Mountain Man's Secret Baby

by Lauren Wood

  “Call me when you know something.”

  “I will Gemma.” That was the last thing that he had said to me and I knew that he wanted to tell me no. But how could he after he had done so much to get rid of Raphael? He really couldn’t and even though now I know it was a favor, I hoped that this time would be different.

  I paced most of the time and even though I knew that I should stop worrying about it because nothing was going to change with my worry, there was no part of me that could think of anything else. I couldn’t see our future in my mind anymore, not until I knew the truth.

  It was almost an hour before dad called me and it sounded like he was out of breath.

  “I did what you asked Gemma.”

  “And?” He was killing me, he really was. Did he know how much I wanted to yell at him?

  “He refused me in a very rude and vulgar way if you must know. I think he hates me. He stormed out of here like a bad out of hell. I wish you wouldn’t have made me do it Gemma.”

  I felt bad, a little bit, but I knew that it had to be done. Whether it was crazy or not, I had to know and now that I did, I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it. Now dad was upset about Keenan’s reaction, but I wouldn’t have been any happier with any other scenario, not that I could think of anyways.

  “Thanks dad. I will try to smooth it over.”

  He wasn’t sure I could. “You don’t understand Gemma. I thought he was going to lose it.”

  “How much did you offer him?”

  “Enough.” Ronald didn’t say anymore and I had a feeling that his enough was more than I could imagine. It meant that there was nothing more to say or think. Keenan really did love me and I felt bad for going through all of this to find that out. I should have known, even if it was hard to imagine after being so wrong before.

  About the time I got off of the phone with dad, I could hear Keenan coming through the front door. It was hard to miss it because he slammed it on the way in so hard that I thought he was going to break something.

  “What’s the matter baby?”

  Keenan looked at me and I could see he was still steaming from the conversation with my father. I was starting to think that telling him that I had him do it was not the best thing to do. I had to, but I certainly wanted to feel this out first and if nothing else, I had some surprise news that I would throw in if I had to.

  “I don’t want to talk about it Gemma. I am so upset right now.”

  “Do you want a glass of wine?”

  “Whiskey and you have a deal.”

  I grinned at him and told him that I would get him some. It didn’t take him but a sip to act like he was feeling a little better, but then he realized that I wasn’t drinking with him.

  “Oh, I guess I am just not really feeling like it right now. You go on though. It looks like you have had a long day. Was it work?” I hated lying to him, or what felt like lying to him, but I wasn’t ready to tell him what part I had played in his bad day.

  “No it was your father. Gemma, I know he is your dad, but I can’t work with him anymore. I don’t want to even be around him anymore and I think that we should rethink our holiday plans.”

  He really was mad and soon he was going to have us moved away. Was he that made at the mere suggestion of it or was it something else.

  “You are going to have to tell me what happened before we change plans Keenan.’

  “But I am your husband, who would you choose?”

  He was looking at me earnestly and I was floored at the fear that was in his eyes. What in the world did he have to be afraid of?

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I need to know that if something happens between me and Ronald that you will choose us.”

  “Of course I would Keenan. You are my husband and I love you.”

  “I love you too, but I just want you to know that not everything is as it appears. Your father…”

  I stopped him with a hand up and told him that I knew.

  “You know?”

  His eyes squinted at me and I felt the guilt wash over me again. “Yeah, I kind of had him do it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I felt like he was never going to talk to me again if I didn’t get it all out. I wanted him to see that I had to and that meant that I had to tell him about Raphael.

  “Because I found out that Raphael isn’t dead at all. He was paid off by my father to disappear and he did.”

  “So, wait, what?”

  It was hard to hear. I knew that it had hit me hard.

  “Yeah.”

  “So when did you find this out? You never told me about it?”

  I bit my lower lip and looked down. I didn’t want him to know that I had kept that from him for so long.

  “For a while. And then I started to think about it and…”

  “And you had your father do the same thing?”

  I shook my head and I still couldn’t meet his gaze. I knew that he was mad at me and I knew that he had every reason to be mad. I had done something that was stupid. I would be the first to admit to it. I had messed up, but I didn’t want him to be mad. I wanted him to understand that I had to or I was always going to wonder.

  “I just had to know Keenan. I mean, you did marry me to make more money.”

  He started to say something, but stopped. “That was before we were us.”

  My heart melted a little and I told him that I knew that, but I just had to know. It was for my own peace of mind.

  “I wish you wouldn’t have done that Gemma. That was low. I thought you knew me better than that.”

  “I just had to know.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we are having a child and I don’t want you to be with me for any other reason than that you love me. I had to know before I decided anything.”

  “Wait, you’re pregnant?”

  I stopped and smiled at the look on his face. He was awestruck and I was even more smitten. He smiled so big and picked me up suddenly and twirled me around.

  “I should have known when you turned down a drink.”

  “That is why I had to know. Please don’t be mad at dad. It was my fault and I am sorry for doing it.”

  “I can’t even think about that right now. All I can think about is the fact that we are going to have a baby.”

  “Are you happy?”

  I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear him say it. He really did have a way with words.

  “I am happier than I ever thought possible Gemma and it is all because of you. And if you have to do these kinds of things until you realize it, that’s okay. I will always love you Gemma, forever.”

  He bent down to kiss me and all of the worries washed over me and were gone. It was going to be okay, as long as I had him with me. Now we were going to start a family together and I knew that it was going to be just what I always imagined and more.

  THE END

  YOU’RE MINE: A BAD BOY NEXT DOOR ROMANCE

  Chapter 1

  Carol

  “I can’t believe that you are actually getting married. I didn’t think it was ever going to happen, Cameron.”

  “Me either, but at the same time I feel like I have been waiting for this my whole life. I don’t know why it took so long, but it is finally happening.”

  I was happy for her, really I was, but I had to wonder why love never seemed to come my way. I had tried for years to find what she had now to no avail. While I was happy for my best friend, at the same time I wished that I would find someone to be happy with as well. It seemed like it was never going to happen and now that my last friend was getting married, it was on my mind more than ever.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I just wish Cliff would have broken up with me after the wedding. I hate going to these things by myself.”

  “You are not by yourself, you are here with me.”

  “Going to be a bit of a third wheel on our wedding night, don’t you think?”<
br />
  “Carol it is going to be fine. There is going to be plenty of Joel’s friends to keep you busy. I have seen a few of them, they are hot and not from around here so no complications when you are done.”

  “You know that they are not my type. I don’t like that rugged, ‘me man, you woman’ caveman thing that they got going on.”

  She laughed at me and told me that she had felt the same way about it. But she was marrying a tattooed biker, so I no longer believed that they weren’t her type. Joel was a bad boy with a soft side, but to look at him, I would have never known. It was only when I got to know him and see how much he loved my friend that I really started to even accept him at all.

  “I’m just saying don’t be so down. Things always work out the way they are supposed to. I had done given up hope of ever finding someone to share my life with and then Joel just showed up. I think you have to stop looking.”

  “That makes no sense, you realize that don’t you?”

  “I know. It doesn’t make sense.”

  I wondered if she was losing it because of all of the pressure of the wedding. She had been planning nonstop for months and the culmination of everything seemed to be too much for her. I put the veil on after we had her hair perfect and I felt emotions tugging at my heart and head. It was stifling how badly that I wanted to be her. She looked perfect and the happiness was literally glowing out of her. Cameron made a beautiful bride.

  “Just have fun, okay? I will not be able to have a good time if my best friend isn’t.”

  I had a feeling that whatever I was doing, Cameron was going to be far more wrapped up in her new husband to notice. But I resolved to have a good time and the open bar was going to help.

  “Showtime Cameron. Are you ready?”

  She sighed and smiled that high-wattage smile that Joel had given her. She wasn’t the same friend that I had met in school. Cameron was different now and I felt a surge of jealousy that I was going to have to stuff back down before it got me in trouble.

  “You look beautiful Cameron. I am so happy for you.”

  “Then why are you crying?”

  “Happy tears, I swear.”

  She wasn’t so sure, but today was her day and she didn’t have time to worry about my emotions. I tried my best to smile through the wetness dripping down my face. I tried to put on a brave look. I really did.

  “Okay, well as long as you are going to be okay Carol.”

  “Don’t worry about me, Cameron. I am going to be fine. The music is playing for you and it is time to go.”

  Cameron nodded and she pushed the veil back over her face. I helped her with the back of the dress on her way down the aisle. I was the maid of honor after all. I wanted to be there for her, but the whole ceremony my mind was somewhere else. I didn’t even notice all of the hot men that she had told me about. I was in my own little world, listening to the preacher’s words and trying not to lose it right then and there in front of everyone.

  ***

  “You were even more beautiful than the bride.”

  The raspy voice threw me off because it was so close behind me. I could almost feel the heat on my hair. I smiled at the sound and turned to see a black-haired man with eyes to match. He was wearing the same leather jacket in the same style as most of Joel’s friends. I was starting to think that it was because they were all in the same biker gang or something together. I didn’t know what it was, but the style worked for the man in front of me.

  “That isn’t a very nice thing to say.”

  “I just call them how I see them.”

  “You are one of Joel’s friends?”

  He shook his head like it was obvious, his eyes pinning me where I stood.

  “Well nice to meet you…”

  “David.”

  “Nice to meet you David, but I have to go.”

  “You can’t take the time for one dance?”

  I really looked at him then and I wondered if he even knew how to dance. Men like him were not usually so fleet of foot and he didn’t look to be any different. I could see a tattoo that was barely covered with his shirt, going up his neck. What would possess someone to do that?

  “I don’t think so.”

  “You think you are too good for me?”

  There was a bit of anger in his question and it had me turning back around. “No, but we are from two very different worlds, David. And I don’t know the language.”

  He stopped me with a hand on my arm and I pulled away. I didn’t know who he thought he was, but I wasn’t going to let him manhandle me in such a way. It wasn’t going to happen the way he wanted it to. That was why I didn’t have much to do with guys like this. They were worried about one thing and would go out of their way to get it. It wasn’t hard to see what David wanted. It was something that I wasn’t willing to give.

  “It’s just one dance. Are you really that stuck up that you won’t have one dance with me? Am I not good enough?”

  He had a whine to his voice, but I think we both knew that it wasn’t real. He could think I was stuck up all he wanted, that wasn’t going to change my position. I didn’t do well with being forced to do anything and I moved away.

  “Please just one dance.”

  “Have you been hitting the bottle already today?”

  He shook his head that he had been. “I don’t know what that has to do with anything.”

  “I am just trying to figure out if this is how you normally act or not.”

  “You are a feisty one, aren’t you?”

  I didn’t like being called that, especially not from a man like him. In his world, that was most likely a compliment, but in my world it was just rude.

  “I am good on the dance, thank you though.”

  “So, is it because you are afraid you won’t be able to resist me?”

  I shook my head and had to smile. If nothing else, he was sure of himself. It was the kind of confidence that drew women in because they would think that he had to be good in bed to be that cocky. I wasn’t looking for that, so it didn’t draw me in at all. He was hot, but once he started talking that ruined it for me. If only I could enjoy him without the chauvinistic words coming out of his mouth.

  “I don’t think it would be hard at all to resist you David. I just don’t want to dance with you.”

  “Please?”

  I don’t know what it was about the way he asked me, but I couldn’t say no. He somehow said it in a way that pulled at my heart strings and by the grin on his face, I was sure that he knew exactly what it was that he was doing. David’s face brightened and the wattage went up on his smile when I finally agreed. A person might have thought that he had won the lottery by the way he was cheesing. It was hard for me to not be a little caught up in it and smile back at his excitement.

  “Just one dance.” I reminded him that it wasn’t going to be nothing more than just a dance.

  He held his hands up like he would go with whatever I wanted. I couldn’t help the gasp that came out of my mouth when he pulled me into his arms. We were close enough to the dance floor that it seemed acceptable to dance right there. It wouldn’t have mattered anyways. I was pulled tight against his hard body and the feeling felt too good for me to pull away from him. There was no way that I could have focused on anything else but him against me.

  His smell took over my senses and I found myself relaxed, yet tense all at the same time. How had he known that he would have such an effect on me? He had been so confident and while I knew there was a reason for it, it was still hard to realize how easily I had been talked into it. He had been right and though I wasn’t afraid of how I would react to him, I was more than a little nervous about it now. Now that I was in his arms, it was hard to think anything bad about him.

  The song was over before I was done and I longed for his heat against me as soon as it was gone. It was like this was how it was supposed to be. This was how it was supposed to feel.

  “Now was that so bad?”

  I
shook my head that it wasn’t and tried to ignore the canary-eating smile that he was giving me. I could have sworn that he knew that he had gotten to me. He knew that I was going to think about the two of us together the rest of the evening. When I had come to Cameron’s wedding, I was not expecting it to be like this. I was sad then that a rough guy like David had moved away. I didn’t have the same feelings for him then as I had before.

  “You want to get a drink or do you want to just go somewhere to be alone?”

  “What kind of girl do you think I am David? I don’t even know you.”

  He just kind of grinned and told me that he was sure that I would get to know him soon enough.

  “I’m not that drunk.”

  David didn’t seem to care and told me that that could be changed as well. The man had a confidence that I wondered about. What was it about him that made him so sure of himself? And why was I falling into the trap?

  “One drink.”

  “That is all I need.”

  I almost told him never mind because of how assured he was being, but I didn’t. I wanted to see what it was that made David smile in such a way. Why was he so sure that he was what I needed, when I didn’t even know myself?

  “All you need for what?”

  “To convince you.”

  I was already convinced and I knew that it was because of the way my body responded. I could have blamed it on the drinks, but there wasn’t enough to justify that. I could have blamed it on the fact that I was at my best friend’s wedding and there was bound to be emotions cropping up that I wanted to silence. It wasn’t any of those reasons. I wanted him because I knew that he was going to make me feel better, even if only for a moment.

  “What if I am already convinced?”

  His eyes darkened and the smile on his face grew. “Then what are we doing wasting our time here?”

  Looking down, the intensity of his eyes was too much to handle. “Do you have somewhere in mind?”