orders were cut and they wouldn't be able to cancel it."

  He shook his head. "They could do anything they wanted. It’s happened before. Truth is they would do more to keep me in the field if they could, but it’s hard to do at my advanced age."

  She gave him a tired smile. "You're not old, Deke."

  And why did the way she was looking at him make him feel soft? There was something different in her gaze. "Tell that to my back," he said, twisting until it cracked. "It hasn't been the same for a while."

  "I thought you would go teach." It had been his dream for a long time. She was the only person on earth he had told about it.

  "Yeah, I did too. Until Kade's wedding." He had known then he had to make it back to her and fast. One thing he had learned in that fucked up mission last year was that he could no longer wait for the right time. He had to make it.

  "So, you're going to be working at PACOM?"

  He nodded. He knew she was trying to avoid the subject of her illness, but he was worried about her. She looked like she’d dropped weight, and she was pale. It was easy to see the dark circles under her eyes.

  Was she really sick and she’d been trying to get a hold of him? Now he felt like a complete ass.

  "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

  She nodded and picked up a saltine and nibbled on it. "I tried to call you because I had news for you."

  He knew when she had something important to say she would just drag the whole thing out. He resisted the urge to close his eyes. It was bad if she was taking this long to tell him.

  "I started getting sick about three weeks ago."

  When she didn’t continue, he asked, "Have you gone to the doctor?"

  She nodded.

  "What did he say?"

  "He said it would pass in about another month, if I was lucky."

  "A month? You've been getting sick like this and he wants you to wait a month? That doesn't sound right. Maybe you need another doctor to look at you. Maybe he has the wrong diagnosis. I think we should get a second opinion."

  He would make sure she saw someone. The fact that she looked so sickly worried him. Sam had always been a healthy girl. Curvy, never worrying about her weight, always in excellent shape. Now, though, she looked like she had been through hell.

  She gave him a sad smile. "There’s no other diagnosis. I’ve covered my bases on this one."

  Fear wrapped its scrawny fingers around his heart, and he had to swallow to rid himself of the lump in his throat. "What is it?"

  She apparently realized that he was worried. She reached over to pat his hand, and then she drew away. "It isn't anything life ending. I'm pregnant, Deke."

  For a second or two, the comment didn't register. He had been waiting for a cancer diagnosis or something else.

  “Pregnant?” he asked, the word seeming weird against his lips. He couldn’t seem to wrap his head around the idea that she was carrying a child. Deke was known for his quick thinking, but for once his brain seemed to stop dead in its tracks.

  “Yes.”

  "Ours, of course."

  She looked relieved and that angered him. He frowned.

  "You can't think that I would think it was someone else's?"

  She shrugged, and he hated the defeated attitude. She was a lot of things but his Samantha wasn’t someone who accepted defeat. And he didn’t like it, not one bit.

  "I've been with other men before."

  "Yeah, but you wouldn't have slept with me this time if you had been involved with someone else. It’s the same for both of us."

  "You're right."

  "Why didn't you call me? This is a serious situation that I should have known about. Or were you not planning on telling me?"

  She looked at him as if he had grown another head. Her face flushed with anger, and he knew he had stepped over the bounds.

  "I did call, you jackass. I cannot believe you just accused me of not telling you—like I was hiding it. Maybe if you hadn’t been acting like a scared little girl for two weeks and avoiding my calls, you would have known. But, no, Deacon Berg has another of his master plans and he decides he shouldn’t tell me. You know, all the calls I've been trying for almost two weeks?"

  Usually, this is where she started throwing things. He’d gotten brained with the remote control once for something he said. Instead, she did something very un-Sam-like and started to cry.

  He didn’t know what to do. He’d dealt with women who cried, but not Sam. Samantha just didn’t cry big fat tears, and she definitely didn’t sob openly. She was the stereotypical military brat with the stiff upper lip. That woman was apparently gone.

  "I called and called and called. When you didn’t answer, I thought you might have gone on a mission. I thought about calling your mom, but then I thought she would worry about you, too, or wonder just why I was trying to get ahold of you. And I didn't want to explain, not until I talked to you."

  By now, the tears were rolling down her cheeks, and she was sobbing openly. He finally gained his wits and pulled her into his arms. She tried to struggle once or twice, but she settled against him, her head on his chest. Feeling her slight body against his caused some of the tension to ease out of his shoulders. He was still worried, but with her there in his arms, it didn’t seem to matter as much.

  "I'm sorry, babe. I thought it best I just show up."

  She punched his chest half-heartedly. "Well, it wasn't."

  He chuckled. "I can see that. First you throw up on me, and then you cry all over me."

  She pulled back and looked up at him. Her eyes were still damp, what little makeup she had on was now streaked down her cheeks, and her nose was red. She was a God-awful mess—and the most beautiful woman in the world.

  "Tell you what. Why don’t you go freshen up and put on some PJs? It might make you feel better. I’ll call around and try to find a place for the night.”

  She shook her head. "You can stay here."

  Her immediate offer made him feel a little better. "Are you sure?"

  "Yes. I can't kick the father of my baby out on the streets of Hawaii."

  He smiled and gave her a kiss on
the nose. “Go on.”

  Once he was alone, he allowed the words she’d said to sink in. The father of her baby. Damn, he was hoping for that, had made the decision that he was going to get her to marry him again, but he had planned on that complication after the ceremony.

  But now that he knew the situation, he was sure of one damned thing.

  The woman was going to have to accept him. There was just no way around it. He sat down at the breakfast bar realizing the ramifications of the news—and what it meant.

  His mother was going to flip. She’d been pining for babies, and as every Berg, including Deke’s sister, were pretty much married to the military, no one had done anything to that end. Now she would have one, and she would be thrilled. He could call her, but it was a little late, and he figured he needed to get his ducks in a line. If his mother didn’t know for a while, it wouldn’t hurt. Deke had a plan. It just meant he had to speed it up.

  He sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. This wasn’t going the way he had planned, but it never had. From the moment they met, they had never been able to do what normal people would do. It was a hot and fast attraction, marriage, divorce, and there was their inability to keep their hands off each other. He knew her, but he wasn’t sure that they knew each other well enough. His plan was to go slowly…

  Now, though, he was on a time schedule. He had a baby on the way, and he had to make sure everything was straightened away before the little one came.

  Just that thought brought images of a baby, and while most people would think he would want a little boy, a little girl would do him just fine. Especially one with curly blonde hair and big violet eyes like her mama.

  He saw something out of the corner of his eye and turned to face her. She was wearing an old T-shirt that hit her mid-thigh. God, how could a woman who looked so horrible look good enough to eat?

  In a flash, the answer came to him. She was his other half. It was as simple as that. It had to be why his mouth was dry and his palms damp, not to mention the telltale humming of arousal in his body.

  He pushed those needs down and tried to tell himself it was the right thing to do.

  “Do you have some blankets for me?”

  She shook her head. “I have a queen. Come on, let’s go to bed.”

  He hesitated and she made a face.

  “I promise not to throw up on you. Or cry.”

  He smiled and took her hand. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it. You need some rest.”

  She led him into the bedroom he hadn’t paid much attention to. It wasn’t girly with lots of flowers. That wasn’t Samantha. She was as feminine as could be, but she didn’t like things like that. The room was plain, simple, colored with blues and grays, along with all her little knickknacks from all over the world. Her life as a military brat was easy to follow if you paid attention to the various things she had in her bedroom.

  “Do you mind if I jump in the shower? That trip was a bad one.”

  “No problem.”

  Deke grabbed his gear. “I’ll be right out.”

  He didn’t take long in the shower because he didn’t want to leave her by herself for too long. He wasn’t sure what he could do if she got sick again, but he figured he would at least be there to help.

  By the time he slipped out of the bathroom, she was sleeping. He leaned against the doorjamb and just looked at her. She still looked exhausted, but now she appeared serene.

  The thought that she was pregnant, carrying a child he knew both of them would love and cherish, had his chest warming. He padded over on bare feet and tried his best not to disturb her. He slipped into bed. The moment he pulled the sheet over him, she rolled over into his arms. Deke looked down and was going to apologize, but he realized she was still sleeping.

  He settled against the pillows, the weight of Samantha on his chest, and felt his body relax. Now he was home.

  * * * *

  Samantha woke the next morning and lay in bed. She realized that she felt rested for the first time in weeks. It had been almost a month since she’d slept through the night. She opened her eyes and noticed she was alone in bed. Knowing from experience to take things slowly, she lay there for a few minutes trying to forget the night before. She covered her eyes. Lord, she couldn’t believe she threw up on Deke. The fact that he was still there was a testament to how much he loved her—or, at least, loved this child. She slipped her hands down to her belly. It was hard to believe that in seven months there was going to be a child in her life. Well, other than her brother. And Zoe.

  When she thought that her stomach had finally settled enough, she sat up and then slid out of bed. She could hear voices in the kitchen, but she decided to clean up first. Once that was done, she headed out to the kitchen. She needed some toast and a little water. For once it seemed her stomach was behaving.

  She found Deke in the kitchen. He was cooking breakfast, and her roommates were sitting at the breakfast bar, soaking in whatever he was talking about. They both were actually drooling. Sam wasn’t sure if it was because of the food that she smelled or the man who was preparing it.

  “So, she’s convinced that she can ride that damned bull.”

  Oh, God, he was telling that story. She couldn’t believe he had the nerve to tell it again. Every time he wanted to embarrass her, he started in on it.

  "And she isn't taking no for an answer. Granted, most people who get on the bull are drunk, and you know Sam, she doesn't drink much. So, she gets on up there and bets that asshole fifty dollars she can stay on all eight seconds. She didn't last two."

  "I lasted four, if I remember correctly."

  He was laughing when he turned to her, his dimples in full force and his expression so light and carefree. Her heart squeezed tight right then and there, just like it had done the first night she had seen him.

  He walked over to her. "How are you feeling this morning? We didn't wake you up, did we?"

  She shook her head. "In fact, this is the latest I’ve slept in weeks."

  "Is that medicine working?" Zoe asked. "Dr. Wilcox swears by it."

  "Yeah, I think it might be. Waking up and not gagging is a big step."

  Deke kissed her forehead. "You want anything? I cooked some eggs, but I wasn't sure if you would be interested in them."

  She shook her head.

  "Then some toast?" he offered.

  "Oh, and I bought some of that tea my friend recommended," Zoe said as she got up and started the kettle. "She's an ob/gyn nurse, so she says it's safe."

  Sam sat next to Fiona, who smiled at her. "You missed some fun last night."

  "I'm sure I did."

  Fiona sipped her tea, then said, "Your brother showed up."

  Sam rolled her eyes. "And let me guess, Zoe and he got in a fight."

  "Well, everything was fine until this guy started hitting on Zoe."

  She looked at Zoe, who was pretending to ignore the conversation, but there was a light pink to her cheeks.

  "Really?" Sam asked.

  Fiona’s hazel eyes danced with undisguised mirth. "Yeah, he was a jerk. Some mainlander here on vacation. You know, the kind who thinks everyone is here for a price? That he paid a huge chunk of money so he gets to dance with the pretty girls. The pretty girl he picked out was Zoe, of course. Your brother let him know otherwise."

  She laughed. "Please tell me no fighting. It wouldn't look good on his record."

  "Naw, the mainlander took one look at those muscles and he decided Zoe wasn't that much of a catch. And then your brother and one of your best friends got in a fight."

  She glanced at Zoe. "Really? How shocking."

  She shook her head, her blonde hair sliding over her shoulders. "Your brother needs to learn we aren't all his little sister."

  Deke set the plate down in front of Sam. "Eat."

  She glanced at him. “Who are you and what did you do with my ex-husband?"

  He smiled. "Does your brother know about the baby?"


  "Couldn't help it," Zoe said as she handed Sam her tea over the counter. "She was talking to him and started gagging."

  "I’m assuming you reserved the throwing up on men for your husband?”

  There was a beat of silence, then Fiona asked, "She threw up on you?"

  She felt her face heat. "First of all, you’re my ex-husband. And you wouldn't listen to me, and then the fact that you decided to just show up…"

  "I wouldn't have just shown up if I had known."

  "You would have known if you had picked up your phone the last few weeks."

  "Are you sure you two are divorced?" Zoe asked.

  "I signed the papers, so I know it's true."

  Deke said nothing but got the oddest look in his eyes while he stared at Sam. She had to resist the urge to fidget.

  "So, you're here working at PACOM? I work over at Tripler,” Zoe said. “Do you know where you're looking for a place to live?"

  It took him a second to answer Zoe. He tore his gaze from Sam, and she could finally breathe again.

  "Not sure yet. I reported in last night, but I will probably head on down today to meet my supervisor in person."

  Which wasn’t an answer.

  Zoe nodded. "That isn't too bad of a drive from here. You just get right on H-3 and drive down. Wouldn’t be hard to live over here."

  Sam shot Zoe a warning look. She smiled at Sam.

  "Do you mind if I use the shower?" he asked.

  "No, go ahead."

  He walked toward her room but paused by her chair.

  "Eat." He softened the order with a kiss on the top of her head.

  Once he shut the door, Zoe sighed. "Oh man, oh man. Okay, if you don't want him, I want him. I call dibs on him before Fiona."

  Sam sighed. "It isn't a matter of wanting him. That is never a problem. The problem is getting along during the other times."

  "If I were you, I would figure out a way. Damn, he is so sweet I want to eat him up." Zoe made smacking noises with her mouth.

  "Wait, he will get on your nerves. At some point, he will start barking orders like you're an E-1 who just got in. That was never fun. Think of the way my brother acts."