Page 102 of Armed ’N’ Ready

Tears you put there, dickhead.

“Oh my God!” a woman gasped.

He turned his head to the door to see Trista with her hand covering her mouth, her green eyes as big as key limes. Behind her, Matt grinned. And were his best friend’s eyes wet, too?

Trista practically ran to the bed and started raining kisses all over him. “You had us so worried.”

“Sorry, little pixie.” She smiled impishly at his use of the nickname all of Matt’s friends called her by. “Guess I needed to sleep for a while.”

Tears streamed down her face, reminding him of a leaky faucet. She laughed. “Hormones.”

Matt came forward and held out his hand, which Nick managed to clasp. Matt’s face instantly sobered, telling him it had been bad. Really bad.

“Good to have you back, my friend.” Matt cleared his throat and squeezed Nick’s hand tighter. “You have no idea.”

From the seriously intense look on Matt’s face, he was beginning to.

“You’re still as ugly as ever.” Nick grinned, knowing full well how many women would kill to have been with his best friend.

“Same goes.” Matt released Nick’s hand.

An hour later, after Trista and Andi had hugged and cried some more, Eric and Kade blew into the room, and damned if both men didn’t get all teary-eyed. Several doctors had come and gone to reexamine him and explain the extent of his injuries in excruciating detail. Bottom line was that he was looking at months of physical therapy to get back to where he’d been before the shooting.

For several minutes, he closed his eyes, content to listen to his friends talk around him. Andi never let go of his hand, and he held on to hers like it was his lifeline. As much as he loved his friends, he was tiring quickly, and all he wanted now was to be alone with her. There were so many questions, and he wanted the answers to all of them before he fell into the exhausted sleep that was coming on fast.

“Guys,” he said. “I need some time alone with Andi.”

His friends understood, and several minutes later he and Andi were the only ones left in the room.

“I’m sorry.” She tipped her head back and stared for a moment at the ceiling. “I know I said I couldn’t get pregnant, and I really thought that was true. The doctors said so as far back as when I was in grad school. I really thought it was impossible.” She began twisting her hands. “My dad would have said that I hadn’t been ready before, mentally or physically. He’d say that it took all these years for the stars and planets to align properly.”

“You and your astronomical explanations.” He did his best to bob his brows, failing miserably. “You know how that turns me on.”

“Be serious,” she chided. “I don’t want you to think I did this to trap you, and if you don’t want to be part of my baby’s life, I’ll understand. I won’t hold you to anything.”

“Our baby’s life.” There was no way he’d let his child grow up without him. “I’m going to love our baby as much as I love his or her mother.”

For several long seconds of agony, she stared at him with a blank face. Warning flags shot up in his brain. While he’d been semiconscious just before coming out of it—and in his dreams—he could have sworn she’d said she loved him. Now he wasn’t so sure.

A smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “I love you, too.” Her smile broadened, and she squeezed his hand, lifting it to her lips. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I judged you by the actions of others in my life, and I shouldn’t have.”

“Listen.” He wanted to tug her closer but didn’t have the strength. “I don’t blame you. I did use you. I still can’t deny that. I had my own personal vendetta, and I wasn’t about to let anything get in my way. I would have done whatever it took to convince you to let me work at the DPC. But everything that happened between us from that point forward was real. As real as it gets.”

She took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay.”

“Okay.” He grinned, then sobered. “And let’s be clear on exactly how you got pregnant. How I got you pregnant. It wasn’t the stars and planets aligning. It took the right man—me.” And he was damned proud of it. “Now come here.”

This time he did manage to tug on her hand, urging her to sit beside him on the bed. When she did, he rested his hand on her abdomen where their unborn baby nestled in a cocoon of warmth and love.

She covered his hand with her own. “Did I mention that I think Stray and Saxon are in love? They run and play together all the time. They’re practically inseparable.”

He managed to arch a brow. “Is she spayed? Saxon isn’t neutered, and I know for a fact that he doesn’t carry condoms when he goes running.”

She laughed, and he would have, too, if his chest weren’t so tight. Tight from his injury and from his emotions spinning wildly out of control.

“Don’t worry,” she said, still laughing. “She was spayed as soon as I found her. There will be no more unplanned pregnancies in my house.”

“Then we’ll just have to plan in advance.”