by Abbi Glines
I would give Grant time to accept this, but if he couldn’t, then I would have to leave again, this time to the safety of my dad’s house in L.A. Even if it was the last place I wanted to be.
The front door to the house opened, and another male voice joined the others in the kitchen. Major was here. He’d made it a habit to have coffee with us ever since Maryann sent him over with biscuits and gravy on his first morning at the ranch. The bully from my childhood was actually quite a charming guy now. A bit of a player—OK, a serious player—but I wasn’t dating him, so I enjoyed his company.
I quickly changed into a pair of cutoff sweats and a long-sleeved T-shirt before walking into the living room and kitchen area. The house was small, so these two areas flowed into each other in one large, open space. The stone fireplace in the living room gave the place a homey feel.
All three men stopped talking and turned to look at me. Grant’s eyes quickly took in my clothing, and he looked pleased. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because he was just happy to be with me. He stood up and walked over to me and pulled me into his arms as if we hadn’t just been in bed together. “I was about to come check on you,” he whispered as he pressed a kiss to my temple.
“Don’t do that in front of me. I got you here, Grant, so at least respect the fact that I don’t want to see your PDA. All it does is remind me of that plane ride I took with the two of you. Not something I want to think about,” Mase grumbled as he frowned up at us. He was sitting across the table with his legs stretched out in front of him and his feet crossed at the ankles. I blushed at the memory of my brother overhearing Grant and me having sex on a private plane to L.A.
“Good morning to you, too,” I replied, glad that Grant hadn’t let me go just because of my grumpy brother.
Mase only grunted in return.
“No good morning for me, beautiful?” Major asked with the lazy grin he knew made women everywhere want to please him. He knew I was completely unaffected by him, which made it even more ridiculous that he would flash that smile on me now. Grant’s arms tightened around me, and I felt him tense. He didn’t know Major was a world-class flirt and meant nothing by it.
“Morning, Major,” I replied, snuggling further into Grant’s arms to reassure him. “I see you’ve met . . . Grant,” I finished weakly. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to refer to Grant. “Baby daddy” didn’t seem appropriate.
“Yep, Mase introduced me to him already. I hadn’t realized you had a man. I’m dealing with the heartbreak at the moment,” he replied with that stupid grin. That wasn’t true—I had confessed my feelings for Grant to Major on that hay bale just a few days ago. He was trying to cause trouble. I had started to scold him when Grant loosened his hold on me to take a step toward Major. I reached out to grab his arm, though Major kind of deserved it.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, dickhead. Stop teasing Grant. The man’s about to beat the shit out of you, and I’m gonna let him. Drink your coffee, and shut the hell up, or leave,” Mase said, clearly annoyed with Major’s flirting.
I wrapped both of my hands around Grant’s arm. “He knows about you. He’s just teasing.” I wanted to add that I was pregnant with his baby. He shouldn’t be acting possessive, but he also didn’t need a reminder of our real issues right now.
Major held up his hands. “Didn’t mean to cause a problem. No one warned me Grant was so damn territorial.”
Mase rolled his eyes and shook his head at his cousin’s words, then looked at me. “You OK?” he asked, his tone shifting from annoyed to sincere. I knew what he meant. He had called Rush knowing it would send Grant straight to me. He was making sure he’d done the right thing. I could be mad at him for not respecting my wishes, but Grant’s arms were around me again, and just feeling his warmth made me feel stronger.
“Yes,” I replied honestly. I was happy. I was happier than I had been in two months. And I wasn’t scared. Not anymore. Just seeing Grant and knowing we had created life inside me reminded me how much I loved this baby.
“Wish I’d known sooner,” Grant said in a tense voice, and I glanced up at him to see that he was frowning at Mase.
“He was obeying my wishes. He wanted me to call you. He begged me to answer your calls every night.” I didn’t want Grant mad at my brother for doing what I had asked. I needed them to be a family. And not just for me.
“She’s stubborn,” Mase added.
Grant bent his head toward mine. “I know,” was his only response.
I was standing right there while they talked about me. Instead of being snarky, I just shrugged. I was stubborn. I was determined. It was part of my strength. I wouldn’t deny that. I was proud of it.
“So what’s the plan?” Mase asked.
“Plan? What kind of plan?” Major piped up after watching us quietly.
I turned my head toward Grant. “He doesn’t know,” I explained to him in a whisper.
“Not your business,” Mase informed Major.
“I’m feeling slightly unwelcome in this little gathering. I think I’ll head on down to the stables and get things going. See you later,” Major said to Mase, then glanced over at me and smiled. “First time I’ve seen you really smile. Looks good on you,” he said, and he winked before leaving the house in a few long strides.
“Don’t get all possessive, Grant. He’s right. She hasn’t smiled in the last few months, then you show up here and she’s all smiles this morning. It’s a relief,” Mase said, standing up from the table. “I know you have plans, and I want to know what they are.” Although his eyes glanced down at me briefly, he was talking to Grant. I hadn’t had time to think about plans or discuss things with him. I wasn’t sure he had any plans yet. I didn’t want him to have any. We needed time.
“Rush made some calls. There’s a doctor back in Destin who specializes in high-risk pregnancies. Specifically what we are dealing with here. He’s one of the best. I’m taking her home—to my home, to our home—now.”
Whoa. Wait. What? I stepped out of his embrace and crossed my arms over my chest. As much as I wanted to be with Grant, I didn’t like the idea of leaving the comfort zone I had found here. I was free to make my own decisions, and I had Maryann’s support.
Grant’s eyes were on me, and the pleading in them almost had me buckling without even considering the outcome. “We can’t live with your brother, and I can’t live without you. I want you with the best doctors, sweet girl. Please, come back with me. Let me keep you safe.”
Mase cleared his throat, but I didn’t turn away from Grant. “As much as I like having you here, I hate seeing you look so lost. He’s what you want. But I’ll come to Rosemary Beach any time you need me. All you have to do is call, and I’ll come get you. I don’t care who I have to fight to get to you.” That was Mase’s way of warning Grant that he was still on my side. But I didn’t want there to be sides.
Grant reached out and cupped my face with his hands. “Let me take you home. I will do it right this time. Give me one more chance. I swear, I’ll make it right.”
There were so many reasons leaving was a bad idea. But at that moment, none of them mattered.
“OK,” I replied.
Grant
While Harlow packed her things and said her good-byes to Maryann, I set up a doctor’s appointment for the next day with the ob-gyn in Destin whom Rush had found. The doctor was a member of the Kerrington Country Club, and a call from Woods had magically opened up his appointment calendar for us.
I wasn’t going to push her to do anything she didn’t want to do right now. My first plan was to get her back home and settled in. I needed to hear what the doctor had to say about her health, and then . . . then I would talk to her, convince her that she couldn’t gamble with her life. She was too precious to me.
She had gone down to Mase’s parents’ house an hour ago, but I didn’t want to interrupt her or make her feel like I was rushing her. I sent a text to Rush to let him know Woods had helped me get an appointment and
to thank him for doing some research for me. Then I sat down and turned on the television.
The first thing that filled the screen was Kiro Manning’s face. Two months ago, news that Harlow’s mother was still alive had been covered by every media outlet. After the first few weeks, with no sighting of Harlow or Kiro, the news was slowly forgotten. Then photos of Kiro as he pushed Emily—Harlow’s mother—in a wheelchair by the private lake behind her nursing home had surfaced.
When Kiro saw the photos, he had beaten the hell out of the security guards at the nursing home, which had also made the news. The security guards hadn’t pressed charges, and Kiro was free to go. Then, just when that piece of news had begun to fade, Slacker Demon announced that they were canceling the rest of their tour. Kiro wasn’t willing to finish it. He hadn’t been seen again. The world was going crazy, afraid they had heard the last of Slacker Demon.
Now they were showing photos of Kiro at parties from earlier that year, before the news that his wife was still alive had leaked. I hated that Harlow had to see this shit. She had enough to worry about—she didn’t need this, too. The only good thing was that they had stopped discussing Harlow.
“She’s on her way. Turn that off,” Mase said as he entered the house.
I turned it off and stood up. “She ever watch this stuff?” I asked, hoping she had stayed away from it.
He shrugged. “Not much. She misses Kiro. She’d never admit it, but she worries over him. She’s the one he loved, and she loves him, too. She doesn’t like knowing he’s suffered all these years over her mother. But right now, her main concern is the . . . baby.”
The baby. Our baby. It didn’t seem real. I forced thoughts of it out of my head. I couldn’t think about that right now. I had to stay focused and get Harlow back home. I wanted to wrap her up and protect her. Getting her back to my place was the first step.
“You don’t want her to have it, do you?” Mase asked with a scowl on his face.
“I want Harlow,” I replied. That was all that mattered.
“She wants the baby.”
I knew that. I just didn’t want to talk about it right now. “I’m going to handle that. I just need time.”
Mase nodded and let out a weary sigh. “You’ve got to. I can’t lose her, either. I love that girl, too.”
“We won’t lose her. I won’t let that happen,” I assured him, but I was assuring myself just as much.
A truck came up the driveway, and I watched as Harlow stepped out of Maryann’s truck and waved good-bye to her. Then she turned to the house and headed our way. A small smile played on her lips, and she looked happy. I loved seeing her happy.
“You make her smile,” Mase said. “That’s the only reason I’m letting her leave with you. I think you might be the only other person on this earth who wants her alive as much as I do.”
I wasn’t going to tell him that there was no way he could want her healthy and alive more than me. He had no idea what it was like for a girl to be someone’s whole reason for breathing.
She opened the screen door, and her gaze swung to me as her lips pulled up into a full smile. “I’m ready,” she said.
“You gonna hug me before you go?” Mase asked from across the room.
Harlow smiled and walked over to him. “Of course. I wouldn’t leave without telling you good-bye and thank you. For everything.” She wrapped her arms around him as he held her close. His eyes found me over her head. He didn’t have to say it out loud for me to understand his warning. If I ever hurt her again, he’d kill me. But there was no reason for him to be worried about that. I would walk on water for that woman.
“Call me if you need anything,” Mase told her.
“I will. Love you,” she said, then stepped back out of his embrace.
“Love you, too,” he said.
They had a normal kind of sibling love, where they truly cared for each other and weren’t selfish. I thought about what Rush had with Nan, which was very one-sided. Nan was too selfish to appreciate her brother. I wished Rush had something like this. He deserved it.
“Let’s go home,” she said as she turned back to me.
Home. That had meant a lot of different things to me all my life. But now anywhere she was with me would be home.
Harlow
He wouldn’t talk about it. Not one time had he brought it up. It was like waiting for the other shoe to drop. I had told him I wouldn’t abort the baby, and now we were just quietly sitting on the plane.
He hadn’t asked about the baby at all since I’d told him, and other than a quick kiss before we drove to the airport, he only tried to hold me—nothing more. He wasn’t acting like the passionate, take-control man who had introduced me to intimacy. It was like I was made of blown glass; he was handling me as if one wrong move would break me.
Which was why I hadn’t wanted to tell him about my heart in the first place.
I hated being treated differently, but things were worse now. I wasn’t just a sick girl to him; I was also the girl who was hanging on by a thread. Did he not get that I was alive because I refused to give in to the restrictions of my heart condition? I had been a fighter since the day I was born. I wasn’t about to stop now.
I wanted my Grant back. The man who couldn’t keep his hands off me. The man who I knew wanted me above all things and made me feel desired. Not the man who acted like it was his one goal in life to keep me alive. That was not what I wanted at all.
“You OK?” His concerned voice only fueled my frustration.
I shrugged, because I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I would yell at him. I loved him, and I was happy to be with him, so I didn’t want to yell at him. But I wasn’t sure I could keep from doing just that if he kept this up.
“You’re frowning like something’s bothering you,” he pointed out.
Something was bothering me, but I wasn’t going to share that with him. I bit down on my bottom lip to keep from growling in frustration and turned to look out the plane window. We were close to Destin, Florida, now. I could see the ocean.
“Harlow.” His voice was gentle. “Look at me, please.”
I hated it when I tried to be firm and he went all sweet. It was hard to ignore a sweet Grant Carter. Giving in, I glanced over at him. His forehead was creased in a frown, and his eyes looked full of worry. “I’m not breakable. I’m still me. You’re treating me differently,” I said, hating the way my voice cracked, which only made me seem more vulnerable. I was trying to convince this man that I was tough.
Grant stood up from the seat across from me and moved to the leather sofa beside me, pulling me into his arms. He let out a weary sigh and kissed the top of my head. I had expected him to immediately deny that he had been treating me differently, but he wasn’t doing that. At least he was aware of it.
“I’m sorry. I’m trying to deal with this right now. All I can think about is keeping you safe.”
“I’ve been taking care of myself all my life. I’m not fragile. I want to be treated like . . . like how you treated me before.” I couldn’t make myself say I wanted him to want me. That just sounded pathetic.
“I don’t know if I can do that,” he replied.
I hadn’t realized that just a few words could be so heartbreaking.
“Give me time. After we talk to the doctor, I’ll feel like I have some control over this. I can’t just disregard your health because I want you. Don’t doubt for a moment that all I can think about is stripping you down and making love to you over and over again. Hearing you pant and cry out. I crave that, baby. But you’re my world. I protect what’s mine.”
How could I argue with that? I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his chest. We were going to get through this. He was here with me, and he wasn’t running scared. He wanted me safe, and I couldn’t be mad about that. Grant had his fears. I had to respect those and give him time. “I missed you,” I said against his chest, although he already knew that. I wanted to tell him again.
“I missed you more. Every damn second I missed you,” he said as his lips hovered close to my ear. The warmth from his breath caused me to shiver.
We sat there in each other’s arms for the rest of the flight. We didn’t talk, because we didn’t need to. Just being together was enough. My eyes began to grow heavy, and I closed them, knowing that when I woke up, he’d be there.
As we walked into the doctor’s office in Destin, Grant was holding my hand. This time, when I saw the other pregnant women in the waiting room with their husbands, I didn’t feel a sense of loss or sadness. Grant was with me, hovering over me in all his possessive, protective glory, as if he needed to fight off an attack of some sort. He was adorable.
“Go sit down, and I’ll get the paperwork to fill out,” he said gently as he pointed to the empty chairs across the room.
I didn’t argue with him, because I was beginning to realize he needed to do this. It made him feel safer if he was taking care of me. Even if I could get my own paperwork. I walked over to my seat and noticed that the eyes of several other females in the room were all directed toward Grant. Of course they were. He stood out. His low voice as he spoke to the lady at the check-in desk was enough to catch anyone’s attention. But the view of his backside in those jeans was also very hard to look away from. The lady closest to him sat up straighter and crossed her legs. She also adjusted her bra, pushing her boobs up so that her cleavage was hard to miss. A flash of anger shot through me, and I felt my face get hot. I glared at her as she kept her attention completely trained on Grant. She flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder and tugged her skirt up just a little so more of her thigh was showing. What the hell?