I might have grown up in an ultra-conservative Christian family where I hadn’t been allowed to wear jeans until I was exiled, but I’d lived enough in the last three years.
That night I’d spent with Davis Hall, had been the best night of my life, and that was before the sex that lasted all night. He was funny. He’d offered me a reprieve from the anxiety running through my mind like a hamster on a wheel. We’d laughed and teased, even in the midst of passionate, limb-wrecking sex. I’d never felt so free. Heck, I’d allowed him to go down on me when I’d only let one other guy do that. Enjoyed the hell out of it too.
My core pulsed at the memory. That first swipe of his tongue against my already swollen and ready clit, and I shivered. Damn, he was good.
“Right. It’ll all be sorted. Everything will be fine. My future is mine for the making.”
“That’s the spirit.” Belle laughed. “Keep saying it and you might believe it.”
I had to. The belief I could make something of myself, on my own, was the only thing I had left.
Well, other than a mostly stranger’s DNA growing inside of me.
“I can’t believe we’re doing this. And on Christmas.”
Belle wove her car through the streets of Nashville.
“It’s Christmas Eve, and they had a game today. He’ll have to be home.”
“Yeah, with a house filled with friends or something. Or worse… family.”
Pregnant after a one-night stand. I wasn’t exactly nailing the take home to mom material.
“Stop worrying. Everything will be fine.”
She had said that for the last three days, ever since that first positive sign showed up and every minute after. Sure, easy as that. Stop worrying. Easy peasy. Done.
If only…. She turned down his street. Lou’s lights were on across the way and a frog jumped into my throat as the high-rise condominium complex loomed overhead.
This was stupid. It was seven o’clock at night on Christmas Eve.
My life couldn’t get any more strange.
“At least they won the game.” I hadn’t avoided today’s game. Anxiously pacing for three hours knowing what we were doing tonight was my afternoon exercise. My feet were sore, and I was pretty sure, swollen. “It’ll put him in a good mood, right?”
Belle squeezed my hand as the automatic doors slid open to us and wowzers.
This was luxurious. From the artwork to the crystal hanging chandeliers, this building screamed modern and expensive. The tan leather couch with a gold chrome frame probably cost more than my father made as a pastor in six months. It was more gorgeous than I remembered it, but last time I’d only had eyes for a blue-eyed devil with apparently very virile sperm.
“It’ll be fine. You said you guys had a great night. He does a ton of volunteer work with kids and his background couldn’t be anymore paper-perfect. This is not the kind of guy who’s going to throw you to the streets.”
Raised in Nebraska. Played football at Clemson. His dad was a factory worker, his mom a dental hygienist, and he was the youngest of three with two older sisters. Thanks, Wikipedia, for giving me my baby daddy’s background so easily. Now we didn’t need to have the “tell me about your family” conversation.
Just jump right into “so you’re going to be a dad, how’s that feel?” conversation.
Should be easy enough.
“Yeah, but he has the money to fight me for custody or something.”
“Let’s just talk to him first, okay? Before you spiral into another panic attack?”
“It wasn’t a panic attack.” I freaked, sure, but who wouldn’t. I blamed the hormones coursing through my body at higher than average levels.
“You say potato…”
“May I help you young ladies?”
A gentleman, old enough to be my grandfather with the same shining white hair and dressed in a deep red suit coat with black lapels stood behind a marble security desk. The hair was the only thing he had in common with my grandfather—I’d never seen mine give a smile this guy was doing. Friendly and open and lacking extreme judgment.
“Yes.” Belle pulled me toward him while I followed. “Can you please tell us if Davis Hall is here? We need to speak with him.”
Chapter 5
Davis
“Make sure you take care of yourself and rest.” My dad’s face was a blurry mess on my phone’s screen. Behind him, my mom kept moving in and out of the frame.
“I’m good. Only mildly sore.”
Tonight’s game had been brutal and I’d taken a few hard hits. One midair while I was trying to hurdle a defender who must have crouched down to prepare for what was becoming my signature move because Boston’s safety stood right as I was over him and knocked me flat on my back. So hard it’d taken me a few seconds to move.
Still held on to the ball and scored the touchdown though.
“I miss you!” My sister, Annie, jumped into view and gave me her profile, running her hands down the side of her massive belly. “I’m so sorry I stole Mom and Dad from you on Christmas.”
“You’re too big to travel, and I had a game to play. It’s okay. Next year.”
“Next year.” A grin broke out on her face, and Mom and Dad were shoved out of view completely as my nephews, Annie’s oldest two boys, jumped up and down. Their ginger hair bounced on their heads.
“Hey boys. Ready for Santa to come?”
“Mommy said bad boys get coal, not toys.” Luka shoved out his lips into a pout.
“That’s true.” I nodded seriously. Being an uncle was sometimes serious business. “But you’ve been a good boy all year, right?”
Behind him, Annie snorted.
His six-year-old face scrunched up. “Mostly?”
“Then I don’t think you have to worry about coal, Luka.” I wiggled my finger in the screen for him to come closer. “And if you do get coal from Santa, don’t forget that Uncle Davis sent you something, too, okay? I promise you’ll have presents.”
His blue eyes went wide and bright. “A Jeep?”
He’d been talking about that ride-on toy since his birthday in April, and Annie forced me to hold off on getting it for him until Christmas. They lived a simple life on Duke’s farm and refused to allow me to spoil their kids throughout the year unless it was something necessary, like books, but on Christmas, I was allowed to go wild.
So yeah… Luka was getting a Jeep and an Escalade because what good were ride-on toys on the farm if you couldn’t race against friends or your younger brother?
“Can’t say. But make sure you’re extra good for your mom tonight. Maybe read a book to your baby sister you’ll meet soon, and we’ll see what happens in the morning, okay?”
He didn’t hear a word I said, lost in Jeep excitement. “Love you, Uncle Davis! You da’ best.”
“All right. Put Grandma back on the phone, would you, kiddo?”
My mom’s phone swung through the air giving me a blurry look inside Annie and Duke’s one-hundred-plus-year-old farmhouse before my mom’s gentle smile came into focus.