by Cindi Madsen
And then she’d heard nothing back. Not that night, not the next one. She hadn’t seen him since the gas station. Well, until this morning, when she’d glanced out the window and seen him running along the lake with Penny. So it wasn’t like he’d stopped. Apparently he just didn’t want to run with her, and her mind was spinning out of control, wondering what had happened.
What if he decided I have too many issues? What if now that I gave in the tiniest bit, he’s bored with the chase? And the worst: What if he was too busy with his neighbor?
Faith kicked faster, sprinting until her thighs burned and her lungs screamed for air. She pushed past the two-minute mark and made it all the way back to the house. When she stumbled into the kitchen, her breaths still choppy, Kaleb was sitting at the table, sipping a cup of coffee.
“You’re up early,” he said.
“I thought I’d get a head start on the day.” Okay, so she’d thought if she accidentally on purpose ran into Connor she could get a feel for what the hell was going on. She sucked in a few more lungfuls of oxygen and glanced at the clock. “Is Connor going to pick you up soon? I, uh, needed to ask him something.”
The muscles along Kaleb’s jaw tightened—he’d been so huffy the past few days. He shook his head. “I knew this would happen.” He pushed out his chair and put his hands on her shoulders. “Faith, Connor is a player.”
She tensed. “I know.”
“Do you? He’s a good guy, and my best friend, but he’s not the kind of person who has relationships, and I don’t want you getting hurt.”
She thought about after their swim, when he’d told her he’d try, and how after the gas station she’d thought about letting him. But Kaleb’s words made the part of her that still ached over the last guy who’d hurt her rise up, reminding her that she’d never been a no-strings-attached girl, and that most of her strings had been slashed, the edges now painfully frayed.
“He’s a cop, too. Late hours, tons of stress. It’s a bad idea to get attached all around. Just get through your time here, and then go do your internship in Charlotte. Okay?”
A knock sounded on the door and Kaleb glanced at it, then back at her, eyebrows raised. The same look he used to give her back in high school when he’d taken over being the parent.
“I heard you.”
“Good.” Kaleb headed to the door. Faith stayed in place, wanting a glimpse of Connor and not wanting one at the same time. Her heart quickened, but the open and close was too fast.
It wasn’t like Kaleb told her anything she didn’t know.
But the fact that he made sure to warn her about it only reiterated that it was true.
Since today was the day for setting up hay bales in the park, Faith contemplated forgoing a shower and just getting dressed in work clothes. But her muscles ached, she was sweaty, and she needed to take a few minutes under the steam to try to clear her head and convince herself she wasn’t disappointed that she and Connor’s whatever-it-was got stopped before it really even started.
She heard Ella playing in her room and tip-toed past before her niece could bombard her with requests to play dress-up or get her milk or put in a movie. She gathered her clothes and darted across to the bathroom.
A few minutes into her scalding-hot shower, Faith heard Ella crying.
I’ll go help entertain her in a minute. See if I can’t give Anna a break. Faith wasn’t sure how Anna did it day in, day out, especially now that she was pregnant. Even with the water pouring full-blast, Faith could still hear her niece—man, that girl could screech like a banshee. She gave up on the long-shower idea, quickly got dressed, and followed the sound of crying.
Ella stood in the hallway in front of her parents’ bedroom, her eyes and cheeks red from crying.
“What’s going—” Faith’s stomach bottomed out when she spotted Anna tucked into a tight ball on the carpet. She dropped to her knees and put her hand on her sister-in-law’s shoulder. “Anna?”
“Something’s…wrong,” Anna wheezed, holding her stomach. “I need you to take me to the hospital.”
Faith nodded. “Of course. Let’s go.”
“Take Ella next door. Mrs. Ferguson will watch her while we’re gone.” Anna looked at her crying little girl. “You’re gonna go play next door and Auntie Faith’s gonna take me to the doctor. Mommy’s going to be just fine, okay?”
Ella nodded, but the tears kept flowing. Faith scooped up her niece and ran her next door, explaining the situation to Mrs. Ferguson as quickly as she could without scaring Ella. But under her calm facade, her blood pressure was rising and icy black fear was wrapping itself around her heart. The baby wasn’t due for five more weeks. If Anna was going into labor already… Faith swallowed past the lump rising in her throat, not letting herself think about that. Right now, she needed to be strong for Ella, and for Anna.
As soon as she got back into the house, she helped Anna to her feet. Her skin was pale and clammy and beads of sweat formed across her forehead. Faith wrapped her arm tighter around Anna’s waist and got her into the Jetta. She tore out of the driveway, speeding toward the hospital. She called Kaleb’s cell, but he didn’t answer, so she left an urgent message.
Anna winced and doubled over.
“Is the baby coming?” Faith asked.
“I don’t know. It feels like it.”
Faith had never been great in a crisis—no, she tended to flip out. She wished Connor were holding her hand, giving her his strength, the way he had the other day. But he wasn’t, so she took a deep breath and forced all the assurance she could into her voice. “Everything will be fine. The doctors will know what to do.”
Anna gave a sharp cry, and when Faith glanced at her, she saw the blood on Anna’s gray sweatpants. Her heart dropped and she gripped the wheel tighter. She clenched her jaw to hold back tears. “We’re almost there. Just hold tight a few more minutes.”
Faith turned into the ER entrance. From there it was a blur of getting Anna checked in and nurses putting her in a wheelchair and taking her to a room. Once Faith got the chance, she called Kaleb again.
“Why isn’t he answering?” she asked aloud, her breaths coming faster and faster. She didn’t know how to handle this. He should be here. She scrolled through her phone, glad she’d kept Connor’s number in her contacts despite her brain telling her she should’ve deleted it, day one.
The second she heard his voice on the other line, she burst into tears.
…
Connor pulled over the squad car, holding up a hand when Sullivan started to ask what he was doing. So far, all he knew was it was Faith, and she was crying. He turned up the volume on his phone so he could hear her better. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Anna,” Faith said. “I think the baby’s coming, but I don’t know, and I’m in the emergency room, and I don’t know what to do, and is Kaleb with you because he’s not answering and—”
“I’ll be right there.” Connor glanced in the rearview mirror, made a U-turn, and headed for the hospital. Of all the days for him and Kaleb to split off. He’d figured they both needed a break from each other after the tension between them the past few days—he’d seemed especially irritated this morning, even though Connor had done as he asked and left Faith alone. So he hadn’t complained when he got to the station and Kaleb told him he was riding with Johnson today. But now he wished his usual partner ere sitting in the seat next to him.
“Get on the radio,” he said to Sullivan. “See if you can get ahold of Fitzpatrick.”
It seemed to take him forever to get to the hospital, though Connor knew it’d only been a few minutes. Sullivan said he’d keep trying to get ahold of Kaleb and let him know what was going on. Apparently he and Johnson had responded to a boat accident out on the lake, where signal was hit or miss.
Connor flashed his badge at the security guard and looked around the waiting area. He didn’t see Faith, so he went to the window and asked the nurse for information. She told him they’d moved Anna t
o a room, gave him the number, and pointed the way. Connor rushed down the hall, his pulse pounding through his head. His chest tightened when he spotted Faith’s blond hair. She was leaning against the wall, her head down.
How was he supposed to stay away from her when all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and never let go? He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
She turned her tear-streaked face up to him and a pang went through his gut. “They’re hooking up monitors to the baby now, and I…I just feel so helpless.” She sniffed. “Then I start crying, and I worry I’m only making it worse for Anna.” A lone tear escaped and rolled down her cheek.
Connor would be the first to admit he didn’t have a clue what to do when girls started crying—he pretty much ran in the other direction whenever one of his sisters did. He wiped away the tear with his thumb and tried to sound as reassuring as possible. “They’ll take good care of both of them.”
Faith threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly, burrowing her face into his chest. He squeezed her back, his emotions going in a hundred shattered directions. He always enjoyed their verbal sparring matches, watching her cheeks redden with anger. But this… Suddenly all he wanted to do was protect the girl in his arms and make sure nothing bad ever happened to her again.
He rubbed his hand across her back. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
“How do you know?” she asked, her voice muffled against his shirt.
He gently rested his chin on the top of her head. “I just do,” he said, though what he was thinking was, Because it has to be.
When Kaleb came charging down the hall about thirty minutes later, he looked completely wrecked, face pale, hair sticking up at odd angles. A pang went through Connor, Kaleb’s sorrow automatically transferring to him, too.
“She went into preterm labor, but they’ve put her on medication to stop the contractions,” Faith told him as he approached. “And they gave her a steroid shot to help the baby’s lungs, just in case she delivers early. She seems much better—she’s sleeping, actually—and the baby’s heartbeat is strong.”
Kaleb threw his arms around Faith. “Thank God.” He turned to Connor. “Thanks for coming down. And for making sure they got ahold of me.” He gave him a quick hug with a hard slap on the back. Then he pushed through the hospital door, off to check on his wife.
Connor scrubbed a hand over his face. This day felt twice as long as any other. “Need a drink? Anything?” he asked Faith.
“I’m already beyond wired, so caffeine’s probably a bad idea. Water would be nice, though.”
“On it.” Connor tracked down a vending machine, got a couple of bottled waters, and headed back. Faith was staring off into space, and he took a moment to study her. Even with red eyes and tear-streaked cheeks, she was so pretty his heart ached to look at her.
He handed her one of the bottles and took the seat next to her. He didn’t feel very helpful sitting out in the hall, waiting for more news, but he wasn’t going to leave unless Faith asked him to. And that little baby in Anna’s stomach was his nephew, too, even if not by blood.
Faith reached over the wooden chair handle and grabbed his hand. “I’m glad you’re here.” He was trying to come up with something genuine and not lame to say when she leaned her head on his shoulder, the smell of her shampoo or perfume—something that smelled so good he wanted to hold it in forever—hit him.
He’d resigned himself to leaving her alone and letting her live her life, like her brother asked him to.
But sitting there, her hand in his, he knew it was too late to go back now.
…
Faith slowed the car as she neared Connor’s house. A headache was working its way across the top of her head and every muscle in her body ached from the long, physically and emotionally exhausting day.
“Don’t drop me off,” Connor said from the passenger seat. “I want to make sure you and Ella are settled in, then I’ll walk home.”
If she didn’t feel like she’d fall apart at the lightest breeze, she might argue. Right now, though, she wanted to hold onto Connor and never let him go. Just the way he’d hugged her in the hospital—all those hard muscles wrapped around her in the softest way… Her heart swelled thinking about it.
She drove past his place, parked her car in Kaleb’s driveway, and then she and Connor headed over to Mrs. Ferguson’s to pick up Ella. The older woman swung the door wide and smiled. “Good to see you, Mr. Maguire.”
“You, too, ma’am. I noticed the tree out front’s been trimmed. Weren’t you supposed to call me when you needed that done?”
Mrs. Ferguson swiped a hand through the air. “I know you’re busy, so I hired someone. They weren’t too expensive.”
Connor leaned his hip against the doorframe. “I work for cookies. You can’t tell me they gave you a better deal.”
“Oh, you,” the lady said with a giggle—was there no one the guy couldn’t charm? Mrs. Ferguson tipped her head toward the couch, where Ella was fast asleep. “Little thing’s all wiped out. How’s her mama and that baby?”
Faith rubbed her aching neck, counting the seconds till she could get off her feet. “They’re going to keep them overnight, make sure everything’s okay. And it sounds like she’ll be on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy.”
“Well, if you need help, just holler.”
“Thank you,” Faith said.
Connor went to the couch and lifted Ella into his arms. She automatically curled around him, her eyes fluttering for a moment before going still again. Faith waved at Mrs. Ferguson, walked the short distance to Kaleb’s, and opened the door. When she turned, her heart melted into a puddle. The combination of Connor, all strength and officer of the law, and Ella, her pink dress puffing out around his forearms and her blond curls flowing down over his elbow, was too much.
“Are you going to let me by so I can get this princess to bed, or what?” His voice was so deep she could feel the vibrations through her core. Seriously, how was she supposed to resist that? Her tongue was sticking to the roof of her mouth, leaving her incapable of words, so she simply stepped aside. She followed him down the hall, watching as he placed Ella in bed.
He pulled up the covers and kissed her forehead.
And Faith’s ovaries exploded, she was sure of it.
She turned off the light and stepped into the hall. She could hear Connor right behind her. Feel the desire coursing through her veins. When she spun around, her chest knocked into his.
Connor’s hands came up on her waist and that thin band of resistance that’d been pulling tighter and tighter between her and this guy since he first showed up in her life snapped. Her hands drifted up his arms, across his firm shoulders.
His eyes locked onto hers, passion swimming in the gray depths. But he didn’t make a move—with the exception of his fingers digging into her waist tighter, proving he was affected by their nearness as well.
“I’m considering making a mistake right now.” Faith swallowed, her throat so dry it felt like she’d choked down cotton. She slowly tipped onto her toes, sliding her hands behind Connor’s neck and linking them there. Then she leaned in and brushed her lips across his.
He groaned when she pulled away, and a thrill shot through her. She lightly placed her lips on his, not pressing…
Yet.
The next thing she knew, she was against the opposite wall, and Connor’s mouth was on hers. His body held her firmly in place as he forced her lips apart with his. He increased the pressure and tempo, fanning the flame of her desire until her sense of time and gravity slipped into a black hole of pleasant dizziness.
He gently bit at her bottom lip and then sucked it into his mouth, before switching to her top lip. And just when she was breathless and unable to hold up her own body weight, he pulled back. A complaint was on the tip of her tongue, she was still blinking to get her bearings, and he spun her to face the living room instead of him. He smacked
her on the butt and said, “That’s what you get for teasing me. Now, let’s order some food. I’m starving.”
Starving? Are you freaking kidding me?
Then he walked past her, down the hall, as if the kiss hadn’t affected him at all.
…
Connor stuck his hands in his pockets and clenched his fists, shaking from adrenaline and being so turned on he could hardly walk straight. Even as he moved toward the living room, he wondered if he was making the right move.
It was the mistake part that got to him. If he threw her over his shoulder, took her into the bedroom, and peeled off all her clothes with his teeth like he wanted to, she’d forever think it was a mistake. Probably even blame her vulnerable state.
No, he wasn’t going to let her get away with that. He wanted to show her they had more than chemistry, although holy shit, did they have chemistry. He dug his fingernails into his palm, telling himself not to think about that right now, because he’d need to turn and face her eventually. He started running through the Miranda rights in his head. You have the right to remain silent. He often wished people would, though they rarely did. Anything you say or do may be used against you in a court of law.
Speaking of this being used against him, Kaleb was going to be pissed. But the way Faith had looked at him earlier, like he was the hero she’d been waiting for—how was he supposed to resist that? He wanted his lips against hers again, her bare skin under his fingertips.
Focus, Maguire.
You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future.
Another deep breath, and he was under control again. He pulled out his phone and flopped onto the couch. “What do you like on your pizza?”
Faith’s eybrows drew together, and he could feel the frustration coming off her. Her lips twisted in that way they did when she was annoyed at him. “Everything. And make sure you get double onions.”
He ordered the pizza exactly like she’d requested, never letting his smile drop. Then he sat back on the couch and patted the spot next to him. “Come ’ere.”