by Jessie Evans
“Nana March,” Melody said, grinning. “Making out in public with a man who isn’t even your boyfriend. Now who’s going to get in trouble with daddy?”
“He is so my boyfriend,” Gretchen said firmly as she stepped out of his arms, making Harris grin all the harder. “And no one is going to get in trouble with your daddy, because no one is telling Bobby anything that happened here tonight.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Melody said, winking at Harris. “Thanks for keeping my nana out of trouble, Mr. Nelson.”
“Oh, I’m afraid I’m going to be working on getting her into trouble, sweetheart,” Harris said, making Gretchen giggle. “I’m planning to ask her to run away to Ireland with me as soon as the wedding festivities are over.”
He glanced down at Gretchen to a see a pleased expression on her face.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland,” she said.
“No time like the present,” Harris said, offering her his arm.
“I’ll start hunting for my passport as soon as I get home,” she said, tucking her hand into his elbow before glancing back at the younger folks. “Well, hurry up, you two. I think I’ve noticed something on Melody’s hand that I’m sure you’re excited to share with the rest of the family.”
“Nothing gets by you, Nana,” Melody said. “Am I forgiven now that I’m engaged?”
“Nothing to be forgiven, baby,” Gretchen said, the love in her voice making Harris even prouder to have her on his arm. “And welcome to the family, felon. I’ll work on learning to like you now that it looks like you’ll be sticking around for awhile.”
“I’ll work on being likable,” the boy said, laughter in his voice.
“You do that,” Gretchen said, lips thinning as she obviously fought a smile.
Harris chuckled as he led her back into the restaurant, excited for the adventures ahead, grateful he’d been brave enough to finally go after the girl who was out of his league.
Chapter Six
Aria and Nash
Aria didn’t cry at weddings. She really didn’t.
She understood that some people found extreme happiness and promises of forever sob-inducing, but she wasn’t that kind of girl.
She had no idea why her eyes had been prickling ever since Lark and Mason finished their vows and turned to walk down the long aisle at the center of the church as husband and wife.
There was nothing to be sniffly about. Lark had fit into her dress (thank God), Mason had been adorably overcome during the vows, and Aria had enjoyed stealing glances at Nash across the aisle where he stood with the groomsmen. The man was sexy as hell on a normal day, but her husband looked fine in a tux, so good it almost seemed a shame that all she could think about was getting him out of that tux as soon as possible.
Up until this point, it had been a perfect day.
So why was she hiding on the terrace of the reception hall, staring out at the rolling hills as twilight gave way to night feeling so…melancholy?
“There you are.” Nash’s deep voice rolled over her as he stepped out onto the terrace.
“Here I am.” She turned to watch her husband cross the wooden planks between them, amazed, as always, that this man was hers.
At six-foot four and over two hundred pounds of pure muscle, Nash was the kind of man who drew female eyes wherever he went. He had a commanding presence and an even more commanding sex vibe. Aria couldn’t count the times she’d caught another woman checking Nash out with that kind of look in her eye, the one that said she would like to smear Nash Geary with chocolate sauce and lick him clean with her tongue—or just go straight to the licking part, no chocolate sauce required.
But Nash never seemed to notice the feminine attention. He only had eyes for Aria. Incredibly sexy, intense, green eyes that were now sweeping up and down her body, appreciating her skin-tight, blue dress even as he noted that his wife wasn’t herself.
“What’s up, Red?” he asked. “Why so glum?”
She smiled softly. “I’m not glum.”
“You’re not happy.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just feeling a little…gray inside.”
“Why?” He stopped in front of her, cupping her cheek in his big hand, making her feel absurdly small.
Still, his touch was never intimidating. He was the gentlest giant she’d ever met, and the answer to all the “knight in shining armor” dreams she had never dared to indulge until she met him. Most days she would lay bets that she was the happiest person she knew. Today, she should have been even happier. Melody was engaged, Lark was married, and even Nana had a new boyfriend. Everyone she loved seemed to be finding their way to happily ever after, so why was she suddenly feeling low?
Aria shook her head as she looped her arms around Nash’s narrow waist and pulled him closer. “I don’t know. Just being dumb, I guess.”
“You are many things, babe, but you’re not dumb. Not even close.” He hesitated, his thumb brushing idly back and forth beneath her chin. “Did I do something?”
Aria looked up, lifting a wry brow. “Well, you have been walking around all day looking like sex on a stick, making me want to pounce on you in the church sanctuary. That was pretty annoying.”
Nash pulled her closer, his eyes darkening. “Then you should let me make it up to you. Your mom is feeding Felicity cake. I’m sure we can find a place to be alone for a little while. I saw a family bathroom on the bottom floor that didn’t look like it was getting much action. And we are family…”
Shivers of awareness rippled through Aria at the thought of having Nash naked in her arms, but for some reason she shook her head. “I don’t think so, Meaty. If we get caught doing it at my sister’s wedding, the family will never let me live it down.”
“We’ll be quick,” he said, leaning down to press a kiss to her bare shoulder. “And I’ll be sure to put my hand over your mouth to muffle the sound when you come. No one will ever know.”
Aria let out a ragged breath, desire warring with the strange icky feeling swirling inside of her. In the end, the icky feeling won and she gently pushed Nash away. “Stop,” she said. “I’m serious.”
The heat faded from his expression, replaced by genuine worry. “Aria, what’s wrong? What did I do?”
“Nothing,” she said, frustration in her tone, though she wasn’t sure who she was frustrated with—Nash or herself. “And I told you, I don’t know.”
“Well, when did it start?”
She shook her head, lifting her eyes to the darkening sky. “I guess… I guess I’ve been feeling sad since Lark and Mason said their vows.”
“Why’s that?” Nash asked patiently.
Aria chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment. “The whole time they were talking, I kept thinking about the day we said those same words. But for us they weren’t a promise, they were just…a lie.”
“They were not a lie.”
“They were then,” Aria insisted. “We weren’t even friends when we decided to get married, Nash, let alone in love. It was an arrangement, nothing romantic or sacred or special about it.”
Nash nodded slowly. “And you feel cheated.”
Aria shrugged again, biting her lip as she turned to look back out at the peaceful scenery, wishing she felt as peaceful inside. “Maybe a little. I don’t know. I’m not jealous of Lark, at all. I’m so happy for her. She deserved a perfect, romantic wedding. I guess I just wish I had a different memory of our wedding day.”
“Then let’s get married again,” Nash said, leaning his arms onto the terrace railing beside her.
Aria shook her head. “We can’t. My family would think we were crazy.”
“Then we’ll tell them the truth and explain why we want a do-over.”
“No, we decided not to tell them until our first anniversary,” Aria reminded him. “If we do it before then, it will cause trouble, and we don’t want to cause trouble, especially now that Nick and Melody are engaged.”
Nash grinned,
obviously still thrilled that his little brother had proposed. “They’re so cute together.”
“They are,” Aria said.
“But not as cute as we are.” Nash nudged her shoulder with his.
Aria rolled her eyes and said in her driest voice, “Well, of course not. Don’t be ridiculous,” making Nash laugh.
But Aria didn’t join in. A part of her wanted to, but another part wondered why she had to be the March sister who always did things the hard way.
“Why do I always screw things up?” she asked with a sigh.
“You didn’t screw anything up. We’re the happiest married couple I know.”
“Now,” Aria said. “But first I had a baby with a man I should never have gone home with for a night, let alone lived with for several years, was sued for custody of the baby, and faked a marriage with a man who hated me.”
“I never hated you.”
“You didn’t like me much, either,” she said, shoving her hair away from her forehead. “Whatever, Nash. Just ignore me. I love you; I love us. I just wish I’d had the sense never to let you go in the first place. Then maybe we’d have that memory of saying our vows and meaning them, you know?”
“Aria,” Nash said in a voice that made it clear he was finished humoring her. “Look at me.”
Aria reluctantly turned to meet his eyes, not wanting to hear that she was being ridiculous, even though she knew it was the truth.
“We might not have meant those words when we first said them,” he said, his gaze so intense and unguarded it made Aria’s breath hitch. “But now I hope you know I live by those words.”
“I do, babe,” Aria said. “Of course, I do. And I feel the same way.”
“Seriously, Red. It doesn’t matter how we got started, it matters how we live from here on out. And from here on out, there is nothing I want more in this life than to love, honor, and cherish you until the day I die,” Nash said, the tenderness and sincerity in his voice making the prickling in Aria’s eyes become a full-fledged sting.
“Everything else is just gravy,” he continued, running his fingers through her hair to fist at the nape of her neck. “You’re my meat and potatoes.”
Aria laughed even as the tears filling her eyes slipped down her cheeks. “You should have stopped after the first part.”
“You don’t like being my meat and potatoes?”
“I love being your meat and potatoes,” she whispered, reaching up to capture his face in her hands, cradling him like the treasure he was. “I love you, Meaty.”
“And I love you,” he said, using the hand fisted in her hair to pull her close, a possessive gesture that made Aria’s nerves hum with awareness. And then he wrapped his free arm around her waist, lifting her into the air until her feet dangled before kissing her like the world was about to end, and the hum became a roar.
Nash demanded entrance to her mouth; Aria’s lips parted with a moan as he swept inside, meeting her tongue with firm, hungry strokes that made her wish she’d taken him up on that offer to visit the family bathroom. All she wanted right now was Nash’s hands on her, Nash’s fingers between her legs, coaxing the slick heat from her body before he replaced his hand with something more intimate and pushed inside.
She wanted him filling her up, claiming her with all the passion she could feel coiled in his tense muscles, banishing the last of her sadness with the blissful feel of his body pounding into hers.
“Let’s get out of here,” she mumbled against his mouth, breath coming fast.
“Downstairs bathroom?” he asked, as breathless as she was.
“Or the woods behind the building or the backseat of the truck, I don’t care,” she said, claiming his hand as he set her back on her feet. “I just need you.”
“And I need you,” he said, squeezing her fingers as he drew her across the terrace and down the stairs leading to the bottom floor. “Don’t ever doubt it, baby.”
“I don’t.” Tears filled Aria’s eyes again, just the way he called her baby enough to make her start sniffling all over again.
“I’m sorry,” she said, stepping off the stairs onto the concrete patio. “I don’t know why I’m so emotional today.”
Nash smiled over his shoulder as he headed for the door to the bottom floor and the hopefully unoccupied family bathroom. “It’s a wedding, babe. Half the women in there have cried today and some of the men, too.”
Aria shook her head. “No, seriously, I don’t cry at weddings. They don’t hit me that way. I mean, I cried at my friend Hannah’s wedding, but that’s because I was…”
She froze just inside the door, her hand slipping from Nash’s with a swiftly drawn breath as an unexpected thought danced through her head.
“What’s wrong?” Nash turned, his eyes looking even greener with the light green walls of the lounge area behind him.
“I think…” She bit her lip, struggling to remember the first day of her last period. She knew it had been before she and Nash had their epic four-times-in-one-night adults only evening, but she couldn’t quite…
“When was our last date night?”
He frowned. “Um…it was after the barbeque at your parent’s house, right? The night your mom and dad were going to have the intervention with Melody and Nick and ended up freaking out because Lark was pregnant instead?”
“Right.” Aria nodded slowly even as her heart began to race with a very different kind of excitement. It had been five weeks. With Melody ending up in the hospital with a severe allergic reaction and then all the wedding-planning madness, Aria hadn’t even realized she was late.
She was never late. The last time she went more than twenty-eight days between cycles was when she was pregnant with Felicity.
“What’s up, Red?” Nash asked. “You’ve got a weird look on your face, and I have a feeling we’re not headed to the family bathroom anymore.”
Aria stared up at him, her husband, standing there looking like a secret agent in his tux with his hair mussed from when they were kissing and his love and concern so clear on his face. He was so beautiful and sexy and kind and funny and all-around-wonderful. She couldn’t ask for a better stepfather to Felicity and she couldn’t imagine bringing another baby into the world with anyone else.
Another baby. They were going to have another baby! She was almost one hundred percent positive.
Still, she didn’t want to tell Nash what she suspected until she was sure.
“What time is it?” she asked, spinning in a circle, looking for a clock on the wall, but finding nothing but overstuffed sofas and a painting of a hunting dog fetching a pheasant from the grass.
“Almost seven. Why?” Nash asked. “Aria, what the hell is going on, I—”
“I have to go do something really quickly,” Aria said, gambling that the Mom and Pop store not far from the venue was still open and had a pregnancy test on the shelf. Women in the boonies needed to know if they were pregnant, too, didn’t they?
“Go where, to do what?” Nash asked, following as she headed up the stairs leading to the main entrance.
“I’ll grab the keys from the coat check and be back in fifteen minutes,” she said. “You won’t even miss me.”
“You’re right. Because I’m coming with you.”
“No, you stay here and help Mom with Felicity,” Aria said. “I promise I’ll be right back.”
“No way. You’re acting way too weird. I’ve never seen you cry this much.”
“Oh, I cried all the time when we were first getting together. It’s not a big deal,” Aria said, reaching the top of the steps and turning back to point at his chest with a stern finger. “I’m fine. Trust me. Go eat cake with Felicity and I’ll be right back with a surprise.”
Nash’s expression remained stormy. “I don’t like surprises.”
Aria smiled. “I think you’ll like this one.”
“I’d rather be in the family bathroom with your panties on the floor.”
Aria’s tongue sli
pped out to wet her lips. “That could still happen, if you play your cards right and stop interfering when I am clearly on a mission.”
He sighed and shook his head in defeat. “Fine, but if you’re not back in fifteen minutes, I’m borrowing Nick’s car and coming after you.”
She snorted. “Good luck catching anything in the Midget,” she said, backing toward the coat check by the front door. “I’ll be right back.”
“Be careful,” he called after her, worry in his voice.
Aria felt a pang of guilt for making him worry, but pushed it away. She had to know if her suspicion was fact, if she was really pregnant with his baby. She knew how eager Nash was to expand their family. She didn’t want to get his hopes up unless she knew for sure.
***
Ten minutes later, she had parked the truck at Yerger’s General Store and was pacing down the medicine aisle, thankfully finding what she was looking for on the top shelf. She snagged two tests for good measure and hurried to the front, pulling her credit card out of her drawstring purse.
“Do you have a bathroom I could use?” Aria asked the older woman behind the counter, meeting the woman’s raised eyebrows with a big smile.
The woman returned the smile, obviously relieved to see that Aria wasn’t worried about the results of the test.
“Sure,” she said, pointing to a doorway covered by plastic flaps at the back of the store. “Head into the back and turn right at the beer. The restroom’s at the end of the hall.”
“Thank you so much,” Aria said, hurrying to the back of the store.
Five minutes later, she had her answer. With a giddy squeal, she capped the test, rinsed it off, and wrapped it in a paper towel before stuffing it in her purse—just in case Nash wanted to see evidence. He was a cop, after all.
As she hurried back through the store to the front door, the woman at the counter lifted her eyebrows. Aria smiled and nodded, laughing as the woman gave her a happy thumbs up.
She all but danced back to the truck, the difference in her mood like sunshine and rain. Now that she understood why she was feeling so moody, she knew she would be able to manage it so much better. She had struggled with emotional ups and downs during her first pregnancy, but she’d managed to keep her center, even with her ex doing everything possible to make her a miserable wreck.