Peanut didn’t say anything more but when the doctor left a few minutes later to set up the ultrasound with her nurse leaving them in an awkward silence, Phoebe felt his eyes on her. She didn’t look at him, just stared at her feet and wondered what he was thinking. Phoebe was relieved a few moments later when the nurse returned to take them to the ultrasound tech. Phoebe was asked to lie down on the table and her shirt was tucked up into her bra and her stretchy pants were pulled below her belly. Peanut watched from the chair he’d been directed to when they entered.
“This might be cold,” Patty, the tech, warned with a little grin.
She felt a squirt of wet liquid on her belly and the woman began to run the wand over her stomach. The whooshing sound started up again and she could see the image of her baby on the screen.
Holy crap!
Phoebe didn’t know why she was feeling so out of sorts. She’d known she was pregnant for weeks, this shouldn’t be a shock. Only it was. She was really having a baby. The tiny figure looked so perfect. She could see the hands moving and the tiny feet kicked. The tech was marking and measuring things and she felt anxiety grip her.
Was something wrong with the baby? Would this reveal something bad?
“She’s so perfect,” Peanut’s awed voice came from the other side of the room. She looked at him and saw that he was leaning forward with his eyes trained on the baby. His assertion and the rapt focus he had on the screen cut through the anxiety she was feeling.
“It might be a boy,” Phoebe found herself saying.
“No, she’s definitely a girl,” Peanut insisted.
“Do you want to know the sex?”
“No,” Peanut said at the same time she said, “Yes.”
“Well that’s clear as mud. I can write it down and that way dad won’t know the sex,” Patty offered.
“No, tell us,” Peanut said, again not denying being the baby’s father.
“Let me show you instead,” Patty said with a huge grin as she moved the wand around a bit until she found what she was looking for.
“See this here? He’s a bit of a shower.” Patty laughed at her own joke.
“He’s still perfect,” Peanut said.
Phoebe couldn’t argue with that. She felt her chest swell with such a wave of love that she couldn’t seem to hold in the tears that slipped from her eyes. Peanut glanced at her with a silly grin on his face.
“We’re having a boy. Jasmine’s going to be so pissed,” he said, like the baby really was his.
“I don’t think she will care either way,” Phoebe said dryly.
Jasmine had been ecstatic about the announcement of the baby. Phoebe hadn’t planned on telling Jasmine just yet, but Peanut had insisted that they tell Jasmine that she was pregnant in case something happened. She’d protested at first, but he’d talked her into it. He’d convinced her by asking what if she passed out or was hurt and couldn’t tell the paramedics and they gave her something that hurt the baby. That wouldn’t be an issue for much longer with her growing stomach, but the question had been sound so she’d given in.
“Yeah, you might be right. She is super excited to help with the baby,” Peanut chuckled.
“Oh, is this your second child? I think they marked that down wrong in the chart,” Patty asked frowning.
“No, Jasmine’s my daughter. This is Phoebe’s first pregnancy,” Peanut replied.
“Ah, right. Well I have everything I need. Here are some photos for your baby book.” Patty handed her three black and white photos of the baby she’d printed before wiping down her belly. She stood with a smile.
“I will send Dr. Gilbert in to talk with you but feel free to sit up and get comfortable.” Patty left the room, shutting the door and leaving them in the darkened room alone.
It felt intimate and a little too quiet in the room after their conversation of a few moments ago. She tugged her shirt down and looked at the photos of the baby.
“Can I see those?” Peanut asked
“Sure,” Phoebe said handing them over. He was grinning down at them like any proud father would and it sent a pang of longing through her. Why couldn’t Johnny have been more like Peanut? Why did she have to pick out the biggest asshole in the world to marry? She didn’t know but she was damned glad she’d left him. Peanut was still smiling at the photos when Dr. Gilbert came into the room.
“Okay, Phoebe. Everything looks good and you were correct on your estimations. You’re about sixteen and a half weeks along. Nothing looked concerning. I’ve got a few prescriptions written for you at the front desk. I want to see you back in four weeks unless there are any issues with the blood tests. If they are all normal we will discuss the results with you at your next visit. If you have any abnormal vomiting, dizziness, swelling, or pain call and we will advise you on what to do. Otherwise you are free to do anything you normally do, and I will see you in four weeks,” Dr. Gilbert said, shaking both of their hands before she left the room.
Peanut helped her up when she struggled a bit and they headed out of the little room to the front desk. It didn’t take them long to get the bill settled and the prescriptions. Phoebe found herself staring at the little photos of her baby with a feeling of joy so complete that she didn’t even pay attention when Peanut handed another four hundred dollars to the check-out girl after she paid the eighty dollars they told her she owed.
Chapter Fourteen
After a stop at the grocery store, Phoebe walked into the house followed by Jasmine three days after the appointment with the doctor to find Viking in the kitchen with five other large bikers. She was a little surprised to see them all standing or sitting around the small kitchen table. It wasn’t unusual for them to stop by but typically Peanut was with them. Today however Peanut wasn’t anywhere she could see him. It was odd that the large men were in here rather than in the living room where there was more space. That was when her eyes landed on the single slice of cake sitting in the middle of the table. Her eyes narrowed as she took in the previously untouched cake. She slammed her bags down on the counter and glared at the men filling the kitchen.
“Oh, shit,” a sandy haired one said, looking at her guiltily with the fork halfway to his mouth. Viking glanced at her then down at the empty plate in front of him before shrugging.
What an asshole.
He didn’t even feel guilty for eating a cake she’d made for after dinner tonight. She put her hands on her hips, about to ask them who the hell they thought they were eating something they had to know wasn’t meant for them when one of them spoke.
“Sorry,” the man with a scar along one cheek said. “Diablo got hungry while waiting on Peanut and he found the cake. He cut a small slice, but his moans of pleasure led to this I’m sad to say,” he indicated the almost empty cake plate.
“Uncle Rage, that was the after-dinner cake! You have to eat dinner first, Phoebe said so,” Jasmine said as she pranced over to the sandy haired man, climbing into his lap. It took her all of three seconds to take his fork, eating the last few bites of his cake. Phoebe didn’t scold the girl because there had only been two bites left. She crossed her arms and glared at each man.
“Sorry, Jazzy. I didn’t know it was the after-dinner cake,” the scarred man who’d apologized said with a grin.
“Well it was, but now there isn’t any cake left. Guess you are going to have to be extra nice to Phoebe so she won’t punish you. That’s my advice,” Jasmine said importantly, nodding knowledgeably.
“That’s your advice, huh, kid? Well then it must be great advice. Should we tell Phoebe how great her lemon cake was too? Maybe she’ll forgive us for being animals and eating the after-dinner cake before dinner then?” Rage asked ruffling Jasmine’s hair.
“Maybe, but Phoebe is a tough cookie. Dad says she don’t put up with no shit,” Jasmine said.
“Jasmine, do not say shit,” Phoebe scolded, rolling her eyes.
“Oops, that’s right, it’s not a nice word and we don’t say words that ar
en’t nice.” Jasmine parroted back the speech she’d given her a few days ago when she’d said damn it after spilling juice on the floor. She could see that Jasmine’s father and uncles were a bad influence in that department.
Viking looked from her to Jasmine and back with a puzzled frown on his face, likely because she’d started teaching the child some boundaries that she’d sorely needed. Her father was really good with her, but she walked all over him in some ways.
“Can I go play Xbox with Cody now?” Jasmine asked her politely.
“For an hour like we talked about, then you have to get off and do your homework before dinner,” Phoebe said, turning to the bags to start unloading the ice cream and other items she’d purchased.
“Okay,” Jasmine said. She hopped down from the sandy haired man’s lap after placing a big kiss on his cheek. He accepted it with a tight hug before letting her escape. Jasmine then moved around the room kissing each uncle’s cheek and collecting a hug before heading to her room to play her game system. Phoebe wasn’t surprised anymore to see the large men acting like doting uncles. She’d seen the way they treated Jasmine and the other kids like little princes and princesses more than once in the past few months.
“We really didn’t mean to eat the whole cake,” Rage said sheepishly as he started handing her the items to put into the fridge so she didn’t have to walk back and forth.
Phoebe was surprised that despite all the heavy male bodies in the room she didn’t feel threatened. Maybe it was knowing that Peanut would lose his mind if they touched her or maybe it was just an instinctive knowledge that these men wouldn’t hurt her, but it was interesting. She hadn’t realized how little fear she felt around men these days until she’d walked into the kitchen today.
“It’s fine. Just don’t let it happen again.” Phoebe didn’t bother telling them that from now on she would hide anything she didn’t want them to eat while she was gone. It really wasn’t likely that they’d use their manners; after all, they were bikers who were used to taking what they wanted.
“Yes, ma’am, I promise it won’t. How did you manage to get Jasmine so—so—” Rage didn’t seem to know how to end that question, but Phoebe knew he wanted to know how she’d managed to get her to mind her words so easily. Peanut had asked her the same thing weeks ago and she’d give Rage the same answer she’d given him.
“So well behaved?” Phoebe asked after setting the milk into the fridge and turning to look at him. She moved away from the door of the fridge to put away the rest of the boxes, sorting them into the cabinets near the stove.
“Well, yeah the kid’s a little wild sometimes. I know that’s because Peanut and the rest of her uncles spoiled her,” Rage said sheepishly, looking at least a little bit sorry about that. From what she remembered of Jasmine’s babble he’d recently married the mother of his child. She didn’t know what the story was there and she wasn’t about to ask but it was obvious that he wasn’t used to dealing with parenting.
“She just needed direction and some firm rules. When boundaries are clear she can deal with them. I gave her those boundaries and punished her when she broke them. It’s when the rules can be bent to her will that she thinks she can get away with not following them,” Phoebe said, shrugging as she turned to face Rage while leaning back on the counter behind her.
“Did you hit her?” Viking demanded.
“No,” Phoebe said vehemently.
Her glare was hot as she tried not to punch that shitty asshole in the face for being such a dick. Her hands were clenched at her sides and she was breathing hard as she tried to get her newly rediscovered temper under control. Johnny had almost beaten that out of her, but over the last few weeks it was starting to rear its ugly head. She had noticed it most often when Viking was around or when Peanut started acting like he always knew best.
“Stop harassing her. Peanut’s already told you that shit has to stop.”
“Shut up and mind your own business, Hemp,” Viking growled, his arms thick as he stood with them crossed over his chest, glowering between him and Phoebe.
“Both of you shut up. What the fuck are you all doing in here anyway?” Peanut demanded from the kitchen doorway. He came towards Phoebe, pulling her into his side protectively. She found herself leaning into him even though she didn’t really need the support he was offering her. Her breath caught and she felt tingles break out all along the side of her body where he was pressed against her. It was always that way when he touched her. Desire began racing through her like a flooded river. Her breath caught and she found herself almost panting as cravings she hadn’t felt in years took up residence inside her. She suddenly had a very vivid fantasy of Peanut naked and ready for action. She let out a breath and snuggled into his side.
“We were waiting on you like we said we were going to,” Viking said.
“I meant to wait for me outside, Viking, and you damned well know it.”
“It was hot,” Hemp complained from his seat at the table.
“Too fucking bad, asshat. My Lovely didn’t need you bastards in here freaking her out when she got home. Go wait outside. I need to grab a few things before I’m ready,” Peanut growled, his arm pulling her closer. A trill vibrated inside her at his possessiveness. She shouldn’t feel so damned turned on by his claim. She was married to another man, for goodness sake. Not that she wanted to be. Over the past few days since she’d found out that Peanut was working on getting her the ability to divorce Johnny she was thinking about the possibilities. She found herself thinking more and more about truly being free of Johnny.
“I can’t believe you’re kicking us out of your house. You didn’t used to care if we waited inside,” Viking snapped as the men nodded to her before they began filing out the kitchen door. Hemp winked at her as he headed out and she had a feeling that he was the joker of the group.
“Shit changes. You wait outside if I’m not here from now on. I don’t want Phoebe stressed,” Peanut told him, his arm tightening around her waist as he and Viking glared at each other.
“Yeah, we wouldn’t want Phoebe stressed, now would we?” Viking said, his hands clenched by his sides as he scowled at them from the kitchen doorway.
“Get the fuck outside. We will discuss this when I come out,” Peanut growled.
“What the fuck ever,” Viking said throwing his hands up in the air before leaving the room.
“You okay?” he asked when Viking was gone.
He was still holding her close, but he’d turned so that she was wrapped in his arms. Phoebe liked being cuddled up to his chest like this and she found that she sought out the cuddles he freely gave her more and more in the past few days. She’d felt like things had changed between them ever since they’d kissed the other night. She rested her head on his chest, absorbing the comfort his arms around her offered. She inhaled deeply of his scent. Her head filled with the scent of leather and man.
“Peanut, it’s fine. I’m not made of glass. Let them wait inside. It’s fine, as long as they don’t eat my cake again,” Phoebe said, ratting them out.
“They ate my fucking lemon cake! Those shitty little bastards,” Peanut snarled.
Phoebe laughed, tilting her head back to look up at him. His eyes sparkled as he gazed down at her. The tension between them rose a notch as he whispered her name before his head lowered, his lips taking hers in a passionate kiss that left her gripping his shoulders as she let him plunder her mouth. Her tongue met his and they danced a slow sensual dance that left her body tingling with desire.
His lips were softer than she’d remembered. Her hands clung to him as his tongue languidly moved into her mouth bringing with it a heady sense of yearning that she’d never felt before. His hands cupped her ass as he moved his mouth over hers. Their last kiss had been frenzied, almost frantic, but this kiss was more of an exploration. Phoebe moaned, her breasts pressing against his hard chest. Peanut squeezed her ass and pulled her closer, one hand slipping up to cup one of her breasts, eliciti
ng a gasp from her. He rubbed his thumb across her nipple a few times before sliding his hand up to cup her cheek. He pulled back slowly, his lips lingering before leaving hers completely.
“Sorry, I didn’t plan to do that.”
“It’s okay,” Phoebe said blushing.
She wasn’t about to tell him that she’d been thinking about their kiss since it had happened. She knew that her relationship with Peanut was becoming complicated. She was already attached to both him and his daughter and she really hoped that he wasn’t planning on using her as a convenient fuck buddy. She didn’t know what he wanted from this chemistry that seemed to be exploding between them. She’d never felt the almost irresistible attraction that she felt for Peanut with Johnny. It had taken Johnny months to convince her to even go out with him but with Peanut things just seemed to be falling into place without effort.
“Good, cause we will be doing that more often,” he said, resting his forehead against hers as he gazed into her eyes intently once again.
“What are we doing, Peanut?” Phoebe asked, her face reddened.
“We’ll discuss it when I get back but I have to go take care of some shit first, Lovely. Don’t stress about it and call me if you need anything. I should be back late tonight so don’t wait dinner on me. I’ll let Jazzy know after I get my stuff.” Peanut pulled away after another brief hug and headed out the door, stopping at the entrance to look back at her.
He winked and left her there leaning back into the counter wondering what the hell was going on. How had he managed to make her head spin with just a simple kiss? Phoebe pushed off the counter determined to get her wits back under her control.
Her eyes went to the baby’s sonogram photos pinned to the refrigerator next to two of Jasmine’s school photos. She remembered when he’d put them up after showing them off to Jasmine, who’d jumped up and down and clapped. She didn’t miss the fact that he’d also stuck one in his wallet. From the way Viking’s hostility had grown, she’d bet her last dollar that Peanut was showing the little picture off to his biker buddies. She felt her heart squeeze. He was such a sweet man.
Saved by the Devil (Devils Arms Book 3) Page 12