She looked away, and I had my answer.
My grin disappeared before it even fully formed. “Were you going to tell me?”
“I just found out, okay?” she snapped and walked toward the front of the chapel. Sitting down on the bench, she glared up at the cross on the wall. “I took a test while I was in the bathroom. I’m still trying to process it.”
“What’s there to process?” I asked, crouching down in front of her. “We’re going to have a baby. I’m pretty damn happy.”
“Well, I’m not,” she whispered, tears spilling over her lashes. “I don’t know how to be a mother. I don’t know how to deal with this jealousy that is eating at me. And I can’t fucking breathe right now.”
My heart stopped, watching her struggle. “Don’t say that,” I choked out, more scared than I’d ever been in my life. “Rory, we’ll figure it out.”
She lowered her head, her hair falling into her face and effectively shutting me out. My fingers shook as I pushed it back, desperate to touch her. “Why are you so jealous? What happened to make you doubt me?”
“I don’t doubt you,” she answered, her lashes fluttering closed. “I know you love me. I know you’re mine. I’m struggling with the three years we were apart.”
“I thought…” I paused to clear my throat, trying to stay calm. “I thought you were putting that behind us.”
“I thought so too. Then Jos showed up, and I realized that any number of women could show up out of the blue with a kid, saying you were a daddy.”
“Fuck,” I laughed, so relieved, I nearly fell on my ass. “Is that what you’re so worried about, girl?” She glared at me, and I could only laugh again. I dropped to my knees between her legs, my hands sliding around her waist and locking at the small of her back. “I can tell you right now, that isn’t going to happen, Rory. Other than that bitch Steph, I didn’t fuck anyone else while you were gone.”
“Don’t lie to me,” she cried, trying to push me back.
I leaned in, kissing the corner of her mouth. “I wouldn’t lie to you. Not ever. I felt dirty after Steph. I fucking hated myself, baby. We weren’t technically together, but I felt like I’d cheated on you, and it was hard to face myself in the mirror after that.” She began to relax, her lips opening slightly to give me access to her mouth.
I kissed her slowly, taking my time, savoring the taste of her on my tongue. When I pulled back, I pressed a kiss to the center of her forehead. “I love you. I fucked up once, but I couldn’t do it again. Please believe me.”
“I-I do.” She melted into me, her head landing on my shoulder. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m going a little crazy. Ever since Jos came, I’ve been all over the place.”
One of my hands cupped her stomach. “I think we know why now, huh?” She laughed softly, nodding against my arm. I sighed contently. “Does this mean you’re going to marry me now?”
Her head snapped up so fast, it was a wonder she didn’t have whiplash. “What did you say?”
My brows lifted at the surprise on her face. “Ah, come on, girl. Marriage was always on the table. I was just waiting on you to get used to me a little more.”
“You still have to ask me, mister,” she growled, crossing her arms over her breasts as she leaned back and glared at me.
“Asking means I don’t know your answer. But I already do, so there’s no reason to ask.”
She slapped my chest. “Don’t pull that alpha shit with me today, Matthew Reid. I will seriously kick your ass right now.”
“Girl, you already have me on my knees, isn’t that enough?” Her bottom lip pouted out, and I knew I couldn’t tease her anymore. I clasped her left hand, lifted it to my lips, and kissed her ring finger. “Rory, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I’ll love and cherish you until the day I die. Please, baby, please marry me.”
I expected her to give me that smile that lit me on fire from the inside out, but a sob escaped her instead. Her tears flooded down her cheeks, and she shook her head. My confidence in her answer nose-dived, and my heart stopped for the second time that day. I tightened my hold on her hand without realizing it. “Rory, please,” I whispered in desperation.
“Yes!” she screamed, a laugh escaping her even as she sobbed again. “Of course, I’ll marry you, dummy.”
A relieved breath whooshed out of me, and I enfolded her in my arms, my heart finally kick-starting once again.
Chapter 15
Jos
The ortho surgeon was able to fix both breaks in Tanner’s arm with one surgery, which was great because then he wouldn’t have to go through it again. I waited with the others until Tanner was put in ICU again once he was finished in the recovery unit. Everyone thought it would be best for him to spend at least one night in intensive care, just to be on the safe side considering everything his body had been through over the last month.
He was doing great, though, something I put down to the stubbornness of all the Reid men, my son included.
When I was finally allowed to see him, he was sound asleep, and I didn’t want to bother him. Hawk and Gracie drove me back to the clubhouse so I could get some sleep somewhere other than in a hospital bed for once. The thought of sleeping snuggled up to my son for the first time in over a week sounded like bliss.
It was dinnertime when I got back, and Reid was sitting in his high chair beside his cousin. They were eating baked chicken chopped up with mac and cheese, peas, and mashed potatoes. The smell was so good, I moaned as soon as I walked into the kitchen.
“Fix yourself a plate,” Aggie instructed me. “You look like you need some extra meat today, girly.”
Piling my plate full, I sat down at the kitchen table where Willa, Raven, and Flick were already seated. I tore off a piece of my roll, scooping up a little of the mashed potatoes with it, and popped it into my mouth. As I chewed, Raven handed over a key to me.
“What’s this?” I said, talking around the food in my mouth.
“The key to Tanner’s room. We cleaned it up, changed the sheets, and scrubbed the bathroom. We figured that when Tanner is released from the hospital, he’s not going to want you to be too far away, and really, I should have given you that room when you first got here. Sorry about that. Things have just been kind of crazy.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” I rushed to assure her. “Reid and I are okay on the mat in the main room.”
“Don’t argue,” Flick instructed. “The room wasn’t being used anyway. Raven’s right. We should have cleaned it out before now, but no one wanted to touch any of his stuff because…” She sighed heavily and shrugged. “It was hard when we thought he was gone, you know?”
I swallowed thickly, because I understood just how hard it had been, thinking I was never going to see Tanner again. I picked up my water glass, trying to get the food I’d just eaten dislodged from my throat because just the thought of Tanner dying was enough to make it close up.
“Thanks,” I was finally able to choke out. I coughed to clear the last of my throat. “I should probably go back to Oakland soon and close out my apartment. Get us moved up here permanently. Plus, I can’t let Grandpa’s business go unattended for much longer. There are probably contracts that are already behind schedule.”
“Good idea,” Raven agreed. “I’ll get some of the guys to follow you down in a few days with a moving truck. Essentials can be brought here, and the rest can go to Uncle Chaz’s house… Or Tanner’s?”
I lowered my gaze back to my dinner. “I’ll let you know. I’m still figuring it out.”
Tanner wanted me to give him a chance, but that didn’t mean I was going to move in with him. Still, he would need someone to take care of him once he was out of the hospital. Matt lived with him, and I guess Rory did too now.
Hell, I didn’t know what to do yet, so I just left it at that.
After dinner, I bathed Reid and got him ready for bed. As soon as he was asleep on the bed, I took a quick
shower and then carefully slid in beside my son. Instantly, he cuddled into me, one chubby little fist balling in my shirt.
Smiling, I smoothed his dark curls back from his face and closed my eyes…
The buzzing of my phone pulled me from a peacefully dream-free sleep sometime later. Groaning, I reached out blindly, feeling for my cell phone to shut it up. My eyes squinted open to peek at the name on my screen, and I saw it was Matt. Sitting up in bed, I answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Hey.” Tanner’s voice filled my ear. “Did you sleep well?”
A glance at my phone’s screen again showed me it was just after nine in the morning. I’d slept for over twelve hours. Shit. I started to panic, worried about Reid, but he was still sound asleep beside me. His butt was up in the air, his head turned away from me.
I fell back onto the pillows, my heart trying to return to a normal pace.
“Jos?” Tanner sounded anxious. “Baby, are you there?”
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. I just realized I slept all night and Reid hadn’t woken me up.” Pushing a few strands of hair out of my face, I turned onto my side. “How are you feeling? Did you get any rest last night?”
“Woke up about five this morning, starving. Matt brought me some breakfast from Aggie’s, though. Nothing like French toast and scrambled eggs with bacon to make a man feel alive again,” he chuckled.
A smile lifted my lips. “I’m glad you’re feeling well enough to eat. You always were a pig. Your lack of an appetite scared the hell out of me.”
“I’m back in my private room. Can you come be with me?” His voice lowered. “I miss you.”
My heart melted at his confession. “I miss you too,” I admitted. “I’ll come as soon as I get Reid ready for the day and find someone to babysit for me.”
“Is he doing okay?” he asked. “I mean… Hell, I don’t know what I mean. The only kids I’ve been around are Bash’s, and even then, I don’t have all that much interaction with them.”
“He’s doing fine. Actually, he and Max seem to be best friends at the moment. Which is a good thing because he hasn’t been missing me too much while I’ve been busy this past week.”
“When can I meet him?”
The uncertainty I heard underneath his usually cocky tone left me speechless for a moment. “Tanner, are you nervous to meet your son?”
“Hell yeah, I am. What if he doesn’t like me? What if I fuck it up? What if I fuck him up?” He blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m not exactly in the best shape at the moment to show him any attention. What if he wants to play with me, and I can’t?”
“He’s not even two,” I reminded him. “I think you can relax. He’s not going to want to pass a ball with you anytime soon. Just relax. Reid will love you.”
“Fuck, I hope so.”
I bit into my bottom lip, melting a little more at the thought he cared so much about what his son would think of him that he was insecure. “I’ll be there soon. Give me about an hour, okay?”
“Just you?”
“I really don’t want to expose Reid to the germs of the hospital unless I absolutely have to. Plus, I think your first meeting with each other should be somewhere you’re both comfortable,” I explained.
“Yeah. You’re probably right.” He paused for a moment before speaking again. “Someone will drive you over. Don’t go anywhere alone.”
“I already promised you I wouldn’t, Tanner,” I reminded him. “Do you need anything? Clothes? Food?”
“Some fucking underwear would be nice,” he grumbled. “But as long as you’re here, I don’t need anything else.”
Damn it, when did he get all charming? It made my heart skip a beat. “I’ll bring you some clothes,” I promised. “Sit tight. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Just be careful, baby.”
I dressed and got Reid ready for the day. Flick was babysitting the younger kids today, so I left Reid with her so he could play with Max and Lexa. Breakfast sandwiches were waiting in the kitchen, and I snatched up one as I tossed the gym bag full of Tanner’s clothes over my shoulder.
“You ready?” Colt asked as I walked out the back door.
“Guess you are my chauffeur for the day, huh?” I bit down on the biscuit loaded with scrambled eggs, sausage, and cheese with a thick slice of tomato.
“You guessed right,” he said. “You ready?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
It was easier to ride with Colt than Jet. Colt just seemed friendlier than his oldest brother. I relaxed into the passenger seat of his fiancée’s car as he pulled into traffic. “How is Kelli today?”
“She’s still sore, but doing okay. Quinn is taking care of her for me today because Kelli wants to do too much on her own. Damn stubborn woman,” he groused as he drove through town.
“She seems nice,” I commented casually.
He snorted. “Nice as in girl-next-door, or nice as in she will smile while she kicks you in the balls?”
I laughed. “The latter,” I admitted. “But she has such a pretty smile.”
He grinned. “She has many pretty body parts, actually,” he assured me with a wink. “And now they’re all mine.”
“Good for you.”
Spider was standing outside of Tanner’s door today, and I gave him a warm smile as I approached, making sure to keep my eyes off the deadly spider inked on his neck. “Willa said to give you these,” I told him as I passed him a paper bag full of breakfast sandwiches. “And you’re not allowed to share with anyone, because she made them herself.”
He narrowed his eyes on the bag. “She wasn’t supposed to be out of bed.”
“Relax. Staying in bed all day would drive anyone crazy. She needs to stretch her legs a little every now and then.” I patted him on the shoulder and walked around him, pushing open the door.
Tanner was sitting up in bed. His casted arm was propped up on a stack of pillows, and his gaze was on the TV set hanging in the corner of the room until I walked in.
Hitting mute on his remote, he gave me an easy grin. “Hey, beautiful. You look like you got some rest.”
“I did.” Tossing the gym bag on the foot of his bed, I unzipped it and pulled out a change of clothes for him. Underwear, sweat pants, and a T-shirt would have to be more comfortable than the thin hospital gown he was currently in.
“How about a shower?” I suggested.
His eyebrows bobbed up and down. “Fuck yeah.”
I slapped at his leg. “For you and only you.”
“Spoilsport,” he grumbled.
“I’ll get Spider to help you get to the bathroom.”
“I can walk to the damn bathroom on my own,” he complained.
“When’s the last time you walked anywhere?”
“This morning, when I had to piss.”
“Oh, okay then.” I walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. The stall was narrow as hell, but I didn’t plan on getting in there with him. Going back to the bed, I urged him up. “Let me find something to wrap the cast in so it doesn’t get wet.”
“There’s a plastic bag in the top drawer over there. I saw it earlier when that nagging nurse wanted me to piss in some bottle.” I crossed to the little dresser and bent, searching for it. When I straightened, bag in hand, it was to find his eyes glued to my ass. “What?” he asked innocently.
“Perv,” I teased, wrapping the trash bag around his cast so that the entire thing was covered.
“You have a really great ass, baby,” he informed me with a smug look on his handsome face.
Shaking my head at him, I got him to stand. He was a little shaky on his feet, so I supported him by putting his arm that wasn’t in a cast over my shoulder, and I guided him into the bathroom. All he had on was the hospital gown, so I tossed that aside, making sure to keep my eyes above his waist while he got under the spray.
“Fuck, that feels good,” he groaned, leaning
into the jets.
There was a plastic pan full of toiletries that I made good use of. I had to get him to bend so I could wash his hair, then soaped him up with the tiny bottle of body wash. Even though he’d lost a lot of weight and muscle mass during his three weeks of captivity, he was still a huge man, so I had to use the body wash sparingly to make sure his entire body was clean.
When I touched his back, tears burned my eyes, and I sucked in a deep breath before I could stroke the red, tender flesh that had been flash-burned from the truck exploding. He shivered as I gently ran my soapy fingers over the large area. “Does that hurt?” I whispered.
“It itches a lot, but it doesn’t hurt at all now.” He glanced at me over his shoulder, his blue eyes darkening when he saw the tears glazing my eyes. “Don’t cry, baby. It’s just a scratch.”
“Stop,” I choked out. “Don’t play it off as nothing. You could have died, Tanner.”
“It’ll take more than that to get rid of me.” He leaned into my touch. “Can you scratch right there, sweetheart? It’s itching like a bitch right now.”
I scratched as tenderly as I could, and he sighed like he was in heaven. But I didn’t want to chance damaging what was just starting to heal, so I finished his back and moved on to the rest of his body.
When I got to the bottom half of his body, I paused.
Having been enjoying my ministrations, he didn’t like that I’d suddenly stopped. “Keep going,” he commanded. “Your hands feel so good, Jos.”
I could tell just how much he was liking what I was doing. His cock was at full attention, pointing straight at me. I sucked in a shuddery breath. “How can you be this hard when you’re as weak as a newborn colt?”
Grinning, he shrugged. “It’s your hands on me, Jos. I could be dead, and I’d still get this hard if you touched me.”
My skin heated with pleasure. “Don’t think you’re going to get lucky, mister. You’re in no condition for any of that.”
He winked at me, the look in his magnetic blue eyes wicked. “Whatever you say, beautiful.”
Sighing, I finished washing him, making sure to keep my touch impersonal as I washed everything. He groaned when I rubbed my soaped hands over his balls then along his cock. “So good,” he grunted.
Angel's Halo: Forever Angel Page 9