Six Months Later
ONE
Olivia woke to an empty bed.
Wyatt had kissed her goodbye while it had been barely sunrise, saying he had to leave early for a meeting at the hotel. But Poppy didn’t have to go in to work for a few hours—and Eva seemed to be off every day—so it seemed a perfect time to have the girls over for breakfast.
Deliciously sore, she felt the pull of the muscles she’d used last night with Wyatt as she walked down the stairs.
She hit the number for Eva’s cell and turned on speaker phone as she moved toward the coffee machine to make a fresh pot.
“Yeah?” Eva answered as charming as ever.
“Do you guys want to come over for breakfast? Wyatt’s gone and I’m alone.”
“I hope you’re not alone. Isn’t there a child there you’re supposed to be watching?”
“Yes. But she sleeps late and when she wakes up Grandpa promised to take her to his friend’s barn to visit the new baby goats so I’ve got the whole morning free.”
“As jealous as I am of the baby goat thing—and yes, I’d totally tag along uninvited with Papa Wilder to see them—I don’t think I can move.”
“What do you mean? What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to be surfing the crimson tide any minute now because I’ve got the cramps from hell. It’s bad this month. Poppy loaned me her heating pad and I’m popping ibuprofen like candy for my cramps but it’s still not helping. And Poppy’s a sleepyhead this morning. I can’t even see her under the comforter she’s buried in but I heard her groan when you called so I know she’s alive.”
“Ugh. I’m sorry. Cramps are the worst.”
Speaking of… When was she due? Unsure, she moved to the calendar on the wall of the kitchen by the back door next to the wall organizer which operated as family central where keys, notes and the incoming and outgoing mail lived.
Flipping to the prior month she looked for the tiny mark she always placed on the date of the start of her last period.
She frowned when she didn’t find one. Did she forget to mark it? She never forgot to write it down. But then of course life had been very different, and a little bit crazy, since she, Poppy and Eva had arrived in Bitter End.
Maybe she could figure it out by backtracking to the month before.
She flipped back, found the date on the prior month and counted twenty-eight days again. But that put her just a few days before the weekend that she and the girls had a spa day together. And she remembered clearly not having her period for that, thank goodness.
But dammit, she couldn’t remember when she did get it. What did that mean? That she just forgot getting it last month? Or that she was late? As in very late.
She looked at the date again. In the next week or so she should know either way. She’d get it or she wouldn’t.
The stress of waiting was going to kill her.
Darcy was going out with William today. Maybe she should slip out and buy a test.
Not in Bitter End, that was for sure. The news would spread like wildfire.
She’d have to drive to someplace where no one knew her. Possibly wear a disguise. Then maybe she might even get brave enough to take it.
Holy shit. A baby had definitely not been on her agenda.
And Wyatt…Oh, God. What was Wyatt going to say if she was?
She couldn’t even imagine.
TWO
Finally, the tea was served and the bourbon drank and the family had headed off in their various directions—and by family Wyatt meant his two brothers and Olivia’s besties, Eva and Poppy, who had become family whether he or they liked it or not.
His daughter was in bed. So, Wyatt assumed, was his father. That was a good thing because Olivia was looking too tempting tonight for him to control himself.
Even after them living together for six months he still couldn’t keep his hands off her.
As she emerged from the bathroom that was connected to their bedroom dressed in her pajamas, her freshly scrubbed cheeks were tinged pink. Just like her lush kissable lips.
She’d been in the kitchen leaned over the sink scrubbing the roasting pan with a brush, soap and scalding water before he’d convinced her to come upstairs to bed. She was equally enthusiastic about her kitchen clean-up routine as she was about cooking.
He could only hope she’d show equal attention to him now in the bedroom.
As she headed for her side of the bed, he grabbed one hand and reeled her in to him.
She laughed on an exhale of minty toothpaste-tinged breath. “What are you doing?”
By the gleam in her eye, she knew exactly what he was doing. And what his intentions for her were.
He groaned at the feel of her body under his hands. Leaning in, he said against her neck, “I’m taking my woman to bed.”
She pulled back to glare at him with narrowed eyes. “Your woman?”
He shook his head. “Nuh-uh. Be a feminist during the day. At night, you’re mine.”
As his mouth covered hers at the same time that he slid one hand down the front of her pajama bottoms, she didn’t argue with him. He spread her with two fingers and smiled against her lips as she sucked in a breath.
She always had melted at his touch. That hadn’t been changed by them sleeping in the same bed together every night.
He backed her toward the mattress until she was against the bed. Wrapping his hands around her, he lifted.
She squeaked as he tossed her onto the bed. Thank goodness the house was built like a fort. Thick walls kept any noise contained. And God how he loved when she made noise.
He tugged her pajama bottoms down her legs and smirked at the fact she never wore underwear to bed.
Bare from the waist down, she was his for the taking. And for the tasting. Leaning low he kissed his way down her belly. In one smooth motion he yanked her legs wide and dipped his tongue between her folds, forcing an adorable sound of desire from deep in her throat.
Speaking of deep in her throat…
Wyatt stripped out of his clothes. Naked as the day he was born, he straddled her head. She took his length in her mouth and he closed his eyes when the heat of her mouth engulfed him.
He let out a groan as he spread her lower lips and leaned low, latching his mouth onto her core. The more she sucked him, the harder he sucked her until she was breathing heavy and shaking beneath him.
Then she was crying out loud enough as she came he was happy his cock in her mouth muffled her cries.
Feeling her come had his own orgasm barreling down upon him. It took all the control he had to not shove balls’ deep into her throat but he managed it. But he didn’t manage to hold back the inevitable. The first spurts of his release hit the back of her throat as he shook above her and rode her mouth to the bitter end.
He rolled off Olivia, turned around and gathered her up against him, letting out a soft laugh. “I think we’re lucky we didn’t wake Darcy. That got pretty loud.”
“I know. Sorry.” She cringed.
“It’s okay. The walls are thick. I’m sure she slept right through it. Five-year-olds sleep hard.”
He felt her tense against him, which was odd. He was so relaxed he could barely feel his limbs.
“You ever think about having more?” she asked.
“More what? Orgasms? Yes. Many, many more.”
“No. More kids.”
“I really hadn’t thought about it.”
“That’s kind of strange. I mean you have your brothers. You never thought about Darcy maybe wanting a little brother or sister?”
“I’ll get her a pony instead.” He rolled her on top of him and arranged her legs so she was straddling him and his rapidly hardening cock. “Now no more talking about my daughter while I’m inside you. Okay?”
“Okay.” She answered on a breath as he lowered her over his length.
THREE
Olivia and Eva were sitting at the table in the apartment above Rosie’s staring at a little white stick when Poppy walked in.
“Hey.” She dropped her bag by the door then stopped, her eyes widening when she saw the piece of plastic that surreally would determine Olivia’s future. “Oh.”
“Two minutes and counting,” Eva answered the unasked question on all their minds.
Poppy sat between them and, reaching out, squeezed Olivia’s hand. “Whatever happens, I’m here for you.”
Olivia swallowed hard and nodded.
The lighting in the room sucked, but it wasn’t bad enough that they couldn’t see that telltale stripe begin to appear. So slight it was almost invisible at first, but then it darkened and she could see a second line appear.
“Two lines. What does that mean?” Poppy asked.
Eva had been in charge of reading the instructions. Judging by the expression on her face as she held the box in front of her, Olivia could guess what it meant.
“Two lines means—” Eva began.
“Pregnant,” Olivia whispered, finishing Eva’s sentence.
Poppy twisted in the chair to face Olivia. “And how do you feel about that?”
“She’s back. Poppy the psychology major,” Eva mumbled.
Poppy sent Eva a scowl then turned back to Olivia.
Tears burned behind Olivia’s eyes.
She drew in a breath and raised her gaze, clinging to one small hope. “Maybe it’s a mistake. I should take another—”
“I don’t think it’s a mistake,” Poppy said gently as the two lines got so dark there was no misinterpreting them.
“I’m all for women’s autonomy, but you’re going to have to tell him.” Eva leveled a stare on Olivia.
“Yes, but it doesn’t have to be tonight or even tomorrow,” Poppy countered. “You have some time. Take a little while to get over the shock first. Figure out what you want.”
“What do you want?” Eva’s question sent Olivia into another bout of panic.
She shook her head. “I have no idea.”
But after that discussion about Wyatt not even considering having more children, she feared she knew what he wanted. And it wasn’t a baby.
She pressed a hand to her stomach to try and quell the nausea brewing there and had to wonder if it was the thought of telling Wyatt about this baby or the pregnancy itself making her sick.
FOUR
Something was up with Olivia and Wyatt had no idea what and that was making him crazy.
When he asked if she was okay, she’d smile and say yes. When she saw his gaze on her, she perked right up and put on a happy face.
But in the times she didn’t know he was watching there was a persistent frown between her brows. An almost constant slump to her shoulders. A visceral weight of worry he’d never seen in her in the six months that she’d been a fixture in his and Darcy’s life.
She was wound so tight. He didn’t know what to do.
Or maybe he did.
He picked up two wine glasses and a bottle of wine and carried it over to where she sat with Darcy watching a movie.
“Hey. Have some wine with me?”
Her eyes moved between the bottle in his hand and his face. She looked almost flustered. By a bottle of wine? Why?
“Um, thanks. But no. My stomach hasn’t felt right lately. I think I need to stick to like decaf and herbal tea for a bit.”
“Okay.” He put the items down on the side table and stood behind her, kneading her shoulders with his hands. “You’re tight. What if I book a massage for you at the spa tomorrow?”
“Um. Thank you. That’s sweet. But I’m busy tomorrow. Maybe another time?”
“Sure. Whenever. You do know the owner,” he joked, but his mind was already working out what the hell was going on with her.
She loved him. He knew that. He’d thought she was happy here. With him. With them all. But this new Olivia, dark and down instead of bright and bubbly… it confused him.
Something niggled in the back of his brain.
No drinking. No massages. No caffeine.
And now that he thought about it, it seemed as if that telltale box of tampons hadn’t appeared on the back of the toilet tank in their bathroom in a really long time.
That all had one thing in common. They were all signs of—holy fuck—pregnancy.
He swallowed against the tightness in his throat and wrapped his arms around Olivia from behind, while at the same time he tried to wrap his mind around this possibility.
“I love you,” he said against her ear.
She glanced back at him and he saw the shine of unshed tears in her eyes as she said, “I love you too.”
What was making her sad? Did she not want a baby?
Shit… Another thought hit him like a brick to the head. Their conversation a few days ago came hurtling back to him. Her asking if he’d ever thought about having more kids. His all but saying no.
She probably thought he didn’t want this baby.
He was an idiot. Of course he wanted more kids. He wanted this baby with her.
Moving to his daughter, he ignored the fact he was in a suit and sat next to her on the floor. “Hey, baby.”
“I’m not a baby, Daddy,” Darcy said with all the drama of a five-year-old.
“Of course you’re not. You’re a very big girl. And as a big girl, what would you think about maybe us having a new baby in the house, so you could be a big sister?”
Darcy shrugged. “Sure. That’d be okay.”
He dared to glance up at Olivia. Tears streamed down her face but they were accompanied by a visible sense of relief.
He knew he’d been right even before she whispered, “How did you know?”
“Good guess.” He smiled but before he knew it, he was getting a little misty himself.
A baby. With Olivia.
A little brother or sister for Darcy. Another grandchild for his dad. Another niece or a nephew for Linc and Ethan. He couldn’t think of anything more perfect.
Well, except for Olivia saying yes to his proposal.
Shit! He needed to buy a ring. He glanced at her and felt such an overwhelming love for her, a love he could see clearly reflected back from her, that he knew. He couldn’t wait.
He’d get around to shopping for that ring tomorrow, after she agreed to be his wife tonight.
What’s next?
With her bestie Olivia dealing with the changes in her life, Poppy has a problem of her own and his name is Ethan Wilder.
He’s a joker who takes nothing seriously and a player not looking to commit for more than one night. So why has he suddenly set his sights on Poppy and started sticking his nose into her new job at the Wilder Inn?
Find out in Her Playboy Cowboy Lover out now in eBook and paperback.
