“What if I promised your parents they could see the baby? Without you,” she made clear.
“No!” He hissed. “They’ll try to take over its life.”
“He or she!” Meg spat into the phone. “Don’t call my child an it.” Stupid, selfish bastard.
“What the fuck ever, Meg. Doesn’t matter. They can’t have a relationship with him,” he sneered. “They’ll make the baby their heir, and I’ll lose everything.”
Oh, boo hoo, she thought. How had she ever thought he was charming? He had been though. Before the alcohol. Or before he’d let her see this side of him, anyway.
“What do I have to do to get you out of my life?” she asked as she picked up the items that had fallen out of her open purse.
“What I told you to do from the beginning. Get rid of the fucking baby. I’ll go back to being the perfect son, and my parents won’t have another heir to threaten me with.”
Horrified, she was just about ready to hit disconnect when Mike spoke again. “You do it or I’ll do it for you.”
Meg dropped her phone and forced a gulp of humid Florida air into her lungs. She remained on her knees, unable to believe what she’d just heard.
“Meg!” An unfamiliar male voice called her name. She swung her head around to see Rick coming toward her.
He knelt and tossed the remaining items on the floor into her purse, then helped her to her feet. “What happened?”
She looked into steady green eyes and drew a calming breath. “I had a visit from my ex’s parents at school earlier today. And Mike called just now.”
Rick swore. “Phone,” he demanded, holding out his hand.
She pulled her cell from her bag, unlocked it, and handed it to him. He checked the last call and redialed.
“Probably a burner phone,” he muttered. “Fuck. Let’s go.” He grasped her elbow and led her toward his car.
She dug in her heels. “Wait, my car.”
“We’ll get it back to you later.”
“But—”
“Do you want to call Scott and tell him why you won’t get in the car with me and let me keep you safe? Or would you rather I did it for you? Or you could do what I say.” With the push of his thumb, he unlocked his black Ford.
She narrowed her gaze at him. “What is with you bossy men?” she asked as she let him open the passenger door.
“We get the job done,” he muttered.
She pulled on her seat belt and leaned her head against the seat, exhaustion suddenly overwhelming her. When had her life become so complicated and why?
* * *
Scott spent the day familiarizing himself with his brother’s place of business. Now his business as well. Or it would be once they made it official with paperwork.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so right about a decision. Like he was finally in a place where he belonged. He could push boundaries and rules when necessary without someone coming down on him for violating department policy. He breathed out a slow breath, grateful that the guys here had welcomed him too. They’d given him shit for not being able to hack it on the force, slapped him on the back, and that was that.
Scott took over a small office across the way from Tyler, refusing any offer to exchange with someone for a larger one. He didn’t need space or the status of a big room. He just needed to breathe, and he could do that here.
As for Meg’s ex, he now had a file on the man and his family, and it appeared Mike was the black sheep son who they had unsuccessfully tried to place in rehab for alcohol abuse. He had also been adopted as a baby. And that was all he knew. For now. Luke was still digging. He groaned and looked out the window at his glorious view of the parking lot.
An incongruous dark sedan pulled into the lot and parked. Scott blinked against the glare of the sun as Rick climbed out, met Meg on her side, and escorted her toward the building, a hand beneath her arm. Tension radiated from the man who was assigned to look out for her, while she looked subdued and upset.
“Shit.” He rose and headed to meet them out front, wondering what the hell had happened now.
Chapter Seven
“I want to go home,” Scott heard Meg tell Rick as he met them in the front area.
Scott joined them by reception. “What happened?” He glanced at Meg, who, up close, was pale and completely disheveled, dust marks on her black leggings, her hair falling out of her clip in disarray. She was still beautiful.
“I’ll let her tell you. I’ll be getting a trace on that number,” Rick said, striding away, Meg’s cell phone in hand.
Scott narrowed his gaze. Needing answers, he grasped Meg’s hand and pulled her into his office. By the time he closed the door behind him, his heart was pounding hard in his chest.
He turned to her, immediately cupping her face in his hands. “Are you okay?” he asked first.
She nodded. “I’m fine. A little shaken up but I’m okay. I told Rick to take me home so I could pull myself together¸ but he insisted on coming here.”
“What happened?” he asked again. “From the beginning.”
“I had a visit from Mike’s parents. They came by school to talk to me about visitation with the baby. And believe it or not, that wasn’t what has me rattled. Well, it does, but not in an I’m scared sort of way.”
Scott tried to keep up with the flow of conversation and rambling. “Okay, we’ll deal with the parents in a few minutes.” He settled himself on his mostly empty desk and slid his arms around her, easing her down beside him. “What else went on?”
“I was leaving school for the day when my phone rang. It was Mike, and he knew I’d been with his parents, which means he’s watching them. Or me. Or both. I don’t know.” She brushed her hair off her face with a shaking hand.
“Slow down. Tell me what he said.”
Big brown eyes turned his way. “I told him to sign the papers and I’d be gone from his life. He said if he did, his parents would cut him off financially. I figured that was because they want to see the baby, like they told me. So I offered to give them that right—but not him.”
He opened his mouth to ask what the hell she was thinking, but she held up a hand in front of him.
“I was just feeling out the situation for information, that’s all. I wouldn’t do something like that without more facts. Anyway, I figured he’d jump on the chance to give his parents what they wanted, right?”
“I’d think so, but I’m guessing not?”
She shook her head. “He said if I did that, they’d just make the baby their heir and he’d lose everything.”
“So now we know it’s about money.” Scott clasped her hands in his, hating how cold and clammy they felt. He rubbed them between his palms in an attempt to warm her, succeeding in warming himself up too, in all the wrong ways.
“I asked him what I had to do to get him out of my life, and he said I should do what he told me from the beginning. Get rid of the baby—”
Those words triggered something primal and still raw inside Scott, and he let out a low, angry growl.
Meg’s shocked gaze darted up, meeting his. “What’s that all about?”
“He threatened you,” Scott hedged, not wanting to reveal his personal shit here and now.
“But—”
“Later,” he promised. “I will tell you everything when we get home later.”
She nodded. “It’s the second time you’ve put me off on something. I’m holding you to that promise,” she said, her voice strong.
“Okay.” He’d suck it up and explain about Leah and the baby. Later.
Her shoulders relaxed at his promise.
Right now, though, this was about Meg, and she wanted to keep her baby, unlike his ex, who’d aborted without his knowledge.
“Back to you. And Mike,” Scott said.
A defiant expression crossed her pretty face. “If I wasn’t going to get rid of the baby when I found out about it and was in shock, what makes him think I’ll do it now?”
She pulled her hands free, wrapping them around her stomach.
As a man who’d had everything ripped away from him suddenly and without warning by a selfish bitch who’d never given his feelings a thought, Scott eyed this protective woman with wonder and awe.
“Is that everything?” he asked gruffly.
She shook her head, her eyes damp. “He told me to get rid of it or he’d do it for me,” she whispered.
Scott swore, possessive feelings rushing through him. “He won’t get near you,” he promised. He’d protect Meg and her unborn baby, but more than that, he’d make her feel safe. “I’ve got you.”
She threw herself into his arms, wrapping herself around him and holding on tight. “I don’t know why you’re with me, but I’m so glad you are.”
She fit against him, and he buried his face in her hair, breathing in her sexy scent. “It’ll be okay.”
She eased back, glancing up. “I believe you.” Her gaze intense, she lowered her head until her lips touched his, a soft press of her mouth, and he was lost. He skimmed his tongue back and forth over the seam of her lips, coaxing her open, sliding inside.
She welcomed him eagerly, the kiss going on, a long stroking tangle of tongues. He loved tasting her, could kiss her forever. Even with his cock begging to be freed, he could get lost in her mouth for hours. He lifted her shirt, gliding his knuckles up her sides and cupping her breasts through the lace bra.
“I may keep my desk empty just for this alone,” he muttered before burying his mouth against her neck.
He suckled lightly, knowing she wouldn’t be happy if he left a mark. His inner beast wanted to claim her that way, but he respected her too much to cause trouble for his hot, sexy kindergarten teacher.
She wriggled closer, and he pulled her astride him, her knees on either side of his thighs. His cock jumped in eagerness, but it wasn’t getting any real action. She shifted, settling her sex over the hard swell of his erection, and as he rocked her against him, she curled her fingers around his shirt and moaned.
“I know what you need, baby. Let me take the edge off of your stress.” He braced his hands on her hips and moved her back and forth, heeding her soft sighs and increasingly rapid breathing.
He gritted his teeth at the heated press of her mound against his confined cock, promising himself release later. This wasn’t about him. Since he’d met Meg, nothing he did was about anyone or anything other than her.
“Oh, Scott. This feels so good.” Her hips shifted restlessly, her lower body gyrating hard against him.
“Pretend I’m inside you. Hard. Big. Hot. Fucking you and giving you what you need.”
She tipped her head back, which thrust her pelvis forward, and she let out a shuddering scream.
Somehow he silenced her, slamming his mouth down on hers, capturing the sound of her orgasm at the same time her body seized over and around his. As she rode out her release, the steady grind of their bodies nearly killed him. He held back somehow, trying to focus on counting in his head and not on the sexy-as-fuck woman coming apart in his arms.
She finally collapsed against him, and even he needed a minute or two to catch his breath. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he heard the knock on his door.
Meg tried to push off him, but he held on. “Come in.”
“Rick’s guess was right. It was a burner,” Tyler said as he stepped inside. His gaze locked on Scott’s before glancing at the embarrassed female bundle in his arms. Tyler grinned. “Want me to come back later?”
“No, go on,” Scott said.
Meg pinched his side hard.
He managed not to grunt in surprise.
Tyler leaned against the doorframe. “Like I said, dickhead called from a disposable. No trace. And Rick filled me in on the rest of what went down today. Your best bet is to try talking to the parents. See what influence they have on their kid.”
Scott ran a hand over Meg’s back, still very aware of the soft woman in his arms. “We’ll figure it out,” he said to his sibling.
Tyler nodded, grinned, and stepped out, shutting the door loudly behind him.
“Oh my God, that was mortifying!” Meg pushed off his lap and adjusted her clothing, smoothing wrinkles from her leggings and fixing her shirt, which was hanging askew. “I was straddling you, and we’d just, I’d just…”
Scott knew well what they’d just done. His dick still stood at alert, and his balls were probably blue. “Relax, it’s my office. And Tyler doesn’t care.”
“Well, I do.” She pulled her clip out and tried to fix her hair. “I need to go home and pull myself together. Relax. But I need my car, and that’s at the school, so you can just take me there now.”
She was so adorably flustered, and he hated to stress her out more, but it couldn’t be helped. “Okay, first, yes, you need to go home. But not to shower and relax. I want you to pack up your things and come home with me.”
“What?” she squeaked.
“Mike is following you. He’s threatened you. Your apartment doesn’t have security, you have no alarm, and it’s not safe. I want you where I can keep an eye—and other body parts—on you,” he said, trying to ease the whole dominant thing with a wink and a tease.
She narrowed her gaze. “I know what you’re doing.”
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”
Meg blew out a long breath and paced back and forth in the small office. She might have just had an awesome orgasm, but her stress had returned the minute Tyler Dare had walked in on them. “I promised myself I’d think things through. When it came to dealing with you, to coping with Mike, I swore I’d be smart.”
Smart as in not falling hard for this incredible man who was doing his utmost to protect her and keep her safe. Who was insinuating himself in her life and making himself welcome and needed. She shook her head in denial. Nobody was indispensible, and she would be fine on her own. But she also knew better than to put pride, ego, or past mistakes ahead of keeping her and the baby out of harm’s way.
“Staying with you until this Mike situation is resolved is the smart, safe thing to do,” she conceded, and not easily. To that end, and only that end, Scott’s solution made sense. To everything but her heart.
Surprise etched his handsome face. “Thank you for making it easy.”
“Thank you for offering your house.” She turned away, not wanting to look into those dark navy eyes for too long. She could drown in them.
“I’ll arrange to have your car brought there.”
“Thank you,” she said softly. “Can we go now?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” Because not only did she want to shower and rest, she wanted the answers Scott had promised her earlier. And she intended to get them.
* * *
Scott was grateful Meg needed to unwind when they returned to his house and she didn’t insist on talking. Oh, he knew he’d have to come clean eventually, but he appreciated the time to grill steaks, have a beer, and listen to her humming to the music she played through her cell phone while she prepared a tossed salad. He liked the sounds of her moving around in his kitchen, making herself at home. Normalcy wasn’t something he had much of, and being with Meg brought him a shocking kind of peace.
She’d taken a long shower first, and now she walked around his kitchen in one of those silky short outfits she preferred, this one in soft beige. The kind that showed everything and gave him a permanent hard-on. If he hadn’t caught her wearing something similar when she’d believed she’d be alone, he’d have thought she was deliberately torturing him.
After dinner, they moved out to the patio, relaxing on adjacent lounge chairs. He stared out at the pool, enclosed by a fence for baby and child safety, remembering the time and effort he’d put into designing the yard after he’d bought the house. The yard had been a priority, and he’d started on the back immediately because suddenly he’d been looking forward to a whole different kind of life. Leah hadn’t been.
He tilted his head and glanced at Meg. She studied him in silence, serious brown eyes taking him in. Waiting.
“I guess it’s time,” he said.
She lifted her shoulder, which had the bonus effect of raising her breasts beneath the flimsy top. Her nipples, tight from the slightly cooler night air, peaked against the sheer tank, and Scott bit back a groan. There was way too much to come for his mind or body to consider that kind of detour.
“Only if you want to. I’m not going to force you to bare your soul,” she said. Her little tongue darted out, moistening her bottom lip, and he was tempted to say fuck it, straddle her on the recliner, and forget all about his past.
But she’d hold it against him if he didn’t talk or tried to distract her. He got it. Her life was an open book for him. He’d made himself a part of hers. Fair was fair. No matter how much he hated revisiting that time in his past, he would.
He leaned his head back against the cushioned headrest but kept his gaze on hers. “You know about my family. My father never being home, finding out about his other kids and his mistress. I guess you could say it left a very sour taste in my mouth about marriage.”
She lay on her side and curled her knees in, getting comfortable. “I guess a crappy childhood leads you to go one of two ways. You search for something better or you decide never again.”
Meg wanted better. Scott knew that without asking. For all her talk about standing on her own—and he believed that’s what she wanted—deep down inside, she also desired the happily ever after you only read about in books. Which begged the question: What was he doing getting so involved with her now? Any way he sliced it, she’d be having a baby and settling into a domesticity he’d never envisioned for himself before or after Leah.
“Go on,” Meg said into his extended silence.
He blinked, her voice bringing him back to the present. He cleared his throat. “You’re right. I had no intention of getting married.”
“So what happened?”
He shrugged. “Hurricane Leah. I met her at a Thunder Christmas party. She was a model and had come with one of the players, but they weren’t getting along and broke up before the night even ended. He left her there; she was stranded…”
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