“What time is it? We need to be out the door by seven-thirty, and he can’t see you here.” I didn’t have the energy to explain to Sam what Roman was doing here.
“It’s only six o’clock. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
I opened both eyes and looked up at him. “Really?” It felt like it was ten o’clock.
“Promise, baby.”
Well, that was good. Although Roman still needed to get out before Sam woke up. “Sam wakes up at six forty-five.”
He smiled and shook his head. “I promise I’ll be gone before he wakes up.” He pulled down the blanket, exposing my bare breasts and stomach.
“What are you doing?” I squawked. I tried to tug the blanket back up, but he tossed it back and rested his hand on my stomach.
“You told me I could touch your stomach last night.”
“Pretty sure you did touch it last night,” I mumbled. He had touched everything last night.
He looked up at me and shook his head. “Not like that, baby.” His hand grazed over my stomach.
This was slightly odd, but it was also nice. “Um, I’m not very big yet. It’s hard to tell I’m pregnant.” I actually liked it that way right now, so I didn’t have to explain to Sam or Mary and Dale I was going to have a baby.
“I can feel it, though. It’s just a tiny bump, but it’s there. I can’t wait to hear its heartbeat,” he said in awe.
“Yeah, that’s when it really becomes real. I remember with Sam, it didn’t hit me that I was going to have a baby until I saw it on the screen. I don’t think it ever hit Jack.”
“What? How is that?” he asked,
“Because he never got to see Sam in person. He only came home one time while I was pregnant.”
“Jesus, that must have driven him crazy.”
I shrugged. I doubted it had any effect on Jack.
I had found out I was pregnant two weeks after he had deployed, and he was deployed for six months, and then signed back up right away to go back for another six months. I had seen Jack for a total of two weeks when I was pregnant. He didn’t even go to the doctor with me or even act like I was pregnant. I knew something was wrong when he was home those two weeks, but I buried my head in the sand and ignored it. I had been an idiot. A month after he deployed for the second time, he had told me he wanted a divorce and would sign any papers I needed to get full custody of Sam.
The man who I had fallen in love with, married, and made a baby with, didn’t want anything to do with me or our baby.
Roman put a finger under my chin and tilted my head back to look at him. “Talk to me, baby. What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”
“Um, nothing. Just thinking.”
“I got about forty minutes before I need to leave.”
“I’m sure you don’t want to spend that time talking about my dead husband.”
“I do if there is something bothering you about him.”
“Let me up.”
His hand snaked around my waist, and he scooted closer. “Not happening. Something is going on in that head of yours, and I want to know what it is.”
“You know most men avoid having talks like this, right?”
Roman shook his head. “I’m not most men, baby. Spill or I’ll keep you in bed until you do.”
“Sam can’t see us like this.” I was naked for God’s sake. This man was crazy if he thought it was okay for Sam to come in here.
“Then I guess you better get to talking.”
That sneaky bastard. “Using your ninja muscles against me is really douchey.”
His eyes twinkled. “But it’s working. No lying and making up some bullshit about what you were thinking about.”
I sighed and tried to move away. “I’m not trying to escape. Can you just give me a little space? What I was just thinking about, no one knows, and I never imagined you would be the first person I tell it to.”
He moved back into the pillows but kept his arm around me. “Take your time.”
“Not too much time, though,” I mumbled.
Roman’s chest rumbled with laughter, but he stayed quiet.
Jesus. Here goes nothing. “You can’t tell anyone this, Roman.” He nodded. “I’m just gonna spit it all out, okay?”
“I’m listening.”
“Jack never got to see Sam. He came home for two weeks in between deployments when I was six months pregnant. I saw him maybe a total of two days. Then he was gone again. Off saving the world. He loved it. You know when you meet someone, and you know what they are doing is their destiny?”
“Me and Powerhouse, baby.”
“Exactly. That was Jack. He was the career Army guy who was never going to quit.”
“So what happened?”
I swallowed and felt the tears coming to my eyes. I hated this part because, for as much of a good man Jack was in the Army, he was a shit husband at home. “Two weeks after he left the second time, he called me.” A dull laugh ripped from my lips. “Jack never called. If I needed to talk to him, I made the call. I knew as soon as I heard his voice, something was wrong.”
Roman wrapped me up in his arms and pulled me to his chest. “Don’t cry, baby. I’m here.”
I hated Jack could still make me cry. The man had been out of my life for four years, but it still hurt what he had done to me.
“Pretty sure if your husband wasn’t dead, baby, I’d punch his lights out.”
I wiped my nose with the back of my hand. “You don’t even know what happened.”
“Doesn’t matter. He made you cry.”
Oh, Roman. How could I have been so wrong about this man? He was sweet, kind, and funny. Not saying he wasn’t a cocky asshole some of the time, but he had a side to him I never imagined. “You’re crazy, but I appreciate it.” I sighed and leaned my head against his shoulder. “Jack had met someone. She was in the Army with him, and he loved her.”
“Fucking bastard.”
I patted him on the chest. “Down, ninja.” He growled but let me finish. “He said when he was done with his deployment, he was going to move out, and do whatever I needed to sign the baby over to me.”
Roman’s body went solid, and his arms squeezed me. “He didn’t want you or the baby?”
Spoken out loud, it hurt even more. It didn’t hurt because Jack didn’t want me, it hurt because he didn’t want a baby who wasn’t even born yet. He wasn’t even willing to give Sam a chance. Jack would have loved Sam if he just would have given him a chance. “Um, no. He wanted a completely new start.”
“If he wasn’t dead, I’d kill him right now, Sage. A man who doesn’t want his unborn baby isn’t worthy of you.” Roman tipped up my chin and leaned close. “Don’t cry for him, Sage.”
A sad smile crossed my lips. “I cry for Sam. Not only did he never meet his dad, but his dad also didn’t want him.”
“He’ll never know that, Sage. That dies right here with me, right now. That isn’t your burden to carry anymore. You told me, and now you can let it go.”
“I’m lying to him, though, Roman. I tell him his dad was a brave man who wanted to know him more than anything.”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “That’s because you’re a good mom, baby. Handing that burden off to Sam would hurt him.”
I buried my head in his chest and sobbed. It would hurt him. Hell, for a while, it almost killed me. I hated Jack when he told me he didn’t want Sam. How could someone not give a little baby a chance? He didn’t want me, and that was fine, but why hate Sam?
I kept waiting for the day Mary or Dale would call and ask me why Jack and I were getting a divorce, but it never happened. As far as I knew, Jack had never told his mom and dad before he died. Mary and Dale had become close to me during the pregnancy, and I think Jack knew that it would hurt them if he told them he wasn’t coming back.
Sometimes I wondered what would have happened if Jack hadn’t died. Would he have actually given up his rights, or would he have come around and
realized how amazing Sam was? It was useless wondering because I was never going to know.
“Sage,” Roman called.
I tilted my head back. “Yeah?”
“No matter what happens between us, I’ll always want our baby. Even if you end up hating me, I’ll always be here.”
I reached up and trailed my fingers across his cheek. “You could always end up hating me.”
“Very doubtful, baby.”
“I can be a raging bitch some of the time.” My eyes drifted to the side. “Or a lot of the time.”
He touched my chin and turned my head to him. “I haven’t seen any proof of that so far. At least not directed at me. Now if you were to ask Dante, he might say different.”
“Dante is a dick,” I grumbled. “He’s now sunk so low as to steal cookies from the case when Molly or I aren’t looking.”
“He steals them?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and turned onto my back. “Well, he steals them out of the case, and then he leaves a five on the register.”
Roman’s body shook, and he laid a hand on my stomach. “Not exactly stealing, baby.”
“Same difference,” I mumbled.
“You want me to have a talk with him?”
“Why?”
“Because he’s making you upset, and I don’t think you should be stressing out over cookies when you’re pregnant.”
I looked up into his face. I had never had someone like Roman in my life. He was in my corner no matter what, and I hadn’t done anything to deserve it. “I don’t know if you’re just looking for a fight, or if you really care.”
He rolled on top of me and pinned my arms above my head. “I can tell you right now, baby, I have never meant anything more in my life than the last ten minutes. If I could beat the shit out of your ex, I would. If you want me to tell Dante to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine, I will. And I swear on my life, I will never voluntarily leave you or Sam.”
“That’s a lot to promise, Roman.” I didn’t want empty promises and for him to tell me what I wanted to hear.
“They’re not promises, Sage. It’s the fucking truth.”
“You’re really going to have to work on your swearing if you stick around.”
“No f-u-c-k-i-n-g problem,” he spelled out.
A giggle bubbled from my lips, and he pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“Momma!”
“Oh, f-u-c-k!” Roman whispered.
Now he chooses to actually stick to spelling.
He rolled off me and dropped to the floor away from the door.
“What are you doing?” I whisper shouted at him.
He put a finger to his lips and shook his head.
“Momma, can I have cereal for breakfast?” Sam shouted through the door.
“Yes, baby. Just let me grab my robe, and I’ll be right out to help.”
“‘Kay.” Sam’s footsteps padded down the hallway, and I collapsed onto the bed. “Jesus, that was close.”
Roman peeked over the bed and looked at me. “You’re telling me. I was about to flip you over and have my way with you before the little dude woke up.”
I giggled and shook my head. “Looks like you’re gonna have to take a raincheck on that one.”
“You can bet your sweet ass I’ll be cashing that in tonight.”
“You think so?”
He pulled himself onto the bed and pressed a kiss to my lips. “I fucking know so.”
I tsked. “Such language, Mr. Yeck.”
He shook his head and threaded his fingers through my hair. “Distract the boy, and I’ll sneak out.”
“Okay.”
“Now kiss me.”
“So demanding.”
His eyes darkened, and if I had been wearing panties, I’m sure they would have gone up in flames.
I leaned in, closing the gap between us, and kissed him. He instantly took over the kiss, pulling me to him. My arms circled his neck, and I held on as his tongue invaded my mouth, and all I could do was feel.
“Get dressed, and stop teasing me Ms. Wick,” he whispered against my lips.
“Momma!”
I scrambled out of bed and grabbed a pair of pajama pants out of my dresser. “Two seconds, Sam.”
Roman plopped down on the bed and crossed his arms behind his head as he watched me get dressed. “Hurry up, momma,” he chuckled.
I grabbed a hair tie off the dresser and shot it at him.
He snatched it out of midair and slid it over his hand onto his wrist.
I laughed and shook my head. “What are you doing?” I grabbed the other hair tie and threw my hair up into a messy bun.
“You’ll get it back tonight,” he said smugly.
“Oh no, I don’t know how I’ll ever get through my day without my random hair tie.”
He shook his head and pointed to the door. “Get your sassy ass out there.”
I gave him a mock salute and peeked out the door to see the coast was clear. “Later, ninja.” I looked over my shoulder and gave him a wink. “I’ll knock on the door when the coast is clear.” I figured I could get Sam to eat and then usher him to his room to get changed.
“Sounds good, baby.”
My eyes locked with his, and I took a second to remember him lying like that on my bed. It was definitely a sight to see.
I slipped out of the room with a smile on my face.
Thankfully, I wasn’t going to have to wait very long to see it again.
*
Chapter 12
Roman
“Would you put that down?”
I looked at the pliers-type tool. “This thing looks like a bird.” I opened the handles and squawked like a bird.
Sage laughed. “Do you have any clue what the doctor does with those?”
“Not a clue, baby.”
We were sitting in the doctor’s office, waiting for the good ole doc to come in, and I was entertaining Sage.
“I’m sure they sanitize those, but I’m sure they have seen many hoo-has in their days.”
I dropped the pliers on the counter and jumped back. “Holy f-u-c-k. Those things are huge!”
Sage laughed and hopped down from the exam table she was sitting on and picked up the torture device. “That’s what happens when you snoop through the drawers.” I quickly rinsed it under the sink and dried it off. “Now sit down. You are worse than Sam when I take him to get his shots.”
“Shots?” I gulped. I plopped back into my chair and looked up at Sage.
“Um, yeah. Why are you so pale?” She cupped my cheek and stepped between my legs.
“Might have something to do with me not liking needles.”
“Sweet Jesus. You do know they are going to draw my blood today, right?”
Oh man. This was not good. “Really?” I rasped.
“My God. It’s like I just found out Superman’s weakness. Needles are your kryptonite.” She poked me with her finger, and I squirmed under her touch.
“Hey, that’s not funny.”
“It totally is. Wait until I tell the girls.”
I grabbed her wrist and pressed a kiss to her finger. “You can’t tell people what Superman’s weakness is. Then people will try to defeat me.”
She laughed and pulled out of my arms. “You’re not Superman.” She hopped up on the exam table and crossed her legs. She was wearing a long, flowy dress today that made my fingers itch to slide up her legs and see what kind of underwear she was wearing, if any. “You plan on wearing that all day?”
She looked down and shrugged. “I didn’t have any diva wardrobe changes planned for today.”
“Good.” I crossed my arms over my chest and started making a list of all the ways I wanted to have my way with her.
“Why does it mat—” The doctor walked in before she could finish her sentence. I knew what she was going to ask, but now she was going to be surprised when I bent her over the couch after Sam went to bed tonight.
“Hello,
Sage.” The doctor shook Sage’s hand and propped her hands on her waist. “I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw your name on the chart. I normally only see you when you bring Sam in.”
Sage smiled. “Yup. I’m the one who needs a checkup this time.”
I cleared my throat, and the doctor turned around. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there,” the doctor laughed. “I’m Maureen Glick.”
I stood up and shook the doctor’s hand. “Roman Yeck. It’s nice to meet you.”
I doctor beamed at me and looked back at Sage. “This is so exciting.” She released my hand and moved over to the rolling chair Sage made me get off of five minutes earlier. The chair could really move.
“So,” the doctor opened the folder she had brought in and clapped her hands. “You took a pregnancy test, and it came out positive.”
“Yup. I took it over a month ago.”
“Good, good. Mauve had you take a test too, right?”
“Yup.”
Ah, that was why they had her pee in a cup. I had tried to walk into the bathroom with Sage to help her out, but she had pushed me out and slammed the door in my face. She obviously hadn’t needed help.
“Oh, yep. Right here it says it came back positive.” The doctor circled something on the paper and set it down. She asked Sage a bunch of questions and then clapped her hands. “You ready to hear the heartbeat?” she asked.
Holy crap. Here we go.
“Are we going to be able to see the baby today?” Sage asked.
“I’m going to send you up to the third floor and have you do a vaginal sonogram. That will help us figure out your due date.”
I cleared my throat. “We actually know the due date.”
“Oh, really?”
“Um, Roman and I only had sex one time before I got pregnant.”
The doctor’s eyes bugged out. “Well then, yeah, I would say you know when your due date is then. What day did you conceive?”
“October second,” I spouted.
“Wow, how did you remember that?” Sage asked.
I shrugged and crossed my legs. “Best night of my life, baby.”
The doctor fanned herself with her fan. “Lord have mercy, he’s not even mine, and he just made me swoon.”
I didn’t know if I had just racked up brownie points with Sage, or if she was pissed off. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. I was going to go with pissed.
Black Belt Knockout Page 9
