Forever His Baby

by Airicka Phoenix

  Her head bent to the side as she regarded him levelly. “Are we really never going to tell Cole?”

  It was Sloan’s turn to shift his gaze away. “He thinks the baby’s mine and to avoid confusing him and the baby, I think it would be best if this stayed between you and me.”

  As wrong as it felt, Lily had to agree. There were too many lives in the balance, too many people who could get hurt, including the baby. At that point in the game, with everyone calling Sloan the father, changing that would cause chaos and so much heartbreak.

  Cole may never forgive her.

  Sloan took her hand, bringing her back to the crowded sidewalk and the man watching her with the same grief she felt burrowing deep inside her.

  “Come on,” he murmured. “Cole and Beth are looking for you as well and I’m sure they’re worried.”

  With a reluctant nod, Lily turned away from him to face the woman she had up until that moment forgotten about. But the bench was empty. The woman and her cane were gone.

  “Where’d she go?”

  “She must have left,” Sloan guessed, scanning the crowds.

  Her heart gave a jolt of sadness at not having had the chance to say thank you, or even goodbye. She may never see the woman again and she would never know just how much she saved Lily that night.

  Sloan kept a firm, but gentle arm around Lily’s shoulders as he led her back towards the steakhouse. Every so often, he would brush a kiss to the side of her head. Lily didn’t mind. Being with him, knowing he loved her as much as she loved him, was something she had only ever fantasized about. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever considered the possibility of it ever becoming true. Yet, when she looked into the face of the man next to her, it was his, no matter how many times she checked.

  “What?” He chuckled at one point.

  Lily shook her head, snuggling into the knowledge that she wasn’t crazy. “Nothing.”

  Cole and Beth found them. They were running down the block, headed in their direction when Cole’s eyes landed on Lily. They widened. Then he was right in front of her, scooping her up into his arms and holding her much tighter than was necessary.

  “I am so sorry!” he breathed into her shoulder. “I am such an asshole.”

  Lily held him back. “Yeah, you are.”

  He set her down gently on her feet, but kept her folded in his chest. “I shouldn’t have said those things. I think it was the shock of the whole thing plus all the stress I’ve been under lately, but that doesn’t make it right.” He pulled back to search her face. “You know I have your back no matter what you do, right?”

  Lily nodded. “I know, but…” She exchanged a quick glance with Sloan. “I think we’re going to keep it.”

  The shimmer of euphoria was stifled solely by the apprehension tightening his face. “If it’s because of what I said…”

  Lily shook her head. “It’s not. I’ve always wanted to keep it. I guess I was just scared.”

  Cole’s entire face seemed to tear into two as he gave her the biggest, brightest smile she had ever seen. He whooped loudly and jerked her back into his arms. Her bones cracked under the force.

  “I’m going to be an uncle!” he yelled into her ear. Then tore away from her and rounded on Beth. “I’m going to be an uncle!” he said again as he pulled her into his arms and swung her around, lifting her off her feet in a wide circle.

  Beth’s laughter filled the silence that had fallen over the night. Lily dared a glance towards the other figure not celebrating and was met with the same echoing darkness threatening to swallow her up.

  God help her, but she hated herself.

  They stayed in a motel four blocks from Cole’s apartment building. Unlike the last time, it wasn’t a room with two beds, but two rooms joined by a door. Lily wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Part of her was disappointed; she had waited nearly her entire life for the moment when Sloan McClain would finally be hers. Spending the night together had always been the conclusion of most of her fantasies. The other part was relieved. While it was great to imagine them tangled together across the cool sheets, they had only just confessed their feelings. Things had already changed so much and so much had already happened without them jumping into something that would later hurt them, not that she thought sleeping with Sloan would ever be a bad idea. But waiting didn’t hurt either.

  When Sloan walked her to the room, her hand clasped firmly in his, Lily wasn’t sure what to expect. They hadn’t spoken much since they reunited with Cole and Beth and returned to the steakhouse to finish their meals. Cole and Beth did most of the chatting, shouting out their favorite baby names and how cute Cole’s room would look as a nursery. Lily had let them talk while she bit absentmindedly into her steak and ribs. There was no enthusiasm behind the act, but she was starving and that fueled her. Sloan said about as much as she did. Most of his food found its way onto her plate and he stayed content sipping on his drink and losing himself in thought. Lily wondered what he was thinking, but since she was unwilling to share what she was thinking, she didn’t ask.

  At their hotel doors, Sloan pushed the keycard into the slot and shoved her door open first. But rather than let her pass, he backed her into the frame and pressed into her. The back of his fingers dusted the side of her face, drawing back strands of hair and sending heat flickering in the pit of her stomach. The pad of his thumb glided the length of her jawline and dipped into the indent of her chin. Her face was tipped up to his.

  “Okay?”

  Lily wanted to laugh, but couldn’t bring herself to so much as breathe. “Yes.”

  With a quiet hum, he lowered his head and skimmed her mouth ever so gently with his. Just as quickly he drew back.

  He grinned at her bemused expression. “There’s a reason I got two rooms,” he explained. “Goodnight, Lily.”

  Left with no choice but to slip beneath his arm, Lily ducked into the room. He wasted no time shutting the door behind her.

  The room was like any other motel room, dimly lit and furnished sparsely with a bed, dresser, TV and a small round table in one corner. There were the odd homely touches, but Lily could only concentrate on the two way door in the middle. As she stared at it, she couldn’t help but wonder what his reason was for getting two rooms.

  They joined Cole for breakfast the next morning. Beth had classes, but promised to see them later that evening if they were still there. But Lily couldn’t bring herself to stay any longer than they already had. Every part of her wanted to go home and get as far away from her best friend as possible, which was impossible to do now that he knew she was expecting. Him not knowing the whole truth was the reason Lily was so anxious to pack up and hit the road.

  “Are you sure you guys can’t stay one more night?” Cole asked for the hundredth time.

  “We should head back,” Sloan replied, having already gone over the plan with Lily on their way out of the hotel. “You have work to finish and I have a business to run.”

  “And I have an office to tidy up,” Lily chimed in.

  Cole’s eyes widened. “Whoa, he suckered you into touching that deathtrap? Low blow, bro,” he said to his brother, shaking his head.

  “I’m going to pay her,” Sloan justified.

  “I don’t think there’s enough money in the world,” Cole challenged. “That room is disgusting.”

  While the two bickered, Lily finished her bowl of oatmeal and fidgeted with the loose bit of thread poking out from the cuff of her sweater, anxious to leave. Every minute they were around Cole, the harder it became to continue the lie, especially when he was so genuinely delighted at the thought of it. Everything about the lie felt so wrong.

  “Lil?”

  Jolted out of her self-loathing by the spoon swinging side to side in front of her face, Lily jerked back in surprise. “What?”

  Cole raised an eyebrow. “I asked if your shots were up to date.”

  Sloan chucked a roll at his brother, who caught it and took a bite.
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br />   After a fraught goodbye that consisted of Cole giving her one of the longest hugs in history, Lily got into the car and watched as her best friend shrunk in the side mirror. Her insides gave a grudging grumble that didn’t sit well with the oatmeal she’d had.

  “You okay?” Sloan asked.

  Lily shook her head. “I have never lied to Cole, not once in nineteen years. It feels so wrong.”

  Sloan reached over the divider separating them and took her hand. He gave her fingers a squeeze.

  “I know, but it’s better this way.”

  Lily looked at him. “How can you be sure?”

  “Because he’s not in a place where he can actually raise a baby. Dropping out of school, coming back to Willow Creek, and for what? To work at the diner? Or bag groceries? There aren’t many opportunities for people without a proper education and that baby deserves not to go through what you and I did. The best thing for Cole and that baby is for him to become a lawyer, get a great job, and settle down. You saw how he was last night,” he pressed when Lily said nothing. “Do you really think he’d stay in school if he knew the baby was his? He’d be in the car with us this morning, heading back to that shithole, and I worked my ass off to make sure Cole got better than that.”

  Lily knew he was right. There was no point ruining things for both of them, and if anyone deserved a good life, it was Cole.

  “I won’t bring it up again,” she promised.

  “I don’t care if you do. I know you care about him as much as I do. But this is the best for everyone.”

  Chapter Eight ~ Sloan

  It took Lily three weeks to organize the infinite tower of papers and file them. In those three weeks, Sloan kept completely out of her way, avoiding the death glares shot his way every time he so much as walked by the office doors. And since there was no furniture for her to move and the majority of the task involved her sitting, he didn’t mind staying away until suppertime. Lily seemed to prefer that as well, because by the time he returned, she was calm again and less likely to smack him over the head with a frying pan.

  It was on the last day that she finally called him down. She stood in the office doorway, hands braced on either doorframe as she glowered up at him.

  “You’re not allowed in here,” she told him evenly. “You are not allowed to even look in this direction. I will answer the phones and I will write up the paperwork and I will put it away. You are in charge of the trucks.”

  Being a wise man, Sloan didn’t argue. He peered around her tiny frame at the wonder that had become his once chaotic workspace. The desk was spotless save for the phone, the computer he had bought under her specific orders, a small container of pens, and a clipboard. Behind that was a row of filing cabinets he vaguely recognized. The drawers were all neatly shut and there were little labels on the corner of each one, marking them from A to Z. She had placed a series of potted plants and baskets of dried leaves that were filling the room with the faint scent of roses. There was an area rug under the desk and framed pictures of random things along the walls that must have been from her albums. All in all, he was in an entirely different room from the one he had given her.

  “You’re looking,” she muttered with a teasing glint in her eyes.

  Sloan shook his head. “This is … wow! You did an amazing job.”

  Lily gave a nonchalant shrug and rolled her eyes heavenward. “I know. Oh!” She twisted around on her heels and hurried to the clipboard on the desk and picked it up. “Daniel called. He needed a trailer to haul out some garbage from his garage. I told him we didn’t have trailers and suggested one of the smaller trucks for a bit more money and he has to clean it out afterwards. He agreed. He’ll be by tomorrow to pick it up.”

  Listening with only half an ear, Sloan studied her, studied the way her shirt was a little too tight around her chest and midsection and how she stood just a little too braced with her feet shoulder width apart. She had her hair scooped off her face by little silver clips and her face seemed to glow in the light of the room. Her feet were bare, the toes a dark purple that were chipped in some places. The cuff of her jeans rode a bit too high around her ankles where the swell of her belly dragged them up. Everything about her made him want to march over and nuzzle.

  “What?” she asked.

  “You need new clothes,” he observed.

  Lily set the clipboard down and stabbed her hips with her hands. “Are you saying I’m getting fat?” The remark was finished with a tiny twitch of her lips.

  “No.” He crossed over to her slowly and pulled her to him. His hands replaced hers on her hips and he lifted her onto the table. The cup of pens toppled over. Pens spilled to the floor. Neither noticed. “I’m saying you’ve never looked so sexy.”

  An eyebrow arched. “Never?”

  “Maybe you’ve come close a time or two.”

  Lily laughed. “I don’t know whether to be insulted or thrilled.”

  Focused on her mouth, Sloan bit back a growl. His fingers tightened around her hips. He jerked her closer to the ledge of the desk and forced his hips between her thighs, opening her to him. Her sweet gasp clawed through him. Her eyes darkened and the mouth he had been obsessing over for years parted, begging him to take what was his. He lowered his head.

  “Wait.” The tips of her fingers settled over his lips, halting him inches from making his claim. She was breathing hard. Her cheeks were rosy with the desire he could feel writhing inside him. But she stared with a painful longing at where her fingers were keeping him at bay. “I … I have to tell you something.” She wet the lips he was dying to taste before blurting out, “I’m wearing really ugly underwear.”

  The confession was so ludicrous, it took a second to fully register, and even when it did, he couldn’t determine whether she was joking or not.

  “Uh…”

  “They’re not hideous,” she explained quickly. “Just not one of the pretty ones. My nice ones don’t fit anymore and—”

  “Lily.” He kissed the soft pads of her fingers while propelling her backwards until she was a sweet banquet splayed across his desk. He curled his fingers into the waistband of her jeans and hoisted her down the flat surface until they were touching where it counted most. “Do you feel that?” He ground the hard outline of his erection into the stiff seam of her pants and earned a throaty moan in return. “The only thing I care about is getting that inside you.”

  The sound she made was between a whine and a whimper, and pure, unadulterated sex. Her small hands trembled as they reached for him, curled into the fabric of his shirt and hauled him up to claim his mouth.

  The kiss was desperate and hungry. Sloan had to brace his forearm on the table to alleviate his weight off her belly as he set out to devour her. His free hand fumbled with the snaps on her pants.

  “Hurry!” she begged, hands tearing at his top, dragging it up his back and over his head. He had to pull away and fling it off, but he was back on her in the blink of an eye.

  She unclasped his belt, tore apart the snap and was working on his zipper when a soft, discreet cough shattered the moment.

  Georgia May smiled at them from the doorway. Her cat-like eyes took in the pants Sloan was hurriedly refastening, then moved to Lily, flushed and tussled, yanking her own clothes back together.

  “I’m sorry,” she cooed. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. The front door was open.”

  Sloan knew for a fact that wasn’t true, but opted to let it go as he reached for Lily and helped her gingerly to her feet.

  “Georgia May.” Lily ran her hands through her hair, straightening the silk strands while fighting to gain composure. “What brings you?”

  “I’m actually here for you.” She stalked deeper into the room, digging into the giant, leather purse bumping into her thigh. “Some of the ladies and I were at tea the other day and you came up in conversation.” She unearthed a small envelope and passed it over to Lily. “Your mother thinks it’s a fabulous idea. Plus it’s kind of a tradition s
o you really can’t say no.”

  Lily stole a glance with Sloan before reaching for the envelope. She turned it over and peered at the fluid strokes of her name across the front.

  “Open it!” Georgia May urged when Lily continued to stare at the thing as though determining whether or not it was going to explode.

  Lily pried the top open and slipped the card free. She cleared her throat and opened it.

  It was a simple, white card with silver ribbons along the edges and a dove holding a flower in its beak embossed across the front. Inside was white with swirly blue letters congratulating Lily for her little bundle of joy. Around it, someone, possibly Georgia May, had written, Join us in celebrating the birth of our newest little towns person. Eleven o’clock, February tenth, be present at Georgia May’s home for an afternoon of fun, snacks and prizes while we celebrate the upcoming birth of Lily Price and Sloan McClain’s baby, in black ink.

  Lily, when her gaze shot to Sloan, looked as stunned as he felt by the gesture.

  While Georgia May wasn’t a monster, she wasn’t exactly the sort of person who went out of her way to do something nice for another person, unless it benefited her in some way. Sloan could only imagine what she was up to, or how his baby worked into it.

  “This is very nice of you,” Lily mumbled as she closed the card and gently tucked it back into the envelope. “But we really can’t accept—”

  “Nonsense!” Georgia May waved a hand in Lily’s face, silencing her. “Like I said, it’s a tradition. All babies need a baby shower. Now, I know there is still three months between now and then, but things like this take planning and time. So I need to know what the sex of the baby is and if you would like any sort of theme.”

  Lily blinked. “We don’t know what sex the baby is.”

  Georgia May’s gaze dropped to Lily’s midsection. “I suppose it is still very early. You’re still so small. But that is why we are booking this so far in advance. It gives us time. So when you know…”