by Marie Force
After she’d had her tubal ligation reversed earlier in the summer, they’d been told there were no guarantees she’d ever conceive. They’d also been told it could take a year or more.
“A baby,” he whispered when he finally came up for air.
“Our baby.” She loved him desperately and was thrilled by his emotional reaction to her news.
“I want a little girl who looks just like you.”
“I want a little boy who looks just like you.”
They shared a smile and another kiss.
“How am I supposed to go out and leave you tonight after you’ve told me this?”
“We can celebrate later.”
“I don’t know if I can wait that long.”
“Luke… People are coming very soon.”
“Yeah,” he said with a dirty grin. “You and me.”
“Luke! We can’t!”
“I’ll be so quick you won’t even know it happened.” As he spoke, he was lifting her skirt and removing her panties.
“Luke… Seriously.”
“I’m so serious.” He lifted her against the bathroom door and was inside her before she could begin to form even the slightest protest.
As he moved in her, Sydney forgot all about the friends who were due any moment, the appetizers that might be burning in the oven for all she cared or anything other than the sublime pleasure she found in his arms. When she’d thought her life was over after the deaths of her husband and children, Luke had been there to show her otherwise. And now there would be a baby, too.
“I love you so much, Syd. You’ve made me so damned happy.”
Surrounded and possessed by him, she could barely breathe, let alone speak. “Love you, too.”
True to his word, he drove her to a quick, full-body orgasm that had him groaning and thrusting into her with ruthless abandon.
“Damn,” he whispered. “I need to get you pregnant more often.”
Sydney laughed through her tears, laying her lips on his.
“Are you happy?” he asked.
“So happy.”
“Scared?”
“Witless.” Her fears of bringing another child into the world only to possibly lose it had nearly kept Sydney from trying in the first place.
“I’ll be right there with you the whole way. I promise.”
“You’re the only reason I was able to take this chance.” She was determined not to spend the next eight months and eighteen years worrying that disaster was going to strike again. Luke had convinced her that she’d used up her lifetime share of bad luck. It was all smooth sailing ahead, or so he told her. “We can’t say anything about this for a while.”
“Because of Mac and Maddie.”
“Yes.”
“People will be asking why I’m smiling so much.”
“A couple of weeks at most.”
“I can do that.” He kissed her again, lingering when she responded enthusiastically. Still lodged inside her, he began to harden again.
“Luke! No more. Put me down. Now.”
“Syd?” A female voice called from the living room.
“Shit, Jenny’s here early to help. Let me go.”
“I’ll never let you go.” He kissed her once more before withdrawing, harder now than he’d been before. “You’re really going to leave me in this condition?”
“Take a cold shower.” She opened the bathroom door a crack. “Be right there, Jenny.” She cleaned up quickly, pulled on her discarded panties and smoothed the wrinkles in the dress she’d taken the time to iron earlier. For all the good that had done her.
“You’re a heartless woman, Sydney Donovan,” Luke whispered.
“About that…”
“About what?” he asked as he pulled off the shirt he’d worn to work, putting his deep “farmer’s tan” on full display. Sydney teased him about his tanned arms and neck and white torso all summer long.
“My name. I never changed my last name when I married Seth, and it was always kind of awkward when the kids were in school. I was thinking, this time, I’d like to change my name to Harris so we’ll all have the same last name.”
“I’d love that.” He hugged her, which brought her in tight against his rekindled erection. His endless desire for her was a source of constant amazement to her. “Just when I think I can’t love you any more than I already do, you blow my mind all over again.”
“If you wait a couple of hours before you crash my girls’ night, I’ll blow something else later.”
As his mouth fell open in shock at her unusually blunt language, she patted his face and left him to shower while she went to meet Jenny.
“Am I interrupting something?” Jenny Wilks asked when Sydney joined her in the kitchen.
Sydney started to deny it, but then shrugged. “We were done.”
Jenny cracked up laughing. “Milking this newlywed thing for all its worth, huh?”
“Something like that.” Sydney wanted to share her news with Jenny so badly she burned with it. “If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell anyone? Even Alex?”
“Well, I don’t usually keep things from him, but I suppose I could make an exception since I’m now dying of curiosity.”
“I’m pregnant,” Sydney said in a soft whisper.
Jenny’s eyes closed and then reopened, filled with tears. “Thank goodness.” She hugged Sydney. “I’m so happy for you both. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. We’re not going to tell anyone else for now because of Maddie…”
“You know she’d be happier for you than anyone.”
Sydney nodded. She had no doubt her old friend would be thrilled for her. “Still, my news can wait a few weeks.”
“I take it Luke was happy to hear the news?”
“You can safely assume that,” Syd said with a small, satisfied smile.
“Good for you. For both of you. Couldn’t happen to better people.”
“Thanks. I feel like I can finally breathe again. Since I had the surgery, I’ve been preparing myself for the possibility that it would never happen. I needed to be okay with that outcome. But this outcome is so much better.”
“It certainly is.”
Luke came into the kitchen, his hair wet from the shower and his face freshly shaven, making Sydney wish for one second that they were still alone. “I thought we weren’t telling anyone,” he said with an indulgent grin for his wife.
“Jenny doesn’t count,” Syd said. “I had to tell her.”
“That’s right,” Jenny said. “And your secret is safe with me.” She kissed Luke’s cheek. “Congratulations, Dad.”
“Dad… Wow. Thanks.”
His reaction to the word “dad” filled Sydney with joy. That she would be able to give him that experience was priceless to her. Now that it had actually happened, she felt safe admitting how badly she’d wanted it.
“And now I’m off to keep the guys out of trouble for a while,” Luke said.
“Alex and Paul are looking forward to it,” Jenny said of her fiancé and his brother. “Things with Marion have been tough lately.”
“Is the new nurse working out okay?” Sydney asked.
“Hope is amazing,” Jenny said. “She’s saved our lives. Dementia is a bitch, though. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
Sydney poured her friend a tall glass of wine and handed it to her.
“I’ll make sure the boys have a good time tonight.” Luke kissed Sydney. “See you later.”
“Much later.”
“I have my orders and a few promises tucked away.” He winked at her on his way out the door.
“Promises?” Jenny asked.
“A little incentive package to make sure girls’ night isn’t crashed too early.”
“Oh, I do like how you think.”
“So does he.”
Chapter 28
Jenny and Sydney dissolved into laughter and were still giggling when Janey, Abby, Stephanie and Grace came in togethe
r. Everyone had brought appetizers and wine. Next came Laura and Owen’s sister Katie, followed shortly after by Kara.
“Get Katie a glass of wine, stat,” Laura said, pointing to her sister-in-law.
“Everything okay?” Syd asked.
“She’s been dating Shane and having a grand time until Shane’s ex-wife showed up out of nowhere today. More than two years without a freaking word, and she has the nerve… Ugh. She makes me sick.”
Katie patted Laura’s shoulder. “I’m worried about her blood pressure.”
“The sight of that woman sends everything into the red zone,” Laura said. “I mean why, after all this time, does she have to show up right when he’s starting to seem like his old self again? Does she have an ounce of compassion in that skinny little body?”
Sydney had never seen Laura mad, let alone furious. “What did Shane do?”
“Sent her packing, thankfully. But God only knows how much damage she left behind.”
A knock on the door interrupted Laura’s diatribe.
“Come on in.” Sydney gasped when Maddie came in, followed by her sister, Tiffany. “You’re back.” Sydney went right over to Maddie and gave her a hug.
“I’m back, and I’m empty-handed because I didn’t have time to make anything.”
“Stop,” Sydney said. “You didn’t have to bring anything. We’re so glad to see you.”
“Do me a favor,” Maddie said, her eyes glistening. “Let’s just have a good time tonight and not talk about the elephant in the room. Please?”
“Anything you need.”
“That’s what I need.”
“How about a big glass of wine?”
“That would be good, too.”
Sydney met Tiffany’s worried gaze over Maddie’s shoulder. Tiffany shrugged as if to say she was following Maddie’s lead.
“Who’s hungry?” Sydney asked, hoping to divert the attention away from Maddie. Everyone was worried and sad for her, but tonight they’d give her exactly what she’d asked for—a night away from it all.
Shane felt like a pent-up tiger waiting for Owen to tell him it was time to go. By the time Owen knocked on his door, Shane was ready to pounce. “Where are they? Do you know?”
“Yes, I know, but we’re not going there.”
“What do you mean? I need to see Katie.”
“All in good time.”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Torturing you? Yes. Seeing my sister cry? Not so much.”
“I’m really sorry about that. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
“You need to tell her.”
“Which I would if you would tell me where she is!” In all the time they’d known each other, Shane had never had reason to yell at Owen, who stared at him now like he was seeing someone he’d never met before.
“Don’t make me change my mind about helping you out tonight.”
“How would you feel if Laura was upset with you, and no one would tell you where she was so you could go fix it?”
“You’re comparing you and Katie to me and Laura?”
Shane refused to squirm under Owen’s intense glare. “What if I am?”
“That would make things between you two awfully serious, and you only met last week.”
“Okay.”
Owen continued to study him with that intense glare that made Shane want to squirm. But he couldn’t do that. Not with so much riding on Owen’s approval and willingness to help him fix his massive screw-up. “How can you be that serious about her already?”
“How long did it take for you to know Laura was the one for you?”
“We’re not talking about me.”
“Answer the question.”
“I knew the day I met her that she was going to change my life.”
“There you have it.”
“That fast?”
“Believe me, I’m still trying to get my head around it myself. All I can tell you is that Katie has been more right for me in five days than Courtney was in five years.”
Owen smiled then, a big, bright smile that made his eyes crinkle at the corners. “When you see her later, make sure you tell her that. It’ll matter to her.”
“How much later will I see her?”
“A couple of hours.”
“Owen, come on. Have a heart, will you?”
“Crashing girls’ night takes finesse and strategy. We can’t just stroll in there like we meant to. We have to act like we didn’t know they were there. If I tell you where she is, you’ll go in there like a bull in a china shop and ruin it for the rest of us. I’ve got to think of my brothers-in-arms.”
“I used to like you, and now I kinda hate you.”
Owen, that bastard, laughed hard. “You’ll like me again once you fix things with Katie. If you fix things.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Much appreciated. You’re all smug in your newly married bliss, but someday you’ll screw up, and I promise to enjoy it twice as much as you’re enjoying this.”
“Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen. Your sister is all about me.”
“Blissful and arrogant. A deadly combination. Don’t forget—I’ve been married, and you’re a rookie. Blissful arrogance leads to rookie mistakes. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“I stand warned and unconcerned.” Owen checked his watch. “Let’s go. We’re meeting the boys for dinner at the Beachcomber in ten minutes.”
“Dinner? I don’t want dinner. I want to talk to your sister.”
“I have to wonder why you don’t just pick up the phone and call her if you’re so all-fired anxious to talk to her.”
“Because. We live on the same hallway. We haven’t needed to call each other. Yet.”
Owen laughed again. He really was a rotten bastard when it came right down to it. “So you don’t even have her phone number. Speaking of rookie mistakes.”
“If I didn’t need you to get me to Katie, I wouldn’t be speaking to you right now.”
“Good to know.”
“I’m going to tell Laura how you tortured me.”
“I bet she’ll side with me.”
“I’ve known her longer.”
“I’m sleeping with her.”
“Shut the fuck up. Will you please? Just shut the fuck up.”
Owen laughed all the way to the Beachcomber, where they met up with Joe, Adam, Grant, Evan, Blaine, Alex, Paul and Dan. A short time after they arrived, Shane’s other cousins Riley and Finn joined the party. Shane was forced to sit through several rounds of beers and somehow managed to choke down the burger Owen ordered for him.
“What’s the matter with you tonight?” his cousin Evan asked. “You’re wound tighter than a drum.”
“I’m being held hostage against my will.” Shane used his thumb to point at Owen. “I need to speak to his sister, who is with my sister at girls’ night out, but my jackass brother-in-law won’t tell me where they are.”
“I know where they are,” Evan said. “We all do.”
“Are you going to tell me?”
“Depends. What’d you do to Katie?”
“Oh my God. Not you, too. You’re my freaking cousin. Whose side are you on?”
“If you did something that will make all the women mad, I’m on her side. Firmly on her side.”
“If being blindsided by my ex-wife while returning from a day in Newport with Katie counts as me doing something to piss them all off, then feel free to take her side.”
“Dude,” Evan said gravely. “Courtney was here?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“And I had it out with her, but not before I released Katie’s hand at the sight of her and asked her to give me a minute with Courtney. Apparently, that wasn’t the right thing to do.”
“Whoa… Yeah, bad move.”
“I was blindsided. I hadn’t seen or talked to Courtney in more than two years. She served me divorce papers without so much
as a conversation, and I’m sorry, but I had a few questions for her after all that time.”
Grant and Adam tuned in to their conversation, both of them listening intently.
“Did you get any answers?” Adam asked.
“Some. I guess. She says it was all done to protect me. She was in trouble, and it wasn’t going away for a while, so she set me free to spare me. Yada, yada. Now she wants me back.”
“Holy shit,” Grant said in a hushed tone. “What’d you say to that?”
“I said no. No fucking way am I going back to her after what she put me through. And if what’s his name would let me see Katie, I’d tell her that.” This was said loudly enough for Owen to hear.
“We know where they are,” Adam said, glancing at his brothers. “We can take you there.”
“Would you please?”
“It’s up to him.” Adam pointed to Evan. “His turn to be the designated driver.”
“I’m happy to help the cause,” Evan said. “Let’s go.”
They stood up and tossed money on the table to cover their tab.
“Wait,” Luke said. “Where’re you going?”
“Time to crash,” Evan said.
“Not yet. I promised Syd a couple of hours, and it’s only been an hour and a half.”
Shane would’ve sworn he’d been there for at least eight hours, or so it seemed.
“By the time we get there, it’ll be almost two,” Grant said. “That counts as a ‘couple’ of hours.”
“I was made promises,” Luke said. “Good promises. You wouldn’t want to screw that up for me, would you?”
All eyes turned to Shane. Under normal circumstances, he was happy to help a brother out. These were not normal circumstances. “Sorry, Luke. I need to see Katie, and I need to see her right now.”
Evan shrugged. “The man is on a mission. We’re just his wingmen.”
Bolstered by his cousins’ support, Shane got up and started to leave with them.
“Wait a minute,” Owen said.
Groaning, Shane turned to him. “Don’t start again.”
“All I was going to say is good luck. And please, don’t do anything to hurt her. She’s been hurt enough in her life.” Gone was the earlier torment and swagger. All that remained was a concerned older brother. Shane extended his hand to his brother-in-law. “You have my word that I’ll never again do anything to hurt her.”
