MoonlightBundleSet

by Moonlight Protector, Hero, Guardian, Champion (mobi)

  “The big black SUV,” he answered.

  Chloe easily spotted the vehicle. She’d never seen anything so large in her life. She glanced at Kiera and back at the monster vehicle. She figured if Kiera could get in the big behemoth, then so could she.

  They walked across the street. Kiera stopped at the rear passenger door, making it clear she intended for Chloe to ride up front.

  “Don’t you want to ride up front?” Chloe asked.

  Kiera smiled. “You’re much further along than I am. You should ride up front.”

  Chloe looked at her in surprise. “I didn’t realize you were pregnant. Congratulations!”

  “Thank you,” Kiera answered. “I’m not showing yet.”

  Before Chloe could argue further over the seating arrangements, Ramsey opened the door for her. Accepting the hand Ramsey offered and using the step, she managed to get into the vehicle easily enough. Once she was seated comfortably, Ramsey closed the door and she buckled herself in.

  Chloe could see Michael in the garage and waved at him. Instead of waving back, he glowered at her. She bit her lip and leaned back into the seat.

  Ramsey climbed into the driver’s seat and closed his door. Noticing Chloe’s anxious expression, he asked, “Everything okay, Chloe?”

  She looked over at him before glancing back at Michael. “I think Michael’s mad at me.”

  “Why would he be mad at you?” Kiera asked from the backseat.

  “I don’t know, but I waved, and he just glared at me,” Chloe answered, fighting back tears.

  Ramsey reached into the backseat and pulled a tissue out of a box. Wordlessly, he handed it to Chloe.

  “Thanks,” she said softly. “I seem to cry a lot these days.”

  “Because of Michael?” he asked.

  “Because of anything. I think it’s pregnancy hormones.”

  Ramsey glanced at Kiera. He didn’t seem convinced Chloe’s tears were simply due to her pregnancy. Judging by the expression on Kiera’s face, she wasn’t buying it either.

  “Are you sure you want to go with us, Chloe?” he asked.

  She glanced toward the garage. Michael was still staring at her, his brow furrowed in anger.

  Ramsey followed her gaze. His eyes narrowed and he fought back a growl. Reaching for the door handle, he decided to confront Michael. A small hand on his arm stopped him.

  “Please don’t,” Chloe said softly.

  “He has no right to be angry with you.”

  “It doesn’t matter. He’s helping me right now. If it weren’t for Michael, I’d have nowhere else to go,” she responded.

  Ramsey’s eyes travelled down to her stomach. “If it weren’t for Michael, you wouldn’t be in this predicament right now.”

  “It’s not his fault I lost my job. Whether I’m pregnant or not, I’d still be without a place to live.”

  “There are other options, Chloe. You don’t have to stay with Michael.”

  Chloe sighed. “I stayed in a hotel for a night, but I don’t have enough money to do that all the time. I have a job now, but it’s just part time. Maybe after I’ve saved some money things will be different.”

  Ramsey glanced at Kiera. She was watching their exchange with interest, but was keeping quiet.

  “Chloe, I know we just met, but I may have a solution to your problem,” he said, focusing his attention back on the beautiful woman beside him.

  “I’m not leaving Michael’s house just to move in with you if that’s what you’re thinking,” Chloe mumbled.

  Ramsey chuckled. “I wouldn’t mind that in the slightest, but that wasn’t my suggestion.”

  “Oh,” she answered, her cheeks suffused with color.

  “My house has a small apartment over the garage. It isn’t much, just a studio apartment. I’d rent it to you cheap if you’d like a place to stay until you get back on your feet.”

  Chloe had to admit her interest was piqued. “You’re serious? You’d rent it to me?”

  “I’d let you stay there for free, but I get the feeling you wouldn’t take me up on my offer.”

  She smiled. “You’d be right. But if you wouldn’t mind waiting on the first payment until I receive my first paycheck, I would definitely be interested.”

  “How about we call the first month a ‘move-in special’ and you start paying next month?”

  Chloe glanced in Michael’s direction again. He was no longer staring at her, but she would swear she could still feel his anger. Maybe being away from him for a while wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

  “If you’re sure it isn’t an inconvenience, I’ll take you up on your offer, Ramsey.”

  Ramsey smiled at her. “Now that we have that settled, let’s go shopping.”

  He pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the party store.

  Chapter Nine

  Ramsey pulled into Michael’s driveway later that night to pick up Chloe. As he walked up to the front door, he heard raised voices inside of the house. Deciding to forgo knocking, he pushed the door opened. The scene before him was enough to spark his anger.

  “Michael, I’m going and that’s final,” Chloe said, jerking her arm free from Michael’s grasp.

  “You didn’t think this was something we should discuss? In case you’ve forgotten, you’re carrying my baby,” Michael yelled.

  “You mean the baby you didn’t even know about until recently? Whether or not I’m carrying your baby doesn’t give you the right to dictate where I live.”

  “And whose fault is it that I didn’t know about the baby?” he roared back.

  “Yours! If you’d called me, you would’ve known I was pregnant.”

  Michael took a step closer to her and growled. “You’re not leaving and moving in with him.”

  “I will move in with whomever I damn well please!”

  Chloe gasped and grabbed her stomach. Her face paled as she dropped to her knees on the floor.

  “Chloe!” Ramsey rushed to her side, shoving Michael out of the way.

  “Ramsey, something’s wrong,” she whimpered.

  “Hang on to me,” Ramsey said, lifting her into his arms.

  “Chloe, what’s wrong?” Michael asked, sticking close by.

  “I think you’ve done enough right now,” Ramsey said.

  “I have every right to go with her if you’re taking her to the hospital. Whether you like it or not, that’s my baby she’s carrying,” Michael responded.

  “Fine. Get in the back,” Ramsey said tersely.

  Gently setting Chloe down in the front seat, Ramsey buckled her in. “Are you comfortable enough?”

  “I’m okay,” she murmured. “Just get me to the hospital.”

  Ramsey closed her door and hurried around to the driver’s side. Starting the SUV, he backed out of the driveway and rushed Chloe to the hospital. When they arrived, he stopped outside of the ER entrance.

  “Wait here while I get a wheelchair for you,” Ramsey said, hopping out of the vehicle. He rushed inside and told a nurse that he had a pregnant woman in need of medical attention. When he returned to the SUV, the nurse was following behind him with a wheelchair.

  “Chloe, Nurse Evans is going to take you inside while I park,” Ramsey said as he helped her out of the SUV.

  “Don’t leave me,” she pleaded.

  “I’m not leaving,” he assured her. “I’ll be inside in just a minute.”

  “I’ll go in with you,” Michael said, stepping out of the SUV.

  Chloe glared at him. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here now.”

  “Chloe, I’m going in with you whether you like it or not,” Michael said.

  The nurse cleared her throat. “Actually, Mr. Andrews, you aren’t. If the patient doesn’t want you to go in with her, then you won’t.”

  For the first time, Michael looked the nurse over. He groaned when he realized he'd dated her. Or more accurately, he'd slept with her. “Jasmine, stay out of it.”

  “Jasmine?
” Chloe asked, her eyes flicking between Michael and the nurse.

  “Mr. Andrews and I are acquainted. If you don’t want him to go in with you, I can make sure he doesn’t go in. It’s the least I can do,” the nurse responded.

  Ramsey, having watched the exchange in silence, merely shook his head. “I promise I’ll be inside in just a minute, Chloe. Go inside with Nurse Evans and I’ll be right there.”

  “Preferably without Michael,” Chloe muttered.

  “Dammit Chloe! That’s my baby and I should be in there with you,” Michael responded.

  The nurse eyed the trio with interest, but didn’t say anything.

  Chloe looked up at Ramsey. “Hurry back.”

  He nodded and quickly climbed into the SUV. Pulling out of the ER area, he went in search of a parking space. While he was gone, the nurse wheeled Chloe into the waiting area.

  “We have some papers you’ll need to complete before we can get you checked in. I just need to see your driver’s license and insurance card,” Nurse Evans said.

  “I don’t know if my purse made it here or not,” Chloe said, looking to see if Michael had followed them in against her wishes.

  “I think I saw it,” Michael said as he walked over to them, “not that it will help you much when it comes to insurance.”

  “You don’t have insurance?” Nurse Evans asked.

  “No,” Chloe responded quietly.

  “That could pose a problem. You’ll have to pay five hundred dollars up front. I’m afraid it’s a hospital policy,” Nurse Evans replied.

  Chloe paled. She didn’t have five dollars, much less five hundred.

  ***

  Ramsey was about to lock the SUV when he realized Chloe’s purse was in the backseat. He grabbed it and closed the door. Locking the vehicle, he walked through the parking lot to the ER entrance.

  When he stepped through the ER doors, he heard Chloe and the nurse talking. He was surprised Michael didn’t offer to pay for Chloe’s hospital visit, knowing she didn’t have insurance. The man was ready to claim the child as his own, but apparently wasn’t ready to take on all of the responsibilities that went along with it.

  Walking over to the group, Ramsey placed a hand on Chloe’s shoulder and laid her purse in her lap. “Sorry that took so long. I wasn’t sure I was going to find a parking space.”

  “It’s okay. I think it may have been a false alarm anyway,” she said, forcing her voice to be steady.

  “Why don’t we make sure?” Ramsey said, reaching for his wallet. He pulled out a credit card and handed it to the nurse. “Will this work?”

  Nurse Evans smiled and nodded. “Just as soon as she gets the paperwork completed, and I get a copy of her driver’s license, I can run the payment through.”

  Chloe accepted the clipboard that was handed to her and began filling out the forms. When she was finished, she handed the clipboard back to the nurse, along with her driver’s license.

  “I’ll be right back,” the nurse said with a smile.

  Chloe turned to Ramsey the moment the nurse left. “I don’t feel right letting you pay for my hospital visit.”

  Ramsey shrugged. “I’ll feel better knowing you were checked out by a doctor. It’s a small price to pay for my peace of mind.”

  “I’ll repay you when I’m able,” Chloe said.

  Ramsey shook his head. “You don’t have to.”

  Chloe tilted her head and looked up at Ramsey. “I may not have to, but I want to. I start a new job tomorrow and while it’s only part-time I’ll find a way to save up the money.”

  “Chloe, I’d rather you save the money and buy something for the baby. You’re going to need furniture, clothes, diapers… there’s going to be a lot to buy over the next few months.”

  Chloe visibly swallowed. It wasn’t the first time she’d thought of all of the things money could buy that her baby would need, all of the things she couldn’t buy because she didn’t have any money. She wasn’t sure how she was going to overcome that particular hurdle, but she would find a way. She had no choice in the matter if she wanted to provide for her baby.

  Chloe’s look told Ramsey all he needed to know – she didn’t have anything. He’d known that things were bad, but Kiera hadn’t told him quite everything. The studio apartment was sparsely furnished. It made him wish he’d taken the time to pick up a few extras. She was going to need towels, bed linens, pots and pans. He didn’t know Matt and Cassie quite as well as the Andrews brothers did, but he’d gotten to know them well enough – or so he hoped.

  “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to step outside and make a quick call,” he told Chloe.

  She nodded and watched him walk off.

  When Ramsey had cleared the entrance to the ER, he pulled out his cell phone and called Cassie. He quickly explained the situation and told her where the spare key was hidden.

  “I hate to ask this huge favor, but she’s been through so much and I want the place to be as comfortable as possible for her. Plus I don’t think she has any money at all,” Ramsey said.

  “It’s okay, I understand. Our garage sale didn’t go as well as planned so I have plenty of stuff lying around. I’ll gather up a box or two and head over there. Hopefully I’ll be gone before you guys show up. That way she’ll think it was already set up that way,” Cassie responded.

  “I owe you, Cassie.”

  She laughed into the phone. “No, you don’t. It’s nice to help the woman who may end up taming Michael Andrews.” When she heard nothing but silence on the other end of the line, she wondered if she’d said something wrong. “Ramsey, is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, I was just hoping maybe she wasn’t meant for Michael.”

  “Oh… Oh! Oh, Ramsey, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you liked Chloe. I thought she was just staying in the apartment so she could feel independent,” Cassie said.

  “She is, sort of. At least, that’s the spin I placed on it to get her over there. But when I went to pick her up tonight she was arguing with Michael.”

  “Maybe it’s a good thing she’s moving out then. It sounds like they could use some time apart.”

  “Listen, Cassie, I appreciate the help tonight, but I need to get back to Chloe. I don’t want them to take her back while I’m out here on the phone.”

  “Sure thing, Ramsey. Go be with Chloe and don’t worry about a thing. The apartment will be ready for her when y’all get home tonight.”

  Ramsey disconnected the call and headed back into the ER. Chloe and Michael were still waiting where he’d left them. They seemed to be in yet another heated discussion. He was starting to wonder if the two of them should be left alone.

  ***

  “Michael, I don’t care what you think. As soon as they tell me I can go home, I’m getting my things and I’m going to my new apartment,” Chloe said, her jaw set at a stubborn angle.

  “You just met Ramsey today. You’re just going to move in with a stranger?”

  “I’m not moving in with anyone! I’m renting an apartment from him,” she snapped.

  Michael snorted. “Yeah, over the garage. It’s what, two yards from the house, if even that? You might as well just move into his house.”

  Chloe had never been so furious in her life. A flush was creeping across her face and it wasn’t from embarrassment, it was pure rage. She wanted to shake Michael, slap him, and shake him some more.

  “You don’t get a say in what I do or what I don’t do,” she said. “How many times do I have to remind you of that?”

  “Do I need to remind you of the fact that you’d be on the street right now if it weren’t for me?” Michael growled.

  Chloe gasped. “How dare you! You don’t have the right to speak to me that way!”

  “I have every right!”

  “How do you figure that? Do you see a ring on my finger? Because I don’t recall being married to you,” she replied.

  “I asked!”

  “Ha! You asked for the sake of me
having insurance when the baby is born. You don’t want a wife. Hell, you didn’t even want a baby! If you did, you wouldn’t have asked if it was yours when I showed up at the Victorian that day.”

  Chloe groaned and grabbed her stomach as pain shot through her. She frantically looked around the waiting room. Spotting Ramsey, she held her hand out to him.

  He quickly walked over to her. “I didn’t want to interrupt another fight, but maybe I should have.”

  “It hurts,” she whimpered.

  “Do you want me to go get the nurse?” Ramsey asked, rubbing her hand, hoping to give her at least a little comfort.

  “No, please stay.”

  He nodded and hunkered down beside her wheelchair. “I’ll stay right here.”

  “I’ll go get the nurse,” Michael muttered.

  When they were alone, Ramsey looked Chloe over. “Are you okay?”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “What started the argument?” Ramsey asked.

  “This time or at the house?”

  “Both,” he answered.

  “At the house I told him I was moving out. First, he was just really quiet and still. Then I told him I was renting an apartment from you and he flew into a rage.”

  Ramsey reached out and tipped her chin up. “I saw him grab your arm. He didn’t do anything else, did he?”

  Chloe shook her head. “I’ve never seen him angry before.”

  “Not many people have. From what I’ve gathered, none of the Andrews brothers would harm a woman. I don’t think he'd have done anything other than yell at you,” Ramsey told her.

  “I’m not so sure.”

  “Why did you start arguing here?” he asked.

  “He made a snide remark when you left to make your call.”

  When she didn’t elaborate, Ramsey asked, “What remark?”

  “He said I shouldn’t worry, that my boyfriend would return in a minute,” she mumbled, a blush creeping across her face.

  “And that bothered you?”

  Chloe shrugged. “I told him you weren’t my boyfriend, and reminded him I was renting an apartment from you. It set him off again.”

  “If I had known that renting the apartment to you would have caused you so much trouble, I wouldn’t have mentioned it.”