by Nina Croft
“I was pretty easy.” She had an image of stripping off in front of him. Throwing herself at him.
“Hell, you’re not easy. Not in any way that matters. You’re the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I’m terrified of getting it wrong. And I know I should back off a little on the sex stuff, because you’re probably feeling all sorts of weird things right now. But Christ, I want you.”
She didn’t know what to say. Wasn’t sure she even believed him. “I—” She broke off as she spotted a figure weaving his way through the crowd, and her heart sank. She’d had enough drama for one night. Her nerves were raw. “Sawyer’s coming this way,” she said.
“Great.” Tanner exhaled, then straightened, turning to watch Sawyer’s approach. “I suppose it’s too much to expect him to be sober.”
Actually, he looked pretty steady on his feet. And his suit was clean and uncrumpled, his tie still knotted, his sandy hair neatly combed. She got to her feet as he stopped in front of them. Maybe they might need a quick getaway.
He didn’t look at Tanner, concentrated on her, his gaze fixed on her face. “Lanie just told me that the two of you are getting married. I wanted to say congratulations, and I hope you’ll both be very happy.” He leaned down and kissed Emily on the cheek. “Look after him,” he said quietly. Then he straightened and without another word, he turned and walked away.
“That was a little odd,” she said, glancing at Tanner, who had his sullen expression back on.
“Yeah.” He was watching Sawyer’s retreating back with a scowl on his face.
“What happened between you two?”
A wary expression crossed his face. “Nothing happened.”
“You were best friends. Before…”
“Before I stole a car and killed my other best friend?” He shook his head. “Let’s not talk about it. Not tonight. Come on, I think we’ve been on show long enough. Mission accomplished. I’ll take you home.”
As he put his arm around her shoulder, someone grabbed him from the other side and pulled him away from her, so she stumbled and let out a squeak of surprise. As she righted herself, she caught sight of Ryan, just as he pulled back his fist.
“You bastard, you got her pregnant.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Well, things could have been worse,” Mimi said matter-of-factly.
Emily glanced across from the passenger seat and glared. “How? How could they have been worse?” She certainly couldn’t come up with anything. It had been a nightmare. She still broke out in a sweat thinking about it. She hated violence; it made her all shaky and nauseous. And right now, she had enough of that without any outside help.
“Tanner could have fought back. In which case, things could have got very messy. We might have even needed to buy new chairs for next year’s celebrations.”
She could tell that Mimi found the whole thing very amusing. “Tanner could hardly fight back. He was out cold.” Not from Ryan’s punch, but he’d stepped backward, tripped over a chair, crashed into a table, and brought the whole thing down, finally smashing his head on the sidewalk as he landed. She’d thought he was dead. She might even have screamed a little bit.
“Exactly,” Mimi said. “Praise the Lord for small mercies. I can’t imagine he would have not reacted. He doesn’t seem the turn-the-other-cheek type.”
No. He’d been furious when he had finally come to, but more that Ryan had risked knocking her over than from the actual punch. But luckily by that point Ryan was long gone. Dragged away by his friends, most of whom had cast her blistering looks of disbelief and resentment as they went.
Well, she’d known it wasn’t going to be easy.
That was five days ago. She hadn’t seen Tanner since, but then, she hadn’t been into town. Not that she would have seen him even then, because according to Josh—who Mimi spoke to most days—he’d been in Richmond. They were opening a new shop, and there were lots of last minute things to do. Josh had been left in charge.
Emily reckoned Tanner was staying out of the way until his temper had cooled. And maybe he was a bit embarrassed, because he was supposed to be tough and Ryan had knocked him out. Sort of.
Apparently, he was back now and not a moment too soon.
She’d been sick all week. And not just in the mornings. According to Mimi, she was right on target. It had to get worse before it got better sort of thing. But she felt sick and tired and listless. She’d had lots of phone calls. Everyone wanted to call and…congratulate—it didn’t seem quite the right word—her on her engagement. Ask her if they had set a date, and she knew what was behind that question.
No one had actually come out and asked if she was pregnant, and she hadn’t volunteered the information. But Mimi had come back from lunch with a few of her friends and said that the town was positively agog with the news that nice little Emily Towson, who had always seemed such a sensible girl—grrr—had broken Ryan Forrester’s heart and gotten herself in trouble with Tanner O’Connor on the rebound.
What about Tanner getting in trouble with her?
Then today she’d got a call from Freda Riley, the school secretary, who’d said the school board wanted a meeting with her. Just informal to talk over a few…issues with her contract.
She’d hoped that by marrying Tanner, the morality clause wouldn’t even come up. That had obviously been wishful thinking.
“You don’t think they’ll fire me today, do you?” she asked Mimi.
“Probably not today. They need a proper meeting and votes and things for that. They probably just want to talk to you. Check if you plan to come back next term. They’ll have heard the rumors and probably want to confirm whether they need to start looking for a new first-grade teacher.”
Her chest ached at the thought. The baby was due next spring, and she’d hoped to be able to work up until the Easter break. Then maybe have the rest of the semester off and back to work after the summer break. Mimi had promised to help with childcare.
If she had a job.
It was time to see just how supportive Tanner planned to be. As her fiancé, he had every right to attend this informal meeting and give her some moral support.
Mimi pulled the truck up outside the showroom, and Emily sat for a moment, her hand on her stomach, which was churning, her meager lunch threatening an escape job. She unscrewed the top from the bottle of water in her hand and took a gulp.
“Are you okay?” Mimi asked. “You want me to go in and get him?”
“No. I have to ask him first.”
“Maybe asking isn’t the right thing to do. Just tell him.”
She shook her head. “It’s his choice.” But he would come. He’d said he wanted to help any way he could. She took a deep breath and opened the door, climbed down.
“You want me to wait?” Mimi asked.
“No. I’ll see you at home.” Tanner would no doubt take her home after the meeting.
Josh was behind the counter in the showroom. “Is he here?” she asked.
“In the workshop. You want me to tell him you’re here?”
“No, I’ll go through.” She headed through the door at the back. And stopped. The sound of a piano concerto filled the air. There were three other mechanics working in the room, though her gaze went straight to Tanner. He was hunkered down with his back to her, working on a bike.
Everyone else had stopped work and was staring at her. She recognized them all. They were all local boys—one had been in her year at school. Another had a daughter in her class last year.
She forced a smile and cleared her throat. Tanner straightened and turned slowly, a smile spreading across his face as he saw her. He glanced around. “You lot got nothing to do?”
“Sorry, boss.”
“You want to come through?” he said to her, then turned without waiting for an answer and headed for a door in the opposite wall. It led into some sort of staff room, with a couple of sofas and a coffee machine on a table. Here the music was louder.
&n
bsp; “Chopin,” she said. “Very classy.”
He grinned. “Yeah. Aiden came in an hour ago and nearly walked straight out again. Thought he’d come to the wrong place.” He gave a shrug. “I thought they might as well get used to it.” He waved a hand toward the coffee machine. “You want one?” he asked.
Just the thought made her contemplate puking. “No.”
He poured himself one and came back to her, sat down on the sofa, and patted the seat beside him. “You look pale. Are you all right?”
“Just a little sicker than usual. Mimi says it will pass.” She perched herself on the edge of the sofa. It didn’t look particularly clean, as though lots of greasy overalls had sat on it.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered.
“Don’t be, it’s not your fault.”
“Actually, it is.”
“Maybe.” She twisted slightly so she could look at him, reached up, and stroked a finger over the mark on his forehead. “How about you? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I still can’t believe that fucker knocked me out.”
She smiled. “I think you did that yourself.” She let her hand drop to her side, then cleared her throat. “I have a favor to ask.”
“Then ask away.”
“I’m on my way to a meeting. With the school board. Just an informal one. And I thought…I hoped…” She gave a shrug. “I thought you might come with me.”
A look of horror flashed across his face. “No way.”
Her heart sank. It hadn’t really occurred to her that he might say no. It was only a meeting. So they could stand solid together. “Please, Tanner. It’s important.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Really. If it’s important, then you don’t want me there.”
She bit her lip. “I don’t want to go alone.”
“You think they know about the baby?”
“Not know. But I’m sure everyone has guessed.”
“Yeah, like your old boyfriend Ryan. Because why else would you agree to marry me?” He put his cup down—he hadn’t touched his coffee. “You know who the head of the board is?”
“Of course I do.”
“Jed fucking Forrester. He hates my guts and the rest of me. The best thing I can do for you is stay as far away from that meeting as possible.”
“Don’t you think it’s time to put the past behind you?”
“You think Jed is going to think that way? Hell no. As far as he’s concerned, because of me his son is dead, and you can’t put that sort of past behind you and move on. It’s with you forever.” He got to his feet and paced the small room. Ran his hands through his hair, came back to stand in front of her.
“Look, what the hell right do they have to pull this morality shit on you? You’re better than all of them. You think they’re all so goddamned perfect? You don’t have to go crawling to those assholes, and I certainly have no intention of doing it.”
“I signed the contract.”
“Tell them to fuck their contract and fuck their job. You don’t need it. I make enough to keep us.”
“But I love my job, Tanner. It’s what I trained for, and I’m good at it.”
“Then get a different one. We can move to Richmond. I can work at the new place.”
“I thought you didn’t want to move. I thought you wanted to stay in Saddler Cove?”
He shrugged. “That was before the other night. I saw the way they looked at you. I’ve lived with that all my life—I don’t want it for you. And today. You shouldn’t have to let them put you down.”
“I can’t move to Richmond.” And truthfully, she didn’t want to, this was her home. “I can’t leave Mimi. I was hoping after we get…married then you’d move into the ranch.”
“Hell, I haven’t even thought that far.”
“And I can’t commute to Richmond. Not with a new baby. Please, Tanner. Just come with me this once. I won’t ask again.”
He glanced away, but when he looked back, his expression had settled into its usual sullen lines, and she knew she was beaten. “I can’t. You’re better off without me.”
Maybe she was. But she knew he could be nice if he wanted to. He clearly didn’t want to. She pushed herself up and wiped her hands down her skirt. She didn’t look at him as she headed for the door, and he didn’t come after her. She pasted a smile on her face as she walked through the workshop, feeling everyone’s gaze on her. She’d better get used to it.
Her eyes were pricking as she crossed the showroom. Goddamn baby hormones. She nodded quickly to Josh and let herself out and onto the street.
As she came out of the door, a man stepped out of the shadows. Ryan. She so wasn’t ready for this. She just wanted to get this meeting over with, then go home and lick her wounds and hide for a while. Maybe throw up.
She sighed. “What is it, Ryan?”
“I saw your grandmother drop you off. I thought we might talk.”
“There’s nothing to say. And I can’t. I have a meeting to go to.”
“I know. My uncle told me. I’ll walk with you. I won’t make a nuisance of myself. I promise. There’s just something I wanted to say.”
She shrugged, too emotionally exhausted to argue. They were silent for a minute as they walked, and she waited for him to say his piece. No doubt some sort of condemnation. How could you…
“A woman like you,” he started. “You probably think you don’t have options. I just wanted to say that you do.”
“I do?”
“I still want to marry you, Emily.”
Shock stopped her in her tracks, and she turned to face him. “I’m pregnant, Ryan.”
“So I gathered.”
“With Tanner O’Connor’s baby.” She started to walk again, and he kept pace beside her.
“You made a mistake. That doesn’t mean you have to throw your life away.”
“I’m keeping the baby.”
“I would never expect you to do anything differently. But if you marry me, then I’ll bring him or her up as my own.” When she didn’t say anything—because she really couldn’t think of anything to say—he continued, “Look, I’m quite aware that I totally botched it when I asked you to marry me. I knew you didn’t love me like I love you, and I thought it was the best approach. If I’d done better, then you might not have…”
Gone straight over to Tanner’s garage, stripped, and thrown herself at him. But she kept that to herself. It was clear that Ryan was genuine. And while there was no way she would even consider his proposal, she didn’t want to hurt him any more than necessary.
“I’m sorry, Ryan, but I’m marrying Tanner.”
“But why? I could understand it if you had no other options, but you do.”
He sounded so mystified that she decided to offer the one answer she was certain would make him back off. “Because I love him.”
…
Tanner stood in the doorway of the showroom and watched her walk away, her head bent slightly toward the man beside her as she listened to whatever he had to say. He wanted to run after them, rip Ryan away from her, punch him in the nose. Not in retribution for the punch the other night, just to get him away from Emily. But violence never solved anything.
He’d fucked up. He knew that, but surely she could see that he’d be no help. He couldn’t even believe she wanted him there. She must know he was more likely to put their backs up than help her case.
All the same, he’d come after her, not knowing what he was going to say or whether he was going to give in. Just knowing he couldn’t bear the thought of that expression on her face. Defeat. He was supposed to be helping her.
But how the fuck could he? On her own she might have a chance of sweet-talking them. He’d just be a reminder.
Then he’d seen her with Ryan and he’d stopped in his tracks. For a moment, he presumed she’d arranged the meeting, but that was just stupid. She’d wanted him to go with her, so she would have hardly invited another man to meet her here. So Ryan had just turned up, a
nd Emily was way too nice to tell him to piss off.
Ryan in his sharp blue suit, his short hair, not a grease stain anywhere.
Maybe she didn’t want to tell him to piss off.
Ryan still wanted her. Enough to put up with another man’s baby?
It didn’t matter. It was never going to happen. The baby was his. And Emily was his. And Ryan fucking Forrester could go fuck himself.
But the moment had passed. He wouldn’t go after her tonight. Because he was right. And if she wanted any chance of keeping her job, then she was better off alone.
He stepped back into the showroom and turned to find Josh regarding him thoughtfully. “You fuck up?” he asked.
“No more than usual.”
“You care for her, don’t you? I mean more than just the baby.”
He shrugged. “She’s too good for me.”
“Probably.”
He snorted. “Thanks.”
“It doesn’t matter. If you keep on thinking she’s too good for you, then you’ll keep on fucking up.”
“What are you? A goddamn relationship counselor?”
“The only one you’ve got.”
Actually, he had three now with Josh. His brothers had oscillated between disbelief and amusement since the other night. And were a constant stream of unsolicited advice. What the hell did either of them know? Though the funny thing was, he’d found himself listening to the advice. Hoping he’d glean a little something to help him make it work with Emily. Pathetic or what?
“Anyway,” he said. “What about you and Mimi?”
Josh shifted and looked away. “What about us?”
“You in a relationship?”
“Hell no. She’s just a do-gooder who sees me as a charity case.”
“Yet every time I turn around, there the two of you are. It’s sweet, really.”
“Fuck you.”
“As I’m sort of family now, I think I should ask what your intentions are.”
“Maybe you should ask Mimi.”
A shudder ran through him. He was scared of Emily’s grandmother. She intimidated him as no one else could. Maybe because he knew, deep down, that she had the power to stop his relationship with Emily point-blank. For now, she appeared to be supporting him. That might change after his fuck-up today.