No More Lies

by Sandy Appleyard

  Part of me is so relieved that he asked me to marry him first, but the other part of me is wondering if maybe he won’t regret it. When he slides the framed photo out from the paper, he studies it. It’s Chip, sitting in the pasture, next to a notice board with white plastic lettering on it, framed in a faux ribbon pattern. The notice board says, ‘But I thought I was the baby’. Under that statement is, ‘ETA March 2021’.

  It takes him a second to clue in on what’s happening. When he does, his warm smile is telling. “So, we have a little present of our own coming soon, I see.” He looks at me. “Is this what you’re so nervous about? Telling me that you’re having my baby.”

  I sigh, clasping my hands under my chin. “Just a little.”

  He rises. “Come here.” He murmurs. His arms stretch around my body, pulling me close to him. I feel his head tuck inside the nook between my neck and my shoulder. His grasp on me is so tight, it’s like he’s trying to tell me in a hug, how happy he is. “Thought I couldn’t love you any more, Laura.” He says, as thought he can’t believe it himself. “Was just thinking that earlier, as I was trying to come up with a way to ask you to be my wife. That there isn’t possibly any more ways that I can love you. But as of twenty seconds ago, another way just popped up.”

  He kisses my neck tenderly and pulls back so we’re nose-to-nose. “And you’re happy about having a little one?”

  “Always wanted one, Grayson. Just…forgot until now.”

  “And you’re…feeling okay? Not sick or anything?”

  I shake my head no. “Not yet. Just a little tired.”

  “And you figure you’re what…two…three months along?”

  “About that. I won’t know until the ultrasound. Clint’s setting all that up.” I grin. “It’s sure going to be nice to be married to a doctor, when we’re trying to raise a child.”

  “Sure will.” He kisses me. It’s so tender and needy I feel my emotions well up inside me. A knot is in my throat as he pulls back. “Now you’re hiring some office help for yourself. With a baby on the way, there’s no way you can manage the hours that you’re pulling off, darlin’.”

  I look downward. “I know it. I’ll get on that next week.”

  “Okay.” He smiles, holding me close, kissing me sweetly. We’re still standing in between the tables, holding each other. It’s like we’re in the middle of a dance floor, and nobody else exists but us. “Do you want to get out of here?”

  “Sure.”

  He takes the photo and wraps it carefully in the box again. “I think I’ll put this on my desk.”

  “That’s a good idea.” I pause. “But, we should keep this under our hats until my second trimester.”

  He looks at me. “Oh yeah. I forgot about that.” Then he cocks his head. “Who knows so far?”

  “Just me, you and Clint.”

  His eyes bulge. “You haven’t even told Lisa yet?”

  “No.” I say firmly.

  “Golly, Laura. I gotta hand it to you.”

  “To be fair, I only found out this morning. It hasn’t even sunk in yet.”

  “How did Clint take it?”

  I shrug. “He’s pretty tickled about it. First niece or nephew.”

  We walk to the front of the restaurant, and Grayson hands the hostess his credit card, indicating who our server was. We didn’t even bother to wait for the bill. She pulls up the order on the computer, and hands Grayson his card back. “This has been paid for, sir.” She says.

  “That’s impossible.” Grayson insists. “Are you sure it isn’t because we didn’t wait for the bill?”

  She shakes her head no. “No, sir. A ‘Dr. Clint Kelsey’ covered the bill, including the tip.”

  My heart swells. I place my hand on my chest, feeling my eyes water. “Oh, Clint. What a sweetheart.”

  “He didn’t have to do that. Awful sweet of him, though.” Grayson comments, looking at the hostess. He pulls out three twenty dollar bills, and hands them to her. “One’s for you, the other two are for the waitress and the chef with thanks.” He tips his head.

  “Thank you, sir. That’s very gracious.” She says, beaming. “Would you like a receipt for that, sir?”

  He shakes his head. “No, that’s alright, but thanks. Have a good night.”

  “You too sir, and ma’am, too.”

  We leave the restaurant. Grayson takes my hand in his. He looks up at the carriage mounted beautifully in white slate gravel. “Climb on up there, darlin’. We should take a picture to remember tonight.”

  “That’s a great idea.” I say, climbing in. We hear someone coming out of the restaurant. It’s the hostess.

  “Would you like me to take your picture?”

  Grayson smiles, handing her his phone. “Sure, sweetheart. That would be lovely.” He climbs in next to me as she aims the camera lens our way. “We’ll call this our engagement photos, I suppose.”

  “Congratulations, you two.” She says after taking several photos of us.

  “Thank you.” Grayson says, taking his phone back.

  As we drive home in my car, Grayson’s hand is in mine. “Life sure has changed, hasn’t it.” he states.

  “Sure has. All for the good, too. We’re very blessed.” I point out.

  “That we are.”

  As we pull up to the house, Lloyd is sitting on the front porch with the rest of the boys. “Where’s Kurt?” Grayson asks, noticing that his brother is the only one missing from the crew. “He laying low tonight?”

  Chip runs up to us from the pasture, jumping up and down. Grayson kneels and pets him.

  Lloyd chuckles. “You could say that.”

  Grayson smiles, trying to figure out why they all have smirks on their faces. “What’s going on?”

  Simon can’t help himself. “Kurt and Lisa left together.”

  I blurt. “Together?”

  Simon is enjoying himself. “He and her went into his room for a while, and then later, she came back, and they went out. All dressed up, too. Kinda like you two.” He gives me an evaluating glance.

  “Oh boy.” Grayson growls under his breath. But he takes my hand in his and leads me into the house, Chip in tow. As he closes the door behind us, he asks me. “Do you want to talk about that, or do you want to celebrate?” his arms wrap around me.

  “I thought we already celebrated.” I state, even though I know full well what he’s saying.

  He kisses me. “I thought we could celebrate more. In the tub, or by the fire, wherever you want.”

  “I suppose we could do that.” I say, my voice is low.

  He rubs his nose on mine. “You think Lisa and Kurt are doing exactly what we’re about to do?”

  “Probably. Knowing Lisa.” I chuckle. “She’s not one to play hard to get.”

  “I sensed that.”

  My hand trails down his chest, past his belt, and I grasp him gently. “I take it you sense something else.”

  His eyes hood. “You better not do that with the boys on the other side of the door.”

  “Let’s go upstairs.”

  “I’ll race you.” He says, and then slaps my rear and runs, giving himself a head start.

  “Cheater!” I shout, following him up the stairs. Chip thinks it’s play time, so he’s barking, running after us both. Grayson runs into the bedroom and dodges me as I reach him. Grabbing me by the upper arms, he throws me on the bed, and hover over me. “That I’m not. Nor will I ever be.” He says with his eyes as dark as night, but his lips quirked up into a smile.

  “What?”

  “A cheater.” He confirms, repeating what I said a moment ago. “I’d never cheat on you, baby. Not in a million years.” he kisses my lips, letting it linger and go deeper.

  “I know that, Grayson. The thought never came to mind.” I say between kisses. Chip starts barking, thinking that play time isn’t over yet.

  “Time for mama and daddy to have a little playtime of
our own, Chip.” He says, ushering the dog out of the room. When he steps back to the bed, he undresses, not taking his eyes off mine. I watch him. It’s the sexiest thing in the world, watching him undress.

  “Would you like me naked too?” I tease, pulling my blouse over my head, revealing my sexy bra underneath.

  “God, you are such a sight for sore eyes, darlin’.” He murmurs to me, watching me undress. When we’re both naked, he kneels, so his face is at my navel. He kisses the flesh just below. “Hi, baby.” He speaks, and I feel a lump in my throat. “Your mama and I are gonna make love. I’ll be gentle with her, don’t you worry. You’ll be safe.”

  He kisses the flesh, and goes down lower, and keeps kissing every inch of me, until my back arches. It takes every ounce of resistance not to cry out, as his mouth moves on me, waking up all the nerve endings in my body. When my breathing is ragged, and every exhale is a moan, I feel my release, and Grayson trails kisses up my body, not missing an inch, until he reaches my lips, where the need in him is evident with his mouth.

  Grasping me gently, he pulls me to him, as he creates our intimate bond, grunting softly as he feels intense pleasure. “God, baby, I’ll never get tired of making love to you. It’s no wonder we made a baby so fast. I’ll make a hundred of them with you if it’s always like this.”

  His words shake me to my core. While I clench tightly, I watch his face, as he absorbs the pleasure that I’m bringing him, as he just brought me moments ago. We ride the waves together, until Grayson’s eyes shut tight, and a sexy, breathy grunt comes from him, as I climax with him. As we lay in bed together moments later, Grayson kisses my left hand, just above my engagement ring. “So, do we need to keep this a secret, too? I almost told the boys earlier, but I figure we should do that together.”

  “We can tell people. However you want.”

  “But we wait to tell them about the baby.” He confirms.

  “Yes. It’s always a good idea, just in case.”

  He looks at me. “Does this include Lisa?”

  “It is especially about keeping it from Lisa. You know that that girl can’t keep a secret to save her life.”

  “Can you keep it from her?”

  “I’ll certainly try to.”

  He snuggles in tighter behind me and kisses my head. “Let’s go up to El Paso this weekend. So you can meet my family and we can announce our engagement.”

  “Sure. That sounds good.”

  “And then we’ll get married before the summer is out.” Grayson states. “I assume you want to tie the knot before junior here is poking out, right?”

  “If Reverend Jackson can accommodate, sure.”

  “I’m sure he will.”

  “Goodnight, Laura.”

  “Goodnight, Grayson.”

  I bend back to kiss his lips. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  The next morning ends up being a total surprise, as if we hadn’t had enough surprises.

  Chapter 5

  Lisa

  We take Kurt’s pickup to the restaurant, and I can’t stop looking at him. He keeps looking over at me with this sexy grin that I’d love to kiss off him. The way he carries himself is such a turn-on. A typical cowboy, but with an edge of non-bullshit. The reason I know that is because he didn’t jump my bones given the chance this afternoon. Had he been just any other guy, I’d be showering his scent off me right now, having revelled in it all afternoon.

  Instead, we’re on our way to a restaurant, on a date. That’s where I’ll give my seduction scene another try. Kurt may be the hottest man I’ve ever met. With his short, curly brown hair and big, blue eyes. He’s got an ass that looks like two scoops of butter pecan ice cream, too. Can’t wait to grab it.

  “What’s with the smile?” he asks with a chuckle.

  “Just…looking at you. Have you seen you?” I point out as if he should know just how goddamn gorgeous he is. Ranch work suits him well. He’s got natural muscles, not the forced kind like you see on guys that live at the gym. No, his build is from years of working on a ranch. His biceps bulge with the slightest natural movement, and it makes me nuts. He’s so much like Grayson, it’s almost uncanny, and I wanted to eat that man alive the moment I met him. But Kurt, he’s different than Grayson. They may look alike, but Kurt has a different air to him, an even sexier one. One that, up until now, I couldn’t handle.

  “You ever been to this restaurant?” he asks.

  “Yes. It’s not too fancy, so you’ll be fine with what you’re wearing.” He has a pair of black jeans on, relatively new, black leather boots and a white golf shirt, that is practically ripping in the shoulder with his girth. He’s chosen to leave his Stetson off, so his freshly washed hair is all curled in the right places. I’ve also got on black pants, but I’m wearing a plaid, semi-transparent blouse, with a black camisole underneath.

  He gives me a once over. “Black is your color.”

  “It’s the hair.” I say, lifting one of my raven ringlets.

  “You kinda look like that there…Courteney Cox.”

  She’s flipping gorgeous. I take that as a compliment. “Thank you. If I were to compare you to a celebrity, I’d say that you look like Jamey Dornan.”

  Kurt looks at me. “Who’s he?”

  “Fifty Shades?”

  His eyes bulge, but he smiles. “Really. You think I look like him?”

  “Kind of.”

  He shakes his head, grinning, good-naturedly, as we turn into the parking lot at the restaurant. “Whatever works for ya.”

  As we reach the spot, he turns off the engine. “Hang on a second there.”

  I give him a puzzled look. And I watch as he exits the truck, walks over to my side, and opens the door, offering me his hand. “Thought I’d be gallant-like.”

  Taking his hand, I accept his offer to help me down out of the truck. “Thank you.”

  “It’s also because I don’t have running boards on this monster. I saw you struggling to hop into it when we left. Didn’t want you to fall on your way out.” He admits, but the look on his face says that he would have done it anyway. “Not a great way to start a date.”

  His hand stays in mine as we walk into the restaurant. Man, am I in trouble. I want to remove my hand, but I also don’t want him to be offended. At least he’s holding it the way that my daddy used to hold my hand when I was a little girl. The hold isn’t sexual or the way that lovers hold each other’s hands, with their fingers interlaced. Kurt’s hand is simply covering mine and holding it gently.

  The chosen restaurant is chain-style. It doesn’t have napkin dispensers on the tables, but it also doesn’t list the prices rounded to the nearest dollar on the menu, either. It’s kind of in-between. No reservations are required, either, so there’s a bit of a wait by the hostess podium. Kurt has released my hand as we enter the restaurant. He sees the lineup. “You sure you want to eat here?”

  “It’s a great place. Worth the wait.” I touch his arm. “Besides, it’s still early.”

  He shrugs, speaking with an air of uncertainty. “Alright.”

  “You like wings?” I ask.

  He looks at me, letting his gaze linger down to my lips, which gives me a thrill. “Sure, I like wings.”

  “They have the best here.”

  His neck cranes back. “You’re telling me you like wings?” his voice is flat, like he doesn’t believe it.

  “I eat them here all the time.”

  The hostess takes our name and instructs us to go sit on the leather bench by the wall with the others in line. “Alright then. Wings it is.”

  “They have great beer here, too.”

  He looks at me again, shaking his head. “She likes beer and wings.” He says, as if convincing himself. “You like football, too?”

  “Baseball.” I correct. “I also kick ass at pool.”

  “Yeah? There a pool hall around here somewhere?”

  “Su
re. Just up the street there’s one.”

  “Maybe we’ll go check that out when we’re done here.”

  “Sure.”

  His knees are parted, and he’s resting his elbows on them. “What else do you like to do for fun?”

  “Mini-golf.”

  “Yeah, that’s pretty cool. What about bowling?”

  “Love it.”

  He nudges me with the side of his knee. “And where do y’all take your dates?”

  “Not very far.” I wink.

  He chuckles, snuffling a laugh. “You are something else.” He pats his hand on mine. “I told you we weren’t sleeping together tonight. So, hold on there, killer.”

  “What about tomorrow night?” I purr.

  “Nope. Not tomorrow night, either.”

  I guffaw. “How many dates do you take a girl out on before you put out?”

  He looks around, and his smile slips a notch. “You want to keep your voice down there? The whole restaurant can hear you.”

  “Sorry.” I say, feeling like I want to slide into the nearest hole. I am loud. Sometimes I don’t realize it until it’s too late. “I…get a little…carried away sometimes.”

  His arm slides over my back. “It’s okay. We’re far enough out of town here. Nobody knows us. I’d just like to keep it that way.”

  “Laura’s always telling me that I’ve got a big mouth. I suppose that she’s right. Maybe that pint of beer isn’t such a good idea.” I chuckle a nervous laugh. Why I want to impress this guy so much is beyond me. Normally I would have told a guy who suggested I keep it down, to blow it out his ass.

  “Na, you can have one. Hell, I’ll split it with you.”

  A couple that was here before us is invited to take a table. There are two other groups waiting ahead of us. Two minutes later, one group is taken, and then as a large group leaves, the last group is seated. Nobody has come in after us, so we are the only two waiting now. “So, you still drink…even though Grayson’s an alcoholic?” I probe. I’m careful to use a non-judgemental tone.

  “I hardly ever drink.” Kurt answers honestly. “In fact, tonight will probably be the first time in months. Haven’t been out for dinner in as long.”