“Thank you. I love you, Derek.”
“I love you, too, Zoe.”
They shared a sweet kiss and then she exited the car and headed toward whatever fate had in store for her.
Chapter 16
“Looks like your family is having a party,” Derek said when they pulled up in front of her house.
Trucks lined the driveway. Not a party. More like an intervention. Brey must have tattled too.
“We should leave,” Zoe said. It wasn’t like her to run from her problems, but as problems went, this was a doozy.
Derek placed his hand on her knee. “I’ll take you wherever you want to go. You don’t have to do this now.”
She gave him a wobbly smile. “Yes, I do. Come on, let’s face the music.” She opened the door and climbed out. Derek met her on the porch, taking her hand.
“There isn’t anything you can’t do, Zoe. Remember that.”
She’d never missed her mother more than in that second. She blinked tears away and entered the house.
Everyone was present, except her sisters. Them, she could use right now. There wasn’t only her dad, Brey, Ryder and Dare, but Derek’s father, Luke, and Trip’s dad, Vance, as well as Trip himself.
Trip tore himself from Ryder’s and Dare’s hold. It looked like her brothers had forced him here by gun point. They each brandished a shotgun. Trip stalked forward from the group of people gathered in the great room of the Wilde family log home.
Jeepers. She was in for it. How had they all found out?
“Are you pregnant?” Trip demanded, stopping in front of her, looking more imposing and dangerous than he ever had.
“What the hell are you talking about?” she asked instead. No way was showing her hand this soon. Not until she knew the stakes. Derek flanked her, which made her feel stronger.
“Derek was seen at the Convenient Heart buying a pregnancy test,” Trip said. “It’s all over town, and according to Brey, he caught you in the bedroom upstairs…with him.” Trip seared Derek with a look hot enough to burn him to ash.
Damn Brey and his big mouth, And then there was the town of Heartbreak. She knew they should have traveled the distance to Fairbanks to buy a pregnancy test. The Heart to Heart Network was going to ruin her life.
“Zoe?” Trip asked, his voice suddenly husky, sounding tortured.
She met his eyes, not liking what she saw. Fear, hope, and regret.
Regret?
Did he regret what they’d done so much that the thought of a baby sent him over the edge?
“Zoe and I are getting married,” Derek announced, puffing out his chest.
She swiveled to look at him, gob smacked.
“She’s not marrying you,” Trip said, taking her arm. “She’s marrying me.”
“Damn right, she is,” Ryder said, cocking his shotgun, looking very redneck in his walking cast, one jean pant leg cut off at the knee.
Zoe tore her arm from Trip’s grasp and glared at Ryder. “Seriously, you brought a gun?”
“Looks like a shotgun wedding to me,” Dare said, brandishing his ten-gauge.
“I’m not marrying anyone,” she stated. “Both of you put your guns down. Now.”
“Oh, hell no,” Ryder said. “It’s happening. Amore the Merrier has you on the books for tomorrow. I made sure of it.”
“You seriously contacted the Justice of the Peace?” The Justice of the Peace had taken to his nickname of Amore the Merrier with relish, though many thought he’d adopted it after too many glasses of wine. Being the only judge in town who could send you up the river and also commit you to a lifetime of matrimony, he was a force to be reckoned with.
“Damn right we did,” Dare said.
“But who is she marrying?” Vance asked.
“Me,” both Trip and Derek responded at the same time.
“Hell no,” Zoe said. “Again. I’m not marrying anyone,” she stressed. “Both of you are out of your minds. There is no reason for marriage.”
“Are you pregnant?” Trip asked, again, his voice strained.
“Who’s the father?” Luke asked. “That will decide everything. I’m betting on my boy.” He slapped Derek’s back, looking proud.
“I think we should leave Zoe alone with Derek and Trip,” Vance said, seeming to be the only one with a voice of reason.
“Agreed,” Jack finally spoke up. He’d been silent this whole time, watching Zoe, his expression unreadable. “Vance is right. The kids need a moment alone.”
“Hell no,” Luke said. “These kids have mucked it up—putting the cart before the horse—they need us to straighten them out.”
“Dad,” Derek said. “Could you please stay out of this?”
“I want Zoe as a daughter-in-law,” Luke said. “Your seed took root, and by damn, you will marry her.”
“Enough, Dad. Listen, I love Zoe, and she loves me. I’ll marry her if she’ll have me, but I know she’ll turn me down.”
He faced the crowd, straightened his shoulders, and dragged in a deep breath. Zoe took his hand in hers knowing what he was about to do.
“Zoe and I have never slept together. Brey, what you saw earlier was a misunderstanding. I was fitting her for a dress I made out of fabric Zoe painted. That’s all we have been up to, our secret project. Zoe and I want to design women’s clothing from the fabric she creates, and we’re damn good at it.”
Luke started to bluster, and Derek held up his hand to stop him. “To clarify, there is no way my ‘seed took root’ as you put it. I hate to break it to you in this way, but I’m gay. I’d prefer to sleep with Brey than Zoe. So, there’s no way I could be the father of her baby.”
It was like a bomb went off.
Everyone started talking at once. Zoe took advantage of the commotion and inched out of the room. Making it to the kitchen, she leaned back against the counter, squeezing her eyes shut.
“Not so fast.”
Her eyes flew open. Trip stood across from her, eyes hot and his face like stone.
“You’re coming with me.”
Chapter 17
Trip drove her to his house in silence. Zoe couldn’t look at him, gazing unseeingly out the window as they traveled the few miles to his two-story log home. The house was cute and quaint with a wraparound porch and a balcony off the second-story that overlooked an amazing mountain view. She’d been here before, had even helped him move in along with her brothers when he’d bought it. In her teenage fantasies, she’d even gone so far as to envision herself someday living here with him.
Trip parked, and walked around to her door, opening it and taking her arm.
What, did he think she was going to take off?
Once inside the large, open-concept room, he released her, pacing to the rock fireplace, rubbing the back of his neck.
Finally, he spoke, “You said you were on the pill.”
“No, I didn’t. I said, ‘don’t worry about it, and that’s exactly what you need to do.”
“Don’t worry about it? You’re carrying my child and I’m not supposed to worry about it? You’re out of your ever-loving damn mind. You will marry me, and we’ll worry about raising this child together.”
“No, we won’t. I will not have you marrying me out of some antiquated chivalry. I have choices.”
“Choices?” he whispered, taking a step back. “You aren’t thinking—”
“No, I’m not thinking of terminating it.” The thought had briefly entered her mind but was discarded just as quickly. “I can raise this baby on my own.”
“So, you are pregnant.” Trip rubbed a hand over his face and attempted to calm himself down.
She realized that was the first time she’d admitted it out loud. After she’d taken the test, she’d revealed the results to Derek, not able to voice the truth of her situation, and everyone back at the house had assumed and hadn’t given her a chance to confirm or deny.
“Yes, I’m pregnant,” she said, her tone grave. How had her life been turned upsi
de down so quickly? Knocked up at nineteen. Way to make her family proud, no wonder her dad had barely spoken at the intervention or whatever that had been.
“How long have you known?” Trip asked, pacing back to her. She was getting dizzy watching him wear a path in the floor. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“I’ve known for roughly an hour. As for not calling you, I needed time to process. Still need time,” she finished softly, mostly to herself.
He stopped in front of her and cupped her face in his palms, forcing her to look at him. “You aren’t alone in this, Zoe.”
Then why did she feel so alone? She met his gaze, tears filling hers.
“Oh, God, don’t cry.” He wiped her tears away.
Her lip trembled at how gentle he was being. She could handle him frustrated, angry, and annoyed with her, but not tenderness. “I’m scared,” she admitted in a whisper.
“I know, honey.” He kissed her forehead, his lips moving to her cheeks. “I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.” Then his mouth found hers.
The kiss started out soft and sweet but quickly heated. She grabbed onto him, feeling safe and secure for the first time that day. She wanted him, wanted to feel him inside her again, and lose herself in how he made her feel. She didn’t want to think anymore, didn’t want to deal with the regret, the fear, the uncertainty of her situation. Lord knew there would be plenty of time for that later. Nine months, in fact.
“Trip, can we…” she asked breathlessly.
“God, yes, we can.” He scooped her up into his arms and carried her up the open staircase to his bedroom. He set her on her feet in front of the large bed and slowly undressed her. When he had her naked, the look he gave her was hot enough to melt her bones.
He reached behind him and grabbed a handful of his t-shirt and pulled it over his head, letting it pool on the floor next to her clothes. He toed off his shoes and unbuttoned his jeans, carefully sliding the zipper down over the hard bulge. He hooked his thumbs into the waistband and took his shorts off with the jeans, kicking them aside.
They stood there in front of each other, naked as Adam and Eve.
His eyes slowly drank her in, traveling over her breasts to her flat stomach to the flare of her hips, all the way down to her toes and back, then he followed the same path with his hands. Next, he kneeled on the floor and pressed his lips to her belly. She caught her breath at the action, love blooming in her chest, tongue-tangled, unable to speak.
His mouth traveled lower until he was posed over her sex.
Then he tasted her.
No man had ever tasted her. He not only tasted, he feasted, until she called out his name on a cry, and her knees gave out.
Catching her up in his arms, he gently laid her on the bed and followed her down. He stroked and kissed every inch of her, shackling her hands in one of his when she tried to touch him.
“Don’t touch me. Not yet. Let me know you, Zoe. All of you.”
“Please, Trip. I can’t take much more of this.” She gasped as his calloused fingers grazed her inner thigh.
“Oh, you’ll take it, and more.” First, his mouth, and now he loved her with his hands, those wicked fingers tearing cry after cry from her.
Boneless, she drifted on a cloud of pleasure.
“Look at me, Zoe,” he said, his voice rough, husky. Taking her hips in his large hands, he positioned himself at her entrance.
She met his gaze, his eyes burning blue flames of need. She gasped as he slowly, intently joined his body with hers.
This was so much different than their first time. Emotion choked her, and tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes. He kissed them away as he gently started to thrust inside her, taking his time, stroking the flames of her desire until they burned hot again. She writhed under him, begging with her body to be taken harder, faster, but he kept the pace slow and deliberate. She wrapped her legs tight around his hips, taking him deeper, eliciting a groan from him. Sweat beaded his upper lip, the cords of his neck appeared, and she knew he was close. She wanted him out of control for her, mindless with want.
“Come with me, Zoe,” he demanded through clenched teeth.
She whimpered, her head flailing on his pillow. “I can’t.” She was too sensitive after all the multiple orgasms he’d already drawn from her.
“You can.” Taking his thumb, he stroked her sweet spot, sliding into her harder, and harder until the orgasm built. Her toes curled, and she couldn’t breathe, as he took over her body and played it like an instrument, demanding she give him everything.
Her world fragmented, and she screamed his name over and over again. Then she heard him shout her name, his body straining in the throes of his own orgasm. He sagged against her, spent, breathing hard, his arms tight around her.
Minutes, maybe hours, later, he shifted, rolling to his side and taking her with him.
He gazed into her eyes, drawing the pad of his thumb across her bottom lip, and then he sweetly kissed her. “That was much better than the cab of my truck, though that night is one of my favorite memories to revisit. Now this one will be.”
If a heart could sigh, hers just did. She loved him. Deeply with everything that was in her to love. It scared her. Rocked her right down to the core. He had the power to hurt her more than any other human being.
“You’re thinking too much,” he said. “It’s simple really.”
“Simple?”
“We get married and have a baby.” He laid his hand on her stomach.
“Neither one of those things are simple.” They would be if she knew how he felt. Did he want to get married for the baby or because he loved her and wanted to spend his life with her?
She’d always wanted to be his wife, had planned their wedding in her head when she should have been studying in school.
Now it looked like it was going to happen. Why wasn’t she happy?
Wasn’t this what she’d always wanted? Not like this.
She wanted him madly in love with her, not trapped in marriage. She knew he probably didn’t feel trapped, he was just doing the right thing.
You knock up a girl, you marry her. Simple.
Her thoughts continued revolving in her head like a Ferris wheel, getting faster and faster until she thought she was going to be sick again. She glanced at Trip and found him asleep.
He looked like a younger, more approachable, less hardened cop in his sleep. She wanted to nestle next to him, cradle her head in the crook of his shoulder. But there was only one thing she could do.
The right thing.
She needed to leave.
Chapter 18
Zoe snuck out of Trip’s house, closing the door softly. The sun shone bright even though it was around eleven at night. She’d miss these long summer days come winter. Walking up Trip’s driveway, she reached the road and fished out her phone.
“Zoe?” her sister Sorene answered on the first ring. “I heard. How are you? Where are you?”
Tears clogged her throat, and she had to clear it in order to speak. “Can you pick me up? I’m walking down Kindle Lane near Trip’s place.”
“I’ll be right there.” Sorene hung up, and Zoe tucked her phone back into her pocket. Sorene was the closest thing she had to a mother, and she could sure use her advice right now. Sorene had raised her when their mother had died when Zoe had only been nine. Lately, their relationship had started to change into a more sisterly one, but she needed a mother right now, especially since she now was going to be one.
She swiped at the tears that continued to leak from her eyes. Was this another thing she had to look forward to? Raging emotions as well as morning sickness?
She meandered down the dirt road lined with wildflowers. She could smell the pungent, earthy, tart scent of lowbush cranberries, the sweetness of wild roses. Soon she’d be able to gather rose hips and dry them for tea to drink by the fire in the cold winter nights.
What would winter bring? She’d be swollen with a child by then.
<
br /> Sorene’s old pickup bounced down the rutted road. She came to a quick stop and jumped out, running for Zoe, her arms open wide, and crushed her in a tight hug.
Zoe held on. The sobs she’d tried to hold back breaking free, and she dissolved in her sister’s arms. Sorene just held her, letting her cry, murmuring nonsensical words of assurance.
She didn’t know how long Sorene held her by the side of the road as she cried. Eventually the tears dried up, and she was left feeling sick, her head pounding. She’d never been a good crier and didn’t cry often, thank goodness.
Sorene rubbed her back. “Come on, let’s get you in the truck. Cat’s waiting for us.”
She wished Kennadee was in town. She suddenly wanted all her sisters around her.
Once she was strapped in, Sorene started the truck and turned it around.
“Where are we going?” Zoe asked. “I don’t want to go home.”
“I figured that once I heard what those fool brothers of ours tried to pull. Shotguns? Really?”
“Right?” She was so glad Sorene saw it the way she did.
“They got a piece of my mind, let me tell you. Cat suggested we come to the Mystic Heart. No one will look for you there, and you can take the time you need to adjust.”
“That sounds good. Thanks, Sorene.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll get through this.”
Not long, they parked in front of the Mystic Heart and climbed out. Catriona opened the door to her shop, bells tinkling above. She did the same as Sorene, rushing toward Zoe with open arms.
Luckily, Zoe didn’t break down this time. Cat released her, taking her hand. “I ran to the store for your favorite ice cream. Let’s go stuff our faces.”
They entered the eclectic shop with its star catchers, crystals, candles and mystic inventory. The pleasant smell of some sort of incense infused the air, instantly relaxing her. They went through the store to the bedroom upstairs that Catriona had yet to use since she’d pretty much moved in with Avery across the street at the Pump House, until they could find a place of their own.
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