Delivering History (The Freehope Series Book 4)

by Jenni M. Rose

  9

  Dylan was at the bar, right where she’d told him to wait. Spencer was talking to him, laughing like they were old friends.

  A few of the regulars waved as she came in and Dylan turned on his stool, taking her in. That smile she’d missed so much spread across his lips and she finally, after weeks of confusion and self-torture, felt right again.

  “Hi,” she said as she bellied up to the bar next to him. “How’s it been?” she asked her brother.

  “Easy. No worries. I told you I’d take your shift anytime you need me to.”

  “I know what you told me,” she said. “I just asked how it was.”

  “How was your dinner?”

  Dylan’s hand traveled down her back and rested in the hollow just above her butt, his warm palm solid against her, a weight she didn’t mind pressing against her.

  “Good, I think. We’re supposed to have some contracts drawn up and looked over by lawyers.” She held in a wince and tried to look confident. “It sounded smart in the moment, but I don’t exactly have a lawyer. I’ll figure it out.”

  “If you need a hand, let me know,” Spencer told her with a shrug. “I’m no lawyer, but I’m sure we can find one.”

  “We’re going to head out,” she said, taking Dylan’s hand in hers and pulling him to stand. “Unless someone’s dying, don’t call me.”

  Spencer blanched, disgust rolling across his face.

  Dylan chuckled, leading her out of the bar.

  “Planning on being busy tonight?” he asked, his question somewhat mild, the innuendo more nibbling than biting.

  “I plan on being closed in with you. What we do from there, is certainly not my brother’s business, unless you’d like me to go back in and lay out a detailed map for him.”

  “No,” he agreed. “I don’t need a plan, either. I’m just happy you came back.”

  She unlocked the apartment door and let him in. It wasn’t as homey as it was when Andy lived there as Alex’s stuff was all still in her house. She’d done her best to get some cheap or borrowed furniture until she could get back into her house. It wasn’t perfect, but it also wasn’t home.

  “This is Spencer’s too?” Dylan asked, looking around.

  “He bought the bar and the building from my dad. Andy and Jenna used to live here before Owen came back to town and they moved into our childhood home.” She sent him a small smile. “He bought it for her as a surprise. We were all there when he gave it to her. Then she surprised him by getting down on one knee and proposing. It was sickly adorable. There’s another empty apartment one floor up, that Spencer’s been using to brew his beer, and he lives on the top floor.”

  “The penthouse,” Dylan surmised.

  Alex automatically squinted in his direction. “That’s what he calls it. The penthouse. Like he’s up there living the high life. It literally looks exactly like this apartment.”

  “But, he’s got a big flat screen and a mini bar.”

  “You’ve been up there?”

  “No, he told me.”

  “You guys are awfully chummy,” she noted.

  “You jealous?” His voice was a near whisper as he approached, wrapping his hands around her hips and pulling her against him.

  “I would rather die than admit I’m jealous of one of my siblings,” she told him honestly. “Though, if you asked me a few months ago, I would have told you that I’d rather die than apologize. For anything. But I still did it today and it wasn’t that bad.”

  He ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it back over her shoulder.

  “You were very good at it. Very convincing.”

  “Yeah?” she asked. “I don’t have a lot of practice. I think I’m allergic actually.”

  He laughed and laid his lips on hers. “So, you’re saying you suffered?”

  “Without you,” she admitted. “It hasn’t been the best few weeks.”

  “For me either,” he told her, walking her back to the couch until he could sit and pull her down onto his lap. “But I still got to see you. I liked the coffee-whatever cake you made, but I admit to getting distracted when you said naked in the beginning.”

  “You saw?” she asked, a smile creeping onto her face.

  “Of course I saw. I told you I wasn’t letting you go that easily. Did you think I was just going to unfollow you and forget we ever happened?” he continued before she could get a word out. “Not happening, Lexi. Grant may be a moron, but I’m not. I don’t care where you come from or how much money you have. I’ve never cared about either of those things less in my life. When you look at me, when we talk, you don’t see anything other than who I am. You treat me like any other person.”

  “I wouldn’t exactly say that.”

  “You don’t think I’m a big deal because I was born a James.”

  “I think you’re a big deal for other reasons,” she admitted. “Mostly the ties, but the vests, too. And the coffee. And your laugh.”

  “But not my company or my condo. Not my portfolio or my family name. Those are all things I’ve been bred to believe my life revolves around. You? You make me believe differently.”

  “Guess it’s a good thing I came to my senses,” she said, tracing his collarbone through his shirt. “Plus, you made that whole career-altering phone call for me, even though you’re just creating competition for yourself where Jenna is concerned.”

  Dylan’s palms slid over her shoulders and down her arms, coming to rest on her stomach. She was really starting to show now, her overall small size doing nothing to help her hide the baby. The right clothes could do the trick, but with his hands pressed against her like that, he’d feel the hard roundness protruding from her belly.

  “Will you be offended if I tell you you’ve gotten big.”

  “Only if you’re talking about my ass,” she told him sharply.

  He shook his head. “Your ass is still spectacular. But look at you,” he marveled, his hands rubbing all over her baby bump. “This dress hides you too much.” He reached for the hem and began tugging it up. “Let me see you.”

  “You might get more than you bargained for,” she said, sliding it off and tossing it to the floor. She wore just her underwear and bra underneath, the weather warm enough that leggings weren’t needed. Her breasts, usually small and underwhelming, felt enormous, jiggling in their bra cups when she moved. Sitting the way she was, straddling his lap, her stomach was round enough that she couldn’t even see her panties.

  Dylan sucked in a breath at the sight of her, his eyes going all hot and glittery. Alex felt him hard underneath her lap, his hands coming back to her stomach as he took her in. Admittedly, there was more of her than the last time he saw her.

  “Am I turning into a blueberry?” she asked when his silence began stretching to uncomfortable limits. “You know? You’re turning violet, Violet.”

  He shook his head, his eyes unlocking from her stomach and traveling slowly to her face. “You look like the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” His voice was a low rumble, like thunder rolling across a field. She felt it reverberate under her skin, gooseflesh breaking out along her arms.

  “You’ve got a thing for pregnant ladies?”

  It was meant to be a joke, but the look in his eyes was far too serious for it to be effective. The words fell uselessly between them.

  His hands and fingers touched her everywhere, his fingertips skimming across the tops of her breasts, his palms sliding down her arms. He felt the curve of her stomach, memorizing the size and shape.

  “It’s growing,” he said reverently.

  “She,” Alex whispered.

  His head snapped up. “It’s a girl?”

  Alex shrugged. “Walkers have strong female genetics, I think.”

  “Thank God for that,” he replied, his gaze traveling down to her belly. “A girl, huh?”

  She really didn’t want to talk about the baby right now. Not when she was straddling him, her need rippling through her with every pa
ssing second. She pressed herself down onto him, her hands braced on his shoulders.

  “Can we talk about it later?” she asked, her head tilting back when he thrust his hips.

  “Later works for me.”

  With ease, he stood from the couch with Alex still wrapped around him, impressing the hell out of her.

  “Bedroom?” he asked, pointing down the hallway.

  “Last door on the left.”

  He stalked down the hall with purpose, Alex in his arms, straight into her bedroom. He didn’t waste any time looking around or making small talk. He just climbed onto the bed until she was settled on her back and he was between her legs.

  As hurried as he was, his hands skating along her skin and his lips barely leaving her, he wasn’t rushing through anything. He took his time tasting her, reacquainting himself with every inch of her skin as he stripped her completely naked.

  There was something inherently sexy about being nude while your partner was not only dressed, but buttoned up in a suit and tie. If he noticed he was still dressed, he didn’t show it. Instead, he kissed his way down her body, licking and sucking every sensitive spot that graced her skin. Alex’s back arched off the bed when he nibbled her hip, his breath fluttering across her wet center.

  “You need me, babe?” he whispered, his lips trailing across her stomach when he switched to her other hip, his hands inching up her leg.

  She opened wider for him, wrapping her leg around his back and pulling him closer. When he didn’t budge, she opened her eyes and glanced down to meet his heated gaze, nearly melting into a puddle at the sight of him. His broad shoulders stretched between her thighs, the deep gray of his vest nearly black in the dark of the bedroom.

  She jumped, startled when his searching fingers found their target, his eyes locked on hers, watching her reaction.

  “You need something?” he asked again, the knowledge of what she needed written all over his face. He wanted to hear her say it.

  “I need you, Dylan. Please.”

  Without further pressing, he swiped his tongue across her sensitive flesh until she was writhing on the bed, her fingers threaded through his hair. Before she could go off, take that running leap off the cliff, he pulled back.

  Out of breath, she watched as he stripped his clothes off, carefully laying them across her dresser, before climbing back on the bed. He settled his hips in the vee of her thighs and within seconds was sliding home, his breath shuddering in her ear.

  “God, I missed you,” he whispered, never losing his pace.

  She locked her legs around him, letting him drive her higher and push her up the hill. He was always right behind her, making sure she got where she needed to go and helping her every step of the way.

  Even as he worked himself into a faster pace, his lips and hands were on her. He kissed her, so reverently that she almost imploded from the emotion of it. His hot palm held her thigh, helping her hold onto him as she used the leverage to grind herself against him, finding her release.

  He stilled above her as he watched, like her orgasm was the season premiere of his favorite show, his anticipation palpable.

  When she relaxed back into the sheets, arm flopped out at her side, he smiled down at her, thrusting against her.

  “That’s what you needed?” he asked, punctuating his question with another thrust of his hips.

  “So bad,” she admitted, out of breath. “So, so bad.”

  Dylan kissed her forehead, then her nose, then just the corner of her lips.

  “Let’s see if we can do it again, baby. Make sure you’re good and taken care of.”

  The smile that spread across his lips would have made her panties go up in flames if she had any on. As it was, she flushed all over, her body answering in a way that words never could have.

  “If you keep doing that I won’t ever let you leave,” Alex moaned, feeling one-thousand-percent satisfied.

  “I’m not seeing the problem,” Dylan said, a smile in his voice as he watched her closely.

  Every time her lips opened and closed, she could just see his imagination running wild.

  He held the fork up, waiting for her to open her mouth again. They’d raided the kitchen, slicing into the honeycomb pie she’d made for Jenna’s video.

  “I shouldn’t eat anymore,” she told him, opening up and letting him slide the fork in one more time. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to go the doctor and watch your weight go up and up and up. It’s unnatural.”

  He chuckled. “It’s perfectly natural. I can’t believe how much you’ve changed even in the last few weeks. I’ve never seen a pregnant woman naked before. It’s the highlight of my life.” His eyes flicked to hers as he took a bite of pie. “So far.”

  “When you’re rolling me down the hall in a few months, I’ll remind you of this conversation.”

  “I look forward to it,” he said, not put off by the notion that he’d still be around in a few months. “Considering yesterday I wasn’t sure you’d ever come back to me.”

  Alex thought on that for a moment as he casually ate his pie, buck-ass naked on her bed, not an ounce of shame. She was wrapped in the sheet, propped against the headboard, the comforter long forgotten after it had slid off the bed. Dylan sat across from her against the footboard, long legs stretched out in front of him.

  Without meaning to, Alex checked him out from head to toe, lingering for long seconds on his lap. Even flaccid she was totally into him and turned on. Either she was well beyond like with Dylan or she was a total hornball in her pregnant state.

  Or both.

  “Lexi.” His voice was rough but full of humor. “My eyes are up here.”

  She shook her head and tore her gaze away. “I know. I’m easily distracted when you’re around.” She steered the conversation back to where he’d been leading it. “I wasn’t sure I was coming back either. I hate admitting I was wrong, so I won’t. I’ll just say that I really overreacted. Also, I hate your business partners. If I see Grant again anytime soon, my foot will most definitely be connecting with his shin. I’m not above it. I’ve done it to Logan more than once and he’s not even related to me. I even made sure to kick his real leg, not the prosthetic.”

  “Whoa—”

  “But Grant hates me back, so I’ll probably end up in jail when he presses charges. Then I’ll have to give birth in the jail hospital and this baby will be a jail baby. What’s the name for that? There must be some kind of name for babies that are born in jail. Anyway, I know it was my fault for overreacting but the things he accused me of, Dylan. The way he treated me? It was horrible. He’s a total douche-canoe.”

  He had the audacity to laugh. “Douche-canoe?”

  “If you don’t see that, I’m going to start questioning your judgment. I’m sure you’ve known him forever so you’ve seen a different side of him. Plus, you’re rich, so he automatically treats you as one of his own. Someone like me—”

  “Someone like you?” he asked, his brow raised.

  “You know? Just one of us regular folk.”

  He seemed to consider her words as he put the empty cake plate on the trunk at the foot of the bed, stretching his chest and abs way back. Alex couldn’t not look, not even ashamed when he turned back to her and caught her staring.

  He smiled indulgently and held out a hand. “First, come here. I need to feel you against me again.”

  She untangled herself from the sheet and crawled toward him—as sexy as she could manage with a ten-pound cantaloupe hanging from her midsection—and straddled his lap.

  “Step one. Check,” she said with a nod.

  His hands automatically went to her sides, holding her hips.

  “You have a habit of spitting out half the information. You tell me half the story and it drives me crazy. Logan has a prosthetic?”

  “His leg. Above the knee. Roadside bomb. A couple years ago,” she confirmed.

  “Where?”

  She shrugged. “He was overseas as a
medic with the navy.”

  “I knew he was military. You can just tell.”

  “Owen, too.”

  Dylan nodded. “I knew the minute I saw Owen with Andy and Jenna.” He eyed her. “Back to Logan. You kicked him because?”

  “He hurt my sister’s feelings.”

  His smile spread slowly until it stretched across his face. “You’ve got a loyalty streak that’s a mile wide, don’t you?”

  “She’s my sister,” she said, as if that alone explained everything.

  There was a moment, just something that passed over his face, as she looked down at him, that had her pulling back just a bit.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I did this thing a couple weeks ago, when I was desperate and missing you.”

  “If you tell me you stuck your dick in someone else I’m probably going to lose my shit.”

  He looked offended. “I didn’t sleep with someone else, I googled you, Lexi.”

  “Okay. Find anything good?”

  “I think I went a little too far. I found some stuff from way back, a long time ago. About Andy.”

  There was that familiar feeling in her chest when he mentioned Andy’s assault, guilt tightening like a fist around her heart.

  “Yeah,” she choked out, unable to say much more at that moment.

  “That’s what you were going to tell me about that night in your kitchen when Jenna showed up. You were going to tell me why Owen left. That’s it, isn’t it?”

  Alex nodded. “It was a misunderstanding. A really big, really horrible misunderstanding.”

  “And he left her? After that? Alone with his baby?”

  She took a bracing breath and relayed the entire story, how Owen had seen Andy in a compromising position and assumed she was cheating on him. It hadn’t been the truth; she’d been drugged and assaulted, but Owen taking what he’d seen at face value, left town, never knowing the truth about Andy and what happened to her. Not only that, but he’d never even known he had a daughter.

  His return home hadn’t gone smoothly, but things had worked out for all of them in the end.

  “Wow,” Dylan whispered.

  “Yeah. So, now you know why Jenna and I are close. She and I were together all the time. We lived together; we grew up together. She doesn’t know about what happened to Andy or why Owen was gone for so long. She’ll find out eventually. I keep telling Andy that, but she’s not my kid so I don’t get to make that call. She’s one of my best friends; I hate keeping that from her.” Alex shrugged. “Maybe that sounds weird.”