by Quinn, Taryn
But she surprised me one more time.
“I’ve always been jealous of my sister. Standard younger sibling story. And then she got knocked up by the pizza delivery dude, and that should be the stupidest thing ever and yet it turned into this grand love and she has everything. Absolutely everything.” Rylee’s chin wobbled. “There’s no way the same could happen for me.”
“You’re right. If you shut it down before we even have a chance to see what happens, it won’t happen. Not just for you, but me too. You’ll be denying us both.”
“You didn’t mention the baby.”
“The best gift we can give that kid is parents who love each other. But I won’t pretend for the sake of my child. That does no one any good, especially the baby.” I stepped forward and gripped her elbows, drawing her against me. “Luckily, I don’t have to pretend a damn thing. I love you so much I can’t think around it. Can’t be smart or reasonable or—"
She rose up on her tiptoes and our mouths met as if we’d designed it just that way. God knows she wasn’t quite tall enough to cover the distance if I hadn’t lowered my head. But I was craving the honeyed sweetness of her mouth and the flash of her dark eyes before she closed them and gave herself over to me. Her heart slamming beat for beat against mine as we fought our way through the kiss. Until there was just heat and hunger and a bottomless well of love that didn’t have a beginning and hopefully wouldn’t have an end.
I let go of her elbows and she wrapped her arms around my neck, boosting herself up so that her legs wound around my waist. And wrenched her mouth away from mine.
“I love you too. I don’t want you to leave. That makes me a shrew, I know, but I don’t fucking care. I want to be selfish and keep you for myself. The rest of the world got their time with you. Now it’s my chance and I’m taking it.” She framed my face between her palms. “Please, stay with me. Stay with us. If I have to get three jobs if this thing with Macy doesn’t work out, I will. I mean I have savings, but that only lasts so long. And if I get fired from two of them, I’ll get two more. We can make it work.”
For a second, I didn’t reply. I probably didn’t even breathe. That could’ve been why my head was throbbing as if I was at imminent risk of a cardiac event.
And this time, it wasn’t even the head below my waist.
“Baby, I’m really fucking rich.”
She pursed her lips. “Seriously? After that speech, that’s what you lead off with?” She whacked me hard in the arm.
I grinned. “I didn’t say that to brag, huntress. I was just saying you don’t have to work if you don’t want to. You can stay home with the baby for as long as you’d like, or not at all. You can do whatever you want with your life. I’m just asking to share it. That’s all.”
Her dark eyes filled, and she waved her hand in front of her face as if she was suddenly hot. “Hormones. Don’t mind me. I’m not actually crying.”
A tear plopped on my shirt. Then another. “And that’s not actually liquid?”
“Don’t make me hit you again when I’m trying to bask in your sweetness.”
I took hold of one of her hands and brought it to my mouth, kissing her knuckles. “I bought us a house.”
“What?”
“I bought us—”
“No, no, I heard the words, but they just didn’t compute. How could you have bought us a house when you were leaving town to go back to racing until I just stopped you with my impassioned plea?”
I laughed so hard I nearly dropped her. “Huntress, I was never going back to racing. That was a story you came up with all your own.”
“But the email—and you saying you had big news. I didn’t make those things up. Oh. Oh. You meant the house.” She pulled her hand free from my grip and pressed it to her mouth. “What if I don’t like it?”
“There’s room for a tent. There’s about six acres give or take.”
“Now I’m really going to hit you.”
I grinned and turned to set her on the narrow countertop beside the stove. I would’ve preferred to put her on the kitchen table so I could live out one of my favorite sex fantasies but getting it on over the remains of an overcooked roast didn’t quite measure up.
The counter could’ve worked as a fine substitute if it had been bigger than the span of my hand. But that was why I’d bought a house. We’d have many surfaces in our own place to desecrate.
And the kitchen counter was extremely spacious. Yes, I’d checked, and not so I could prepare our Thanksgiving turkey with room to spare.
“Oliver took me through it and it’s big enough for us and the baby. I could build on a pole barn if I wanted to, which is kinda important considering what I have in mind job-wise. Plus, there’s tons of yard for the kid or even kids if we decide to go there. It’s not a starter place we’d have to upgrade in a couple years. It’s move-in ready. And ready for someone to grow roots there. For us to grow roots there. If you love it like I do.”
She bit her lower lip, dragging it between her teeth in that way that made me crazy. Especially since I’d already been fantasizing about her naked beside the Thanksgiving turkey.
Sort of.
“Why do you need a pole barn? What is a pole barn? Are there different kinds of barns?”
“Yeah, but we’ll discuss that another time. Basically, so I can house cars there as necessary. In case I want or need to take my work home. I’m going into business with my brother. We’re taking over the shop and we’re going to not only keep the cars of Crescent Cove running smoothly, we’re going to make kickass, specialized vintage cars. With all the racing people I know, there’s so much we can do to help them spend their cash on a one of a kind Kramer custom car.”
“You’re going into business with Dare. Here in Crescent Cove. And you want to build a pole barn, at the house you’re going to live at full time. With me and the baby.”
“Yes. Assuming you don’t move into that tent in the backyard.”
“I’d still stop inside for conjugal visits.”
“Well, of course.”
“Especially during the second trimester. I’m not far into it yet, but holy crap. Just looking at you makes me want to pull off my pants right here.”
I swallowed and focused in on her stretchy yoga pants with the little Mickey Mouse heads all over them. A little weird, but she was hot anyway. If I could get turned on by the thought of her beside a dressed bird, I could definitely handle her clad in mouse wear. “We should probably finish talking first, but I’m good with a break if you need one. Just for your benefit of course.”
“Your altruism is truly commendable.” Her throat rippled as she swallowed deeply. “How far away is this house? Since I just kinda found a sleep therapy group where a bunch of us freaks get together and talk out our issues. I’ve only gone once, just today, but I’m hopeful that maybe it’ll help.”
“You’re not a freak.” When she ducked her head, I tipped up her chin. “If you keep calling the woman I love names, I may have to shrink the size of your tent.”
Her laughter was like music. Even better than the classic rock they played after I’d won a race and was standing in the winner’s circle. “It’s going to take some time for me to get there. But I’m trying. I’m really trying.”
“I know you are. I can’t ask for anything more.”
“I can. Say the words.”
“What words?” Then I smiled. “I love—”
“No, not that.” She waved it off as if us loving each other was old news already. “Tell me you’re staying with us. Me and the baby. Forever.”
Somehow my smile even grew wider. “I’m staying.” I tipped my forehead to hers. “Forever and a day.”
She leaned up to brush her mouth over mine, her lips curving. “Now you can tell me you love me again.”
“I love you, Rylee Ford.” I kissed her softly. Sweetly. Then I moved down to lift up her shirt and pressed a kiss to the barely there swell of her belly. “I love you, baby Ford-Kramer.
”
Sooner rather than later, I intended to change that last name situation. But one day at a time.
I grinned against her stomach. With my huntress, one minute at a time was plenty.
She sniffled and ran her fingers through my hair, holding me in place. “I love you too. And I don’t have confirmation yet, but I’m pretty sure she loves her daddy right back.”
My chest tightened. “She?”
“C’mon, dude. You know you’re going to be outnumbered in our house. It’s practically a certainty.”
Laughing, I stood up and gripped her hand between both of mine. “I can’t wait.”
Epilogue
Gage
“This fucker is heavy.” Dare grunted as he lifted the opposite end of the couch.
“You’re the one who said it needed the reinforced frame.” I might have underestimated the heft of the reclaimed VW Bug I’d made into a couch for Rylee’s new venture with Macy at Brewed Awakening.
In the last month, she’d slowly brought Macy around to the idea of a movie corner as an addition to the business. My girl was a genius when it came to coming up with ideas to utilize the café for more than just the breakfast and lunch rush. Not that Macy really needed any help with foot traffic.
Macy put her hands on her hips. “When you said cool couch, that was not what I had in mind, Kramer.”
It had been no easy feat to convince her to let me and Ry make some small changes to the far side of the café. I’d had to beg, cajole, and promise to do her oil changes for a year just to get her to let me bring in one couch.
But I knew after she saw the finished product, she’d want more. And Rylee would scream. I couldn’t wait to see her face. Hopefully, that would soften her up for my other surprise.
I nodded to the side wall to my brother. “There before we drop this thing.”
Dare only grunted again.
Macy rushed forward. “It’s huge.”
We set it down gently before Dare collapsed on the ruby red cushion. “That new frame Tish added made this a damn tank.”
Macy popped her knuckles on one hand as she walked around the repurposed car. Me and Dare had made this first one into more of a loveseat size. The perfect way to get cozy, but keep it clean for the masses. If Rylee—and more importantly, Macy—liked the look, I had many more ideas for car couches. There were tons of different kinds that could be used inside and outdoors. The café had space to expand into the empty space next door.
Add a little patio on the back…
Well, the ideas were limitless. And I wasn’t even the one coming up with them.
Rylee had been spinning ideas each night as we got ready for bed. Well, until I distracted her with her favorite nighttime snack. In the last few weeks, her sleepwalking had lessened. My Lego strategy helped for the nights when she got too wound up or stressed. It seemed that stress was the biggest amplifier for bouts of sleepwalking. Before a doctor’s appointment or when she was gathering courage to talk to Macy about one of her plans were top of the list for causing her anxiety these days.
Luckily, I was bottom of the list lately.
We were having a good time playing house. She’d all but moved out of her apartment and into the house I’d bought for us, though she still kept the basics upstairs. I was pretty sure it was more for the huge bathroom than me, but I was making strides. My girl was independent as hell, but there were some days where she defaulted to stubborn for no other reason than making me insane.
I was learning that letting her come around to my ideas after planting a few seeds was better than demanding. Since I was used to snapping out orders to a team as their lead, that was taking some getting used to. That my brother and the love of my life required the same navigation was a mind-fuck too. But wonder of all wonders, Dare and I were getting along as well.
The three of us had decided to make it an even partnership. And so, Kramer & Burns Garage had been born. We’d originally wanted just cars, but with Tish as part of our group, we ended up with quite a few motorcycles looking for custom work too. We already had a waiting list for that aspect of the business. Even I hadn’t believed things would move that fast.
Tish had put the word out and things sort of blew up from there.
Add in the racers I knew, and Dare’s legendary engine expertise, and we’d had to actually hire someone to take care of the books and phones for us. That Lane happened to be a website wiz as well had all of us sighing with relief.
Well, until he started bugging us endlessly for pictures and videos for the garage’s YouTube and social media platforms.
I’d had to tackle him before he could put a picture of the VW Bug sofa on our damn Instagram. After it was installed, and I surprised my girl, then he could do whatever the hell he wanted. Until then, he needed to cool it.
Damn, it was hard to keep a freaking secret in this town.
I just had one more to keep. And it was a burning a hole in my pocket.
The three of us took a step back to look at the car-couch against the wall. Macy was far too silent for my liking.
“Dad!” Wes, my nephew, came tearing into the café.
Dare looked over his shoulder. “Hey, bud. Where’s your mom?”
“Can I see it now?” Wes plowed into me. Christ, he was getting big. I made room for him between me and his father.
Dare’s eyebrow arched. “Where’s your mom?”
Wes sighed dramatically. “She’s sitting with Aunt Sage and Aunt Rylee upstairs.”
“God, what are they hatching now?” I ruffled Wes’s hair. “Isn’t it cool?”
“So cool. Can I sit on it?”
I glanced at Dare then nodded. “Sure.”
He dove onto it and bounced to the end where the polished headlight could be reached. “Does the light really work?”
“Sure does. Hit that button at the top. Right behind the cup holder.”
He knelt on the seat to reach and punched the button. Then scrambled down in front of it. “Holy crap.”
Instead of a regular headlight, we’d replaced it with an LED light that changed colors.
“Hey,” Dare said sternly.
“Sorry. I mean, wow.” Wes gave his dad a bit of side-eye then shifted toward the other headlight, which was also on. “This is so cool.”
“Think your aunt Ry will think so?” I asked.
“Yeah, definitely.” He came to stand between me and Dare again, mimicking his father’s wide-legged stance and crossed arms.
I resisted the urge to snort. Would my kid mimic my mannerisms like that? Or would he or she be more like Ry? I couldn’t wait to find out.
I nudged Macy. “What’s the verdict?”
“It’s pretty cool.”
“To—”
“If you say I told you so, I’ll rip your tongue out and use it for a gum scraper.”
I pressed my lips together. That was Macy, ever full of sweetness and light. I cleared my throat. “Hey, Wes? Think you can go get your aunt Ry for me?”
“Yeah, sure.” He tore off just as quickly as he’d come in.
Dare just shook his head. “All right, enough patting ourselves on the back. I got a GTO engine block to clean.”
“The fun never ends.”
Dare grinned. “Nope.”
I laughed. Not sure I’d ever seen my brother so happy. I’d known he needed more than doing maintenance jobs on cars to fulfill that grease monkey heart of his. Now spending fourteen hours on an engine block made him bitch and moan, but there was always a sparkle of glee under the grumbles.
Dare gave Macy a salute, then headed out the front doors toward our garage.
“Did you make the special mix for me?”
Macy rolled her eyes at me. “Relax, Romeo. I got you covered.”
I rubbed my palms against my jeans. “I’ll relax after she says yes.”
She shook her head. “This freaking town says yes all the time. Ankles to the sky without a thought to the consequences of the weird
winds and water combo here. A little pixie dust and a glass of preggo water and you people are popping out kids freaking everywhere.”
“I meant to marrying me.”
“Oh. Well, yeah, that too. You just put the cart before the horse en masse.”
“Sometimes that’s the way it works. Doesn’t mean I love her any less.”
She huffed out something resembling a grumble and a grunt that would make Statler and Waldorf proud. Maybe one day she and Dare could dress up as them for Halloween. I was pretty sure Macy already had the old dudes from the Muppets on a shirt. She seemed to have an unending supply of rude shirts.
“I’ll be right back with your special blend.”
“Thanks, Mace.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She waved me off and headed back to the main counter.
“I’m coming.”
My hands instantly itched at her voice. I turned toward Rylee in the doorway of the entrance to the café from the apartments. Wes was at her side, his cheek pressed to her growing belly. She smiled down at him and tucked his overlong wheat-colored hair behind his ear. “Now what’s the surprise?”
“You gotta close your eyes.”
Rylee closed her eyes good-naturedly. “Okay. Lead the way.”
Wes carefully led her around the chairs to where I was standing. I winked at Wes and he laughed, then took off back toward the apartments.
“Wes?”
I moved in front of her, immediately cupping her little belly with one hand, then her face with the other. Her eyes popped open in surprise, then pure joy. Damn, it was good to see that expression whenever I touched her these days.
The guarded woman who was afraid I had one foot out the door had pretty much vanished. We’d come a long way in such a short time.
“Hi.”
I leaned in and touched my lips to hers. “Hi.”
“Are you my surprise?”
“Not quite.”
“Oh?” She nibbled on her lower lip and I couldn’t resist stealing another kiss before moving out of the way. Her brown eyes immediately filled as she caught sight of the car-couch. “Oh, Gage.”
“Are those good tears?”