by Harley Wylde
Chapter Three
Ty
It had been weeks since my afternoon with Josie and fuck if I could get her out of my head. I’d had a date scheduled for the next day, but the woman had seemed vapid and I’d ditched her as fast as I could. Since then, I hadn’t been tempted by so much as one female. Except Josie. I had seen her around town a few times, but she’d always been looking the other way, or with her parents. If possible she looked thinner, and I worried about her health. There were circles under her eyes, and I knew she wasn’t sleeping. I wondered if that was because of me and what we’d done, or if her parents were still pushing the marriage to Reverend Falks.
It was a Wednesday night, and Josie was probably at church with her family. I sat at the counter in the Southern Fried Café waiting on my dinner. I’d gotten off a shift a half hour before, but I was too damn hungry to go home and change before eating. The loaded burger that Estelle placed in front of me was well worth a little discomfort. My damn belt weighed a ton, but all that faded away at the thought of food. Damn burger smelled incredible, and my stomach growled.
“It’s a shame if you ask me,” an old-timer down the counter said. “Good girl like that. Don’t know what her parents are thinking.”
The hairs on my nape prickled.
“I’m sorry, but who’s a good girl?” I asked, dreading his answer.
“Josie Wright. Her parents threw her out from what I heard. She’s been living in her car the last few days. Makes me question just how Christian her folks could be to do something like that.”
“Oh, they had a good reason,” Charlotte Weathers said from across the room. “Can’t say why, doctor-patient confidentiality and all that, but she was in to see Doc Simms the other day and her mama just about went through the roof.”
Was Josie sick? And her parents had thrown her out?
“Where’s she parking her car?” I asked.
“Out at Grovener Park. She parks under the shade tree out that way, or at least that’s where I’ve seen her the past two nights,” the old-timer said.
“Estelle, would you please make my dinner to-go, and get me a second one as well?” I asked.
The waitress smiled and nodded, taking my plate to the back. About ten minutes later, she had two to-go containers for me, and I was out the door. I wanted to flip on my lights and barrel through town to get to Josie, but I didn’t want to get my ass chewed by the chief. When I pulled into the parking lot of the park, that bright red Beetle was hard to miss. Josie had the seat tilted back, and it looked like she was already asleep.
I got out of my cruiser and tapped on her window. She bolted upright, her eyes wide, and I felt like an ass for scaring the shit out of her. Josie rolled down her window and stared up at me.
“Am I in trouble for parking here?”
“You’re in trouble all right. Why the hell didn’t you come to me when your parents threw you out?”
Tears gathered in her eyes, and she started sobbing. With a curse, I jerked open her door and pulled her into my arms, her ass resting across my bent legs. Her arms curled around my neck, and she held on tight like she was afraid I would let her go. Fat chance of that. She was all I’d thought about for weeks, and now that she was back in my arms, I wasn’t going to let her go again.
“Are you okay to drive?” I asked. “Or do you want to come back for your car?”
“I can drive.” She sniffled and wiped her eyes.
“Follow me home. I have some dinner for you when you get there. I picked up some burgers at Southern Fried before I came here. I could tan your ass for not telling me they’d thrown you out. Why the hell didn’t you come to me, Josie?”
“I didn’t think you’d want us,” she said softly.
“Us?” I looked into her car but didn’t see anyone else in there.
“Me and…” She hiccupped. “Our baby.”
“Our…” My gaze dropped to her flat stomach. “Are you saying you’re pregnant?”
She nodded.
Fuck me.
“Follow me home and we’ll talk about this some more.”
I let her get back into her car and then I got into my cruiser and headed for home, checking the rearview every few minutes to make sure she was still back there. My mind was reeling with her news. She was pregnant? Fuck. I’d never really thought about being a dad before, but it seemed it would happen whether I was ready or not. Christ! A kid? It was one thing to think about Josie every waking moment, but another to raise a kid with her. What the fuck did I know about raising kids? Jesus, would she expect me to marry her?
Oddly, the thought of putting a ring on Josie’s finger didn’t freak me the fuck out like I’d thought it would. Knowing she was home every night, waiting for me, was actually a pretty nice idea. I’d stayed away from commitment as long as I could, not dating anyone more than once or twice, but Josie deserved more from me. She was having my baby for fuck’s sake.
When I pulled into my driveway, a sigh of relief left me when I saw her pull up to the curb out front. There was plenty of room in the driveway for both cars, which made me think she didn’t intend to stay very long. We’d see about that. No way in hell was the mother of my kid going to sleep in her car every night at the park. Our town might be small and low on crime, but that didn’t mean bad things didn’t happen. If we were completely crime free, I wouldn’t have had a damn job.
Josie followed me up to the front door and I let her in, shutting off the alarm. I’d have to make sure I gave her a key and the alarm code so she could come and go as she pleased. Whether she realized it or not, this was her home now too. I carried our food into the kitchen and got down two plates. I wasn’t about to make her eat out of a Styrofoam carton.
She’d made herself at home in the living room, and I handed her a plate and a bottle of water. I wasn’t sure if pregnant women were supposed to drink soda, but I damn sure planned to look it up first chance I got. Whatever she needed, I’d make sure she had it.
“I’m going to grab a shower and change, and then I’ll eat something. After that, we’re going to talk.” I reached out and lifted her chin to make sure she was looking at me. “You’re not alone, Josie.”
She blinked tears from her eyes and nodded.
I left her to eat her meal, and I took the fastest damn shower ever before throwing on some athletic pants. I grabbed my food out of the kitchen and sat beside her on the couch to devour my meal. Despite her shocking news, my appetite was still raging, and my stomach demanded to be fed. By the time we were both done, she looked worn the fuck out. Without a word, I picked her up and carried her to my bedroom, where I slipped off her shoes and helped her strip down to her panties. I handed her one of my T-shirts and helped her to bed.
“Sleep as long as you want,” I told her. “I’ll come to bed in a little while, but I expect you to still be here come morning. Understood?”
“Thank you, Ty.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Josie. I’m just glad someone told me what was going on. I still want to spank that ass of yours for not coming to me right away.”
Her cheeks warmed, and I wondered if she wasn’t a little turned on by the idea. Definitely something to explore later.
I brushed a kiss against her cheek and left her to get some rest. I grabbed my laptop and settled onto the couch to do a little research on pregnancy. If there was something in particular Josie needed, I wanted to make sure she had it. We hadn’t really talked about her pregnancy or the baby, so I didn’t know if she was having cravings or nausea. The blogs I read said a lot of women experienced morning sickness during their first trimester. Not that I’d had a fucking clue what a trimester was before I looked it up.
By the time I’d finished my research, I felt a little better prepared for our talk in the morning. Before I went to bed, I called the police department and let them know I wouldn’t be in for my shift tomorrow. It seemed word was already spreading around town that Josie had followed me home and dispatch asked if s
he was okay. I assured them she was going to be fine and hung up before they could ask any more questions. Until Josie and I talked, I didn’t want anyone speculating on why she was here.
My eyes burned from staring at the computer screen. I made sure the alarm by the front door was set before I went to the bedroom. Josie was still curled on her side so I slid into bed next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back against my chest. It was the first time I’d ever actually slept with a woman, and it seemed right that the woman was Josie.
Despite how tired I felt, it was a while before I fell asleep. Even though I didn’t have an alarm set for the next day, I still woke when the sun rose. Force of habit. Josie was snuggled against me, and I didn’t want to wake her. I knew my kitchen had limited options for breakfast, but I wasn’t sure if she’d feel like going out to eat either. Easing out from under her, I threw on a T-shirt and shoes and quietly left the house.
The diner wasn’t busy this time of the morning, and it didn’t take long to get two breakfast specials to go. If the knowing smirk from the waitress was any indication, everyone already knew who the second meal was for. I just hoped they didn’t know why Josie was staying with me, not until I’d figured out how we were going to handle things. The fact she was pregnant with my kid meant she was my responsibility, whether she saw things that way or not. The question was just how committed did we want to be? Having a baby was one thing, but did it mean she’d want to marry me?
The jewelry store was closed this time of the morning, but the pawn shop was just opening up. On impulse, I pulled into the lot and ran inside. Rob, the owner, smiled when he saw me hurry through the doors. It wasn’t often we had a chance to meet when I was out of uniform unless it was at the local bar.
“What can I do for you this morning, Ty? Or is it Officer Daniels and this is a new uniform requirement?”
“Smart ass.”
He grinned.
“I need a ring, and I need you to keep quiet about it.”
His eyebrows shot up. “An engagement ring?”
“You do have those, right?”
“A few.” He motioned for me to follow him over to a glass countertop. The rings were on display on the shelf below, ranging from diamonds so small you could barely see them to a diamond so large I knew it would break the bank even in a pawn shop.
“I only have about a hundred dollars in my wallet. I don’t suppose you have anything for that amount? I wasn’t really prepared for something like this.” I stared at the rings, hoping I could present Josie with something other than the tiniest diamond in the bunch.
Rob reached into the cabinet and pulled out a ring that wasn’t a diamond solitaire, but a sapphire with diamond chips on either side. It was set in a silver band and looked elegant, even though the stones were on the small side.
“This is a platinum band, so it’s good quality. I can let you have it for one hundred, even though I’m asking two hundred for it. I’ll give you the thin blue line special.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to screw up your profit on the ring.”
“It’s for Josie, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’m sure.”
I handed over the money, and he gave me the ring in a small black velvet box. I snapped the lid shut and shoved it into my pants pocket. Rob wrote up a receipt, and I shoved it in my wallet before heading back out to my car. The food was still hot, and I rushed home so Josie could eat before it got cold. I was glad I’d made my extra stop, though. The more I thought about asking her to marry me, the more it seemed like the right thing to do. I liked to think if we’d had a chance at a normal relationship that things would have progressed to that point naturally.
Josie was awake and sitting on the couch when I walked in, the TV on low. There was a bottle of water on the table in front of her, and I cursed myself for not thinking about getting some juice for her while I was out. If she was going to move in, I would definitely need to stock the kitchen with mama-to-be type food and drinks. She smiled, relief flooding her eyes as I walked through the door with the food containers in my hand.
“How long have you been awake?” I asked.
“Not long. I thought maybe you’d gone to work.”
“No, but I do need to return the cruiser sometime tonight. I took today off and I’m scheduled to be off the next two days, so I need to pick up my personal vehicle. I only keep the cruiser on nights when I might get called in.” I held up the containers. “Are you hungry? I have eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast.”
Her stomach growled, and I smiled.
“Just let me put everything on plates and I’ll be back.”
“No.” She held out a hand. “I can eat out of the container. Just bring me a fork.”
I went to the kitchen and grabbed forks for both of us and then settled on the couch beside her. We ate in silence with her watching the TV, even though she seemed more interested in her food than what was on. It made me wonder just how often she’d gotten to eat since her parents threw her out. If she didn’t have a job, it wasn’t likely she’d had much cash on her at the time, if any.
When we were finished, I threw the containers away and put the forks in the sink before returning to Josie. She seemed nervous, and I couldn’t blame her. She’d been through a lot in the last few days, but I aimed to see that she was taken care of from this point on, as much as she would allow. Josie had been dependent on her parents her entire life, and from what little I knew about her, I knew that wasn’t the type of woman she wanted to be. If she wanted to work, to have her independence, then I didn’t have a problem with that. But if she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, I would be okay with that too. I might not be rich, but I made enough that we could live comfortably as long as we didn’t go on crazy buying sprees.
“You said last night that you’re pregnant,” I said.
She nodded.
“Why didn’t you come tell me?”
“I didn’t think you’d want to know. It was just the one time, and I knew you were doing me a favor. It’s not like we were dating. I don’t expect for you to swoop in like some white knight and take care of me, Ty. I’ll figure things out.”
“Josie…” I reached out and took her hand. “We might not have planned this, but that’s still my baby you’re carrying and I have every right to be a part of his or her life. It also means that I’m going to take care of you. I know you want to stand on your own two feet and I’m fine with that, but right now you need some help. You need a place to stay at the very least, and that place is going to be here.”
“Is this where you go all caveman on me and throw me over your shoulder, carrying me off to the bedroom?”
I smiled. “It’s not a bad idea. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about you every damn day since our afternoon together. I’ve looked for you around town, but you never noticed me. Or if you did, you did a damn fine job of pretending otherwise. I’m not trying to dictate your life, but I do want an active role in my son or daughter’s life.”
She stared at our joined hands, and I wondered what she was thinking. The ring was burning in my pocket, begging to be taken out, but I knew if I did that right now it would blow up in my face. She wasn’t ready for me to propose, and she might never be ready for that step. I wanted her to be mine, even if it had taken an unplanned pregnancy to make me see that. I just wasn’t sure that Josie would appreciate my sudden devotion. I had no intention of sleeping with other women or even looking twice at them. Now that I knew we were going to be a family, I had a reason to reach out and grab what I wanted.
“You aren’t mad?” she asked.
“Why would I be mad? It’s not like you trapped me. The condom broke, which isn’t my fault or yours. It’s not like you sleep around and you’re trying to pawn someone else’s kid off on me.” I squeezed her hand. “It may not have been intentional, but we’re having a baby whether we’re ready or not. You don’t have a place to live right now, and I t
hink we get along reasonably well. Will you please consider living here? And not as a roommate.”
“This isn’t who you are, is it? The soft, caring man. I’ve seen you with those other women, and you’ve always been dominant and demanding. I’ve heard the talk around town, so I knew what I was signing up for when I agreed to come to your house. But that’s not the side I’ve seen, and it’s left me wondering which is the real Ty Daniels.”
“Can’t I be both?”
She shook her head. “I think you’ve been treating me differently because I was a virgin and you were worried you’d scare me, or lose control. But in the end, isn’t that exactly what you’ve done? You’ve given all the control to me, and that’s not who you are, Ty. I want you to be the real you when you’re around me. I’m a big girl, and I can handle it.”
Fuck me. She was giving me permission to be myself, and hell if she wasn’t right. I’d been holding back with her. At first, it was because she was a virgin, but now I knew there was a baby growing inside of her, and I was scared as hell I’d do something to hurt one or both of them. What kind of asshole would I be if I handcuffed the mother of my child to my bed?
“I don’t think you can handle the real me.” I released her hand and stood up, pacing the small space. When I neared Josie again, she dropped to her knees and gripped my hips with her hands.
“Then let me prove to you that I can.”
“You shouldn’t be on your knees right now.”
“Why not?”