Nope, she was on her way to a bona fide Patience McKinnon freak-the-fuck-out-athon. Like an eclipse, those didn’t happen very often, but when they did, it was memorable.
Catching her hips in his hands before she could roll out from underneath him, Abel shook his head as he studied her paling face. “Patience, baby, what’s happening right now? Talk to me, Hellion,” he urged quietly when her breaths turned into too quick little pants of air. “What’s got you scared here?”
“I’m not scared,” Patience denied with a belligerent alacrity that made her current tormenter grin. Drawing in a deep breath to keep herself from screaming, she prayed the oxygen would help settle her nerves. Forcing herself to school her face into what she hoped was her bitchy best, she swatted his arm and declared, “What I am about to be is full-on pissed off. Look, it’s simple. I saw, we came, and you conquered. Damn it, Abel, you know how this works. You are the unquestioned king of the one-night-stand kingdom. Etch another damn notch on your proverbial bedpost and move the hell on, dumbass.” Pushing his warm hand off her naked thigh with an impatient flick of her wrist, she missed the heat immediately, but scooted to the edge of the bed and bent over to snag a pair of panties from her laundry basket.
Glancing over her shoulder as she wiggled the satin up her legs, she pursed her lips. “I’d actually appreciate it if you’d get started on that move sooner rather than later, too, stud. I’ve gotta make a drive over to Knoxville to pick up the bar’s latest liquor shipment and I’d like to get a head start on my day. Things to do and places to be, you know,” she lied effortlessly, avoiding the intelligent eyes boring into her as she bolted to her feet and stood by the side of the bed. “You know the way out, darlin’. Don’t let the door catch you on the ass on the way out. It’s a tricky bugger,” she informed him in what she hoped with a light, care-free voice.
“Patience, it’s barely past sunrise. We both know there’s not a damn place you need to be this early,” Abel bit out, watching her like an eagle.
Rolling her eyes, Patience tucked her hair behind her ear as she kicked a pair of shoes out of her way and took a step toward her dresser. “I was tryin’ to be polite here, Asshat, but if you want me to be clearer, I will since clearly you can’t take a hint.” Stooping to snag his boxers from the floor, she tossed them at his head. “Stuff your general back into the tank and go.”
Ignoring her, Abel snatched his underwear as it flew toward him. “You honestly think you’re just another notch in my bedpost? You think what happened here was a one-and-done?” he asked gruffly, his fingers tightening around the silk boxers until his knuckles turned white as he shook his head incredulously. When she remained stonily silent, he ground out, “I got news for you, Hellion. Last night was just our beginning.” Abel shifted against her rumbled sheets as he watched her body snap into a flurry of action, her lithe form bending and reaching for something on top of her nearby dresser. Dropping his legs over the side of the bed she’d just exited, he rose fluidly. “Dammit, woman, don’t ignore me. We both know I’ll come over there and get you.”
Patience felt fire burning in the pit of her stomach as she bunched her fists, a shirt now clutched tightly in one of the hands at her hip. Why the hell was he doing this to her? To them? He knew she didn’t do relationships or commitments. Hell, it was one of the few areas they shared where they were truly kindred spirits. She knew for a fact that Abel hadn’t indulged in anything that lasted longer than a hiccup with a woman since he’d gotten shed of that vicious she-bitch, Angie, three years ago. She figured that woman’s betrayal had put a permanent sour taste in his mouth when it came to coupledom – not that she’d blame him. At any rate, if he was looking for more from a woman now, he was certainly barking up the wrong tree here with her. No matter how sexy he was standing there, completely, unashamedly naked as the day he was born or how much she loved having his hands and lips all over her body, it was a monumentally stupid idea to entertain the notion that they could ever be anything more than what they were right now: frienemies that happened to have shared a night of crazy hot, wild sex.
For the love of God, she wasn’t even his type! A woman like her wasn’t meant for a man like him. She was a wanderer, preferring to spend her down time – when she had any available – being alone and blowing where the wind took her. Sure, she always wound right back here in Paradise where her family was, but when she wanted to get away, she did, and she answered to no one but herself. She was a free spirit, a lone wolf…a…oh, whatever! The point was she wasn’t meant to find real and lasting love – if she’d even believed in it, which she didn’t – with a straight-laced, uptight lawyer!
“Did I seem straight-laced last night when I had you on your knees hanging onto the headboard for dear life, darlin’? Was I real uptight when I rubbed my piercing against that pretty clit of yours and made you scream? Did I fuck you like I had a stick shoved up my ass, Patience?” Abel asked dryly, crossing his arms over his broad chest.
Oh, shit! Had she actually just spilled all her innermost feelings out loud to him while he stood there naked? A quick look at his composed face only confirmed the worst.
Son of a bitch! She had.
It was definitely time to eject Abel Turner from her apartment, preferably before he robbed her of what little sanity she had left at her disposal. Straightening her shoulders, she lifted her chin and nailed him with what her sisters referred to as her bitchy witchy gaze – the one that had been known, upon occasion, to make a man’s testicles shrivel and fall to the ground, a useless husk of their former glory. “Abel, it was fun. But we are indeed done. Or maybe, more accurately, I’m done. Now would be the time for you to…”
Whatever she was going to say next was interrupted by the ringtone of her cell phone, and she could honestly say she’d never been so glad to hear Guns and Roses’ Sweet Child of Mine in her life. Pressing her lips together, she reached for the phone on her nightstand. She knew who it was without even glancing at the display, so she swiped her thumb against the screen and began talking as soon as she lifted the phone to her ear. “This better be good, big sister. It’s 5 am and I’m not feelin’ real talkative.”
And just as Harmony started yelling in Patience’s ear, Abel’s phone began to beep insistently. Throwing a frustrated look at the woman who was determined to drive him to hell in her own personal demon-mobile, he bent to snatch his Levi’s off the floor and dug into his jeans’ pocket until he found the damned interruption. Seriously, did their families have some sort of sixth sense about the absolutely wrong time to call? Seeing Cain’s name on the display didn’t cause him any less agitation. His brother knew what he was doing, dammit.
“What?” Abel snapped into his own phone just as Patience lifted her worried eyes to meet his. He frowned as Cain quickly informed him that he and Faith were at the hospital. His sister-in-law’s endless morning sickness had finally taken its toll and dehydrated her. They were admitting her for the day and hooking the woman up to IVs. According to Cain, everything was fine with the pregnancy, and this was all more precaution than a precursor to problems to come, but he knew that wouldn’t stop mass panic in the McKinnon family and wanted to give Abel a heads-up.
One look at Patience solidified Cain’s concerns; the woman looked close to coming unhinged – a scary possibility if you knew any of the McKinnon sisters at all. “Patience and I will be there soon, bro. Just take care of your wife and hold the line. I’ll wrangle the rest of ‘em and see you in a half hour or so,” he promised his younger brother by a whole three minutes as he shoved one leg in his jeans.
Hanging up and tossing his own phone on the bed, he kept one eye on Patience as she tossed her cell on the dresser and dove for a pair of black leather pants on the floor without a word. “I don’t know what Harmony said, but Faith is fine,” he shared, watching her near frantic movements as she pushed her arms through a Harley Davidson tee shirt. “The docs are just givin’ your sister an IV to get her hydrated, Hellion. It’s just a prec
aution. Faith and the baby are fine, I promise.”
Patience shook her head as she continued getting dressed, shoving her feet into a pair of black ankle boots. “You know that none of us do well at the hospital. Honor is going to freak. Harmony and Jake are getting Heaven ready and heading on over to Faith. I’ve got to go get Honor.” God, when her baby sister found out one of them was in the hospital, she was gonna lose her mind. Honor had spent way too many days in a hospital bed not to have a reaction to that kind of news. She was more than likely going to flip out, and Patience needed to be there to catch her when she did. She didn’t have any more time to waste on an asinine conversation with Abel that wasn’t going to go where he wanted it to go anyway.
“Cain said that Zeke is already on his way to tell Honor what’s happening. So, that’s already covered, babe. We both know that when your little sister is panicked, he’s the best one to calm her down. Let him do what he does best and take care of her.” Grabbing her arm when she whirled toward the door, he stopped her before she could flee. “Patience, stop. Take a breath. You and I still need to finish our conversation.”
“Abel, shove the conversation you wanna have up your ass! There’s nothing to talk about. It’s all been said,” she informed him on a yell as he shrugged his dress shirt on over his shoulders. “I am done talking,” she proclaimed, slashing an arm through the air. Maybe a judo chop to his esophagus would slow him down, she silently plotted. She knew those lessons she’d taken with her best friend, Maggie, would come in handy one day.
“Good,” Abel snapped as he buckled his belt and pinned her with his eyes. “Then shut up, and listen. Last night was good. This morning? Fucking fantastic. I hoped it would be. Wasn’t sure. Now I know. Feels good to have my suspicions confirmed. You know I fucked a lot of women. I was in a fucked up relationship, got out of it and went wild… sexually speaking. I wanted variety and had a lot of it. Can’t change it. Hell, wouldn’t wanna change it. I had a good time.”
Patience jaw dropped and her nostril flared. “Exactly why are you sharing this with me, Asshat?”
“Because, Hellion,” Abel stated softly, taking a step toward her. “I’m done with it now.”
“Pardon?”
“Done. Finished. Ended,” he clipped, dropping his hands to his hips as he faced her.
“You’re babbling now, Abel, and I’m bored,” Patience complained, tapping her foot against the floor as she waited for him to get to his fucking point.
“Liar,” Abel snorted, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he grinned at her. “You’re anything but bored. And you’re supposed to be listening right now and I’m saying that I found what I was looking for last night. I could kick myself ‘cause I had my hands on it three years ago and didn’t realize it, but it’s better this way. I can appreciate it more now. I wasn’t ready for it then, and neither were you. We are now.”
“You’re insane if you think for one flip-flappin’ second, I’m walking down that road with you,” Patience laughed. “You got exactly what you asked for from me. A do-over that’s now done. No more, no less.”
“Oh, darlin’, you’re walkin’ down that road with me even if I have to drag you by the hair alongside me. See, I liked what I got last night and this morning. You gave me the best I’ve ever had, Hellion, and I’ve had a lot…”
“So you keep mentioning,” Patience muttered under her breath.
“You’re missing the point, baby. I’m done with what I had…which, if I’m gonna be completely honest hasn’t been a whole lot in the past year. I’ve been a little busy watchin’ you wiggle your ass. That said, I’m done watchin’ and waitin’. You didn’t come back to me, so I came to you. I’m here now. And I’m not going away.”
“Christ, you really think you can change my mind, don’t you?” Patience stated with disbelief. “I always knew that you were a really over-confident, arrogant son of a bitch, but this takes the cake. It was sex, Abel! S-E-X!!” She was fairly certain her head might explode before she managed to drill this very clear fact through Abel’s thick skull. What happened to the good old days her girlfriends talked about when a guy knew how to get in, get off, and get the hell out?
“It was more and you know it,” Abel returned evenly. “I don’t know if you realize it, Hellion, but I’m a fairly successful attorney. I’ve made a fortune persuading juries to see things my way, and I’ve got every faith that I’ll bring you around as well.”
Rubbing her hands over her face, Patience felt her panic build. “We don’t have time for this,” she finally growled, dropping her hands and balling them on her hips.
“You’re right,” Abel agreed. “We don’t. So, I’ll leave it at this. Last night I marked you as mine when I was buried deep inside that sweet body. I took a part of you, Patience, and I left a piece of me in return. Without each other, we’re not gonna be whole, darlin’. I’ll give you some time with that and let the truth settle, but eventually, I’ll be back,” he warned, walking past her to the door. “Advice, Hellion, make your peace with our future fast because I, for one, can’t wait to get started on it.
“This won’t work, Abel,” Patience furiously called after him. “I’m not changing my mind.”
Turning in the doorway, Abel grinned again. “Take good care of that piece of me, darlin’. I’ll be back for it.”
Chapter Three
Present Day – you remember, right? When Patience is three months’ preggers!
Patience’s head thunked against the bathroom wall as Abel’s words echoed in her ears. “Oh, you certainly left me with something, you asshole,” she muttered as she blindly lifted one arm from her position on the floor wedged between the sink and the commode and searched for the remaining pregnancy test she’d taken.
Swallowing hard as she gripped Test #13 in her hand, she took a deep breath. Then, she took another one. On the third inhalation, she forced her eyes to focus on the result window and cringed.
“Son of a bitch!” she moaned as the pair of pink lines stared back at her. “I’m pregnant!” she hissed. Looking around at the line of tests on the edge of the tub, she shook her head. “Really, really pregnant.”
Choking on the bitter bile that rose in her throat, she fumbled as she came to her knees and pushed the lid of the toilet up and out of her way. Nausea consumed her as she dry heaved. Of course, since she hadn’t eaten anything, nothing came up…which made her stomach hurt even worse. And God, this sucked…. and it was all the fault of one infuriating man.
She was going to kill Abel Turner. Just as soon as she found a way off her knees and back onto her feet.
She was gonna hunt him down and take another piece of him. An important piece. A piece she just knew he’d miss when it was gone.
She fully intended to murder his manhood in cold blood and no court in the land – or Paradise – would condemn her.
Mildly mollified by the vague plan forming in her mind, she stumbled back to her feet and moved to the sink. Flipping on the faucet, she bent and splashed cold water over her face before grabbing one of the soft towels off the rack and patting her pale face dry.
Turning, she stumbled her way out of the bathroom and back into her loft apartment. Looking around the room through dazed eyes, her gaze finally landed on her running shoes. Now, there was an idea. Maybe a jog would force the screaming voices in her head to shut the hell up. Right now, blessed silence would be a wonderful thing, she thought as she quickly stripped out of her clothes and threw on a pair of running shorts and a sports bra. Donning an AC/DC tee shirt that had clearly seen better days and a scuffed pair of Nikes, Patience spared a second to grab a stray hairband from the dresser, swinging her longish hair up into a ragtag pony tail.
Mere minutes later, her sneakers were pounding the sidewalk behind the cafe, well on her way to the trail that would lead her into the park. Normally she ran with her iPod blasting Metallica at full volume, but today she couldn’t handle any more noise in her head. The soundtrack of a baby crying in he
r mind was quite enough company, thank you very much! She needed to run five miles. Five miles would be an accomplishment. Five miles would put some figurative and literal distance between her and the circus her life had become. As long as she could maintain control of the situation, then she could maintain control of herself. And that was paramount if she had any intentions whatsoever of not losing her mind completely.
But with each passing footstep, she found herself rethinking the entire situation. How in the world had she managed to get in this position? She was Patience freaking McKinnon! She was the chick that scolded other chicks for getting pregnant, after all! Hadn’t she provided condoms for every friend and acquaintance who even thought about dating a guy? Wasn’t her go-to gift for every single wedding shower the super-size box of Trojans from the trusty local drugstore (where the kind clerk always gift wrapped for free)? Damn it, she was well known far and wide for her proactive stance for population control.
As she easily ran past the edge of the duck park, she wrinkled her nose as a momma duck emerged from the water leading her four little ducklings in a row behind her. Even the animals were now mocking her, dammit! God had truly forsaken her if he was letting the little creatures in His kingdom get in on the action. Maybe some head banging Metallica would have been helpful after all.
Quickening her steps to escape the scolding quacking that echoed behind her, Patience forced herself to breathe in time with her steps. Running had always calmed her in the past....she needed the exercise and endorphins to perform its miraculous magic once again.
Ready, Willing and Abel (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnon Sisters Book 3) Page 7