by Harper Sloan
I scrunch my nose up. "You're insane, Leighton. That makes no sense."
She continues to stare at me unnervingly and I just barely resist the urge to look away.
"You've been the one actin' insane, you weirdo."
"You really are makin' no damn sense. Are you gonna grab the pile of shorts or do I need to come get those later?"
She huffs and bends to pick up the last stack of clothing that I have left to bring to Tate--no, Tate's and my house.
"Lemme ask you somethin'," Leigh commands, her voice muffled by the clothes in her arms that are covering her face.
I turn and start walking down the hall to the stairs before answering. "What now, Leighton?" I deadpan.
"When was your last period?"
I stop walking, halfway down the stairs, and stare down them with wide eyes.
"Christ!" Leigh screeches out as she bumps into me, falling back onto her butt on the step behind her. "Just stop in the middle of the stairs, Q. That's really safe. We should try runnin' down them before jumpin' and tryin' to fly next."
"Repeat that last question," I breathe, my eyes feeling dry from being bugged out for so long, reminding me to blink.
"What question? Oh, about your lady time?"
"Yes, that one."
"I'm thinkin' you don't need me repeatin' it."
I drop the shirts in my arms, seeing them fall down around the stairs, and turn, my hands frantically uncovering her face while flinging the clothes she was holding all around us.
"Oh my God, you've really lost it," she gasps, wide-eyed, looking at the clothes all over the stairs. "I'm not pickin' that shit up." She leans back on her elbows and looks up at me.
"Why would you ask that?"
She smirks and shrugs. "Told you, you've been actin' weird."
"I have not."
"You're the only one that looks like she's ready to break out a turtleneck when it's not even that cold, Q. Not to mention the whole lookin'-seasick-even-while-smilin'-like-a-freak thing. And"--she reaches out to poke my boob, making me yelp--"your boobs are bigger and--thanks for confirming, by the way--sore."
"No way." I pant.
"Oh, yes way."
"You could be wrong. I'm pretty sure I just had my period recently, Leigh."
She looks smug at that. "You didn't."
"How do you know?" I all but yell.
"I know because you were supposed to have it last week. The same week I was supposed to have mine."
Even through the shock of her words, I don't miss that. "Wait a minute. . . ."
She winks. "Surprise!" Her excited word comes out just a whisper and I see her chin wobble.
"Jesus Jones! You're pregnant?" I ask feeling my own chin start to tremble. "I'm so happy for you."
She smiles, her eyes shining. "Thanks, Q. I'm still comin' to grips with the whole thing, but you're the only one that knows aside from Mav. Waitin' to get a little further along before we start spreadin' the news. Anyway, I'm bettin' you are too, sister, so I'm happy right back at ya."
I shake my head. "You're gonna have my niece?"
She raises one perfectly arched brow. "You gonna have mine?"
"Holy shit," I wheeze, dropping to sit in the pile of clothes around us. The silence continues, and even though I'm over-the-moon happy for her and Maverick, I can't deny there could be some truth to her words. "Holy fuckin' shit!" I yell, turning to look at her. "What the hell am I supposed to do? My fiance is a damn gyno, Leigh! I can't hide this from him while I find out if you're right."
She taps her chin and thinks it over. "Hey!" she exclaims. "I have an idea!"
Oh boy. Famous last words.
- -
Unlike the last time I cane here unannounced, the parking lot at Tate's practice is a lot fuller, seeing as it's the middle of the day and not the end of it. Leigh's bright idea was to basically seduce him at work again. It has merit, seeing as it worked so well last time, but I want the moment Tate finds out he's going to be a daddy to be something we can tell our future grandchildren about and me ending up naked and stuffed with his cock doesn't need to be part of that.
I step down from Homer, smiling as I shut the door to the beast that helped bring Tate and me together. It's his turn in the rotation, Bertha's being last week, and I still get a different kind of thrill when I'm driving him than I get from any other truck. He's always going to be the most special out of every one I own just because of what he represents in the Tate-and-me story.
When I enter the office this time, the waiting room is full, and Gladys is in her normal spot. I walk over and lean in to get some privacy in the crowded room.
"Quinn?" Gladys questions as my face gets closer. "You okay, sweet girl?"
I smile. "I would give you a big long excuse about why I need to get in there without an appointment when I'm sure all these nice ladies have been waitin' and all, but that pain's back, Ms. Gladys, and it was everything I could do to get here. He's a naughty man, you know. I just need a quick walk-in appointment so he can get a good look at what he's done to me this time."
Her eyes are huge as I whisper my plight to her, not actually lying this time. Tate really does need to get a good look at what he's done.
"Oh my," she breathes. "You just come on around, honey. We'll get you in real quick."
"Thanks, Ms. Gladys. I owe you huge."
"Don't even think about it. Why I remember back in my day, a youngin' like you, what it felt like after enjoyin' your young fella's attentions a little too much. Nothin' like havin' that fella bein' a doc and all, seein' as you won't end up sittin' with an ice pack between your legs for hours. Lucky girl you are, Quinn."
I pray my tongue doesn't actually fall down my throat in shock at her words and mumble what I think is some kind of thanks.
"Just wait in here and I'll send Dr. Montgomery on in."
I walk into the exam room, not removing my clothes this time, and stare at the sea of baby pictures pinned to the board in the center of the wall. Jesus Jones, will our little one be up there soon? I press my hands against my flat stomach and hope that Leigh wasn't wrong. Now that the thought that I could be pregnant has taken root, I can't handle the excitement I feel, praying that it's true.
I sit against the table, resting my body back with my palms against the paper-covered surface. So much like the same position I used to my advantage the last time I surprised Tate at work with the plan of seducing him to win our bet.
I hear knuckles rasp against the wooden door and I straighten, placing my hands in my lap.
He walks in, frowning at me, his blue eyes meeting mine instantly. Gladys must have told him I was waiting this time.
"Hey darlin'," he says, walking over and kissing me lightly. "You aren't feeling well?"
"I'm feelin' fine, Tate."
He clears his throat, shifting on his booted feet. "Quinn, it's the middle of the day. I can't give you a quickie no matter how much I would love to when I'm slammed with appointments."
"Not here for a quickie, Starch."
He looks confused. "Then what are you here for? You just had your checkup two months ago with Russ, darlin'. I could have written a scrip if you're low on your birth control at home." He steps closer and trails his finger down my cheek. "You know I love playin' doctor, Quinn, but you're gonna have to wait until the pateints aren't fillin' the buildin'."
"Not here for any of that either."
His brows pull in even more.
"Need a checkup, Tate. One only you can give me. Figure the rest out."
"Darlin', it's been a long mornin'. I just got done doin' a checkup house call at Mark and Janie's since she's on bed rest until she delivers the triplets. Before that, it was patient after patient since Russ is out today with a stomach bug. My mind just isn't firin' on all cylinders at the moment."
Taking pity on him, I rise from the exam table and stand, looking up at his handsome face. I bring my hand up, my diamond engagement ring winking at me as it catches light, and ru
b my palm against his cheek. Seeing that ring, the one I only wear when I'm not working at the shop, just makes my emotions amp up until I'm looking at him through blurry, tear-filled eyes.
"Give me a pregnancy test, Starch."
His eyes widen, and had it not been something he could do on muscle memory alone, I'm not sure he would have been able to figure it out. He stands stock-still as I slip out of the exam room and into the bathroom across the hall to get a urine sample. He's in the same position when I walk back in and place the cup on the counter. His hands move in slow, practiced movements as he collects a small amount and drops it into the test window of the pregnancy kit he must have gotten out while I was gone.
His harsh breathing is the only thing that I hear as we both stand, waiting for the test to tell us if I am, in fact, carrying our child. It feels like a lifetime, but when I see the two lines indicating a positive result, my heart feels near full to bursting. I look up at him to see him still staring down at the test, his cheeks wet and his jaw slack.
"I love you, Daddy," I whisper, leaning up to kiss his jaw, tasting the salt of his tears.
I grab the purse I had tossed in the chair before walking out of the room. I smile at Gladys and thank her for fitting me in before walking on what feels like air to Homer. I don't stick around because he wasn't wrong when he said the exam room wasn't the place to get in a quickie and if I know my man, he's going to want to celebrate when the shocked happiness I left him experiencing wears off.
I make it home just twenty minutes before I hear the familiar sound of his steps on the porch. I had been standing in the middle of the living room, waiting, that confident that he wasn't far behind me, so when he throws open the front door in a rush I've got a front-row seat.
"You just left me like that?" he whispers hoarsely. His eyes are red and I know he probably didn't stop those tears from falling until well after I left.
"I knew you wouldn't be far behind me, honey."
He closes the distance between us. "Oh you did?"
I nod. "You wouldn't have wanted to celebrate with an office full of patients, Starch. Just lookin' out for my baby daddy and all." I smirk, feeling my chin start to tremble. "You're gonna be a daddy," I breathe, his hands framing my face as his thumbs wipe away the tears that finally escape my eyes.
"You're gonna be a mama."
"God, Tate," I choke out with a sob, smiling through the happy tears. "I love you so much I feel like I could burst."
He presses his forehead against mine, pulling me closer. "Always knew it would be a wild and unpredictable ride with you, Grease. Not sure I could love you more than I do right now, knowin' you're givin' me somethin' as beautiful as our first child."
The tears continue to fall down my face as he presses his lips against mine, stripping us both down before carrying me to the bedroom and showing me just how happy he is that we've created a life with the love we feel for each other.
It was a long road, us getting here, but when I have him holding me in his arms--skin-to-skin--and his large palm resting low on my stomach, protective over the space that will grow as our child does, I know I feel it down to my bones, that full feeling of being complete inside me tipping over the edge even more.
This, this moment right here, makes every single second that it took for us to get here worth it. We're building our forever now, and there isn't a damn thing that could take this from us.
I've got everything.
And it's freaking beautiful.
Don't miss the third installment in the wildly popular Coming Home series Cowboy Up New York Times bestselling author Harper Sloan returns with the third novel in her sultry, Western-set Coming Home series, in which the eldest Davis sibling, Clay, may have finally met his match--but will he be able to give up the solitary, quiet life he's built in the name of love?
Coming soon from Pocket Books!
Can't get enough of hunky cowboys? Check out the Lone Star Leatherneck series by Heather Long!
When Marine Corps Captain Tanner Wilks returns home to the family ranch to help his ailing father, he finds himself falling for the ranch's saucy new veterinarian. Available from Pocket Star on July 3!
Semper Fi Cowboy
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Mateo Lopez, home on medical discharge from the Marines, finds himself butting heads--and hearts--with the ranch's new spitfire British horse trainer. Available in December 2017!
As You Were, Cowboy
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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HARPER SLOAN is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Corps Security and Hope Town series. She started writing as a way to unwind when the house went to sleep at night. Harper lives in Georgia with her family. Visit her at authorharpersloan.com or at facebook.com/harpersloanbooks.
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Cover design by Damonza Cover images (c) Erickson Stock/Blend (sunset); (c) Dave and Les Jacobs/Getty Images (couple) ISBN 978-1-5011-5521-5
ISBN 978-1-50115522-2 (ebook)