by Lea Hart
That was a visual that Blake wasn’t ready for. “What’s a push present?” Blake asked.
“Just what it sounds like—a present for pushing the baby out,” Daisy answered.
“Not necessary,” Paige said as she fingered the gold heart on her necklace. “He already gave me the best present in the world.”
Studying Paige, he saw that she meant what she said. He had given her his heart, but she didn’t know it yet, and it was probably about time he told her. It was also about time he did something about putting a ring on her finger. The idea of her walking around without one made him uncomfortable. It told people not only that she was available but also that he was an asshole and didn’t care enough to keep the woman who was giving him a child. Neither of those things was true, so it was time to take care of it. “I may have a couple more presents for you, honey.”
“You can get me a chocolate cake and that will make me very happy.”
Watching her smile and then turn her attention back to the monitor made him sure about his next step. Paige Bennett was his, and now he just needed to get her to agree, which might prove to be the most challenging mission of his life.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Saturday, May 13
Paige walked into the kitchen and felt like her fairy godmother had finally granted all her wishes. Blake stood in his boxers at the stove, cooking something. Everything that was good and right in the world was standing before her.
She grabbed her phone off the counter and took a picture. Laughing to herself, she made it her wallpaper. Blake’s beautiful ass was going to greet her every time she picked up her phone. “Honey, what are you making?”
He turned and gave her a naughty smile. “Just some fried potatoes and eggs. It’s going to be ready in a couple of minutes. Why don’t you make us some toast?”
Walking over, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his back. “You made me scream your name twice this morning, and now you’re making me breakfast. I am a lucky girl.”
He covered her hand and laughed. “Got to take care of my woman.”
She pressed several kisses to his back and then let him go. “That you did. Especially the second time. I had no idea you were so creative.”
“I figured we should be as creative as we can.” Rubbing his hand over her belly, he grinned. “I’m going to get at you until you stop me.”
Snorting, she leaned up and kissed him. “I’m not going to stop you. I may jump you, though.” Sliding her eyes over his body, she bit her bottom lip. “Definitely…jumping.”
“I like the naughty way you’re looking at me. It’s giving me some ideas for after breakfast.”
Moving away, she got the bread out and popped a couple of pieces in the toaster. “We have to get ready for Ivy and Ryan’s engagement party. There might not be time for any of your ideas.”
“I like to multitask, so we can shower while I bury myself in your body. Clean hair and screaming orgasms.” Turning the stove off, he pulled the pan off and filled the two plates. “What time do you want to leave for Dripping Springs?”
The toast popped up and she buttered it. “Time? I don’t know…My mind is still trying to wrap itself around your last statement.”
Laughing, he held out the plates for the toast. “If I remember correctly, it will take us a little over three and a half hours to get there. You said the party is at four, so we should leave no later than eleven thirty.”
“That’s more time than we’ll need,” she commented as she set the toast on the plates.
“I had to add in time for potty stops. You’re going to need at least two, maybe three.”
Grabbing napkins, she followed him to the table. “That’s true. Your son is sitting on my bladder and I can’t last more than an hour.” She pulled her plate forward and then put salt on her eggs.
Blake took the salt out of her hands and shook his head. “The doctor said you needed to cut down on salt.”
She scrunched up her face as she laid her napkin on her lap. “Nobody made you the salt police,” she said quietly. As she lifted her toast, she studied him. He was as happy as clam and eating with gusto. Must be nice not to have restrictions about what you ate. His hand moved over her leg and he winked. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Sliding my hand up your nightgown. I know you’re about to get yourself in a snit over the salt thing, so I’m giving you something else to think about.”
“There was no snit.”
He rolled his eyes and then smiled. “When was the last time you saw Ivy?”
“I went down to visit her and Ryan after I found out I was pregnant. I figured I had to get ahold of you and I hoped he would know how.” Looking down, she saw his big hand move further up her leg. Pressing her hand on top, she shook her head. “Ryan’s as nice as can be. I asked him if he would look you up once the baby was born, and he told me he would help me whenever I was ready.”
“I can’t believe he didn’t get ahold of me right away.”
“Do you even know him?”
“Yes, he was on one of my platoons around seven or eight years ago. He’s a hell of an operator.”
“Are you still mad because I didn’t tell you about the baby?”
“No. Once I let go of something, that’s it.” Pointing his fork at her, he said, “You’d better eat. We have to take a shower and get ready.”
“You mean we have to have a quickie and then take a shower.” Lifting her fork, she started eating.
“I didn’t say anything about a quickie. I’ll take as long as you like moving my hands and mouth over your body. I’m in no rush.” He took a last bite and smiled. “I’m ready for my dessert.”
“Good for you.” Moving his hand away, she laughed. “A quickie is all you’re going to get because I have to curl my hair for the party.”
“As long as I get something.”
She watched him lean back and cross his enormous arms over his chest. He was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen, and she still couldn’t believe he was her baby daddy. Clearly, she had done something right to deserve such an amazing man.
***
The ribbon of highway stretched out before them, and Paige thought about her friend and how much her life had changed. She had moved back home, she and her brother had inherited a fortune, and now she was going to work with her husband every day. “I can’t believe Ivy and Ryan are getting married and starting a business. I can’t imagine going to work every day with my husband. That would make me crazy.”
“Have you ever worked with a boyfriend or someone you were dating before?”
Lifting her hair up, she rested her head against the seat. “I worked at a smoothie place senior year in high school, and I ended up dating a boy that worked there. We didn’t go to school together, so it never ended up being a problem. At the time, I thought it was very romantic to make googly eyes over the mixers.”
“Who was this kid, anyway? Is he still around?”
Glancing over, she noticed a tick in his jaw. “Are you jealous over a boy I dated when I was seventeen?”
Letting out a big guffaw, he shook his head. “No…”
Raising an eyebrow, she waited. “Really?”
“We haven’t exchanged our dating history. Is that something you want to do?”
Looking out the window at the flat landscape, she noticed the wind pushing the grass back and forth. “No. Unless you think there’s someone who’s going to be a part of your future.”
“You’re my future. And for your information, I haven’t dated seriously since college. I never had the time or inclination.”
Pushing her feet against the dashboard, she shook her head. “That’s what I’m talking about. I have no desire to hear about the hundreds of women you’ve slept with. Once I get that picture in my head, it’s never going to leave. I want to believe that you showed up in Jordan and that’s when life began.”
Pulling her hand out of her lap, he placed it on his
leg. “Honey, that is when life began. When I looked at your State Department photo on my tablet, I felt like someone shot an arrow into my heart. So, as far as I’m concerned, life began the moment I pulled you out of that building.”
“Sweet talker.” Scooting closer, she turned toward him and studied his profile. “So what do you want to do when you grow up?”
“I have several choices. The first thing I should do is decide if I want to stay in the Navy. I can become an instructor, or I can work for SAI. Max offered me a job in San Diego or here if I want it. Most of my buddies have gone to work for SAI, and they have nothing but good things to say.”
“What appeals to you most?”
“I’d like to stay on and become an instructor for six months to a year. It would give me time to transition from warrior to civilian. But that would mean we’d be in San Diego, and I’m not sure if that’s something you would consider.”
“Are you asking us to move in with you?” She saw his head jerk around, and she wondered why he looked so confused. “You haven’t asked me to do anything.”
“Yes. I. Have.”
Taking her hand out of his, she scooted away. “No. You. Haven’t!”
“If I could bang my head on this steering wheel and not get us in a crash, I would.” He put his hand on her leg and dragged her back. “I have talked about the future, and every time I do, you freeze up or change the subject.”
“You have mentioned things in a vague, off-handed way. But nothing specific.”
“That is a load of crap and you know it.”
Her mouth dropped open and she took in a deep breath. “That is so rude!”
Dropping his arms, he let his shoulders slump. “This clearly is a discussion that is going to take some time, so let’s table it until tomorrow. I’m not going to get into a fight with you before we go to a party. Can we agree that we’d like to spend our future together and we need to agree on what that looks like? Please?”
“Fine.”
“Paige, you’ve given me nothing over the last four or five weeks. The only time I know for sure that you like me is when we’re in bed together. For all I know, all you’re interested in is my…”
She covered his mouth with her hand. “Don’t say it.” She felt him move his mouth and mumble. She lifted her hand away and let it rest on his chest. “You’re right. I’ve held all my feelings in because I don’t know which ones to let out and which ones to keep in.”
“Why don’t you let them all out and we can deal with them. Stuffing them down is not helping either one of us.”
“When you came to my hospital room in Amaan, I was knocked off my feet. I have never reacted so viscerally to anyone in my life. I wanted to hug you, talk to you, and smooch you all at once. I could’ve sat with you for a hundred hours and just gotten to know you. But none of that seemed possible because of our jobs and life circumstances. I figured I’d never see you again. Then you showed up at my party, and I decided I would take what I could get. At that point, if all I could have was one night, then I was going to enjoy it.” Rubbing her stomach, she shrugged. “Guess I did.”
“What are you saying, Paige?”
“I’m saying I was smitten with you from the moment I saw you, and all the crazy circumstances we’ve found ourselves in haven’t made any of those feelings go away. But it’s hard to decipher what’s what when my world has been turned upside down.”
“So, if we lived in the same place and had regular jobs, you would’ve dated me and we would’ve taken all the regular steps couples do and fallen in love slowly and built a solid foundation and eventually gotten married and had a bunch of kids.”
“Probably.”
Slapping the steering wheel, he shouted, “Hallelujah!”
He was grinning like a madman, and she worried for his sanity. “Not sure what part of that is making you so happy.”
“We just fast-forwarded through all of that and we’re ending up in the same place. It’s out of order and we’re going to have to double back a couple of times, but we’re together, falling in love, making a foundation.”
“Oh…”
“This is a hell of a love story if you think about it. Terrorists kidnap you in Jordan and I come and save you and then we have one fateful night together and somehow against all odds make a baby. Then, after losing track of you, I get my friend to track you down and I come to find you. It’s like Cinderella or one of those other Disney princess movies where the man comes and saves his true love. We’re a freaking amazing love story.”
“I like the first part of it, but you got the Cinderella part completely wrong. And as far as the whole Disney princess thing…half the time the girls are saving themselves as well as other people. The boy doesn’t always save the girl. Girls can save themselves.”
“Totally agree with you, but if I didn’t show up, then who would you kiss? The love story needs two people, and I’m your person. I’m also your warrior prince since I saved you.”
“True, but I’m not down with being the wimpy princess. I want to be a kick-ass princess.”
“Honey, you’re not a princess. You’re a queen. You’re my queen, and you saved me too. A man can’t be a warrior if he has nothing to fight for. A man can’t be a king unless he has a queen to protect. Without you, I’m nothing. You’ve given me a reason for…everything.”
“Now, that’s a fairy tale that I can live with.” Running her hand down his chest, she felt his steady heartbeat. “You are my king, and I promise to keep you at the center of my world.”
“God damn, my heart just exploded.” He leaned over and kept one eye on the road while he pressed a quick kiss to her mouth. “I’m going to come up with a whole fairy tale for us.”
“Never doubted it for a minute,” she said with a ridiculous smile. If there was anyone capable of a fairy tale, it was Lieutenant Commander Blake Carmichael. That was for damn sure.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Blake waited on the porch while Paige finished getting ready. Looking around, he enjoyed the view. When she’d told him that they were staying at Camp Lucy in Dripping Springs, he pictured something rustic. But he’d been dead wrong. It was beautiful. He hadn’t been in this part of Texas in longer than he could remember, probably before college. The Hill Country of Texas was as pretty a place as there was in the world. Leaning back in the rocking chair, he wondered if this might not be a town to settle in. Dripping Springs was the current headquarters of SAI Texas, and it might be the perfect location for them to raise their family. Dallas and Lubbock were about equal distance away, so it would work for both their families.
Lifting his beer, he snorted. What in the hell had happened to his life in the last forty-five days? He was sitting in a rocking chair, thinking the view was beautiful. A word he probably hadn’t used to describe anything in the last ten years. His girlfriend was pregnant, and he was trying to come up with a place for them to settle their family. Next thing he knew, he would start talking about recipes or something.
It was a long way from where he’d been, and as he let that concept settle, he decided the change might be right on time. A man could be a warrior for only so long before it cost him his humanity. He knew he’d been riding the rail of that distinction and had he been out there much longer, he might’ve ended up on the wrong side.
A couple of horses were grazing in a pasture two clicks away, and he wondered if his boy might end up liking horses. His boy. What a concept. At times it overwhelmed him, and it took a minute to catch his breath. A thing that hadn’t come up on his radar was now at the very center. Along with that bright and beautiful star that Paige had become. Would he take her without the baby? Absolutely. Was he glad that he’d put one in her? Absofuckinglutely. Not that he would ever admit that to another living soul. His boy was his insurance that Paige kept him around. Not the best reflection of his character, but one he could live with.
The screen door slammed and Paige walked out. “I swear, I’m going to have
to strap these things down. They’re out of control.”
Turning, he saw her pushing her breasts back into her dress. Every time she did it, they popped back out. There was a right thing for him to say here. He just didn’t know what it was. “You’re beautiful.” Couldn’t go wrong with that…right?
Her hands flapped down by her side, and she gave him an imploring look. “What am I going to do?” she wailed. “I don’t have anything else to wear.”
Standing, he held out his arms and gave her a smile. “I’ll kill any man who looks at you.”
“Sweet as that is, it’s not the men I’m worried about.” She pulled the dress up and then pushed everything down. “Oh, the hell with it. At least they balance out the basketball I’m carrying.”
“You really are beautiful, and I’m a lucky man.”
“You say that because there’s a king-sized bed in there and you want to take advantage of it when we get back.”
“Honey, I don’t need a bed or a flat surface to make you yell my name. I’m saying it because it’s true.” He watched her take a last look at her dress and then give everything one more shove. As beautiful and sexy as she was, he didn’t want any other man seeing what was his. But that was the last thing he’d ever say to her. So far, he’d kept his true nature a secret from her, and he planned on doing it until they were bound. It might make him an asshole, but that was fine. If she ever figured out how crazy his feelings were, she would run as far as she could.
“Ready?”
Looking down into her face, he realized he was ready. For whatever was coming. “Sure. Where is the party?”
“Cocktails are being served on the lawn in front of the chapel and dinner is going to be on one of the patios. Bea Bellows is pulling out all the stops. Ivy is her only daughter, and she’s making it spectacular.”
“What exactly does spectacular mean?”