by Brook Wilder
Maddie wasn’t sure what she thought about that. Martin was a handsome man and could have his pick of women. But there was no spark. Maddie just wasn’t interested.
Unfortunately, the only person that did pique her interest was the one person she shouldn’t be anywhere near.
Martin’s eyes widened.
“I didn’t realize you were ill.”
“I have been throwing up for weeks,” Maddie pointed out.
“I did notice that. But stomach bugs don’t normally hang around that long.”
“Food poisoning does.” Maddie stood and slung her bag strap over her shoulder. “I don’t honestly know what it is, reason why I’m going to the hospital.”
“Do you want me to drive you?”
Maddie blinked. She glanced at Beth, who had her eyebrows raised at Martin. Maddie frowned.
“But you’ve got surgery.”
“I can move the patients around.” Martin shrugged. “They won’t mind.”
Maddie had a feeling that they would. And there was no way she was letting Martin take her to the hospital. This was something she needed to do with Jeremy. He had to be told about the pregnancy and this seemed the best idea. Maddie knew she was riding into a storm, but Jeremy was preferable company to Martin.
“Jeremy’s already taking me. He’ll be here soon.” She started towards the door, giving Martin a pointed look. “If you’ll excuse me, Doctor Roberts, I’ve got to get going.”
“Maddie.”
Maddie was already in the hallway when Martin came after her. He gave her a slight lopsided smile, the one that made all the other girls swoon.
“I…I was wondering if you fancied going for a drink tonight after surgery.”
Maddie blinked.
“You’re asking me on a date?”
Surely that was unethical. Maddie may not have been another doctor, but she worked with Martin. There had to be something in the rulebook about that.
“Yes.” Martin chuckled. “How long has it been since you’ve been on a date that you’ve forgotten how you’re asked?”
Maddie didn’t need to think. She could remember the last time someone had suggested they went for a drink.
Three months ago. And Maddie was suffering from the consequences of that drink and one night. She swallowed.
“I’m flattered, Martin. But I can’t.”
Martin looked confused. It was as if he hadn’t expected for Maddie to turn him down.
“Why not?”
Maddie wasn’t about to go into details with Jace and the pregnancy. It was far too embarrassing. She sighed.
“I just want to enjoy being single for a while.”
That was true enough. No one would want to date someone pregnant with another man’s child. Not in Tucson, anyway.
“It’s just a drink,” Martin protested. “What harm can it do?”
Maddie snorted.
“Trust me, it can cause a lot more harm than you realize.” She then felt the relief flood her body as she heard a car horn outside. “My ride’s here. I’d better be going.”
Aware that Martin was still trying to talk to her, Maddie hurried out. That would have turned into a very awkward conversation had she stayed any longer.
Then again, she was walking into another very awkward conversation. One that Maddie wouldn’t be able to get away from.
Chapter Two
The drive was fine. Jeremy didn’t often drive – he had his motorbike – but when he used his truck, Maddie didn’t have any complaints. But she could feel the tension coiling in her body. She needed to tell him about the pregnancy and the only way she could think of doing it was getting him to take her to the hospital.
Jeremy was going to flip. He had told her many times she needed to be married, at the very least in a committed relationship, before she thought about having kids. He was not going to be happy that she had got pregnant on a one-night stand.
He was going to be even more furious when he found out who the father was. Maddie was not looking forward to that part.
Jeremy pulled into the hospital car park. Their hospital had a parking lot that wrapped all the way round, making it easier to park near the entrance required. Maternity was on the far side, around the back. Jeremy looked at Maddie.
“Where now?”
Maddie swallowed. She wanted to get out the car and run, to lie. But this wasn’t something she could keep quiet for long.
“Go around the back.”
Jeremy raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything. He drove towards the back of the parking lot, finding a space almost directly outside the maternity entrance.
“Why are we around the back?”
Maddie clutched her bag to her. Here it came.
“Because this is the entrance I need.”
“But this is for the maternity ward. What…?”
Maddie braced herself when she saw the penny drop. Jeremy’s mouth dropped open, his eyes widened, and his face went white.
“Oh, my God. You’re pregnant?”
Maddie wanted to dive out the car and run. She could feel the storm building rapidly.
“I am,” she said quietly.
Jeremy started spluttering. If she hadn’t been on the receiving end, Maddie would have found it amusing; it wasn’t often Jeremy was at a loss for words. Maddie could count the number of times she had seen him like this on one hand.
“How…what…?”
“How? Do you need me to draw a diagram?”
Jeremy winced.
“That’s not what I meant.” He took a deep breath, his brain still turning. “How far along are you?”
“About three months. This should be a scan to see how far along I am, get a due date, make sure the baby’s growing and all that.”
Maddie was trying to keep her composure. She was sure that, if her parents were alive, they wouldn’t have given her as much grief as Jeremy was about to give her. They might not have approved of their daughter getting pregnant on a one-night stand, but they wouldn’t have reacted as Jeremy was about to.
“I’m shocked, Maddie.” Jeremy had his hands on the wheel, shaking his head. “I am really shocked. I thought we shared everything.”
“We do.”
Maddie bit back a wince at the lie. They didn’t share everything, but Jeremy didn’t know that.
“Clearly we don’t because you managed to keep this a secret for so long.”
“I didn’t know I was pregnant until a couple of days ago,” Maddie protested. “I just thought it was food poisoning and it was taking a while to come out my system.”
Jeremy still didn’t look happy. Maddie was amazed he hadn’t blown up at her yet. But he would, she knew it. Any biker knew that Maddie was strictly hands-off if they didn’t want Jeremy coming after them. Technically, Jace wasn’t a biker, but Jeremy would blow his top when he found out the man who had bullied his little sister was the father to his nephew.
“Well, I hope you know what you’re doing.” From the sound of his voice, Jeremy was trying to keep calm. “I’m not happy about this but, if Drake can show himself to be a good provider for the baby…”
“It’s not Drake.”
“What?”
That was some relief for Maddie, that she didn’t need to have Drake in her life anymore. He would try to keep coming back but Maddie was glad it wasn’t Drake that was the father.
If she was honest, Jace was a lesser evil. And that was saying something.
“What do you mean, it’s not Drake?”
“I broke up with Drake months ago, remember? I’ve only seen him once since and that was when I was trying to get away from him.” Maddie shuddered. “I wouldn’t have that bastard back in my bed at all.”
“That’s something, at least,” Jeremy grunted. Then he looked confused. “Then who’s the father? And don’t say you don’t know his name because I won’t accept that.”
“I do know who he is.”
Maddie could feel the knot tig
htening in her stomach. She knew she had to say, but that might result in Jeremy doing something that could put him in jail. Her heart was in her mouth, looking down at her lap.
“It’s Jace.”
She could feel the shock coming across the car. Maddie glanced up and saw Jeremy looking at her like he had never seen her before.
“Jace? You mean Jace Howard? What…”
Jeremy was speechless. Maddie didn’t want to be there anymore.
“I bumped into him on his first day back. I didn’t recognize him and when he started flirting, I flirted back. One thing led to another…” Then she saw the darkening shade of red on her brother’s face and hurried on. “It was only that one night. When I found out who he was the next day, I refused to have anything to do with him.”
“Jace Howard.” Jeremy looked as though he was struggling to get his head around everything. His hands tightened on the wheel. “The bastard. Does he know you’re pregnant?”
“He knows.” Maddie started scrabbling for the door handle. “I’d better go.”
“Yes, you’d better.” Jeremy’s voice was low, almost a growl. “We’ll talk about this later.”
Maddie was very sure that they would. And she wasn’t looking forward to it. Barely looking back, she hurried into the hospital as Jeremy screeched his tires as he tore out of the parking lot.
Chapter Three
Jace felt sluggish even after his shower. He couldn’t shake the fog that had laid over him since the night before. It was as if he was walking through sludge.
And he knew the reason. Jace knew it was about Maddie. The damn woman had him feeling upside-down and all over the place. Just thinking about her had his cock pressing against his zipper and his stomach tightening up into knots. She had the ability to put him into a tailspin.
No other woman had done that before. Jace never let them get the chance. Maddie didn’t even need to do anything. Just being present had done that. She wasn’t even doing anything.
If it wasn’t for the baby, Jace would be out of there. He didn’t do tied down, and he didn’t do families. Maddie didn’t want him and, if she hadn’t told him he was about to be a father, Jace would have finally packed up and left. Clearly, he had outstayed his welcome.
But if did leave and Maddie let everyone know she was pregnant, they would hunt him down. Jace wouldn’t be able to get away.
There was a slight consolation. Jeremy didn’t know. If he did, Jace was sure he wouldn’t be alive for long. He had a cushion of safety for now.
Jace was in his jeans and was pulling on a t-shirt when the door crashed open, bouncing off the wall with a resounding bang. Jeremy charged through with a thunderous look on his face. Jace barely had time to react before Jeremy lashed out, catching him in the face. He staggered and lost his balance, falling onto the bed.
His gun was on the bedside table. Jace tried to scramble for it as he panicked, but Jeremy got to him first. Jace then found himself flat on his back. Jeremy’s gun pointed at his face while his other hand was at Jace’s throat.
“You bastard!” Jeremy spat. “You utter bastard!”
“What the hell?”
Jace tried to push him off, but Jeremy was stronger than he anticipated. He pressed back, pinning Jace into the mattress.
“You got my sister pregnant! Are you on a death wish?”
“She told you?”
“Of course she fucking told me! She asked me to drive her to the OB-GYN! You can’t get any more obvious than that!” Jeremy snarled, pressing the gun against Jace’s forehead. “And when she told me the father was you… Christ, Jace, you couldn’t keep it in your pants for a couple of hours? And it had to be my sister?”
“Could you get your hand off my throat?”
Jace was struggling to breathe. He was sure his face was going red. Jeremy growled but he let go, sitting back on Jace’s stomach. His gun was still pointed at Jace’s head. Jace gratefully gulped some air into his lungs. Jeremy was still sitting on him and it was a struggle to breathe, but not as bad as having his throat squeezed. Jace rubbed at his throat and glared up at the other man.
“I didn’t intend to get her pregnant!” he snapped. “It wasn’t on my list of things to do. It just happened. One thing led to another…”
“I’m not interested in hearing it, Jace.” Jeremy held up a hand to stop him. “I don’t want to hear the ins and outs with my sister. All that matters now is that she’s named you as the father and I want to know what you’re going to do about it.”
“What can I do?” Jace shot back. “She doesn’t want me in her life, only the baby’s. If I wasn’t the father, she’d happily have nothing to do with me. As long as I acknowledge and support the child, she’s happy to co-exist with me but no more.”
Even a day later that still really stung. The dull hadn’t faded from Jace’s chest and that made him want to growl. Maddie had really screwed him up, torn up his rule book and then thrown it out the window. He was surprised to realize that Maddie might have been the first person in years he would even consider having a relationship with that wasn’t simply friends with benefits.
Unfortunately, she clearly wanted nothing to do with him. And that didn’t sit well with him.
Jeremy sighed heavily. He didn’t look happy with that explanation.
“Maddie is a headstrong woman, but she doesn’t always know what she wants.”
“Oh, and you do?”
“She’s my sister. I have to know her.” Jeremy climbed off Jace and slid off the bed. Jace sat up and watched him pace the room. He never put his gun away. “I’m also the president of Broken Hounds and I look after my own. Didn’t you remember that we respect our women?”
“I hadn’t forgotten that.” Jace gingerly touched his throat as he glared at the other man. “But I’m not a Broken Hounds member, am I?”
“Not yet.”
Jace stiffened. He was aware of the tension between the two of them and the slightest thing could make it snap. Jace was already geared up in preparation for a fight and Jeremy looked as though he was willing to pull the trigger. They hadn’t got along at all when they were younger, but Jace had known that he was smaller and weaker than Jeremy, so he had kept out of his way. He was still smaller, but he was stronger than before and therefore they were evenly matched. Jace had never had a rigid workout routine but, when he did work out, he did it with complete commitment.
Jeremy wouldn’t know what had hit him. But Jace wasn’t about to chance it with a gun in the fold. His gun was just within reach. However, Jace knew that it was going to get dangerous and he would either end up dead or in jail for murder. Either way, it would hurt Maddie.
Jace wasn’t about to hurt Maddie.
“Are you saying you want me to be part of Broken Hounds again?” He was trying to wrap his head around Jeremy’s comment. “You don’t even like me.”
Jeremy scowled.
“It’s not a question of liking you. It’s for my unborn niece or nephew. Having you in Broken Hounds will give you the protection they need. To make sure you are there when they are born so the baby will grow up knowing both of its parents.”
“Nice to know you care.” Jace eyed the gun, which Jeremy was tapping against his thigh. His finger was not resting on the trigger anymore, but Jace wasn’t taking any chances. “I wonder why you didn’t have any kids.”
He winced when Jeremy’s finger went back on the trigger and Jeremy gave him a warning look.
“Don’t play cute, Howard. I love Maddie. She’s all I have. And you got her pregnant without giving a damn.”
“I didn’t plan to!”
“But you planned to fuck her.” He narrowed his eyes. “For how long?”
Jace sighed. How long was he going to squirm for a mistake he was planning on dealing with?
“Only that evening. Pretty much as soon as I saw her again.”
Jeremy scowled.
“And for what reason? To get back at me and laugh at her for being eas
y?”
“No!” Jace was shocked he could even think that. “I would never do that. I just took one look at her and I wanted her. When I want something, I get it.” He returned Jeremy’s scowl with one of his own. “I don’t see you having a go at her. She was up for it as much as I was.”
Jeremy snorted.