Besotted: An Enemies-to-Lovers Small-town Romance (Carmel Cove Book 3)

by Dr. Rebecca Sharp

  I cleared my throat, turning back to Jo. “Well, I’m glad you’re fine just blurting out about my… you know…”

  “Sex life?” she snorted.

  My cheeks burned. “Yeah. That. Thanks.”

  Her grin grew. “We’re all excited for you, Eve. You deserve every happiness.”

  “Thanks,” I said again even as I hoped it wouldn’t all vanish tomorrow.

  “Alright, we’re goin’ up. See you tomorrow?”

  I nodded and watched as they disappeared up the staircase while I spun and continued my trek toward the back of the building.

  Even now, my body tingled knowing it would be going home to him tonight. It had done the same thing every night for the last thirteen days and I knew it would do the same for the next thirteen-thousand if he’d just ask.

  I’d loved every moment about the last two weeks.

  I loved the way he picked up dinner the nights that I worked at Roasters and how he sat and had coffee with me there every morning. Of course, he said it was just because it would be rude for him to grab himself dinner and not bring me anything, or that he only sat with his coffee because they were working at Blooms so there was no drive to drink it on.

  I loved the way I caught him cleaning my glasses at night if he thought they looked dirty. I loved the way he came to the Pub, ordered one drink, and just sat and hung out for my whole shift so he could drive me home.

  I loved our hikes and picnics after work with Kona. And I loved how he’d taken one look at my dream and spouted off ideas with vigor as though it were his own.

  The truth was I loved every moment with him. Everything from the moment I fell asleep in his arms to the moment I woke up wrapped in them, and definitely all the moments in between.

  But all those moments had been ticking down to tomorrow when the official two-week notice was up, and I still had no place to live lined up since Miles had vetoed all but the two I had scheduled to tour tomorrow. Two that I was sure he’d still find obscene objections with.

  “Hey, Addy—” I broke off when I walked in right in the middle of a stare-down between my sister and Ace.

  Addy sat in her chair, her elbows planted on the desk and her hands cupped over her mouth. She had on a loose navy tee and the black jacket she always wore when around anyone. And Ace continued to look every inch the modern Viking that he was, with half of his skull buzzed and home to a series of tribal tattoos easy to examine since he was also seated, though his back was angled away from the door.

  This was the third time in just as many weeks that I’d seen him here and that fact made me nervous and uncomfortable. Not that he was here, I knew everyone was safer with him in the building, but I was uncomfortable with why he was here.

  There was a tension in Addy’s office that hadn’t been there before—that had never been there before. Even when she argued with our brother or Ace. It was like a fine dust in the air, too light to settle but too heavy to be easily blown away.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, every other thought of what I’d come in to talk to her about vanishing. “Are you okay? Is this about the interview?”

  He didn’t move, but I caught the subtle twitch of his eyelid as Ace glanced at my sister, wondering just how much she’d told me.

  “No.” Addy’s hands moved from her face as she folded her arms on the desk. And the dust thickened. “Nothing to do with the interview.”

  Ace cleared his throat and set a stare on me that made me want to confess to crimes I’d never committed, that was how intense it was. “Two weeks ago, a young girl, Barbara Holland, went missing on Cove Lane. She was out jogging and her parents called when she didn’t come home. So far neither the police nor Dex have been able to find anything.”

  I swallowed hard and felt my eyes burn with tears.

  “O-Okay…” Still, I didn’t understand what that had to do with Addy.

  “Earlier this week, two more girls went missing from a house party. A third, who was going to go with them but, at the last minute, wasn’t feeling well, said they were all approached by a good-looking guy and invited to some beach party at one of the mansions. She couldn’t really describe him but could tell us that it wasn’t the owner of the house.”

  “What did the owner say?”

  Ace’s jaw flexed, and I could see how the muscle vibrated all the way up his temple and under his tattoos making it appear like there were snakes shifting under the black streaks that were bled onto his skin. “He was having a house party and had almost a hundred people, many of whom were invited by friends of friends. Basically, he has no idea.”

  I crossed my arms and chewed on my lip for a second. “That’s horrible… but what does it have to do with us?”

  “They think the Crown Cartel is involved,” Addy spoke, offering the first link to our own lives. “That the cartel didn’t just bring their drug trade to Rock Beach, but that they are also trafficking women from the coast.”

  “Oh God…” My hands flew to my chest.

  “It could be unrelated. We haven’t found any links or anything to corroborate that theory except my gut. But I know there are a lot of girls here, and I know that they’re all working toward something better. So, I just want to give you a heads-up to keep your eyes out. Have the girls keep their eyes out.”

  I nodded as my sister managed to say, “Thank you.”

  Ace stood and towered over me, giving me his standard stoic goodbye before turning to my sister with a different look that suggested they’d talk later… about something else that wouldn’t be shared with me.

  “You sure this doesn’t have to do with the interview?” I couldn’t help but ask again as I sunk into the now-vacant chair and pulled one knee up to my chest.

  “No.” She brushed me off. “It started before that.”

  “You okay?”

  Addy looked like she’d crossed over the line where she was taking care of too much else to take care of herself.

  My sister’s collected smile returned and she nodded. “Of course. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing.” I shrugged. “I just stopped in to see how things were going and congratulate you on the interview.”

  “You weren’t coming in to tell me about how you’re living with Miles?” she drawled, leaning back in her chair, her blue hair piled like an angry thundercloud on top of her head.

  I winced. “You know?”

  I’d told her I was staying at Mick and Jules’ old apartment. I’d left out that Miles was also staying there, too.

  She bit into the cap on her pen that was already flattened from her chewing habit. “I know everything, little sis.”

  “Are you mad?”

  Her eyebrows shot up like they’d been fired from a rifle. “What? No. Of course not. I mean, unless you aren’t happy… unless he’s making you not happy. Then I’d be mad. More than mad.”

  I chucked and frantically shook my head. “No. I’m happy. I just… I hope he’s happy… happy enough to want more.”

  “Eve, from the time you were little, you knew exactly what you wanted from life. If you want to be with Miles, I don’t doubt that it’s because you think he’s the one for you. And you shouldn’t doubt it either. Just like your house, just like your studio… if Miles is the man of your dreams, I know that you have the patience and the persistence to make him see that whatever it is holding him back isn’t worth losing you.”

  For someone who stayed away from relationships like oil pulls away from water, my sister sure knew what to say to put my mind at ease.

  “Thank you,” I murmured, walking around the desk and wrapping her in a hug.

  “Love you.”

  I pulled back and dropped a kiss on her head. “Love you too.” I turned toward the door, hearing someone coming down the hall. “Alright, I’m going to head home. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Her goodbye disappeared under the rustle of paper as I stepped out of her office and was jolted back as Jo barreled into me. “Shit! Sorry, Eve. D
idn’t see you there.”

  I laughed. “It’s okay. Are you okay?”

  She let out a dramatic groan. “Yeah. I just got my period and, of course, I’m out of tampons, so I wanted to see if Addy had any hidden down here before I run up and ask the girls.”

  “Ugh, the worst,” I empathized and stepped out of her way with a laugh. “Good luck!”

  “Thanks!”

  My smile lingered as I made for the front door, feeling a smidge more sure of the conversation I needed to have with Miles on Saturday. But I froze as my hand pulled open the door, my fingers gripping the cool bronze knob like it was the shiny idea that had opened Pandora’s box.

  Tampons.

  Period.

  “Eve?” I jumped at the sound of my brother’s voice.

  “Oh, hey!” A fake smile exploded over my face out of pure necessity. “I gotta go, but I’ll talk to you later. Make sure you ask Addy what Ace was here about!”

  I added that last on the end to give his thoughts a place to go rather than follow me when I ran out and shut the door behind me.

  My feet walked out of habit—out of knowing how to get anywhere in this town without ever really thinking about it. Meanwhile, my brain counted.

  No… it turned back time.

  There was no way…

  I shook my head in disbelief as I climbed the stairs to the condo, acknowledging that by all calculations, I was late for my period. A fact I needed to confirm as soon as I got back to the apartment.

  There’s nothing to worry about, Eve. Nothing.

  First, sometimes this happened, especially since I started doing yoga regularly. The low body fat delayed things or shortened my cycle every once in a while.

  Second, I was on the pill. Religiously.

  I opened the door, grateful to hear the shower running as I scrambled into the kitchen and pulled out my birth control from the drawer.

  I was over a week late.

  My fingers traced the empty raised bumps where I’d taken the week of placebo-colored pills and, with everything going on between work and apartment hunting and Miles, I hadn’t even noticed.

  It still didn’t mean anything, I repeated over and over again.

  There was a lot going on, I reasoned. Plus, I’d only just started having sex—and lots of it—maybe my body was just confused that the pill now had a purpose for more than just regulating my cycle.

  I closed my eyes.

  There was nothing I could do about it tonight. Which meant there was no reason to freak out.

  I could stop at the drugstore tomorrow, grab a test, and confirm that this was all just a fluke. But even as I tucked the pill packet back in the drawer, I knew.

  Just like I knew that what Miles and I had was special…

  Just like I knew that one night would change everything for the both of us…

  I knew that it changed more than either of us had bargained for. More than either of us could’ve imagined.

  I knew I was pregnant.

  And out of all the things I could ever say to him—beyond telling him I thought we might get married after one dance and one kiss, accepting his offer of a place to stay like he’d asked me to move in—I knew this would be the one to drive him from me.

  Eve

  Pregnant.

  I didn’t pick up the test that read with lines, afraid I wouldn’t trust myself to see the truth and not believe I was hallucinating and seeing double. I picked up the version that screamed in bright, unmistakable letters: Pregnant.

  Me.

  The girl with two jobs, a yoga career, no home, and a boyfriend that wasn’t official.

  I’d come to Roaster’s early so I could take the test here rather than wait for Miles to head out and do it at the apartment. In fact, I’d left the apartment before he’d even woken up, leaving the door open so that Kona could take my spot in bed. As I walked out, I took note of how the small place had some managed to transform into ours in such a short time.

  My yoga gear.

  Miles’ family photos.

  Kona’s dog bed.

  I took note like it was the last time I’d be seeing it—which was completely ridiculous since all my stuff was there. But that’s what fear did—it made everything seem impossible.

  “Go home,” Laurel’s firm voice boomed from behind me, and I jumped slightly.

  Looking over my shoulder, I caught her concerned and disapproving stare as she propped her hands on her hips.

  Eli appeared from the hallway to the back, gently resting a hand on his wife’s hip as she glared at me, daring me to defy her. “What’s going on?”

  Miles did that. Put his hand on my hip like he was protecting and claiming and comforting all at once and with the softest touch.

  My mind flipped through the scrapbook of moments I’d collected over the last several weeks. Not the big moments, but the little ones. And my chest cavity felt like it was getting smaller.

  “I’m really fine,” I insisted, shaking my head. “I don’t need to go home.”

  “You have no color to your face, Eve, and you’ve been staring at the espresso machine for the last five minutes even though it’s no longer steaming,” she harrumphed.

  Maybe she was right.

  My head fell. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m feeling a little under the weather this morning.” And a little pregnant.

  “Go home. Make Miles bring you some soup, and just take the rest of the day to relax.”

  Rest of the day? Relax?

  I almost wanted to laugh if I wasn’t afraid that it would make me vomit. Instead, I nodded and untied my apron from around my waist and hung it over my arm, my shoulders sagging in defeat.

  I didn’t want to leave because I hadn’t wrapped my head around my new reality, let alone what I was going to do. I wanted to stay at Roasters and breathe in the bittersweet scent of resolution because I couldn’t even drink a cup of it—which was why my morning latte was tossed in the trash because I’d made it without thinking.

  As soon as I let myself out the back of the coffee shop, the sea breeze blew a strand of hair across my face. Reaching up, I pulled out the braid that held the mass back and massaged my head, letting out a small moan. Miles did this for me when I got home from work. He’d tug out my hair and run his thick fingers through it like he was carving the strands free.

  Reaching for my phone, I grasped at straws even though it was unlikely to change my situation. I texted my friend, Taylor, who’d had her baby last year, and asked if she could give me the number of her OB-GYN. She’d been pregnant when she moved out here a little over a year ago now, looking for Ash. That was before Larry died. Before Ash opened his restaurant, the Lookout.

  And before I’d begun to fall irrevocably for Miles Madison.

  A few seconds later, my phone buzzed with a response.

  Taylor: Contact: Dr. Lee

  Taylor: Call me if you need anything. Even just to talk.

  I swallowed down the sudden urge to cry at her sweetness and quickly tapped on the contact card she’d messaged to call the office right away.

  Ten minutes later, I pulled up in front of the smaller office building after the receptionist told me to come right over.

  I realized that in moments when you were waiting for such momentous clarification, time processed in chunks.

  There was the chunk that involved names and birthdates and medical history. There was the chunk that was filled with the suction around my arm, the cold metal against my chest, the needle stick, and the cup. And then there was the current chunk of the nauseating nothingness that made up waiting.

  “Miss Williams?” I looked up as a petite, younger Asian woman came into the room. Her long black hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail and her smile was small, but it carried up into her eyes as she extended a hand and greeted me.

  “Thank you for seeing me on such short notice,” I murmured as she took a seat at the desk in front of me.

  “Oh, of course.” She nodded and opene
d what I assumed to be my chart. “Well, I don’t want to keep you on edge, so I will tell you that your tests show that you are indeed pregnant.” She looked up to me and that small smile beamed. “Congratulations, Miss Williams.”

  I gaped for several long seconds and still her smile didn’t waver. It was as though she knew that sometimes it took a moment to process these kinds of life-changing events, and she gave me that time almost acting as though it wasn’t passing to alleviate any embarrassment.

  “Thank you,” I stammered quietly.

  “I see this comes as a bit of a surprise, and I saw on your paperwork that you were on birth control.” Her head tipped down and looked over my chart to confirm.

  “I was—I am. I mean, I’ve never put them to the test before. What’s the chance that they are defective? Or that I’m… immune to them? I thought the test had to be wrong. I mean, I took two of them, but still. I just don’t know what happened.”

  My tangent plowed forward like a freight train, searching for answers that made no difference to the predicament I was in. But any answer was better than no answer.

  “Eve.” Dr. Lee’s voice broke through clouds of my confusion. “Take a deep breath. Of course, those things are possible but quite unlikely. Have you been taking anything else? Any other medication recently?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “I don’t take any medication except for a multivitamin. And I don’t like taking pills.”

  “Nothing?” Her lips pursed. “Were you sick recently? Or on an antibiotic for any reason?”

  I blinked and looked at her like her two heads were focusing on one crystal clear face. “I… I was on an antibiotic for a little cold I had a few weeks ago…”

  Oh God.

  She nodded and explained, “Antibiotics can make birth control ineffective. There are always other possibilities, but the combination of both would be my best guess as to how this happened.”

  “I see,” I answered weakly.

  “Do you want to keep—”

  My brain whipped to attention and I insisted, “Yes.”

  Of all the things I didn’t know, that wasn’t one of them.

  “Okay then.” She smiled reassuringly at me. “We have some things to go over.”