Knoxed Up

by Mayra Statham

  “I need you to clear my calendar,” I said standing up. Looking out my window toward Miami, I heard her come in.

  “Don’t start this again,” she groaned.

  “Casey.”

  “Knox.”

  “You know most assistants call their boss by their last name. This is a business. Formal setting and all.”

  “And most assistants give a shit and probably get paid a hell of a lot more than I do. I’m not calling you Mr. Madison. Not when I know your dad.” This was the same argument, and anyone looking in wouldn’t get why I didn’t fire her. If I was honest, when it came to work, I’d be lost without grumpy Casey. She kept me organized and on top of every project my father’s company overlooked.

  “Just do it.”

  “And what would you like me to tell them?”

  “That I’m getting engaged,” I said clearly and confidently, no longer looking at my assistant but the small black box sitting on my desk next to a picture of Lena I had printed.

  “What?” My eyes popped up to Casey, and I repeated myself. The surprise melted away and what looked like warmth and happiness flared up in her stare.

  “You’re getting married?” she asked in a soft voice, one that almost sounded kind.

  “Hopefully. If she says yes.”

  “Wow.” She put her hand to her lips and walked toward me. I braced. I never knew what to expect from my surly assistant. “I’m super happy for you, Knox!” She cracked a smile and gave me a hug.

  Who knew Casey was a romantic at heart?

  Chapter Seven

  Lena

  I sat on my couch. The house was too quiet.

  My sister and her boys hadn’t lived all that long with me, but I had gotten used to them being around. To the noise and chaos and familial ambiance.

  I missed it.

  I missed them.

  Missed coordinating pick-ups and drop-offs from school and sports. They weren’t my boys, but I had been a part of watching and helping them grow. My hand found its way to the softness of my belly, and I swallowed hard.

  Would I be having one of my own soon?

  I had tried to talk myself into denial after my lunch with Aubrey. I had been doing my best not to think about it, when in all reality it made me think about the situation even more. Even Kenzie had commented how I seemed a little off, and I’d shrugged it off to a bad day at work.

  Now it was a day later, and I was cautiously looking at the coffee table, like a snake was about to come out and strike. A pharmacy bag sat there with a rectangular box inside. A box that would tell me if my life was about to change.

  Drastically.

  Dramatic much, Lena? I rolled my eyes. I was being dramatic and a little crazy. I was thirty years old, for God’s sakes. I was old enough to have a kid and a baby daddy.

  Ugh. A baby daddy.

  I was going to be the girl who had a baby daddy who lived on the other side of the country.

  Would Knox even want a kid?

  He’d make a great dad; I didn’t have any hesitations about that. I had seen him with my nephews. One of the three days he had spent with me, we had gone to watch their baseball games and then a BBQ at Chase and Kens’ home. He had thrown the ball around with them and then later had even played video games with them. He had been cool with them. Better than cool. Jack had even pulled me aside and said he approved. Then Jimmy Jam had asked about him just last week, wondering when Knox would be coming by again.

  But just because he was amazing with the boys didn’t mean he would want a kid of his own. He was forty. If he wanted kids, wouldn’t he have made that happen? Or did he already have kids? I had never asked straight out, but it could be something he hadn’t felt the need to share. It wasn’t like he was mine in a forever kind of way. He wasn’t even my boyfriend.

  “Oh God,” I groaned. “I might be knocked up from a booty call. He’s not even my boyfriend.” I covered my face with both hands and sighed. “What am I going to do?”

  My phone rang, and I looked at it.

  Knox.

  Knox Madison, the man with very healthy swimmers. Maybe. My finger hovered over the decline button, but then I changed my mind and accepted.

  “Hi.”

  “Hey! How’s my funny girl doing?” he asked sweetly, and I hated the way I felt all warm and gooey at hearing his sweet nickname for me.

  “I’m okay. You?”

  “Just okay?” he questioned. Knox was a lot of things, I had discovered in our phone calls and video chats. Observant was one of them.

  “I’m not feeling too good.” It might be morning sickness.

  “You home?” he asked, and the concern in his voice made my heart do a little flip.

  “Yeah, I called off work.”

  “Good. You resting? Have you had anything to eat?”

  “My stomach’s queasy.”

  “Huh.”

  “I’m sure it’s something I ate when I had lunch with Aubrey yesterday.” Or it could be that you Knoxed me up.

  “Yeah. But you still have to eat, babe.”

  “I know, and I will. I just…” I had a pregnancy test to take, but I was obviously the world’s largest scaredy cat. “I will.”

  “Everything else okay?”

  “Sure.”

  “I miss you.

  “I…” For some reason, I couldn’t get myself to say the words. I missed him so much it hurt, but I wasn’t the clingy type. Nor was I the mushy sentimentalist. “It’s only a couple more days.”

  “Maybe I can talk you into flying out before that,” he threw out there, and before hanging out with Aubrey, I would have jumped at the chance.

  “Maybe.” That would be great.

  I’m sure he would love that. Paying for an outrageously expensive airline ticket so he could find out a little Knoxie or Knoxtina would be arriving in the very near future.

  You haven’t taken the test, I reminded myself.

  “Or maybe you open the front door and let me in.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” I mumbled, stuck in my head. His soft, deep laughter snapped me out of my thoughts. “Wait. What did you say?”

  “Open the door, Lena.”

  “What? Why?” I questioned, standing up from my couch and fixing my tiny gray cotton shorts and white tank top. I looked like I had just woken up with my hair in a messy top bun. Mostly because I just had.

  “Because I have a package for you and only you.” Another thing about Knox was his generosity.

  I mentioned how much I enjoyed a bag of chips once, and he had sent me a case the next day. Not to mention flowers and his latest gift. A very nice vibrating toy he had picked for me to use when we skyped and got naughty. And the way he did it wasn’t to throw his money around. He didn’t gift that way. It was sweet and meaningful and really generous in a charming way.

  “A package, huh?” God, I wished he really was here with his package. He had awoken a sexual goddess, one that had been a nympho in a past life and was trying to make up for lost time.

  I opened the door fully prepared to meet a delivery guy, only to find him standing there.

  “You’re here,” I whispered, surprised at him standing in my doorway.

  “I’m here.” His voice washed over me, and I bit my lip.

  “You’re really here,” I softly said, my hand on the knob falling to my side as I took in the sight of him.

  He was sexy. I had seen him in a tux and business suits and casual clothes. Standing in a plain black tee and dark washed jeans that fit amazingly especially around his muscular thighs, he made my body wake up and take very close attention.

  He was really here!

  “You going to invite me in?” A grin slowly washed over his face as his face tilted in a way I knew I was doing something he thought was amusing and probably cute.

  “I’m a mess!” I exclaimed, my hands on my hair and his deep laughter surrounding me.

  He was done waiting for an invitation. Knox stepped closer, taking me in h
is arms, burying his face in my neck, and I did the only thing I could, which was also like second nature, and wrapped my arms around his neck.

  In his arms, everything felt right. All the stress washed away, and I held on tighter before leaning my head, slightly tilting, so I could speak into his ear.

  “I kinda missed you, too,” I found myself admitting without thinking about how much I was exposing.

  “I’m fucking glad, baby girl,” he growled into mine before pulling away. Our mouths met.

  Our first kiss had been incredible. But what I was coming to find out with Knox Madison was, he was more than incredible. He was an extraordinary kisser. He mixed it up, depending on the occasion, and currently he was hungry.

  I was just as starved.

  Teeth scraped against flesh, tongues dueled, and lips were nipped to swollen as we fought to get as close as we possibly could. One moment, my feet were on the ground, and the next, I was in the air and my legs were wrapped around his waist. My hands holding the sides of his face.

  “I like the beard,” I panted.

  He hadn’t shaved since he had last been here. It was past scruffy and sexy as all hell. Short and neatly trimmed, downy soft against my cheek. I felt him smile against my mouth. He took me directly to my bedroom, and even though his mouth was consuming mine and my neck, he set me down on my bed so gently it took my breath away.

  “Hi,” he whispered, his body hovering over mine, and I held on to his face smiling up at him.

  “Hey,” I whispered, lightly touching his cheek.

  “You’re a little pale,” he noted, and I smiled weakly. The reminder of impending changes and reality hit the pit of my stomach.

  “Mmm…” I muttered.

  “You happy I’m here?” he asked, and I grinned like a cat who got the cream. Pulling my chest up against his, so he wouldn’t miss the way my nipples were beaded to attention because of him.

  “What do you think?” I smiled honestly, and he nuzzled his nose against mine, his lips so close we were breathing the same air.

  “Good.”

  “How did you manage it? I thought your calendar—“

  “I needed to see you,” he confidently answered, and I sighed. My lips seeked his, the need for his kiss overwhelming. I liked how open he was. He needed to see me. He didn’t leave me wondering where I stood with him. But I had to tell him what I was worried about. No matter what, he needed to know.

  Pulling away, I watched him open his eyes. His long, dark lashes were wasted on a man. My heart picked up speed as I cleared my throat and pressed my lips together. “Knox, I think we need to talk.”

  “I think we do, too.” He gave me another wet kiss and pulled me up and under him. I was now straddling him as his back was against the headboard of my bed. With one strong arm around my waist, resting at my hip, we were impossibly close. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous.”

  “I’m a hot mess today,” I pointed out.

  “I don’t see a mess. Hot, yes. Mess, not at all.” He winked, making him even more charming, and I shook my head.

  “Knox—“

  “I gotta say something before you tell me what I think you’re going to say.”

  “What?” Worry dredged in my belly. Does he know?

  He shifted. His hand took something out of his pocket, but I didn’t look at whatever he was getting. “You know how I feel about you, yeah?”

  “I think so.”

  “You think so?” he questioned with a raised brow.

  God, I was head over heels about him if all he had to do was raise an eyebrow and it made me want to take my panties off. But I couldn’t think of that and how much I wanted him. I had something potentially life changing I needed to share.

  “Knox. This is all so fast, and I think we really have to be honest and realistic—”

  “I love you, Lena Callista Mason,” he cut me off, and I stilled. Blinking once and then twice. “I love you, Lena,” he repeated as if he had said it a million times in the past instead of the first. My mouth went dry.

  I was never rendered speechless.

  But there I was, straddling the most amazing, handsome man I had ever laid eyes on, and he’d just uttered the three most beautiful words, and I couldn’t say anything back. Thankfully, he didn’t need me to, because as he stroked the apple of my cheek, he kept talking.

  “I love you in a way I didn’t think was possible. In a way I didn’t know actually existed outside of movies.”

  “What?” My heart was no longer racing; it thundered powerfully against my ribs.

  “I love you.” His sincerity and emotion stared back at me, and I wished in that moment I were more like my sister.

  Kenzie was graceful and diplomatic. She always knew the right thing to say. I, on the other hand, never did and always made a mess of things. I knew this when I scrambled off his lap and stood up and off the bed.

  “Knox.” Panic coursed through me like the Indie 500. He couldn’t love me. “It’s too soon for you—”

  “It’s not.” Something about his quiet and calm demeanor soothed me, and I found myself grabbing his hand.

  “Knox—”

  “I think I fell in love with you before you walked down that aisle.”

  “You did?”

  “I love you, but this distance between us is too much for us. you know?” And just like that, the shoe I had been waiting to drop did.

  “What?”

  “Come back with me.” Come back with him. Like it was that easy?

  “To where? You don’t have a home.” I did, though. I had my own house and a great job. I had stability. Kids needed stability. “A person, little people, need a stable place to call home,” I blustered out, sounding like a crazy person.

  “Little people?”

  “Or big people. I mean people. They need a place to call home. You are between two states and then some, Knox. Where am I supposed to follow you to?” Shit. I was sure I had given away what I had to tell him.

  “Miami. I spoke to my dad, and he gets it.” Well, that made one of us.

  “You talked to your dad about staying in one place?”

  “That and about you.”

  “About me?”

  “About you and about us. About what I want out of life.”

  “Wow.” Tell him! a voice in my head shouted.

  “Knox, I need to tell you something.”

  “Wait.” He stood still, holding my hand.

  “Honey, this is kind of, umm, important—” Life altering important.

  “This is more important.”

  “I’m not sure that’s true,” I mumbled.

  Suddenly, his large, powerful frame was kneeling in front of me. Holy crap, was he about to do what I thought he was?

  “Lena Mason, I know this sounds insanely crazy to ask after only six weeks, but will you marry me?”

  “Marry.”

  “Be mine.” His words clung in the air between us, and I knew what I wanted to answer, but before I could say a word, he pulled a small black box off the side of the bed. How had I missed it just sitting there?

  “Be mine. Take a leap of faith on me. On us. I promise I will work day and night to make you smile and laugh. To make you feel loved and cherished and appreciated every damn day for as long as I breathe.”

  “Knox.”

  “Build a life with me.”

  “Yes.” Big, fat tears rolled down my face, and his eyes shined brightly as they stared back at me. With a swipe of his thumbs, he took away my tears. Hope shining back at me in his beautiful dark eyes.

  “Yes? You said yes, yeah?”

  “If this is for reals, yes.”

  “You sure you don’t wanna look at the ring?”

  “I don’t even need a ring.” And I didn’t. I just wanted Knox. It was crazy and super impulsive and spontaneous, but I knew.

  “What do you need?”

  “You. Just you.” I had barley uttered the last word when he swept me up in his arms, and I held
on as he spun us around once and then twice. His smile pressed against my lips. I had never felt happier.

  “I’m not going to let you regret this.”

  “I love you,” I whispered, meaning it whole-heartedly. He kissed me again, but I had to pull away and possibly ruin the moment.

  “Fuck, I love the sound of that, Lena. Say it again. Tell me you love me, funny girl.”

  “I love you, Knox. I fell in intrigue at first sight,” I shared, and the warmth of his smile made me feel calm enough to keep sharing. “But I think I fell in love when you asked me to dance for the first time.”

  “I’m a lucky son of a bitch my mom insisted on those dance lessons, you know that, right?” We both laughed, and when the laughter died down, I knew I had to tell him.

  “Knox—”

  “What is it? Cold feet already?” he teased, and I gave him a strained smile.

  “You would buy me socks if that were the case, wouldn’t you?” I found myself asking, staring into the most beautiful eyes.

  Eyes I would happily stare into every day for the rest of my life.

  “Hell, yeah, I would.” I knew it. He would do whatever it took to make anything in my life okay. Looking at him, a man I hadn’t known a full two months yet, I couldn’t remember what life was like before him. I knew he wouldn’t intentionally let me down. He wouldn’t let me flail in the wind.

  “It’s not cold feet.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “I, umm…” It was time to see if everything I believed about Knox Madison was true.

  Knox

  “What is it?” My thumb grazed the apple of her cheek, and she looked up at me. The worry and nervousness shining back killed me. I wanted to take away all her worries. I would carry any burden she ever had if she only let me. I needed her to let me.

  “I, umm…” Her hand slipped into mine. “I think it would be easier to show you.” She walked slowly, leading me to the living room.

  With her eyes pinned to the coffee table and a pharmacy bag, I started to worry. What if something was wrong? What if she was sick and our days together was numbered? I turned and wrapped an arm around her waist.

  “Whatever it is, I don’t care how, I’ll make it okay.” I would sell my soul to the devil if I needed to. Anything to keep my woman safe and breathing.