“Hawk.”
“Fine. Let’s at least get you out into the fresh air. Maybe it’s something in the shop that’s upsetting you.”
“Okay. Oh!” Hawk surprised her by scooping her up intohis arms. Seriously, one minute she was sitting there, breathing him in because his cologne always settled her nerves, which was annoying enough, and then the next, she was hoisted up in his arms.
“What are you doing?” she managed to groan as the room spun.
“You just told me you’re dizzy. Not letting your two left feet trip you up. Gotta keep you and Bee safe.”
Bee.He’d given the baby their first official nickname. And Jessie loved it.
“My knight in shining armor.” Jessie let her head rest on his shoulder as he turned from the office. “Wait! Grab the doughnuts. I want to eat one if I start feeling better.”
Hawk chuckled. “Love the optimism, beautiful.”
Fifteen
Hawk sat his ass down on the grass beside the garage with Jessie still tucked safely in his arms. She’d always seemed so small to him, but since she told him she was pregnant, he felt this animalistic need to protect her. And the baby, too. They were precious. Irreplaceable. His responsibility to keep them healthy and safe.
A black sedan crawled slowly down the street as he settled Jessie between his legs.
“This is actually really nice,” she sighed and took a deep breath. “Maybe I should start feeling faint more often.”
His stomach dropped. “Please don’t. My heart can’t take it. I hate when you don’t feel well.”
Her hand squeezed his bicep. “I know you do. And I’m only kidding. Although, I wouldn’t mind adding a picnic date to our list of must-dos now that I’ve been feeling better.”
He cringed.
“What was that look for?” she asked.
“I just… Every time you have a bad day, I’m afraid it’s not just going to be a one-off. That I’ll go to the diner and find you crying on the bathroom floor. Or worse, you’ll beat the ranch and you’ll be suffering alone because you’re too stubborn to call me.”
“I’d call…”
“Like you did this morning?” he challenged.
She rolled her eyes, a chuckle moving through his chest at the flare of sass from her. “Fine. I wouldn’t call.”
“Exactly. And since you’re my captive audience right now, I’m going to start telling you all the amazing reasons why you should move in with me. Starting with the fact that I am absolutely wild about you.”
His lips pressed against her temple, and felt her melt even more into his embrace.
“But why me, Hawk?” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “We don’t have to live together, orbe together, just because we share a child. You’re being so sweet to me, but I’m a burden you don’t need.”
“Jess—”
“No.” Jessie squeezed her hand on Hawk’s thigh as his touch continued to run feather light over her arm. “What do I offer you, other than incubating your child? I’m literally a small town waitress. I just dropped out of my college classes. I’ve never even been out of Texas… Except…”
He knew exactly where her mind went.
“Don’t fucking think about that day.” The day she’d been taken. The day she’d been held with Mae, in a fucking cell, halfway to being sold in an auction. Fuck, he shivered just thinking about how scared she’d looked when the team finally found them. “We’re going to plan something. Somewhere outside of Texas. And that will be your first time out of the state. Just you, me, and Bumblebee. Our family.”
She smiled at that. “I love that idea. But you still have all this experience to teach our child. All these adventures to tell him about one day. And what do I bring to the table? I’drather be curled up with a book on the couch than climb a mountain.”
“It sounds to me like you’ll be our daughter’s safe place.” He reached over, taking her hand off his leg before pressing a kiss to her wrist. “Which is more important than any story I’ll ever tell her from any of my time spent in corners of the world I can’t even talk about. And I’m sorry you dropped your classes. That must have been a really tough call to make.”
She nodded. “I just couldn’t keep up anymore. Something had to give. Just another thing I’ll disappoint my parents with when they find out.”
