“I’m on my way.”
The hour-long wait in the ER while Olivia is taken back with the triage doctor is the longest of my life. I can’t sit, so I pace and read pamphlets on the bulletin boards, though all I can think about is Olivia and the baby.
I never expected this twist in life, but the sorrow in my gut at the thought of anything happening to the baby now is unbearable. I’m just about to reread the same hearing aid brochure when I see her emerge. She’s in a pair of black yoga tights and an oversized WKU hoodie. Her hair is loose and wild. I know she let it air-dry so it’s full of waves and curls and there isn’t a stitch of makeup on her face. She looks so beautiful. It’s fucking killing me.
“Sorry to make a whole big thing about this.”
“What did they say?” I ask cautiously, my heart beating erratically.
“The doctor said it was just minor spotting, probably from my physical the other day. Everything is good, but he said, um, that it might be best not to have sex until I’m through my first trimester … although orgasms are fine if I … feel the need, on my own that is.” She looks down at her clutched hands in front of her, blushing furiously for panic rambling. As usual.
“Not that you needed to know that or anything—” Her cheeks turn a deeper shade of red. “Sorry,shit…”
“Olivia,” I stop her.
“Oh.” Her eyes widen as the lightbulb goes off. “The baby is perfectly healthy and the heartbeat is really strong—”
“Fuck.” My chest tightens and I don’t even let her finish her sentence before I pull her into my arms. I can’t control my body’s reaction as I kiss the top of her head, then her cheek,sliding my hands up to cradle her face. “Thank Christ.”
Olivia’s eyes glisten and I don’t care where we are, or who’s watching, as my lips press to hers. Softly and slowly once, twice, and then again when she doesn’t pull away. Everything that grounds me floats upward in this moment as I breathe her in. It’s like I have no control over my own actions, and I swear my fucking soul leaves my body when I’m this close to her. Just the feel of her lips on mine threatens to ruin me, and it has me lingering for just a second longer than I should before I pull her into my chest again. She whimpers and it almost breaks me as I slide my hand down to her belly and over the life we made together.
“Our baby is a little bear then, after all. A little fighter,” I speak firmly into her hair.
“Seems like it,” Olivia whispers back. “I have to be careful for the next couple of days. Stay hydrated. And no physical exertion, though the doctor said it was probably just an isolated issue. She also said stress doesn’t help and that’s something I’ve seen my fair share of over the last few months.”
“Not anymore,” I tell her as I take her hand, and we make our way down the long hallway and through the hospital doors. The walk to my truck is quick since we’re parked right at the emergency entrance.
“All that stress …” I tell her as I open her door and help her up, placing my hand on her thigh. “You’re gonna give it all to me. Understand?”
I reach for the seatbelt and she takes it from me with a pretty smile playing on her full lips. “I can buckle my own seat-belt, Asher,” she laughs, grabbing my arm gently. “We’re okay. I promise.”
I watch her face in the moonlight as I stare down at her, my mind already made up. “I want you to come home with me now—”
“Okay,” she says gently.
“Fuck, I expected you to argue.” I reach down and squeeze her hand in her lap. “I had reasons ready to go.”
Olivia tucks her hair behind her ear. “I don’t need them. If it was ever gonna get worse, I’d rather be with you.”
As she looks up at me with those pretty blue eyes, all I can see is the manshesees in me. The man she feels safe relying on. It sends both a thud to my heart and a deep pang of fear coursing through my blood. Not because I don’t think she’ll be safe with me, because I’ll do everything in my power to make damned sure she is. The devil himself wouldn’t get past me if he came for Olivia or our child.
When she looks at me like this Iwantto be the man she thinks I am, but caring about anything or anyone that much when I know how fast life can take it away terrifies the living shit out of me—and I don’t get scared.
“My house it is,” I say as I close her door, making my way to the driver’s side of the truck.
She turns to me as I settle into the seat beside her. “But I really do want to let the cat into the house.”
I let out a small laugh as I start the engine.
“Gotta shoot my shot.” She grins. I reach into the center and cover her hand with mine, feeling those last threads of control I’m clinging to slipping through my fingers faster than I can even think of grasping them.
CHAPTER 35
Asher
My property is dark, aside from the lightning bugs that decorate my garden, when we pull up, and Duke is at our side the moment we come into the house. I’m sure he could tell I was stressed the fuck out when I left in a hurry earlier.
I crouch down to greet him and give him some love but the fucked-up thing is he doesn’t even seem to care about me. Instead, Duke goes straight to Olivia, sniffing her and brushing up against her leg with a whimper. She gets down to her knees and rubs him behind the ears.
