“Please let me get to the point, Dane,” I sighed. Then I waited a couple of seconds to make sure he was going to let me continue. “There was a couple back in the alley. They didn’t see me at first”—I neglected to mention why because he’d have a shit fit if he knew how bad I’d been feeling the past couple of days—“and they started going at it, right up against the brick wall.”
“Fuck, baby. You have the worst luck when it comes to walking in on people in comprising situations.”
“Not until you came into my life.” If I hadn’t been so scared, I’d probably find the situation funny. What were the odds that I’d stumble across my roommate having a threesome and a famous politician having extramarital sex in a dark and dirty alley? All within the same month, too.
“Did something else happen? You weren’t this upset about your roommate, and that had to have been worse than what you saw tonight.”
I took a deep breath before I gave him the bad part of the news. “The problem is that I recognized the guy. It was Dalton Gentry.” Dane’s sharp expletive confirmed he knew who I was talking about. “He saw me and sent a guy into the bar afterwards. Someone who offered me money to talk with him privately. When I refused, he threatened me about what would happen if I told anyone what I saw.”
“He fucking threatened you?” I heard the slamming of a door in the background, and his voice sounded like he was running.
“Not in so many words, but yeah, he made it clear that I needed to keep my mouth shut.”
There was the loud roar of an engine starting before he spoke again. “What exactly did he say?”
“That if I didn’t, things would get unpleasant for me. And how he didn’t want to see anything bad happen to a girl like me.”
“Fuck!” he roared. “This is exactly why I need my damn bar to sell, so I can be there for you when you need me.”
“It’s not like getting threats from political fixers is a normal occurrence for me.”
“But if I’d been there, you never would have been in the alley in the first place.”
I couldn’t argue with his logic since it was true.
“Go into the office and lock the door behind you. I’ll be there in three hours.”
Considering the flight took an hour and a half, he was a crazy man if he thought he’d be here in three. “There’s no way you can make it here that quickly.”
“I sure as fuck can,” he bit out. “I’ve already sent a text to the pilot I’ve been using for my flights down there, and I’m headed to the private airport he flies out of. If he’s not available, I’m sure he can recommend someone else who’d be willing to make a fuck-ton of money to get me to my woman when she needs me.”
Pilot? Suddenly his choice in apartments made a heck of a lot more sense. I probably should have realized he could afford private flights back and forth when he dragged me out to see apartments I couldn’t even afford to clean, let alone live in. He’d bought the one I’d fallen in love with, and the purchase had barely made him blink. The same way he’d bought Club Cache. In hindsight, the signs were obvious.
It didn’t matter to me, though. How much money he had wasn’t important. Dane, the man who always made me feel like I was the center of his world, was.
9
Dane
Xander Gray was waiting for me when the plane landed. I’d pulled some strings to get his personal cell number while I was waiting for the pilot to get the plane ready. He owned a security company in Atlanta that had been the talk of the local news stations a few weeks ago when they’d been instrumental in saving one of Hollywood’s hottest stars from an obsessed fan. Only the best would do when it came to Addilyn’s safety, and from what I’d heard that was exactly what he was.
I’d called him during the flight and explained the situation, sharing the limited details Addilyn had been able to provide. He’d been willing to take the case but wanted one of his staff to handle it. I’d found myself doing something completely out of character for me—opening up about my feelings. When I explained how much Addilyn meant to me, and what the thought of her being in danger did to me, he seemed to get where I was coming from and told me he’d look into it himself. We’d talked less than an hour ago, so I hadn’t been expecting to hear anything back so quickly, let alone find him standing next to a black SUV as I walked off the plane.
As I walked towards him, I pulled my phone out of my pocket to make sure I hadn’t missed a call from Addilyn while we were landing. “Is she okay? Did something else happen?”
“Shit, sorry,” he sighed. “I didn’t think about you thinking the worst at seeing me here.”
“No worries,” I assured, holding my hand out for a quick shake. “I take it you’ve already made some progress, then?”
“Oh, yeah. You could definitely say that.” He grinned, satisfaction gleaming from his dark eyes. “Mr. Gentry and his team weren’t expecting a bartender to push back after the way they approached her. They figured she’d either be scared off or decide she wanted money to keep her mouth shut.”
“How did they react to your approach?”
He shook his head in disgust. “Like the fucking cowards that they are. Gentry looked like he was ready to shit his pants, and the guy who must fucking work around the clock to cover up his messes wasn’t much better.”
“So I don’t have to worry about them trying to approach Addilyn again?”
“There isn’t a chance in hell they’re going to get anywhere near her. It didn’t even take my team thirty minutes to dig up enough dirt on Gentry to bury his political career and destroy his marriage. I’m not sure which scared him more since his wife is the one with the family money that paid to get him into office.”
I felt like I could finally breathe again for the first time since Addilyn had called me. “Thank fuck.”
“You don’t have anything to worry about from those two,” he assured me. “If they were to see her on the sidewalk tomorrow, they’d run in the other direction to get away. It was hands down the easiest case I’ve ever taken on. I’m not sure how the bastard has managed to keep his shit out of the public eye for so long, but I have a feeling he’s going to have a harder time with it going forward.”
“What do you mean?”
“Gentry tried to hire me before I left, and his guy didn’t like it. Not even a little bit. Guys like him tend to be territorial with their clients. He probably figured I’d eventually push him out of the picture or something. If he’s pissed off enough about the offer and decides to leave? Gentry is fucked.”
I stared him in the eye and injected steel into my tone. “I want you to stay on the case. Keep an eye on them. If you see an opportunity? Take it and destroy them both.”
“You sure you want to take it that far with your woman already out of danger?”
“They scared her.” I gritted my teeth at the thought of her being alone and afraid. “She’s mine. It’s my job to keep her safe, and I want them to pay for what they did.”
“When you put it that way, I can’t fault your logic. If someone tried to fuck with my Calista, I’d want to destroy them, too. In my case, I’d only get the chance if she left something for me after she kicked their asses herself, though. So I’ll enjoy myself a little extra knowing I can do this for you and Addilyn.” He looked down and chuckled. “Hell, maybe I’ll even ask Calista to help with the research end of things. She’s a fucking shark when she goes after someone, and she’d be thrilled as fuck to get in on this since she’s been restricted to desk duty since we found out she was pregnant.”
The way he spoke about his woman made it clear that he respected her. Considering Xander’s reputation, she had to be one hell of a woman to have earned a place on his team, let alone his obvious love for her. “Congratulations, man.”
“Thanks.” He beamed a smile at me, proud as fuck to have knocked his woman up.
His pride and satisfaction stayed with me after we’d said goodbye and I was headed to the bar. I wanted that fo
r myself. I’d been watching Addilyn like a hawk the past two weekends, hoping like hell to see a sign that she was pregnant. So far, there hadn’t been any, and it had only made me work that much harder to make it happen—and that instinct was only stronger when I found her huddled in a chair in the office of the bar. The adrenaline rush left me hard and ready to fuck. I forced those feelings down until I knew for sure that she was okay.
“Addilyn, baby.”
Her head whipped up, and she jumped from her seat and ran towards me. “Dane,” she cried as she threw herself into my arms. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”
“Of course I’m here. Where else would I be when you need me?”
Her arms tightened around me. “Right where you are, taking care of me.”
“Speaking of taking care of you”—I set her on her feet and tilted her head up so I could look at her while we talked—“Gentry isn’t going to be a problem.”
“What about the guy he sent to threaten me?”
“He’s been taken care of as well.”
“How?” she sputtered. “How did you manage so much in only three hours?”
“It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you aren’t flying commercial.”
Her blue eyes narrowed. “What’s up with that, anyway? You never mentioned taking private flights any of the times you’ve come in before.”
“I’ve got to play at least a few of my cards close to my chest.” I yanked her closer. “Especially since you already seemed uncomfortable about the kind of homes we looked at. I didn’t want to freak you out any further and figured I could get you used to my way of life one step at a time.”
“Is it safe for me to assume you’ve got a whole lot more money than I thought? You’ve bought Club Cache, dropped a ridiculous amount on our new place, and fly a private plane down here every weekend to see me. All without having sold your bar in Chicago yet.”
“My bar does well, but I’ve got a family trust from my grandparents that I came into when I turned twenty-two.”
“Huh.” That was the extent of her reaction, and it was sexy as fuck after spending years avoiding grasping women who wanted access to my bank account and didn’t care what they had to do to get it. Addilyn couldn’t care less, to the point where she was distressed when I tried to do what she thought was too much for her.
Bending down, I slammed my mouth down over hers. Her lips parted, and my tongue swept inside. I slid my palm down her spine and pressed her flush against my body. She moaned into my mouth, and I lifted her and spun around to set her on the desk. Her legs wrapped around my waist, her heels digging into my ass. I yanked her closer, until my hardened cock pressed against her pussy. I felt her wet heat through her jeans and needed it on my tongue. It had been days, and I fully intended to taste every inch of her skin over the course of the night.
Tearing my mouth away, I kissed my way along the column of her throat as my fingers yanked her shirt up. Once it was off, I tackled her bra. Her tits bounced free and the pink buds at the tips puckered under my stare. I massaged both of them, my fingers digging into the pillowy flesh. “Fuck, baby. Your body is amazing. That hot, little pussy soaking the denim of your jeans, and these perfect tits. I’m the luckiest man alive because you’re mine.”
I rocked into her as I nibbled my way further down, my tongue circling a nipple before I sucked it deep into my mouth. I kept up a steady rotation—a thrust of my hips against her followed by pulsing suction on her tit, alternating sides so I didn’t neglect one of her perfect tits. I worked her into a frenzy until she was writhing on the desk.
“Nobody else will ever see you like this but me.”
I bit her nipple and tugged it between my teeth as I circled my hips.
“Come for me, baby. I want one just like this before I rip those jeans down your legs so I can fuck you.”
I pinched her other nipple, and she screamed out my name as she exploded. Her back arched, pressing her tits deeper into my hands and I finally noticed something I should have seen the moment I’d taken her bra off.
“Am I crazy, or do your tits seem bigger?”
10
Addilyn
Irritability?
I had that in spades.
Nausea?
Puking in the alley had gotten me into trouble in the first place.
Tiredness?
Eight hours of sleep a day wasn’t cutting it for me anymore.
Swollen breasts?
Apparently, I had those, too.
Each symptom by itself could be innocently explained away. Combine them all together? That was a whole other story.
“Holy crap,” I breathed out.
His head jerked up and startled hazel eyes met mine. “What?”
I pushed on his chest, sending him back a step, and slid off the desk. Snagging my bra and shirt from the ground, I yanked them on. “We need to have this conversation at home.”
“What conversation?” His gaze dropped to my boobs and then down to my belly. “Oh!” A huge grin spread across his face. “Hell yeah, we’re talking about this at home.”
Grabbing hold of my hand, he marched me through the bar and out to his car—and by his car, I truly meant his. He’d tackled our living arrangements his first weekend back, and then he’d bought two cars during the next trip down. A black Range Rover for him and a white one he expected me to drive. That had only been a few days earlier, and I was still scared to death that I’d damage it any time I took the Rover out. But I didn’t think twice about leaving it in the bar’s parking lot tonight. My brain was still too busy trying to wrap itself around the idea of me being pregnant with Dane’s baby.
The car pulled to a stop, and I looked out the window. “What’re we doing here?”
“Don’t get out. I’m going to run inside and grab something.” He pressed a hard kiss to my mouth before climbing out of the car. I watched as he ran across the parking lot and into the drug store. A few minutes later, he was racing back towards me and tossed a bag into my lap before he pulled out of the parking lot. I peeked inside and found four different kinds of pregnancy tests. Apparently, he’d put two plus two together and come to the same conclusion I had.
Since we were close to home, I bit my lip to keep myself from saying anything until we got there. He seemed to be on the same page as me because he didn’t talk either. He did hold my hand tightly the rest of the way home, though. When he parked the car, he was out of it in a flash and yanking my door open. He practically dragged me into the building and stabbed at the button for the elevator about a half-dozen times before it came.
He slammed the door behind us when we got to our apartment and tugged me over to the brown leather couch we’d bought on our first furniture shopping trip. He settled me on his lap, placing a hand over my belly. “Much better. This is closer to how I pictured us having this particular conversation.” His hand slid higher, to just below my breasts. “The only better option would be if we were naked in our bed.”
Normally, I loved how open Dane was about wanting me. But right at that moment, sex was the last thing on my mind. “How long have you been thinking about it?”
He snagged the bag from the drug store out of my hand. “Long enough to have done research online into all four of these brands of pregnancy tests.” He dug inside the bag and pulled out a bright pink box. “It’s better to take them in the morning, but this one is for early detection so we might be able to get a decent test result without having to wait until then.”
I peered up at him, searching for a sign that he was joking. As impossible as it was to believe he’d done something so girlie since he was such a guy, I didn’t find any. “You’ve been looking pregnancy tests up on the Internet?”
“Yeah, I knew we’d need one sooner or later, preferably sooner, and I wanted to be prepared.”
That was sweet, and my heart melted a little. “How did you know we’d need one?”
Laughter filled his hazel eyes. “I get that you we
re a virgin, but you had to know that with as much come as I’ve shot into your pussy you were bound to get pregnant eventually.”
I rolled my eyes at him because, of course, I knew I could get pregnant with all the sex we’d been having. But, was he saying what I thought he was saying?
“Have you been trying to get me pregnant?”
“Of course I’ve been fucking trying.”
Oh.
My.
Goodness.
How in the heck hadn’t I figured it out myself when he’d never so much as said the word “condom” around me?
“You know that’s kind of, sort of, absolutely insane, right?”
He raised his eyebrows and shot me a look that clearly meant he didn’t give a damn. “Is it any crazier than buying a bar the night I met you because I wanted you to have the week off so you could spend it with me?”
“Yeah, I guess when you put it that way,” I sighed. But then I thought about it for a moment and changed my mind. “Except, owning Club Cache doesn’t have to be a permanent thing. You can always sell it to someone else if you don’t want it anymore. But I’ll always be your baby mama if I’m pregnant. There won’t be any going back from that.”
His arms banded around me tightly, as though he thought I was going to try to get away from him. “You won’t be my baby mama. You’ll be my fucking wife.”
“Wife?” I squeaked.
“Yes,” he hissed.
“Are you telling me you want to marry me or asking me to marry you?”
“Fuck,” he groaned. “I do have a habit of telling you things, but I guess in this instance I should probably ask, huh?”
The sudden lump I felt in my throat made it hard to speak, so I nodded.
“Don’t move,” he ordered before shifting me off his lap and onto the cushion next to him. Then he got up and disappeared down the hall that led to the bedrooms. I heard a drawer slam shut and his footsteps as he returned. When he reached the couch again, he didn’t sit back down. Instead, he dropped to a knee in front of me and opened his clenched fist.
Sex, Vows & Babies_Mixed Into Love Page 5
