Chapter Twenty-three
She lay staring at the ceiling waiting for the doctor to return. The rhythmic beep of the monitors and the irritating tick of the IV running into her hand broke the silence in the room. The sterile environment of the hospital made her more nervous than anything.
Since meeting Steven, she had waited for the other shoe to drop. She’d always known that the small balloon of happiness being in Steven’s life would eventually burst. The three brothers camped outside her room, not wanting to leave, even though she had asked them to.
The lump in her throat was proof enough that she loved Steven and his family, and wished beyond any wish that things could have worked out differently. But she could also accept the fairy tale was over. Tonight she’d come the closest to dying than she ever had. Next time it could be Steven, and she couldn’t live with that. It was better for her to walk away now, for a lot of reasons.
A swarthy-skinned doctor in a white lab coat walked in, followed closely by the brothers.
“Okay, ah which one of you is the father?”
“I am,” Steven said, reaching for her hand.
“Well, Moira—your lab results show the baby is fine. Your bleeding and cramps are normal for the first trimester. It can happen for a number of reasons. One being that your cervix is very sensitive during this period of the pregnancy. Sexual activity can cause the bleeding in many cases. You don’t have a pelvic infection, which can also cause the same symptoms. I would suggest that you take it a little easy and refrain from intercourse for a while or have it less frequently until your second trimester.”
“No problem, doctor,” Steven said. “How about you, sweetheart? Can you handle that?”
“Yes,” she said. She wasn’t going to air their laundry in front of some doctor.
“Good, I’ll have you released, and your fiancé can take you home.” The doctor paused. “I have to say, I’ve never seen three men of your age look so identical. It’s very unique.”
“So we’ve been told,” Kyle said, and smiled at her.
Steven helped her to a sitting position, and turned to his brothers. “You guys can go while she dresses, and we’ll see you outside.”
“Party pooper,” Dane said, throwing his arm around Kyle’s shoulder. “He always was that, too, wasn’t he?”
“Come to think of it, yeah. He never did share his toys very well.”
“Shut up, both of you,” Steven snarled at them.
“Do you think he’s getting more ornery with age?” Kyle asked.
“Definitely, especially when it comes to Moira. She’s hands-off, by the way.”
“Yeah, I think I get that.”
“You’re lucky he didn’t kill ya. You can thank me for that.” Dane grinned.
“Yeah right, you were right in there trying to stop him when he was beating the shit out of me, weren’t you?”
“Hey you’re big enough to fight your own battles. Besides, you needed one good beating.”
“By the look in Steven’s eyes, I don’t think I’m in the clear yet.”
* * * *
Steven listened to them bantering back and forth, giving him the gears as they left the room. He sat on the edge of the bed and took Moira’s hand in his, kissing her palm. “You heard the doc, we can go home.”
“I’m not going home with you, Steven.” She pulled her hands from his.
“Moira, I didn’t mean it. Don’t do this.”
“Steven, everything happens for a reason. Maybe the reason I came into your life was so you could get your brother back. Be happy with that.”
“You came into my life because we’re meant to be together,” he said vehemently.
“I’ve made up my mind. Can you get the nurse to take this IV out?”
“No.”
“What?”
“No, I won’t. Not until you tell me you forgive me.”
She glared up at him. “This is all wrong, Steven, it’s been wrong from the start.”
“You can’t honestly believe that.”
“Don’t, Steven—we were never meant to be together. We come from two different worlds.”
He encompassed her face within his hands. “I need you more than you’ll ever know.”
“Steven,” she said, closing her eyes tight, and then opening them again. “I can’t live in your life. I can’t live with bodyguards and parties. That’s not who I am.”
“It’s more than that, isn’t it? It’s because of what happened tonight, and what keeps happening around you. You think something is going to happen to me, don’t you?”
She bent her head, and took in a shuddering breath.
Steven grasped her hands tightly and brought them to his lips. Fear gripped him. She was serious about leaving him. She couldn’t be. “I don’t want to live without you,” he whispered tightly. “I can’t.” He lifted her chin to look at him. “You’re my addiction.” He peered desperately into her eyes.
“I love you, Mr. Porter, and that’s why I’m leaving.”
His heart clenched. It was the first time she had ever said she loved him first. Did she trust him—finally? “Moira, I can see that you believe we don’t belong together, but you’re wrong. You always have been.” He strained to keep his emotions under control. Even the thought of her not being by his side tore him apart. “Dane was right. I surrounded myself with things and spent night after night with different women. It was because I was empty.”
“How can you be empty? You’re surrounded by people all the time.”
“No one touched my heart like you. The first time I kissed you, I knew I had finally found the only woman who would mean something to me. You’re the only woman who can center my world and keep me real. And it’s because I love you.”
“I’m not a socialite. I’ll always feel more comfortable in gumboots than high heels, and I have a string of bad luck attached to my heel, Steven.” Moira fiddled with the intravenous tube. “I’m about as imperfect as a person can be. You don’t need that in your life.” Her words caught in her throat, but she struggled to keep talking. “I just should have walked away from you.”
He reached up to gently follow the outline of her lips with his finger. “Tonight Dane called me a snob, and it’s true. At least it used to be,” he admitted weakly. “I’m not better without you. I’m empty without you, Moira.” He gently whisked the bangs from her eyes. “You’re my other half, I’d give you anything in this world if you wanted it, but I only have one real thing to offer you—my life. And whether it’s true or not that some strange cosmic force keeps putting you in the way of danger, I want to be there to stand beside you.”
A sad smile crossed his lips as he pulled her to him, kissing her deeply. “You are the most gracious woman I’ve ever known, you’re kind and real, and you try so hard to be strong, but it’s all right to be weak, to be human.” His finger traced her cheek. “For so long you’ve been by yourself, walking through life with no one to protect you, love you. Moira—” he whispered. “I don’t want you to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders anymore. I want you to let me carry it for you.” All the walls in her heart crumbled in that moment. Her features twisted with relief. Finally, he’d found the words that cracked her heart wide open.
Tears burst from her eyes, and it nearly broke him watching her release all the sorrow she had stored up in a lifetime of being alone. She’d been holding it all in, with no one to let her feel weak when she needed it, proud of her when she was strong. He realized she just needed to know that she could trust someone enough that she didn’t have to walk alone.
He held her close. It was all he had ever needed, too. Maybe, it was all anyone needed in this life. His brother had been right. He had always tried to fill a hole inside him with perfect things, but it was his imperfect heart that needed to be filled all along.
It’s what her books had repeated over and over again, faith, love, and hope. Maybe that’s why they had caught his attention from the very first
page. She tried to tell the world that people needed all three, and only then could there be peace. Whether it was the peace in one’s heart or the peace of a nation, it all came from the same perfect point, a triangle of three virtues that no human could live without.
“I love you so completely and honestly. It scares me to think that I couldn’t look in your eyes every day. I see truth in them, and it gives me the strength I need to deal with the world. But you need to know that I’ll be with you every step of the way for the rest of our lives, Moira. I’ll be there if you fall, I’ll catch you, I’ll hold you until you feel strong again. But most of all, I’ll stand beside you till the end of our days.”
She folded over, tucking herself into his chest, and sobbed so hard her body shook violently. He cradled her in his arms, letting her shed the years of fear that she had hidden inside. “I love you, Moira, forever I’ll love you,” he whispered into her hair, closing his eyes tight.
Chapter Twenty-four
“Oh, my God,” Callie yelled from the doorway between the kitchen and the operations room. “Look at this, you guys, look.”
Everyone joined her around the TV.
“There she is,” Sasha said, grinning.
The reporter from a celebrity show highlighting the stars’ comings and goings waved to get Steven and Moira’s attention as they walked along the red carpet of the awards ceremony.
Callie hit the stop button on the microwave, putting someone’s lunch on hold so they could hear better. “My God, she’s just glowing. I don’t know if it’s the expectant mommy look or that dress, it’s gorgeous.”
“Yeah,” Mandy said, glancing at Patti and Marcus, “J.C. Penney gorgeous.”
They all laughed at her. “No way, J.C. Penney, not Lauren or Louis Vuitton?” Callie asked, but then again she shouldn’t have been shocked.
“That’s our Moira,” Patti said.
“But that necklace is real, isn’t it?” Callie asked. She couldn’t help but drool over the bed of blue diamonds that covered Moira’s chest.
“Oh yeah, those are real,” Mandy offered. “Steven gave them to her the night he proposed—officially. It matches her ring.”
“How much do you think it cost?” Callie asked, ogling the gems.
Keeping her attention on the TV, Mandy said, “You don’t want to know.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Well, put to it to you this way, squirt, more than you’d make if you worked for the government for the next hundred years.”
“Oh my gawwwd, oh my God,” Callie hissed. “Are you kidding?”’
Mandy crossed her arms. “You make a hundred grand a year, don’t you?”
“Holy shit.”
Patti clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle a laugh. “Ah, Moira, I love ya, girl. A ten-million-dollar necklace and a two-hundred-dollar dress. Friggin’ hilarious. Bet the shoes are from Sears.”
“Did Moira ever divulge what she got for her last book?” Sasha asked Mandy. “I tried to grill her, but she wouldn’t cave.”
Mandy nodded. “She told me when Steven asked how much they paid her for the first five books he’d scared the hell out of her. Moira said those blue eyes of his turned into icebergs he was so mad.” Mandy shrugged. “I guess he decided to take things into his own hands. Moira told me her agent just about melted when she met Steven, and gladly brought him in for the negotiations of the final book. Moira was ticked at first, but she knew he was doing it for her so she let him do what he does best.”
Callie asked, “What’s that?”
“Apparently Steven can talk a train into jumping off the tracks, as Moira puts it. No one stands a chance against him, when he wants something. Anyway, he brokered a deal with the publisher that meant Moira will never have to worry about working again,” Mandy explained.
“So we’re supposed to meet the plane on Tuesday, right?” Marcus asked, interrupting.
“Yeah,” Callie said. “I can’t wait. A corporate jet coming to get us for the wedding, it’s so cool.”
Patti, Marcus, Mandy, and Sasha looked at each other. “Yeah, pretty cool,” Sasha agreed.
Callie left the lunchroom, having to get back to operations, and the rest of the crew followed.
She watched Mandy as she hung onto the doorway for a minute longer. “You just roll with it, old girl,” Mandy said to the TV.
Callie took over in traffic as Mandy sat down in the safety position. With Victoria Coast Guard Radio working an incident, the radios squawked nonstop with responding vessels. Callie signed on duty and scanned her radars, cluttered with contacts, the Port of Vancouver having a busy day, with several deep seas shifting around the harbor, and the tug and tows trying to keep out of their way. She glanced over at Mandy who gazed across the harbor toward the Northshore Mountains until a voice broke her concentration.
“Mayday, Vancouver Coast Guard this is the Blue Wave, our vessel’s on fire, we’re one mile west of…”
Mandy slapped the headphones over her ears and sighed. “Wonder if Steven has a twin brother?” she called out.
Callie laughed at her. “If he does, I get first dibs.”
Mandy responded to the call, “Mayday, Blue Wave, this is Vancouver Coast Guard Radio, how many persons on board your vessel?”
* * * *
“Steven, Moira, could I have a minute?” the reporter said, waving to get their attention.
“Hi, Amy, of course you can,” Steven said, drawing Moira in front of him.
“This is a huge night for both of you,” Amy said, pushing the microphone into Steven and Moira’s face.
“It’s up there, but not the best,” Steven said.
“What do you think, Moira, about your books becoming a movie? You must be so proud.”
“Proud of Steven, it’s his and everyone’s hard work that’s made it a success, but he made it happen.” She gripped Steven’s hand for reassurance.
“The scuttlebutt is that this first movie of the series is going to do very well tonight, but really this month is big for both of you personally. What a love story,” Amy stated. “Moira, you’ve taken the most eligible bachelor off the Executive Hollywood list, and you’re getting married. Every woman wants to know your secret.”
“I didn’t know he was on a list. You were on a list?” she said. His hands crossed her growing stomach, protecting her as he always did. Steven looked so damn sure of himself. His rugged features and brilliant eyes, even his stance said he was in command, always. He was still romantic and always kind. She trusted him, and he knew it, and loved her more just because of it. “I did notice he was lousy at blackjack when we first met,” she said, breaking into a big smile.
His chest rumbled with a low laugh against her back, and he squeezed her tighter. Whispering to her he said, “Yeah, but I won the hockey pool now, didn’t I?”
“Moira, that necklace is amazing,” Amy said, leaning in to look closer.
“Thank you, it’s beautiful, isn’t it?” As she smiled up at Steven, her eyes said, and it’s too much. She’d tried to make him take it back when he’d given it to her, but he’d kissed her until she couldn’t think anymore, and then he made love to her with it being the only thing covering her body, except for him.
Amy barely took a breath. “Your dress is a smash already. People are just in love with it. Who did it?” she asked.
“Oh, the dress,” Moira said, gazing up at Steven. He placed his hands on her shoulders, his face cracking with an enormous grin. “It’s something, too, isn’t it? I got it at J.C. Penny,” she declared. “It was a great deal.”
“Uhh.” The reporter’s words stuck in her throat. “Yeah, well—” She recuperated quickly. “I guess I should head down there myself if that’s what they’re selling.” Amy shook each of their hands. “Good luck this evening.”
“Nice talking to you, Amy,” Steven said moving them along.
“She looked a little stunned,” Moira said with a wry grin.
“You’re one in a
million, sweetheart.” Still chuckling, he leaned into her ear. “At least I won’t feel bad when I rip that dress off you tonight.”
“Steven…”
Steven’s Epilogue
“Moira, oh God,” he groaned, penetrating her to the hilt. He grasped her full hips as the passion consumed his body. With one slow, delicious last stroke he slid his erection from her. Wrapping his arms under her thighs, he grasped her hips.
“Steven,” She called his name with breathy little gasps, her fingernails clawing at the sheets.
“No, sweetheart,” he said as he caressed her hardened point with his tongue. “Doctor’s orders.” His fingers dipped into her channel, loving her with long, sensual strokes.
“I need you inside me.”
“And I want to be there, baby.” He flicked her clit then sucked it deeply into his mouth. Her body went taut, the orgasm jolting her as she cried out. Her hips arched in his hands, driving his mouth against her flesh. Wrapping one drenched hand around his shaft, he pumped himself. When her mouth slid over him he seized, locked in that sublime place that she could always bring him to. The orgasm paralyzed him as a groan of pleasure escaped him.
They both fell back on the bed, breathing heavily, letting the tropical breeze passing through their hut cool their bodies.
“You’re gonna kill me, sweet lady,” he sighed, folding her into his arms. “But what a way to die.” He laughed, curling her closer.
“Do you think we’ll empty the jellybean jar?”
He rolled her on top of him and spanked her. Holding her tight to his chest, he kissed her for a long time. When he finally released her swollen lips he said, “Mrs. Porter, we’ve filled about thirty jars. And I’m ready to start emptying them.”
“You’re gonna need a little blue pill darling.”
“Like hell I will.”
“Well,” she crowed, “you know what they say…you get old, you slow down.”
“In your dreams, sweetheart. I don’t need pills to love you.”
Too Grand for Words (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 31