Worth Every Cent

by Lexy Timms

  But when she drew in another deep breath, she rolled over and opened one eye.

  Holy hell, she was an adorable woman.

  “Gray?” she asked sleepily.

  “I bring food,” I said, as I sat on the edge of her bed.

  She sat herself up, her robe falling open and giving me a tantalizing glance at her naked skin.

  “Smells great,” she said, with a lopsided smile.

  “Eggs with cheese, bacon, toast, some blackberry jam, coffee, and all the trimmings to go with it,” I said.

  Her stomach let out a voracious growl as a blush tinted her cheeks.

  “Sounds like I did a good job,” I said, with a grin.

  “Sorry,” Michelle said.

  “Don’t be. Looks like I came in at just the right time.”

  “Are you going to eat with me?”

  “Do you want me to?”

  She nodded her head sheepishly and it set a fire burning in the tips of my toes.

  “Then let me go fix a plate and I’ll be back in,” I said.

  I left to go get myself some food, then came back and wiggled into bed with Michelle. Her thigh pressed against mine while we ate in silence, and I was painfully aware of how she kept glancing over at me. She was looking so intently at me that she kept forgetting to consume her own food. And her plate was beginning to get cold.

  So, I turned my body towards hers, speared some eggs, and held them up to her lips.

  “If you’re not going to feed your body, then I will,” I said.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just—no one’s ever made me breakfast in bed before.”

  I pressed the eggs closer to her lips, watching as she parted them. They wrapped around the fork and I couldn’t help but think about the way they wrapped around my cock. She slid the eggs off the fork and began to chew, humming and moaning as she savored every bite. I dropped my fork to spear a little more, waited until she swallowed, then offered her up some more food.

  I loved watching her eat my food.

  But what I loved even more was feeding it to her. Something I never thought I’d take any sort of joy in.

  What the hell was this woman doing to me?

  Chapter 26

  Michelle

  Was I still dreaming? Was I going to wake up soon? Was this handsome man really feeding me from his own fork? It didn’t seem like my life. Things like this didn’t happen to me on a regular basis. Or ever. At all. But still, part of me wished my life would even out. The highs I experienced with Gray were enormous and wondrous, but the lows I experienced to get there were dragging me under and making it feel like I couldn’t breathe. I wish I didn’t have to experience the terrible lows to get to the crazy highs. I was thankful for Gray’s actions, especially since it was yet a new experience with him.

  But I really needed my life to stop assuming it was made to be a rollercoaster.

  He fed me until I was full, then he rid us of the plates and held me against his body. I sagged against him, drawing in the scent of his body wash and the strength of his arms. I closed my eyes and committed it all to memory. I no longer tried to tell myself it was only temporary. Because I knew once he left, I’d have nothing again. So why taint what I had now just to dwell on what would eventually happen in the future? My life was destined to crumble, so I might as well enjoy the ride down to the dirt.

  “What’s on the agenda for today?” I asked.

  “We don’t have anything to do today,” Gray said.

  The idea of having an entire day where nothing had to get accomplished lifted some anxiety off my chest. Last night, it felt hard to breathe. Blow after blow continued until I was crawling on my bloodied knees, and I had no idea if I’d be up to a full day of activities. So to know I didn’t have to muster up the energy somewhere to engage anything specific made me smile.

  Made me feel lighter than air, almost.

  Gray had been an incredible support, and I was thankful for his presence. He sat there in my bed and held me silently, not attempting to engage me in any conversation or make my brain work in any way. Slowly, I felt some of the weight from the past twenty-four hours lift from my shoulders. I felt the fear and agony I’d experienced when I left work for the last time lift away and cast itself elsewhere.

  It felt good to feel so unburdened.

  “I should get a shower,” I said.

  “Care for some company?” Gray asked.

  I giggled and shook my head as I sat up from his chest.

  “As much as that sounds phenomenal, I need to take a few more deep breaths.”

  “Whatever you want, Michelle. I’m going to get these plates cleaned up and poke around the house a little bit.”

  “I’ll be out in a sec,” I said.

  The shower felt nice. Not as heavy as it had the night before. I washed my body down and rinsed my face off, ridding my skin of the dried tears that reminded me of my failure and heartache. I washed my hair before getting out, then wrapped a towel around my body and stepped into my room.

  And I found myself face-to-face with Gray.

  His eyes raked up and down my body before he took a step forward. And before I knew it, his lips were upon mine. The towel fell from my body and he fell to his knees, parting my dripping folds and making them wet in a completely different way. I tightened my hands into his hair and pulled him closer. Rode his tongue and ground down onto him until I reached the heights of my pleasure. He thrust his tongue against my walls and I clamped down onto it, trapping it within me as he swallowed my arousal.

  I fell into his arms, not moving until my body had dried itself out in the air conditioning of the house.

  The entire day was like that. Gray poked around the house and rearranged a few things while I poked around in the attic for things we could use to decorate the house with. I figured he was still trying to sell it off, and there were a few items in the attic I felt could benefit from some showcasing. A couple of framed scenic pictures. A small sculpture. A couple of books that would look really nice on the small table in the library.

  We danced around one another all day, stealing kisses and romantic moments where we could.

  I watched from the porch as Gray pulled the weeds in the back garden. His shirt was tossed over his shoulder and his hands were covered in dirt. Sweat dripped from his brow and dripped down his body, following his muscles natural peaks and dips as his strength shone for me. I walked out to him with a trash can so he could put the weeds in there, making it easier to dump.

  And before I knew it, I was on my knees with his cock in my mouth.

  He leaned against the tree, his body exposed to the world as I lapped him up. I drank down his precum and played with his balls, feeling them grow heavier and lower than ever. I hollowed out my cheeks and sucked him back. I moaned every single time he tightened his dirt-covered hands in my hair. I watched all of his muscles twitch for me as he thrust against my face, my lips swelling around him.

  Then, for the first time, he exploded down my throat and I got to taste him.

  Our stolen romantic trysts made everything else feel so domestic. I wrapped my arms around him while he cooked and he kissed my neck whenever I washed down the plates. We cuddled in the library while reading our separate books and even had some conversations over wine while sitting with the television on mute in the background. It felt comfortable. Familiar, yet oddly new. And even though we went to bed in separate rooms, I knew the truth I’d been so afraid of admitting.

  I’d fallen in love with Grayson MacDonald.

  There wasn’t any denying it, and I wanted to tell him. Hell, I wanted to shout it from the rooftops so everyone in this stupid ass town knew. I wanted them to know their gossip hadn’t hindered what we had found. That their nasty attitudes and biased hiring and firing practices hadn’t deterred me from finding the one thing I felt every person on earth deserved.

  True, unadulterated love.

  I wanted to tell Gray how I felt, but I was waiting for the right moment. Th
ere was no point in fighting my want for him any longer, because I’d already gone around a bend I could never come back from. So, instead of fighting his insistence that I stay with him under Anton’s roof, I went about trying to figure out how to tell him what I was feeling.

  Because I knew it I did, there was a chance he felt the same way.

  And maybe—just maybe—my dream to leave this place with him could come true.

  “Gray?”

  “Yeah, Michelle?”

  “Is it okay if I borrow your rental to go get some groceries?” I asked.

  “Sure. The keys are on the table in the kitchen. Could you also stop by the gas station in town? I need another container of oil.”

  “Text me what kind of oil you need and I’ll make sure to get it.”

  “Thanks,” he said.

  I grabbed the keys from the table and started for the convertible. Gray’s body was bent underneath the hood of a car in the garage. A car that looked like it needed a lot of elbow grease to make it run again. I wondered if it had been Anton’s, or if it was a personal project of Gray’s. I didn’t recognize it. But then again, if it had been under a tarp in the garage for a while, then it didn’t shock me that I didn’t know it was there. When I worked for Anton, the garage was one of the places I never had to go in. I was always in the storage shed at the back of his property, pulling out the lawnmower and the shears to trim up bushes and stuff.

  “I’ll be back in about an hour? Maybe two?” I asked.

  “Take your time. I don’t need the oil right away, but I will need it eventually.”

  I watched Gray mindlessly dip into his wallet and pull out a one hundred dollar bill.

  “Are you sure? I can get the groceries with my tip money,” I said.

  “Keep your money, Michelle. I’ll see you soon.”

  He looked back just long enough to throw me that silly little wink of his that melted me at the knees every single time. I hopped behind the wheel of the car and started off, rolling down the top so the wind could caress my hair. I enjoyed that feeling. It felt like Gray’s fingers running through my tendrils. I drove through town and stopped at the store to get a few things, then I made a run to the butcher’s shop to get some fresh meat.

  I wanted to cook up a pork tenderloin for Gray for dinner.

  “Well, there’s a familiar face I haven’t seen in a few days.”

  “Hey, Dr. Luke,” I said with a smile.

  “What brings you into the butcher’s today?”

  “Oh, you know. I need some toilet bowl cleaner. A few paper towels. A newspaper.”

  “A sense of humor. I like it,” he said. “They’re having a sale on their beef and chicken bones today.”

  “Why would you want just the bones?”

  “To make stock. Some of the best nutrients that can come from meat isn’t actually in the meat itself, but in the marrow of the bones of the animal.”

  “You really are full of facts, aren’t you?” I asked.

  “I make up regular batches, then freeze the contents. They make great soup bases, but they’re also good on their own. Especially when flu season comes around.”

  “Oh, don’t get me started on that. Every single year, whether I get vaccinated or not, I get—”

  The room tilted as quickly as I’d ever experienced it and my vision tunneled.

  “Michelle, are you okay?”

  Dr. Luke’s voice sounded far away as I stumbled on my feet.

  “Michelle, can you hear me?”

  I felt his hand come down onto my arm as I whipped my head up. But the movement was a mistake. Before I could catch myself, I ran over to the nearest trash can and dipped my head into it. My stomach lurched, the world corrected, and all of the contents from the breakfast I’d made for Gray and I that morning came tumbling out of my stomach. I leaned over and wretched in the middle of the butcher’s shop with Dr. Luke holding my hair back. Tears streamed down my face and my stomach continued to lurch until I had nothing left to give.

  “Oh my gosh,” I said between heaves. “I’m so—sorry—”

  “It’s okay,” Dr. Luke said. “Get it up.”

  I panted with the exertion until my stomach stopped dancing inside my body. Then, the headache came on. A pounding, unrelenting headache that shook my vision. I felt something being held to my lips and opened my mouth as Dr. Luke tilted my head off to the side. I guzzled the water down, hearing the butcher talk behind me before I felt myself being moved.

  Dr. Luke shuffled me off to a corner while the butcher took the trash can out back.

  “When are you due?” he asked.

  I furrowed my brow as he sat me down into a chair.

  “What?” I asked.

  “When are you due? You can’t be that far along. Maybe two months at the most. I’m wondering because I haven’t seen you in my office yet, despite your promise to come see me.”

  “I’m not pregnant,” she said.

  “You are. And if this is news to you, then you really need to come see me.”

  “Dr. Luke, I’m not pregnant. I can’t— I can’t be pregnant.”

  I looked up into his soft, kind eyes, but I knew he wasn’t joking around with me. His eyes might’ve been calm and collected, but his stare and his stern lips were insistent.

  “I’ve delivered my fair share of children, Michelle. I’ve taken care of my fair share of pregnant women, including my wife with our five kids. I know when a woman’s pregnant, and not simply because of my profession. It’s a sixth sense at this point for me.”

  “But I’m on birth control. Regularly,” I said.

  Dr. Luke chuckled to himself before sitting down next to me.

  “Birth control isn’t foolproof,” he said. “The most popular form? The pill? Only ninety seven percent effective if taken at the same exactly moment every single day. But if even one is missed? Or off by an hour or two? That effectiveness drops to seventy two percent.”

  “What?” I asked flatly.

  “Yeah. And don’t get me started on the shot. That one’s even worse.”

  I looked down at the bottle of water in my hands as my mind came to a grinding halt.

  I was pregnant?

  “Come see me soon for prenatal vitamins, okay? We’ll get your blood levels tested, make sure you’re not deficient in anything. We’ll get you your first ultrasound and get a file started on you that will transfer to any hospital in the outlying towns. But don’t put it off, okay?” he asked.

  I nodded mindlessly, only half-listening to what he was saying. The meat I needed to get was no longer on my mind. The groceries in the back of the convertible were no longer on my mind. Not even the oil I needed to get Gray was on my mind. The only thing I could think about was getting to the drug store and taking a pregnancy test.

  “I have to go,” I said breathlessly.

  I didn’t stop to take in what Dr. Luke was saying as I ran out of the front door of the butcher’s shop.

  Clutching my purse as tightly as I could, I raced up the road. The pharmacy was only a block and a half from where I was. I ran as fast as my legs would take me, ignoring the sweat dripping down the sides of my face. I burst into the store, almost knocking over a man coming out, and I ignored his curses as I headed for the family planning aisle. Gasping for air, my eyes scanned the shelving. Rows and rows of pregnancy tests, all touting how they were the best and the most accurate. I grabbed two boxes with multiple tests in them, then reached for a bottle of water once I got to the cash register.

  I looked up at the old lady and hoped to the heavens she wouldn’t recognize me or remember my purchase.

  Stuffing everything into my purse, I looked at what was around me. There was a restaurant, the gas station, and a liquor store. The gas station. I still had to get Gray’s oil. I pulled out my phone and pulled up his text message, then committed to memory the kind he needed. My mind swirled with the host of possible issues that could arise if I was pregnant. I stumbled towards the gas statio
n, picking up the oil before I cracked open the bottle of water. I chugged it down and paid for the oil, then asked to borrow their restroom so I could get it all over with.

  So I could have some answers.

  “Come on,” I said as I looked at the tests. “Go faster.”

  I jiggled my leg as I sat on the toilet. Four tests, all digital, and all costing me a fortune. I held my hands to my mouth and closed my eyes, willing myself to stay as strong as I could. I’d been crying enough over my life. If I was pregnant, at least it wouldn’t be Andy’s. If Dr. Luke said I wasn’t more than two months along, then there was no way it was Andy’s child. I hadn’t been with Andy in over three months. But I had been with Gray a couple of months ago.

  And multiple times since then.

  I opened my eyes and took stock of all the tests in front of me. Tears rushed my eyes as I looked down at my thighs, taking in the tests sitting on top of my skin.

  Pregnant, 7-8 weeks.

  Pregnant, 7-8 weeks.

  Pregnant, smiley face.

  Pregnant, plus sign.

  Oh. Holy. Shit.

  I was pregnant with Gray’s child.

  Chapter 27

  Grayson

  Michelle had been very quiet since yesterday. She came back with a bunch of produce, absolutely no meat, and my oil. I did the best I could with dinner, not wanting to upset her if for some reason the butcher shop hadn’t panned out. For all I knew, someone had driven her out of the damn place. But every time I tried to get her to talk with me, she’d look at me with this worried stare before telling me she was fine.

  But I knew better.

  I knew she wasn’t fine.

  I wondered if she was feeling depressed again. If she was battling the question of what her future held for her now. So, I decided a gift would cheer her up. I started into town when I woke up Thursday morning to pick her up a bouquet of beautiful flowers from the florist. I passed by the liquor shop and decided to grab us a bottle of wine, especially since we’d long finished the box Maria sent us. It wouldn’t be as good as the wine I produced, but it would be a nice touch with the flowers. I grabbed a couple of bottles and put them in the trunk of the car, then walked across the street to the florist shop.