Hart

by Monroe, Evie

  He looked around my mess of a living room. I’d been working on it for a week straight and still hadn’t managed to get everything packed. And I still had to bring myself to go through Jojo’s room. I’d kept the door closed, so that if I didn’t think too hard about it, I could almost believe he was in there sleeping. Every time I thought about going through his stuff, my heart clenched in my chest.

  “You’re leaving?”

  His eyes seemed to scrutinize every last thing in the room, silently judging me. “Yes. I got a job in Baldwin. Up the coast. I thought I’d move closer to it.”

  “It makes sense. Baldwin’s not so far from here.”

  It wasn’t. Just ten miles north. But those ten miles would make a difference. I wouldn’t constantly see the street where I taught Jojo to ride a bike or his elementary school or the Jack in the Box where he used to work. “I figured I could do with a fresh start.”

  “That also makes sense.” He hadn’t moved from the door.

  “Sit down?”

  “Sure.” He navigated around the boxes and sat down on the sofa. As he did, Bert piled on top of his lap, yawning like he’d found his new bed. Hart didn’t make a move to remove him. In fact, he started to pet him, gently, like an old pro. “You wanted to see me?” He put his feet up on the coffee table. “I’m here.”

  I nodded and came up with what was probably a grim smile as I sank down on the other side of the couch. “Yes. I just wanted to let you know that I don’t blame you for anything that happened, where my little brother was concerned. It’s not your fault. He liked you. You looked out for him. That’s more than a lot of people would do. So, I guess . . . thank you.”

  He sucked in a breath and let it out. “You raised a good kid, Charlie. I’m really sorry that it happened the way it did. But we’re not letting it go. The Cobras, I mean. The Fury have shit on us enough and we’re done. We’ve voted to take out the Fury. Whatever we have to do, we’re not going to stop. We have to avenge Joel’s death.”

  I shuddered. “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. They deserve whatever happens to them, but . . . what about you?”

  He leaned over and touched my knee, giving me a surly little look that made my nipples stand at attention. “I’ll be all right. But thanks for caring.” He sucked in a breath and let it out, yawning, looking around at the bare walls. “That what you wanted to tell me?”

  “Um . . . well . . .” I bit the inside of my cheek. I realized I hadn’t prepared. I wasn’t sure how to say this. I’m pregnant! – just like that, seemed like a real conversation killer. Plus, I was moving away to another town. And he and the Cobras were getting into a war. And that was the last thing I needed—to bring a baby into a world of violence. That was asking for an outcome like what had happened to Jojo. This was impossible. “I guess.”

  He studied me. “You sure?”

  No. God, no! I could almost hear Jojo’s voice echoing with mine. Tell him. He’ll be a good father, and you know it. Then go and jump him.

  I rolled my eyes. I could just imagine Jojo saying that. And I most definitely was not going to jump anyone.

  As much as I kind of wanted to.

  But then he stood up and started to walk to the door, and I saw my life flash before my eyes. Actually, I saw the life I hadn’t lived yet—years and years of not being with Hart, spending every single one of those long days filled with regret over letting him go.

  It was such a painful thought, I gasped aloud.

  Then I shot up, like a bullet fired into the air, and followed after him. “Um, actually . . .”

  But stupid me, I didn’t realize Mags was under my feet. I went flying again, this time, in a total free-fall, with only Hart’s hard body to break my fall. I was on a collision course with his broad back and massive biceps.

  Luckily, he turned around at that moment and caught me in his arms. “Whoa,” he said, lifting me upright, a small, amused smile cracking on his lips.

  I blushed furiously.

  “I thought you never trip?” he gritted out in a sexy voice, making me tremble with a need that went deep into my bones.

  God, he was so beautiful. So dirty and raw and beautiful, with his light blond hair falling in his face and those incredible hazel eyes, showing all their amber flecks in the orange lamplight. I had no doubt that if the baby inside me had inherited even the tiniest smidgen of his traits, he or she would be a little heartbreaker.

  I leaned into his hard muscles, drank in the scent of motor oil, and decided right then and there that there was no way I could let him go. Running my tongue over my lips, I traced a finger over his eyebrow, over the scar. I was quivering like jelly. “You got this that day. Because of Jojo. It makes you look tough.”

  I let my finger linger there, lightly, until he snatched it in his big hand. He kissed the tip of my finger, then lifted me into his arms. I let out a little squeal as he said, “You’re in danger here. That much is clear. If I’ve gotta save you from yourself . . .”

  He carried me in his arms back to the couch, where he sat down with me on his lap. “If you insist on saving me,” I said lightly.

  He raised that scarred eyebrow in a bigger question. “So you don’t want me to leave?”

  I shook my head. Then I took a deep breath, and I let it out. “I’d be lying if I let you go. Because I love you, Hart.”

  He didn’t say anything for a long time. It was probably only seconds, but it felt like forever. My heart beat a thousand times in that span of time, as he gazed at me with his sexy eyes. I couldn’t tell if they were full of regret or need. What was going on in that beautiful head of his?

  Finally, he said, “I kept calling you because I wanted to make sure you were okay. I drove by. You probably didn’t know that.”

  I did. Maybe it was weird, but I swear I could feel him when he was near.

  “I wanted to tell you something. But I wasn’t going to push my way in if you weren’t ready.”

  I shifted in his lap, feeling his erection against my ass. I braced myself. “Okay. I’m ready now.”

  His gaze travelled from my eyes, to my nose, to my lips, taking me in, before reaching and holding my eyes again. “I love you, too, Charlie. I don’t want to be without you. I know you said you’re alone, but you’re not. I’ll always want you. You got that?”

  I cupped his stubbled jaw in both hands. “Do you mean that?”

  “Hell, yes,” he growled out in a rough voice that just about soaked my panties. He wrapped his arms around my waist, nuzzling my neck with his nose, skimming over my throat with his mouth. Reaching behind my head, he slowly pulled my hair free of the ponytail and tossed the tie away. My hair spilled over us as he gently nibbled on my neck. “Hell. Fucking. Yes. God, you smell so good. I want to fucking eat you right here.”

  I could have died right then and been as happy as a clam. But I had another life to think about. And it was time. The moment of truth. “But will you want both of us?”

  He lifted his head up from the veil of my hair, and his face slowly filled with understanding. His brows came together when he said, “Both of you?”

  I nodded and looked down at my tummy.

  The corner of his mouth lifted up in a boyish smile. “Shit. Of course, I will.” He touched my stomach. “You’re not even kidding me?”

  His voice cracked a little, which was probably the cutest thing I’d ever heard. Hart, for once, was nervous and excited and totally off his game. I shook my head.

  “Hell, yes, I’ll want both of you. Forever.”

  “But . . .” His eyes widened from the news as he raked his hands through his hair and looked around at all my boxes. “Shit. You’re moving away from me.”

  “Well, I . . .” All I knew was that I didn’t want to stay in the apartment I’d shared with Jojo. “Like I said, not far. I got an apartment on the beach in Baldwin. I’m supposed to move in next month.”

  “You sign a lease? Give in a security deposit?”

  I shook my
head. “Not yet.”

  “Then move in with me. Baldwin’s not far from my place.”

  I blinked. “But . . .” Actually, that would be perfect. Me and him, and all his little tinker toys. My eyes trailed to Mags, sniffing Hart’s boot. “What about my pets?”

  “Bring them,” he said with a shrug, tightening his thick arms around me. “I fucking love animals.”

  I smacked his hard chest. “You do not!”

  “I’ll learn to. If it means I can wake up next to you every morning, hell. I’ll be a fucking cat lady, if you want me to be.”

  “No. I just want you to be you.” I grinned at him, so sure Jojo was watching over us, happy and excited for what we had. For what we would have. I laced my fingers with his as he kissed my mouth, savoring my lips. “If he’s a boy,” he murmured against my mouth, “We’ll name him Joel. Okay?”

  “Yes, that’s perfect,” I said.

  “A girl, she can be Josephine,” he breathed out, moving along to my chin, setting little nibbling kisses along my jaw. His hand reached under my camisole and caressed my belly. “Either way, it’ll be our Jojo.”

  “I like that,” I said to him, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck.

  And I could feel it. No, I couldn’t just feel it. I knew it. Knew it with everything that I was, with more certainty than I’d ever known anything.

  Jojo liked it, too.

  THE END

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  Being a single dad isn’t the easiest thing in the world, but I’ll do anything for my little girl. Taking care of Jade and keeping food on the table is top priority for me.

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  Acknowledgements

  Thank you so much for reading my book! A special thanks to KB Winters for getting me into this whirlwind of a beautiful mess.

  Thanks to all of the ARC readers, Beta readers, Facebook fans and Editors. Without all of you I wouldn’t be able to do what I love.

  Copyright © 2019 Evie Monroe and BookBoyfriends Publishing LLC

  About Evie

  I love fairytales, princesses and bad boys. I just didn’t realize how much until I started writing about them. I hope you love them as much as I do!

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