“Uh . . . Kade?”
I jerked my attention away from Leah. Standing next to our table was a group of guys who were some of my classmates in this course. Among them were Jake Robinson and Eric Muller.
“Hey.” I stood up slowly, still holding tight to Leah’s hand. “What’re you guys up to?”
“Just grabbing some food,” one of them answered. “Eric said this place was decent.”
Jake pinned me with a stare. “Gonna introduce us to your friend, Kade?”
“Oh.” I felt like an idiot. “Yeah, of course. Sorry.” I tugged on Leah’s hand until she slowly and reluctantly slid off the bench of the booth and stood up. She was wearing a pair of maternity jeans I’d bought her last weekend and a pretty T-shirt that clung to her bump, leaving little to the imagination there.
If my buddies had been surprised before, now they were downright shocked. Jake’s mouth dropped open, and I heard another of the men give a low whistle that I was pretty sure was more of pity than admiration.
“Leah, babe, these are some of my friends from the training we’re doing at Fort Davis. Oh, and Jake here’s at Fort Lee with me. Guys, this is Leah. My girlfriend.”
They all stared, clearly waiting for the rest of the story. I cleared my throat and decided to go for broke, laying my hand on her stomach. “And this is our daughter, who’s due in about twelve weeks.”
“Uh . . .” Jake was the first to find his voice and his manners. “Nice to meet you, Leah. I’m Jake Robinson. Um, congratulations, Kade. I had no idea.”
“Thanks.” I wasn’t going to say any more than that, not in front of all of them. Later, I’d explain more to Jake.
There was a ripple of murmurs among the others, and then with nods and waves, they all filtered away to find seats at their table. Only Eric remained in front of me, scowling.
I took a deep breath and rolled my eyes. “Babe, this is Eric Muller. He’s my roommate for this temporary dute.”
She darted a glance at me. I’d told her some stories about the mule. “Oh. I’ve heard a lot about you. Good to meet you.”
Eric ignored her and turned to me, his arms folded across his chest. “Are you fucking out of your mind, Braggs? You know, I was already sure you were an idiot. I knew you were a moron playing at being a soldier, when you’re really just a beach bum at heart. But even then, I thought you had enough smarts to keep yourself from knocking up a trashy townie girl and letting her ruin your career.”
Rage blinded me, and I didn’t stop to think. With a roar of outrage, I swung, my fist connecting with the mule’s jaw with a satisfying thwack. He cried out and tried to right himself and keep from going down, but I’d taken him utterly by surprise, and he landed across the table behind him.
Luckily, no one was sitting there. His fall knocked off a few bundles of silverware and broke one coffee cup.
“Kade!” Leah screamed and grasped my arm, struggling to pull me away. Jake, who had begun to walk away before Eric spoke, shouted and jumped back, putting himself between the mule and me. Shock and disbelief were etched on his face.
“What the hell, man?” he hissed. “You can’t go off like that. Not here, and sure as fuck not on Muller.” He cast a quick glance over his shoulder, where a couple of the other guys and a waitress were helping Eric to his feet and cleaning up the glass, all of them staring at me like I was a lunatic.
“He’s an asshole,” I muttered. “He’s a fucking arrogant entitled piece of shit. Maybe if someone had stood up to his ass earlier, he wouldn’t be the motherfucker he is now.”
“You’re going down for this, Braggs.” Eric was back on his feet, holding a napkin against his face. I didn’t see any blood, but I bet he was going to have a nice bruise. “Don’t think I won’t report this right up the chain of command. You fucked up, buddy. You fucked up big time.”
I clenched my fists to keep from punching him again and instead turned to the waitress, who was glancing between all of us. “I’m very sorry, ma’am. Please add the cost of the mug to our meal, and I’ll gladly cover it.”
“Yeah, I guess you will.” She grimaced as Jake led a still-sputtering Eric Muller away. “Tell you the truth, it’s about time someone clocked that jackass. He’s a pain in the ass all the time here. He’s nasty to the wait staff and always complains about the food.” She lowered her voice. “We’re not going to call the cops or anything. And if you need someone to stand up for you if he’s stupid enough to file charges, you let me know. I heard it all.” She nodded, then patted Leah on the arm as she passed.
“Kade, please just take me home.” Leah looked like she was on the verge of crying. “I—I’m not hungry. Please.”
I stared at her for a few beats, frowning, and then I nodded. “Okay. Just let me pay and we’ll go.” Catching the eye of our waitress again, I made a motion for the check.
As we sat waiting for her, Leah kept her eyes down on the table, where her hands were folded so tightly, the knuckles were white.
“Leah—babe—” I covered both of her hands with one of my larger ones. “Please don’t—”
“I just want to get out of here, Kade.” She spoke through gritted teeth, looking miserable.
The waitress appeared, carrying a brown paper bag stapled shut. “Here’s your food to go, hon. I talked to the manager, and there’s no charge. This is on the house.” She lowered her voice. “We don’t like the fighting, and he’s not happy about you throwing a punch. He said I should tell you that. But like I said, we also know you didn’t start it.” She slid the bag toward me. “Here you go. Take your girl home and spoil her a little.”
Leah and I both stood up, as I put my hand on her back to guide her before me. “Thank you for your help,” I told the waitress. “We appreciate it. And please thank your manager.”
We walked to the parking lot, both of us silent. I opened the car door for Leah before jogging around to my side. Anger was still bubbling inside me, and I wanted to kick the car or punch something else. But I knew Leah was fragile just now. Another outburst from me just might push her over the edge.
The only sound as we drove home was the steady rhythm of her breathing. When we pulled into her driveway, I half-expected her to tell me not to come inside, but she allowed me to follow her in though the kitchen door. That was where she stopped and turned to face me.
“Kade . . . this isn’t . . . we can’t do this.” Tears welled in her eyes and overflowed down her pale cheeks. “I saw how your friends looked at me at the diner. It was just like when I was little, and everyone in school saw me as the foster kid. The girl who didn’t have a family. The teenager who wore hand-me-downs from God only knew who, that were usually a couple of sizes too big. It took me a long time to get past being that person, the throwaway baby. I know I seem like I’m driven and focused and all that, but it’s really just a way to make sure I never end up—like that again. Tonight, for the first time in years, I felt it again. The pity. The instant judgement.”
“Leah.” I touched her shoulder. “I’m sorry. Most of those guys aren’t like that at all. I just hadn’t said anything to them about us, because I didn’t want to jump the gun before you made up your mind about moving down with me. I meant to talk to Jake today, because he’s the one here I know best. I didn’t get a chance, because as soon as we were done, I wanted to be here with you.”
She stood stiff and unyielding, her eyes stuck to the floor between us. “I can’t do it, Kade. It’s always going to be like that—I’ll be the different one. The idiot who wasn’t smart enough to keep from getting knocked up, or maybe the girl who trapped that poor nice Kade Braggs by getting pregnant.”
“Leah, for God’s sake. Stop it.” I laid both of my hands on her slim shoulders. “You’re making more of this than it’s worth. No one is ever going to look at you like that, not as long as I’m around. They wouldn’t dare.”
“Really, Kade? Why, because they know you’ll knock out anyone who opens his mouth and makes some kind of commen
t about me? How long do you think that will last, before you resent me and the baby, and then you start to hate us and wish you’d never—”
“Leah!” I dropped my hands from her and wheeled away, raking my hand through the stubble of my hair. “Stop it. I don’t resent you or the baby—and I never will. For Christ’s sake, can’t you see I fucking love you? I fucking love you both?”
She raised luminous eyes to me, her tear-stained face making me long to kiss away every drop.
“And I can already anticipate your next argument. You’re going to say that I love the baby, and that’s true, I do. I love her already. But I love her because she’s part of us, Leah. She’s a product of who we are together, and even if she wasn’t planned and even if some aspects of this situation are damned inconvenient, she isn’t at all inconvenient.
“But as much as I love our daughter and I can’t wait to meet her, I love you even more. I know it’s crazy. We met once seven months back, and now we’ve only been together for four and a half weeks. I don’t care. I love you, Leah. I’m fucking insane in love with you, if you couldn’t tell. All I want to do, from the minute my eyes open in the morning, is be with you. And going to sleep at night, with you in my arms and our baby inside you, is the best fucking thing I’ve ever known. You make me whole, Leah. I didn’t even realize how much I wanted you until I found you again, and now . . . well, now, hell if I’m going to walk away and live without you, live like half a man, just because Eric Muller is a fucking asshole.”
Leah ran the tip of her tongue over her lips. “Do you really mean it? You . . . love me?”
I took one tentative step closer and caught her hands in mine. “I really do, babe. I was going to say it, but I had all this shit planned for when I told you. And I was going to give you this.” I dug into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out a slim black box. “That first day when I asked you to marry me, I didn’t have a ring or anything. But that night, I called my mom and asked her to send this.” Opening the box, I showed it to Leah.
“This is the ring my dad gave my mom. She always told me that someday she wanted to see it on the hand of the woman I loved, because it would make her happy to know that it was passed down to another couple who loved each other the way she and my father did.” I lifted out the delicate silver ring, holding it up. “I know it’s not much, and it’s not fancy. My folks were pretty broke when they got married. But my mom never wanted it replaced, because she said it reminded her of how in love they were in the beginning, and how that never changed.”
“It’s beautiful.” Leah ventured one finger out to touch the stone. “I’ve never seen anything lovelier.”
“I know you’re not sure about getting married, Leah. I understand that. This ring can be whatever you want it to be. You can wear it on your right hand, and it can be just a promise between us, for someday when you’re ready. Or you can wear it on your left hand, as your engagement ring, but we can wait until after the baby comes to do up a big fancy wedding, if that’s what you want. I don’t care. I just want to see it on your hand, because no matter what, babe, I need to know that you’re mine. I want the world to know that we belong to each other.” I pulled her against me, the ring still warm in my hand, her firm bump undeniably between us, pressing into me. “I love you, Leah Samson. Please be mine. However that looks, whatever name you want to call it, just be mine.”
For the space of a few agonizing heart beats, she didn’t reply. And then a tremulous, brilliant smile curved her gorgeous lips.
“I love you, Kade. I’ve been in love with you . . . well, for a long time now.” She swallowed, blinking back more tears. “I don’t want your mother’s beautiful ring to be a promise ring or even just an engagement ring. I don’t need a big fussy wedding. All I need is you. I . . . I’ll marry you whenever you want. Tonight. Tomorrow. This weekend.”
The rest of her words were muffled as I hugged her even tighter, my own eyes suspiciously damp. I was so relieved, so fucking happy, as if this moment was the culmination of every single thing I’d wished for and worked for in my life. Within the circle of my arms, I held the two most precious gifts I’d ever been given. True, I hadn’t exactly asked for them, and both had come as a surprise. But this woman and the baby she carried for me—they were all the more extraordinary for being unexpected and unanticipated. I would love them both extravagantly, and I’d give my life to protect them from any harm. They were my world now. They were my life.
And damned if I was ever going to let them go.
Chapter Six
Leah
“It’s really not fair how beautiful you are. Aren’t pregnant women supposed to have swollen ankles and look fat and miserable?”
Samantha Crewe stood next to me in my bedroom, her hands on her hips as I fussed in front of the full-length mirror, making last-minute adjustments to the light green dress that was my wedding gown.
I smiled at Sam’s reflection in the mirror. “Maybe they are, and maybe I’ll get there in a month or so, and then you can listen to me moan about it. But for today, I’m happy that my ankles remain unswollen, and I can still see my feet.” I held out one foot in its delicate silvery heel.
“Well, that’ll give me something to look forward to, I guess.” Samantha grinned at me. “Seriously, though, Leah, you are gorgeous.”
I wasn’t going to argue with my new friend, because she was right. But the sparkle I carried with me today didn’t have anything to do with the lovely dress Samantha had dragged me out to buy or the shoes that complemented it. My glow didn’t come from the curls in my blonde hair or the artfully-applied makeup, both courtesy of Kade’s younger sister, Jacey, who was a makeup artist out in California. And although I was thrilled that both Jacey and Kade’s mom Kristi were here today, and although I appreciated that they’d immediately not only accepted me as Kade’s wife—or almost wife—but as one of the family, that wasn’t the reason I radiated loveliness this afternoon.
I was beautiful today because standing in my kitchen, waiting to walk with me down the makeshift aisle in my small backyard, was the only man I’d ever loved. The only man I was ever going to love. Kade Braggs was responsible for every gleam in my eyes, for the roses on my cheeks and for the jaunt in my step. He made me . . . joyous. Ebullient. Loved.
“I hope the decorations are all right.” Samantha lifted the edge of the curtain, peering out into the yard. “Jacey’s more artistic than I am, so I basically followed her lead.”
“I’m sure they’re wonderful.” As Samantha turned around again, I grabbed her hand. “Sam, I just have to say again, thanks so much for doing—all of this. For driving up here and helping us make this happen on such short notice. For all your hard work, and just—for being so nice.”
She smiled and brushed back her chin-length bobbed hair. “It really was my pleasure, Leah. I’ve known Kade for about as long as I’ve known Max, though clearly, I know Max more . . . intimately.” She winked at me, and I blushed a little, which was ridiculous. The very first night she’d been here with me, Samantha had described how she and Max had met, even giving me details about their first night together. I’d had a tough time looking at Max Remington the next day, when he and Kade had joined us for a barbecue. In return, though, she’d pulled a few salient pieces of information out of me as well, under the guise of informing me that this was what girlfriends did. They shared stuff.
“Kade always says you’re the best thing that ever happened to Max,” I said now.
“And he would be right.” She looked out the window again, and I wondered if she could see Max there now, waiting to serve as best man once the service got underway. “But I’m so damn happy that Kade found you. He needed you. And the greatest part of the whole thing is that not only is he getting a wife and a baby, I’m getting a friend who can trip through all the Army crap with me.”
I laughed. “I’m not sure I’ll be much help there. We’ll be like the blind leading the blind.”
“Two wrongs that make a
right?” She cocked her head. “I don’t know. Maybe we need to get one of the other guys hooked up with a woman who knows her way around this shit. But not a snooty one. Someone like us, only who’s been around the block when it comes to the Army.”
“Good point. We’ll keep our eyes open.” I nodded as there was a knock at the door. Kade’s mom Kristi poked her head inside.
“Oh, look at how beautiful you are, Leah! Are you ready? The minister’s here, and I think all the guests have arrived, too.” We hadn’t invited many people to this spur-of-the-moment wedding. Kade had asked Max and Samantha to come, of course; they were standing up as our witnesses, though Jacey was also one of my bridesmaids. Another of Kade’s close friends, Shaw Kincaid, had also driven up, along with a few of the other company commanders who worked with them at the battalion. I wasn’t sure I could keep track of all the names yet.
Jake Robinson, whom I’d met that awful night at the diner, was also out there among the guests. He’d apologized to me more than once for his initial lack of enthusiasm, and since he really was a decent guy, as Kade had assured me, I’d been more than happy to give him a second chance.
One person who was not among our invited guests was Eric Muller. Kade’s roommate for the duration of the course had threatened to report him to their superiors, but apparently, he’d been persuaded not to do it by another officer. I didn’t know the details, but Jake had gleefully whispered to me last night, when all of us had gone out for a sort-of rehearsal dinner, that Kade had told Eric in no uncertain terms what would happen to him if he ever spoke to me again.
“He said that if the mule even looked at you, ever, Kade would pull his eyeballs out through his nose and force feed them to him.” Jake had chuckled. “I’m not entirely sure that it’s anatomically possible, but the dude has some awesome visuals, doesn’t he?”
He did indeed, but I preferred the word pictures he painted for me in the evenings over our dinners together, when he described in minute and intimate detail what he planned to do to me once we’d finished eating and were in bed. Suffice it to say that more often than not, the dinner dishes waited . . . sometimes until the next morning.
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