Blaine, Destiny - Breakfast by the Sea (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Destiny Blaine

  “Never?” he asked, feeling like he’d groveled enough.

  She shook her head.

  “All right, then,” he said, making light of the situation. “Then eat your pancakes, because if those hot little fingers move much closer to my balls, I’m going to pour that hot syrup all over you and try to change your mind.”

  “Sounds like a plan, but not today. I don’t think this body can handle what you have in between your legs.”

  So he’d been told. One too many times.

  * * * *

  Jeff and Connor stood side by side, staring at the ocean. Jeff knew what was on Connor’s mind, and he couldn’t blame him for being a tad angry. Shit, if the roles were reversed, he’d be ready to fight for Paige’s hand.

  “You’re something else, man,” Connor began without moving an inch. “You knew how I felt about her, but that didn’t stop you.”

  “I meant to talk to you first.”

  “Then why didn’t you?”

  The pain scribbled across Connor’s face was pure agony. As much as Jeff would like to change that, he couldn’t. He wouldn’t. Paige was his. He’d share her if he had to, but he wasn’t rescinding his proposal. “I love her more than I’ve ever loved anyone.”

  “You want to control her.”

  “Like hell I do. What would make you think such a thing?”

  “You could’ve left well enough alone. We’d return to Tennessee, get her settled in at the ranch, and everything would’ve been fine. But no, you wanted to do things your way. You had to propose marriage. What the hell, man? Do you honestly think you can make her happy?”

  Jeff continued to watch one wave lap over the next. There was always one tide to wash out another, just like there would always be another mission waiting, a few more criminals to stop. That’s why Jeff had taken hold of Paige and held on for dear life. Adam had been right. What if she was his only shot at happiness?

  “I don’t expect you to understand me or how I feel about Paige.”

  “You love her enough to marry her?”

  Jeff finally addressed him eyeball to eyeball. “I love her enough to die for her.”

  Connor shrugged. “So do I.”

  “I can see that’s true.”

  “Then why do this? Why get married? Why can’t we go back home and make things work like they are?”

  “I want her to have my children.”

  “Say that again?”

  “You heard me the first time. I want children. I want Paige to mother them. Is there something wrong with that?”

  “Man, that’s messed up. You can’t bring children into this kind of life. You knew that when you signed on for this career.”

  “Then I’ll quit.”

  “You can’t fucking quit!”

  “Yes, I can. If you’re in the equation and you’re still active, we’ll have protection for Paige. We can still live at the ranch. She’ll be protected just like any other operative’s wife.”

  “And where does that leave me?”

  “In pretty good shape, if you ask me. You’re not ready to give up the fight. I am.”

  “Since when?”

  He took a deep breath. “Since all I want is Paige and the family she can give me.”

  Connor studied him for a long time. “She means that much to you?”

  “She’s everything. I can’t explain this, exactly. You know how I am with words.” A strike later, he said, “Something happened to me while I was watching what happened to my family. My father’s choices had damning consequences for his entire family. I don’t want to do that. I want to be a good man. Paige makes me a better man.”

  “Jeff, you’re putting a lot on her and don’t realize what you’re doing. You’ve gone from one extreme to another, and if she disappoints you, and she might given her history, what then?”

  “She could let us both down, or one of us could break her heart. None of us are delusional. We know the score. Paige understands and accepts me in spite of my past.”

  “You didn’t answer the question. What will you do if she’s not who you think she is? What if she’s not tough enough to handle you when the ghosts of the past refuse to let you sleep at night, hmm?”

  “I have no idea,” he said thoughtfully. “But I have to try this. I want to wake up in the middle of the night, reach for her, and find her beside me. I need her next to me when my nightmares shake me from an unsettling sleep.

  “Connor, we’re friends, basically brothers. You know almost everything about me, and I wouldn’t ask you to support this if I didn’t think I could make her happy. At the same time, I don’t want my happiness to come at the high price of costing you yours. Talk to Paige, and you work out something between the two of you. I’ll support whatever arrangement you reach.”

  “But you’re still going to marry her.” He wasn’t asking. He was processing.

  “In my heart, she’s already my wife. I only want to make it legal so I can try and talk her into having my sons and daughters.”

  * * * *

  Trony sat at his desk, looking over the scattered paperwork. He couldn’t believe Ramone had been such a horrible bookkeeper. Ramona had been right. Ramone had become obsessed with her and completely let the business go.

  Too bad Ramona wasn’t around now. She had been quite resourceful in matters of business.

  Flipping through a few ledger sheets, Trony glanced up when he saw two shadows moving toward him. The overhead light flickered. He studied the chandelier for a moment and then returned to his work.

  “No guards today, Trony?” a man said in a diabolical voice.

  “What the hell?” His eyes averted to the men in front of him, and he gasped at once, recognizing them immediately. “What do you want? Who let you in?”

  A lopsided grin claimed the face of the man he’d escorted back to the front entrance of the Jekyll Island Resort that fateful day when Ramone’s life had ended. And apparently, Trony’s demise was right around the corner.

  Realizing he was unprotected, Trony stood with as much dignity as he could muster. “I’ll double your price. Whatever you’re being paid, I can pay you more.”

  “You remember me, don’t you?” the young fellow asked. “Name’s Callan O’Bree. This here is Miles Landon. We like to introduce ourselves to our targets. It’s only polite.”

  “If nothing else, we’re gentlemen,” Miles added.

  “Triple,” he breathed. “I’ll pay you triple.”

  “What do you think?” Callan taunted. “Would triple cover it, Miles?”

  “Nay,” he said casually. “Not interested.”

  “Me, either,” Callan said, pumping two shots into Trony’s chest.

  “But nice try,” Miles said, flipping the Jack of Spades card on his fallen form. “Damn nice try.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Two Weeks Later

  Jeff and Connor rushed upstairs. “Where is she?” Jeff asked, sounding concerned.

  Paige hung her head over the commode again and lost the last of her breakfast. Callan had been holding her hair, and Adam continued to drape her with cool rags.

  “Paige?”

  She held her hand up. “Go away. All of you, just go away.” She’d been making the same request since Callan and Adam had discovered her a few minutes earlier. What was it about these guys? Did they really need to see her at her best and at her worst?

  “Honey?” Jeff reached across her back to flush the toilet. “What’s going on?”

  She took a deep breath and tried to look at him. The fact that he was so fucking naïve at that point really chapped her backside.

  “Why is she so green?” Jeff asked, eyeing Adam.

  “You tell me,” Adam said, chuckling and handing off the washcloth.

  “How the hell would I know?”

  Callan said, “My sister was once sick like this. Used to come over her every morning.”

  “Please,” she said. “Go. Leave me alone. No one wants to puke with an a
udience.”

  Jeff wiped her mouth and brushed a stray hair out of her face. “Are you getting the flu?”

  She glared at him.

  “Paige, honey? What can I do?”

  Her breathing was labored again. God, she was going to be sick all over the place while these big tough guys tried to figure out what was wrong. She bowed her head forward and waited. When the sick feeling finally subsided, she eased away from the toilet and buried her face in the hook of her arm, resting against Connor’s thigh.

  Connor lifted her shirt and tickled her back. “Want me to carry you to bed?”

  “In a minute. Let me sit here for now.”

  “What could’ve made her this sick?” Jeff asked.

  Adam slapped him on the back. “From what I hear, you’re responsible.”

  Miles appeared. He had a stack of papers thumbing through them. “I don’t think she’s pregnant. Everything I pulled off the Internet suggests that morning sickness generally starts after the fourth week of pregnancy.”

  “Pregnant?” Jeff asked, raising a brow. “Pregnant?”

  “Like I said,” Miles said, giving Jeff a stern look. “It wouldn’t be a good idea to bank on that, because morning sickness typically doesn’t start until later.”

  “And what do you know?” Jeff asked, scooping her into his arms and carrying her to bed.

  “Jeff, I’m sorry,” she whispered. “But I think they may be right.”

  “Shh…get some rest. We’ll talk later.” He kissed her forehead and then turned to everyone else. “All right, guys. Let’s give the lady some privacy.”

  “I’m not leaving her,” Connor stated flatly.

  “Good,” Jeff said. “She needs someone to watch over her.”

  Stretching out beside her, Connor said, “I’ll be here when she wakes up.”

  When everyone left, Paige curled up in his arms. “Connor, I have something to ask you.”

  “Ask away,” he said, placing his hand on her hip.

  “Do you feel intimidated by the love I have for Jeff?”

  “Of course not. Why do you ask?”

  “Do I make you feel second best?”

  “No, no, nothing like that.”

  “Good,” she whispered. “I want you to stay with me.”

  “I’m right here, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Is that a promise?”

  “Yes, that’s a promise.”

  “Can I hold you to it for the rest of your life?”

  He grinned. “Are you proposing to me?”

  “Yes.” She sighed. “And I have a feeling Jeff isn’t going to like it one bit.”

  “How are you going to manage marrying two men?”

  “I’m going to marry you both at the same time. If I learned anything at all from Ramona, I’ve learned that where there’s a will, there’s a way. I’ll marry one of you under the name Jillian Carpasia and the other under Paige Lambert. What do you think?”

  He caressed her cheek and finally said, “I think the wedding may have to wait, don’t you?”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”

  “Probably.” She narrowed her gaze. “Why would you say that?”

  “There’s something different about you. The sickness came over you after you ate. Plus, I have a feeling that you have this instinct that you might be pregnant.” He eyed her hand, resting protectively over her stomach. “And if you are, you’re carrying Jeff’s child.”

  “That would sound about right,” she admitted. “We didn’t use protection very much.”

  “Paige, I have something to say that will take a lot of pressure off you, if you’re up to hearing it.”

  “Okay.”

  “I want you to marry Jeff.”

  “But…”

  He shook his head. “I love you. I believe you love me. But you do love Jeff more. You’ll always love him more, and that’s okay. It’s the way it’s meant to be. Jeff is willing to give up his career for you. I would never do that.”

  “Yes, you would. If I asked you.”

  “No, Paige, I wouldn’t.”

  “Even if I needed you to?”

  “No. I wouldn’t. Jeff, on the other hand, needs to get out of this. He was in the business for the wrong reasons. I once told you Jeff killed for sport. And to an extent, that was accurate, but I didn’t know everything about Jeff. I didn’t know why he’d become this tough natural-born killer. Now that I do, I understand him better. I also believe he’s tired of fighting.

  “He says you make him a better man. I believe that’s about right. I believe he can make you a better woman, too, if you’ll let him.”

  “But what about us?”

  He took her hand and brought her fingertips to his lips. “I’m not going anywhere. But you are. You’re about to start your life with a man who loves you and who’s willing to give you one hundred percent of himself. I’ll never do that.”

  “This is so peculiar,” she said softly. “I always thought Jeff would be the one telling me goodbye, and now it seems you are.”

  “No, I’m not telling you goodbye, but what I’m saying is I was wrong. Jeff Jacobsen is a keeper. He’s a man who will love and protect you until he takes his last breath. He wants a family with you.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  He smiled. “I want you to be there for me when I come home and love me like the devil when I’m in your arms, but I don’t want you to wait for me.”

  “Do you think that will work for you?”

  “Yeah,” he said without missing a beat. “I think that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

  “Does this have anything to do with Charlotte and what happened to Jeff’s family?”

  “In a sense? Yes. Do you believe in fate?”

  “Not really, but I should.”

  “No doubt. Think about what you went through and what Jeff endured before the two of you knew one another. Then, I want you to consider the fact that while you each lived independent lives, you were already connected long before you found each other.”

  “You sound like a hopeless romantic,” she said in a husky voice.

  “I’m a practical man, Paige. I want you to love me. I need to be loved by you, but you don’t belong to me. Just like right now. I’d bet dollars to donuts you’re pregnant with Jeff’s child, and you know what? That’s the way it’s supposed to be. If I’ve ever seen two people who belong together—it’s Jeff and you.”

  Jeff cleared his throat and interrupted their moment. She couldn’t help but grin when she saw him march toward her. “Is he trying to convince you not to marry me?”

  She looked at Connor, and they shared a laugh. Connor winked. “She proposed to me.”

  “You did?” he asked, arching a brow.

  “He turned me down,” she said, frowning.

  “I’ll see you later,” Connor said, kissing her hand. “Feel better.”

  “I will,” she promised, immediately returning her focus to Jeff. “I really did propose being with both of you.”

  “And he said no? That Connor is a smart man.”

  “He thinks we’re soul mates.”

  “What do you think?”

  “I think he may be right,” she said, lifting her shirt and gently rubbing her stomach.

  “You think you might be pregnant, too, huh?”

  “Yes. Would you like to know why?”

  “Tell me.”

  “Lie down beside me, and I’ll tell you a story about my mother.”

  He snuggled close and brought her across his chest, playing with her hair until she finally began, “Once upon a time, there was this gorgeous American woman who fell in love with this stubborn Italian man…”

  “And they had a beautiful daughter, didn’t they?”

  “Jeff, I’m telling you a story.”

  “I already know how it ends,” he said, grinning. “With a happily ever after.”

  Epilogue


  Connor hung up the phone and rushed inside the barn. Miles, Callan, and Adam gathered round. “It’s a boy!” Connor exclaimed proudly. “Looks like we’ve got us a son!”

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” Miles said, dusting off his chaps. “Looks like we’ll change our ways now, huh?”

  “What are you talking about?” Adam asked, passing out cigars.

  Callan snickered. “Miles has been online pulling up every parenting site in the world since Paige discovered she was pregnant. He has a few guidelines he expects all of us to follow when the kid is around.”

  “The kid,” Connor said proudly, “has been named Conrad Miles Callan Adams.”

  “No way!” Miles exclaimed. “What the hell kind of name is that?”

  Jeff walked in about that time. “A damn good one, boys, a mighty fine one if you ask me.”

  Adam handed Jeff a cigar, and he gnawed on the end. “I tell you what, he’s a beauty.”

  Miles went pale. “You mean handsome.”

  “I mean beautiful. The kid is stunning like his mother.”

  “Wait a minute,” Miles said, retrieving his phone and immediately searching through his notes. “Yeah, here it is. This particular site advises against calling little boys cute, pretty, and other feminine connotations. Even at a young age, it’s advisable to keep—”

  “Miles,” Jeff interrupted. “He’s not even an hour old.”

  “Oh,” he said, tucking the phone back in his pocket. “It’s never too early to start with proper parenting skills, Jeff.”

  Jeff chuckled. “And what do you think, Connor?”

  “I think you did well, man. I think you did mighty damn well.”

  Jeff bit down on his bottom lip, tilted his head to the side, and looked over the wide open field. “If you ask me, we all did right by Paige. And because we did right by her, I imagine that kid of ours is going to have the best of everything.”

  “No doubt,” Connor agreed.

  “We’ll make sure of it,” Adam promised.

  “You better believe it,” Callan added.