“So, when was it? It hasn’t been in the last month. I would know.”
Her cheeks turned a harsher shade of red with that comment. “Well, yes. I suppose. But still…”
He smiled slightly, trying to reassure her. “Marcy, it’s just a normal part of a woman’s body. It isn’t something to be ashamed of. Especially if the absence of a period means what I bet it means.”
She shook her head again. “Zeke, this isn’t a discussion we can have right now.”
He took her hands again, refusing to let her pull away from him. “Marcy, answer the question.”
She blushed but her mind thought back to the last time she’d had her period. “Um…maybe a month,” she told him. When he raised his dark eyebrow, she shrugged slightly and added, “Maybe six weeks.”
He pulled her into his arms. “And now you’re throwing up?” He rubbed a hand against her back. “Think about it. There is a very strong possibility that you are pregnant.” He sighed and tightened his arms a moment. “I’m sorry, but there was that time in the shower that first weekend when I forgot to use protection. We thought we were okay, but, I’m guessing that was the moment when you conceived.”
He held her close, sensing her brain working. It took a while, but he knew the exact moment when Marcy accepted the possibility.
“If I am pregnant,” she whispered, burying her face against his chest, “what would you think?” She felt like her world was crashing down around her while, at the same time, her heart was soaring. Two completely different reactions and she was trying to figure out which one was stronger. She’d messed up! How could she have gotten pregnant? It wasn’t possible!
And yet, all the indications told her that she was pregnant. No period for six weeks, morning sickness, and, now that she thought about it, her breasts were tender, her sense of taste was completely off, she had been rushing to the bathroom pretty often lately, and she had been so tired. She’d just told herself it was because she’d been denying herself time with Zeke. But she’d been too happy before her class on Saturday to think about anything as outrageous as being pregnant. Over the last two days, she’d had trouble thinking about anything except how much she wanted to be with Zeke.
“This is a mess,” she whispered, pressing her face harder against his chest.
He hugged her, kissing the top of her head. “Not so much a mess,” he argued. “I like the idea of you being pregnant with our baby,” he said and ran his hands over her back.
Those were startling words. “Excuse me?” she demanded.
He laughed softly, his fingers gently moving across her cheeks, wiping her tears away. “I love you Marcy. And I know that you love me. I have no idea what happened this past weekend, but we’re going to be married.”
Marcy pulled back, her mind reeling with his words. “Married? We don’t have to get married.”
He laughed. Taking her hand, he led her out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. “Yes. We’re getting married. If you’re pregnant, the wedding is going to take place quickly too.”
He lifted her up and placed her gently onto one of the bar stools. “We don’t need to be married,” she told him, not wanting him to sacrifice his life just because she’d messed up. Again.
He took some cheese and bread out of the refrigerator, and grabbed a carton of tomato and red pepper soup. “We’re getting married, Marcy.”
She squirmed a bit on her stool. “Zeke, it isn’t mandatory.”
He put some butter into a frying pan but the phone rang. He lifted his phone and looked at the caller ID. With a frustrated sigh, he pressed the button to answer the call. “What do you want?” he growled ominously. When his eyes lifted to Marcy, she knew that the caller was talking about her.
“No. Don’t come over. She’s fine.” Zeke listened for another long moment then shook his head. “Teague, I swear, if you show up here, I’m going to…” he paused while he listened. “Teague, don’t do it. Marcy is pregnant and I’m trying to convince her to marry me. Stay out of this!”
With those words, he hung up the phone and started cooking again, unaware of how Marcy’s cheeks flared back to red again.
“Did you have to tell him that I’m pregnant? We don’t even know for sure if I am or not!” she demanded in a horrified hiss.
He turned off the heat and came around to the other side of the island. “Marcy, I don’t care if you are or are not pregnant. We’re still getting married.”
Another squirm and she glanced down at the countertop. “Zeke…”
“No, Marcy. This isn’t a question.” He pulled a ring out of his pocket and slid it onto her finger. “I’m sorry that I didn’t give you roses or romance, but this conversation is over. The only remaining question is the date.” He walked around to the stove again. “Oh, and you’re moving in here immediately. I’ll have Linda organize a moving crew and it will be done in a few days.”
Marcy opened her mouth to argue, but the doorbell rang, stopping her comment.
Zeke mumbled something under his breath and stared up at the ceiling. When he looked down at her again, she could see that he knew exactly who had rung the doorbell and wasn’t happy about it. “Stay there,” he ordered and walked to his door.
“Go away!” he snapped a few moments later after answering the door.
“We have business with Marcy,” a deep voice said.
Marcy stood up, tucking the sides of the robe closer together as Zeke’s two youngest brothers marched into the penthouse. She was always amazed at how handsome these two men were. Why couldn’t she have fallen for one of them? They seemed so much easier to deal with. Zeke was a complicated man. And arrogant. And overbearing.
“Marcy, you’re marrying Zeke,” Logan commanded, his hands fisting on his lean hips.
“Set the date, Marcy,” Luke chimed in, equally intimidating. The twins crossed their arms over their massive chests in unison, glaring down at her. “We like you. We’ve decided to keep you.”
Marcy rolled her eyes. “There’s more to a marriage than just…”
Zeke was leaning a shoulder against the wall. “She loves me. She’s just being stubborn at the moment. But she’s going to marry me.”
“How do you know?” Logan asked, one of his black eyebrows going up to question his oldest brother’s confidence.
Luke agreed. “Yeah, you’re annoying as hell. I wouldn’t marry you,” Luke glanced from Marcy to his brother. “You can handle him though. I’ve never seen any woman manage Zeke the way you do.”
Zeke rolled his eyes, not even trying to hide his exasperation. “I don’t need handling.”
Logan turned back to Marcy, completely ignoring his brother’s irritation. “He needs handling. And with you around, he’s been a lot nicer.”
Marcy laughed, covering her mouth when she noticed the anger increasing in Zeke’s expression. “I don’t think…”
The doorbell rang again.
Zeke sighed, rubbing his forehead. “That had better not be Teague. I’ve already told him to stay out of this.”
Logan shrugged. “Teague told us you’d say that, so we didn’t call. As soon as we heard that you’d finally admitted that you want to marry Marcy, we rushed over here.”
“Yeah,” Luke chimed in with an equally annoying grin, “You were likely to mess it up without our help.”
Zeke glared at his brothers. “I spoke to Teague less than five minutes ago! I haven’t had a chance to mess it up!”
“I see the ring on her finger,” Logan said. “I don’t hear her saying she’s agreed.”
Luke nodded his head. “No date has been set.”
“It will be soon!” Zeke growled. “She’s pregnant. We’ll be married.” With that arrogant announcement, he stalked out of the kitchen to answer the doorbell.
There was a muted argument and a moment later, Teague sauntered into the kitchen. “No one answered the door so I came in anyway.” He was holding a massive water gun. “So, when is the wedding?”
Zeke followed right behind the newest brother to enter the fray, but threw his hands up in the air. “Get out!”
Teague ignored Zeke, looking towards Logan and Luke. “Has a date been set yet?”
“Not yet,” Logan explained.
Teague looked at Marcy, who was looking at Teague, then her eyes dropping to the enormous water gun. “What are you going to do with that?” she asked warily.
Teague looked at the gun, then at Marcy. “You going to marry my brother?” he asked.
“I…”
Teague shook his head, shifting the water gun menacingly in her direction. “Marcy, this is gonna be a shotgun wedding if it needs to be. So watch your answer carefully.”
Marcy once again looked at the water gun. It was the type that had a massive water reservoir and, even worse, it looked full, ready to stream water at her if she didn’t give him the right answer.
Marcy looked to Zeke, wanting his support to avoid being sprayed with what was most likely ice-cold water. Teague didn’t mess around.
Unfortunately, Zeke was standing next to Teague. Logan and Luke moved into place as well, forming a massive wall of male muscle and arrogance. Teague increased the threat with a loud flip of the switch, effectively “arming” the water gun.
Marcy stepped back, trying very hard not to laugh. “Zeke, are you really not going to defend me from your brother?” she asked.
“Agree to marry me, Marcy, and I’ll protect you.”
“Set a date,” Logan added.
“Make it soon. If you’re pregnant, it has to be soon.” Luke wasn’t fooling around either.
Marcy lifted her hands, palms out, trying to placate the four men. “First of all, I don’t even know for sure if I am pregnant.”
“She was throwing up earlier,” Zeke told his brothers, glaring at her.
She gasped. “Zeke! You didn’t need to tell them that!”
He shrugged, unconcerned with her embarrassment. “Just agree to marry me. You’re already wearing my ring. You know that you love me.”
She glared right back at him. “This is no way to propose to a woman!” she snarled.
Zeke shrugged again. “Marcy, you and I know that there’s nothing ordinary about our relationship.”
“And it’s about as ordinary as many marriages. Shotgun wedding, so to speak,” Teague explained as if his argument made perfect sense. “We know that you love him. He loves you, just set the date, Marcy,” he warned, pointing the gun at her.
She lifted her hands higher. “You wouldn’t!” she gasped.
Logan and Luke both snickered. “Oh, you know very well that he would,” they both said.
“Fine!” she screamed as Teague lifted the gun, aiming. Also knowing that Teague was ready to fire. “Fine! I’ll marry Zeke! Just drop your weapon.”
Teague shook his head. “Not good enough, Marcy. Set the date.”
She squared her shoulders, glaring at him. “Why do I need to set a date? Why can’t we just…”
“Because you’ll start overthinking. You’ll make up some crazy story in your mind and then you’ll talk yourself out of believing Zeke loves you. You’ll start organizing things and that will be the end of things. Set. A. Date.”
He was right. Darn it, he knew her too well. “Fine! One month from next Saturday.” She threw her hands up in the air.
“A month from last Saturday,” Zeke corrected.
Marcy’s eyes widened, but Teague’s water gun wavered as if he were aiming. “Fine. Now put down the water gun!” she ordered Teague.
Teague tilted his head, looking at her as if he didn’t completely believe her. “What’s the date, Zeke?” he asked.
Zeke pulled out his phone and called up the calendar. “April fourteenth,” he announced, a grin spreading over his features. “We’ll be married on April fourteenth.”
Marcy stared up at Zeke, her stomach clenching with nervousness.
The brothers nodded, completely oblivious to the silent messages going back and forth between Marcy and Zeke. Teague lowered his water gun even as Luke and Logan nodded their approval. “Good. April fourteenth. Now let’s eat,” Teague said, setting the water gun up on a shelf too high for Marcy to reach without help. He knew his assistant pretty well too.
While his three obnoxious brothers took up the lunch preparations, Zeke quietly walked over to Marcy, putting his hands on her waist. “April fourteenth, Marcy. Not a day later.”
She nodded her head but looked up at him with worried, anxious eyes. “Are you sure?” she asked.
He smiled and bent lower, kissing her lips gently. “I’m certain. You’re going to be my wife in less than one month.” His hand moved to her stomach. “And in a few more months, we’ll have a baby.”
She gasped at the reminder, her future suddenly a grey blur when before, everything had been perfectly defined. “I can’t! I have law school!”
He shook his head. “You hate law school,” he reminded her.
She couldn’t let it go. She’d been planning for law school, for her future, for too long. “But I have a plan!”
Zeke pressed his fingers into her tense shoulders, trying to release the stress he could feel in her body. “You need to make a new plan, love.” He watched as Teague took over grilling sandwiches while Logan and Luke heated up the soup. No one had invited them for lunch. They’d just invited themselves. As much as he wanted Marcy alone, he couldn’t kick his brothers out. They seemed to be the only thing pushing Marcy in the direction he wanted her to go.
“You’re going to be a mother. And a damn good one, I’m guessing,” he whispered, kissing her ear.
“I’ll second that,” Teague said, lifting the spatula in the air as if he were offering a vote.
Logan and Luke nodded their heads. “The best,” they both said, almost at the same time.
Their words seemed to loosen a knot that had formed around her chest. Even the tight feeling in her gut eased up. No more law school? And a new plan? She’d been stuck on the image in her mind of her future for so long, it had never occurred to her to create a new plan. One that took into account her latest hopes and dreams. Very slowly, as if her world were still a bit shaky, Marcy smiled, liking the idea of a new plan. “No more law school,” she said softly, lifting up on her toes to kiss her fiancé. “I like the sound of that.”
There was noise behind her as three very large men moved about Zeke’s kitchen, making themselves lunch. But she ignored it as she stared up at Zeke, all the love she was feeling towards the man shining in her eyes. “I love you,” she told him earnestly.
“I love you too, Marcy.”
Pans banged around, muttered curses and threats of bodily harm were heard. But Marcy only had eyes for Zeke.
Excerpt from “Seducing His Wife”
Book 3 in The Steele Brothers Series
“Figures!” Gabriella muttered as she stepped out of her rental car. Looking around, she had to be impressed with the scale of the building. It was one of the largest in the area and, by far, the most luxurious. But the boom in Seattle’s corporate district didn’t interest her. Not in any way, she told herself firmly.
She was here for one reason and one reason only. Get the signature, get back into her rental car and fly home. Toby, her fiancé, would never know about Teague Steele. No one in Boston could ever know! This was her secret, her one stupid moment of madness.
Teague was the biggest mistake she’d ever made. As soon as their…time together had come to an end, she’d realized how stupid she’d been that weekend.
Unfortunately, her weekend fling had turned into a bigger mistake than she’d thought possible. Teague might be gorgeous, funny, interesting, fascinating to talk to and…okay, yeah, he was beyond incredible in bed. But he wasn’t the kind of man she needed in her life. He was rough, obnoxious, arrogant, and didn’t listen to her needs adequately. He was just irritatingly sure that he knew what was right for her. For them.
Well he wasn’t right! He’d been
shockingly wrong!
She’d been wrong to…sew her wild oats with a man like Teague Steele. Stupid and wrong and just…stupid!
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself down, reminding herself that everyone made stupid mistakes that they regretted. She squared her shoulders, breathing in and out to find that inner peace that she’d struggled so hard over the past year to achieve.
It had been like that from the first moment she’d met Teague Steele. The racing heart, the crazy emotions, the insane actions…definitely not the actions of a woman with an intelligent and cautious head on her shoulders. Teague made her crazy. End of story.
Toby understood her. Toby was sweet and kind and so considerate, he made her feel respected and cared for. Toby was her future. Teague Steele, with all of his charm and devastating smiles and that amazing way he had of…well…
She shook her head and pushed thoughts of THAT out of her mind. THAT was irrelevant now. Teague was her past. Toby was the man she needed for her future. Teague was definitely not her future. Not in any way.
And as soon as she got his signature on these papers, she could put him out of her mind and move on with her life. Back to Toby.
Taking another deep, cleansing breath, she carefully stepped away from the relative security of her rental car, not exactly sure where to look, but determined to find the man. Tucking the brown envelope under her arm, she headed towards the only trailer on the construction site, hoping she appeared more confident than she felt. From past experience, she knew that the trailers on a work site usually housed the construction managers and, if the person were a good site manager, they would know where all of the employees on the site were at any given time.
She had to carefully step over the loose boards that had been laid down over the mud as a sort of pathway but the boards had been well used over the years and were barely better than the thick mud that seemed to surround every work site. Mud and dust. Her beautiful, black Prada pumps were not designed to be maneuvering around mud clumps, she thought with derision and frustration.
When she reached the steps leading up to the trailer, she sighed with relief when she’d arrived with her lovely shoes unsullied.
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