“Jessie.”
“Take the baby out of the equation.”
Hawk shook his head. “No. She’s already there.”
“Please,” Jessie whined. “Humor me. If we weren’t having a baby together. If there wasn’t the most insane domino effect of defective birth control, and we just had the best night of wild, unattached sex after Lily and Gunner’s vow renewal and that was it… would you still be trying to pursue me? Would I still be on your radar? Or would you have moved on?”
“There is no moving on from you, Jess. You don’t seem to want to hear me when I say it, though. I was trying, the entire year before the vow renewal, to just get you to look at me again. I thought you were over what we shared. The night we made the baby was the best night of my life.”
Her eyes went wide. “You don’t mean that.”
Hawk pulled her hand over his heart. “You feel that? How wonky it’s beating right now? That’s what my heart does every time I’m near you. It’s what my heart’s done from the first time I saw you. It’s always known. You’re mine. And I’m yours. This…” His hand slid down to rest on her belly. “This wasn’t planned. But this is the biggest blessing I’ve ever been given in my life. The baby…and you.Don’t doubt that for another fucking second.”
“I want to believe you, but?—”
“No. No ‘but’ anything. My whole life, I’ve been the funny friend. The one who was never too serious, because it was easier to hide behind a smile and some flirty words than to ever admit how fucking alone I felt, especially these last few years, watching my friends all find what I’ve always fucking wanted. It was easy to hide behind my humor, until you came and knocked me on my ass. And I don’t have to wear that mask anymore. You’re it for me, Jess. Youcanchoose to believe me. Youcanchoose to lean on me and let me be a part of this process. Youcanchoose to believe that I am honest enough to tell you the truth about how fucking happy I am that you are pregnant with my baby and how badly I want you to give us a fucking chance.”
“I—”
“Just say yes to moving in. Say yes to giving us a chance. Say yes to letting me help take care of you while you grow our child. I’ll prove to you that I mean every single thing I say. Just give me the chance to, Jess. Please.”
Her eyes bounced back and forth between his, but just as she opened her mouth to speak, a truck pulled into the gravel next to them.
“What’s going on?” Lachlan’s face was pale as he jumped out. “What happened? Jess? Why the fuck are you on Hawk’s lap? Are you okay?”
Jessie waved her hand in front of her face while Hawk kept his hand on the small of her back. “I’m fine. I just needed some fresh air.”
“Is it the…” His eyes shifted to Hawk and back to Jessie. Oh.She still hadn’t told him.
“I know she’s pregnant,” Hawk muttered. Jessie’s eyes squeezed shut and her head fell against his chest.
“I didn’t know she’d decided to tell anyone else. But yeah,okay. So, is it the baby? You need me to drive you to the doctor’s?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “No! God, I just felt a little dizzy. I’m fine. It’s passing.”
“And the nausea?” Hawk asked, his thumb rubbing against her cheek.
“It’s better.”
But still not gone.
Lachlan met Hawk’s gaze but didn’t say anything as his face turned bright red and he marched into the shop.
“That was weird. Even for Lach,” Jessie sighed.
“I think maybe he figured out the other half of your secret.”
“The other half?”
He clenched his jaw. “You haven’t told him yet that we’re seeing each other. That I’m Bee’s dad.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.Oh.”
Her eyes softened. “Don’t be mad.”
He cleared his throat. No, he wasn’t mad. He was fucking heartbroken that admitting the pregnancy to her family, including Hawk in the day to day things, hell, even admitting that Hawk was the baby’s father, seemed to be so distressing to her.
