Eagle’s job must have been quite lucrative, because he had well over two hundred grand in his savings and about five grand in checking. Monthly payments went to the club, no doubt for room rent and club dues. There were no house or car payments, he made bi-monthly transfers into his savings, and he mostly spent his money on meals, drinks at the Copper Penny, groceries, and gas.
Eagle was a simple man.
Well, besides his completely unexpected book collection.
By the time I finished browsing his bank statements, I felt marginally shitty for violating his privacy, so I settled on his bed and pulled my tablet out of my purse to begin the great hunt for a job, a place to live, and an OBGYN. My phone immediately rang. I looked at the display and groaned. Link. I wasn’t ready to talk to him yet, but he’d worry if I didn’t answer, especially since he knew I was still stateside.
“Hey, Link,” I answered.
“Hey, Squirt, how you doin’?”
Man, I hated that nickname. “Fine. I’d be fantastic if you’d quit calling me that, though. What’s up? Everything okay?” Link and I hadn’t talked since last week. My brother had always been able to sniff out when something was wrong with me, and he’d know the second I lied to him—he always did—so I’d kept our last conversation short.
“Everything’s good. I’m just checking on you since you haven’t called yet this week. Do you know when your next deployment is?” he asked.
Never. I didn’t want to lie, but I saw no way out of it. “Not yet.” Panicking that he could tell I was full of shit, I said, “Hey, I’m right in the middle of something. Can I call you back later?”
“Well, okay.”
He had to know something was up. Time to go. “Great. Talk to you later. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I hung up and all the air rushed from my lungs. I needed Eagle to hurry up and get here so I wouldn’t have to keep this secret any longer. Desperate to keep myself busy, I went back to my online search.
Not five minutes later, the doorknob turned, and Eagle walked right in. He froze, as his gaze settled on me.
“Hey, welcome home,” I said, giving him my most bolstering smile.
“Naomi,” he said. Something that looked a lot like relief flickered over his expression. He glanced at the phone in front of me and his brow furrowed. “You’re… you’re here. Is everything okay?”
Was it? “I don’t know if ‘okay’ is the word I’d use.”
His eyebrows shot up in confusion. “Link just talked to you, and you were…” He looked back at the door. “What’s going on?”
His jeans, short-sleeved T-shirt, and exposed arms and face were covered in a thin layer of dust, and seeing him in all of his blue-collar glory sent a wave of heat straight to my girly parts and short-circuited my brain. I needed him to look less hardworking and drool-worthy so my libido would calm down and I could focus on the conversation at hand. The last time I saw him he’d expressed concern about my well-being and I kind of flipped out and left.
“Uh… we need to talk, but do you want to come in and get settled, first?” I didn’t want to bombard him right after work. “Maybe get cleaned up? Relax? Have a drink?”
Confusion morphed into concern. “I think you should stop pussyfootin’ around and tell me what the fuck’s going on. Why didn’t you tell Link you were here?”
All right, if he wanted to have this conversation now, I’d let him have it, straight up with no chaser, just how a Marine would take it. “I’m pregnant, Eagle.”
It took him a moment to process, but then his eyes widened, and the color drained from his face. “You’re… pregnant?” he repeated.
“Yes. And if you insult me by asking if I’m sure, or if it’s yours, I’ll kidney-check you so hard you’ll be pissing blood for weeks. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know for sure. It’s yours.”
“I wasn’t going to…” He released a deep breath and wobbled to the bed where he collapsed, sitting hunched over. His dark hair was tied back at the nape of his neck, and he ran a hand under it, squeezing the muscles. “Fuck.”
“We did that. It’s kind of how this happened.”
He stared at me, unamused. Probably wasn’t the best time to try my hand at humor. “I take it Jake and Link don’t know.”
It didn’t sound like a question, but I answered anyways. “Nope. I’ve been hiding out in your room because I wanted to tell you first.” Truthfully, I wasn’t worried about Dad. Dad currently wanted two things in life: grandkids, and me to get out of the service before I ended up like my uncle. He’d be getting both of his heart’s desires. He might be a little pissed or disappointed that marriage (or even a relationship) hadn’t come before the kid, but he’d get over it. Link, on the other hand… “I don’t know if your passport’s in order or not, but if you’ve ever wanted to travel around the world, now might be the time.”
The situation was far from humorous, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself from cracking jokes. Lame jokes, even. I blamed nerves, and pregnancy hormones, of course.
“You think I’ll run?” he asked, his brow furrowing again.
