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Автор книги: Kelly Elliott

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CHAPTER TEN

JEFF

As I stood there watching Ari walk away from me, my heart was breaking. Shit! Shoving my hands through my hair, I turned to walk back to the restaurant. Why the hell did Ari come here? Does she not trust me? Does she want to get put in jail? Damn it! The moment Rebecca had seen she, about flipped out.

Rebecca was on the phone when I walked back up to the table.

“Listen, I can’t talk. I’ll call you back. Yes, I know, I heard you, Crysti You said it’s important. I’ll call you back later.”

I sat down as she was hanging up.

She put her hands on her stomach, and started to fan herself.

“Oh, wow. It sure is hot out here. Do you want to go next door and get an iced coffee or something?”

I shook my head no. Maybe Ari’s right, and Rebecca has been playing me this whole time. There was only one way to find out. Just get to the point, Jeff.

“Listen, Rebecca, I’m really done with this whole let’s play-nice bullshit. We need to talk about this baby. I’m telling you that there is no way this baby is mine.”

“Well, Jeff, I’m telling you that you’re the father. You were the only person I slept with during that time frame, that and afterward I found a piece of the condom in my panties.”

She let a smile play across her face, and I just wanted to slap it off. Just then, I looked down at her stomach, and I could see the baby moving. My heart jumped at the sight of it. What if this baby is mine?

“Fine, Rebecca, if this is the game we’re going to play, then let’s play it. When is your next doctor’s appointment?” She sat up a little straighter in her chair and started to fiddle around with her napkin.

“It’s in two weeks.”

“I want to go with you. Since you waited until you were seven months to drop this on me, I think it’s only fair that I get to come to all your appointments from now on.”

“Um, okay…sure Jeff, that’s fine. I don’t have the doctor’s information with me, so can I just text it to you later?”

“You don’t have the doctor’s info in your phone, Rebecca? No number or nothing?” I asked skeptically.

She let out a nervous laugh. “Of course, I have Dr. Wyatt’s number, Jeff. I just meant that I don’t have the address. I’ll text you the day and time of the appointment along with the address this evening. Do you want to pick me up, so we can drive there together? Maybe we can grab dinner afterwards?”

Oh shit, here we go. “Rebecca, I need you to know that I asked Ari to marry me last Saturday night. I love her, and I’ll always love her. Even if this baby turns out to be mine, Ari is going to be a part of this child’s life.”

Rebecca had a stunned look on her face. “Wait…what do you mean you asked her to marry you? I thought…”

“You thought what?” I asked.

She started to look around frantically.

“Um… I don’t know what I was going to say. You asked her to marry you even after you found out about the baby? I’m not so sure that I’m okay with Ari being involved in any way, shape, or form. I mean… look, she came here today to spy on us! You have to see that she obviously does not trust you, Jefferson.”

“She trusts me. It’s you she doesn’t trust.”

“Well, ouch, that hurt. I’m not dropping the restraining order until after I have the baby. I don’t trust her, especially after the stunt she pulled today, and I’m beginning to think that her little friend didn’t accidentally pick up my phone either.”

I held back from laughing. The moment Amanda had brought back the phone, I had known something was up. It had Ari written all over it.

“It doesn’t matter why they were here. Ari is a part of my life, and you need to accept that.” I looked down at her stomach when I saw the baby move again.

She followed my eyes and smiled. “Do you want to feel again? He’s moving around a lot today.”

“He? You already know the sex of the baby?” I couldn’t help but reach out to feel the baby.

Rebecca let out a laugh. She glanced down at my hand on her stomach and then looked back up at me.

“Yes, I was too excited to not find out. I’m going to start painting the baby’s room and then try to put the crib together.”

I knew what she was doing. She was trying to get me to volunteer to help her. I knew that had to talk to Ari before I started doing shit like that.

I pulled my hand away from her stomach and then laid some money on the table. I needed to get out of here.

“Well, I need to get going. I’m getting ready to move out the ranch so I need to go and pack up.”

“Wait! You’re moving out to the country? Isn’t that place like three hours away? What if something happens with the baby?”

“Rebecca, you made it this far without me. You’ll be fine with me being two-and-a-half hours away. If you need something, you can just call me. My cell phone works off and on out there, so, after we get a land-line I’ll give it to you.”

“We? As in you and Ari? Is she moving out there with you? Are y’all moving in together?”

I stood up and threw my napkin down on the table. What is she, my fucking mother now?

“Listen, what happens between Ari and me is none of your business Rebecca…at least not until we have a test done after this baby is born, so we can find out once and for all if he’s mine or not.”

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. Son of a bitch.

“Of course, Jeff, I’m sorry. It really is none of my business. May I ask when you’ll be moving?”

“After Gunner comes back from his honeymoon, we’re going to start moving, so we should be totally moved out to Mason in about three weeks. We have to be out of the house by the middle of July. Speaking of dates, I asked you earlier but you never told me. When is your due date?”

“Wait a minute. Did you say when Gunner comes back from his honeymoon? When did he get married?”

“He got married to my sister this past Saturday.”

The look on her face was pure shock. She turned white as a ghost as she started ringing her napkin. More than a minute passed before she seemed to get her composure.

“Are you going to tell me the due date, Rebecca?”

She let a small smile come across her face. “Jefferson, Jr is due on August seventeenth.”

Holy fuck! Jefferson Jr.? This girl is nuts. “Yeah, well, I’m not so sure on that name, Rebecca. We can talk about it later. I have some shit I need to take care of, so I’ll talk to you soon. Don’t forget to get me that info on the doctor.”

She nodded her head and stood up. She started to reach over to give me a hug, and I took a step back.

“Right…I’m sorry. Well…okay, it was good seeing you. I’m sure this is all going to work out for the best, Jeff. I’m sorry you missed out on the first few months, but now that you are here, you can start being a Daddy to Jeffer um, to the baby.”

I nodded my head and turned to walk away. I had to shake this feeling I was having. The moment I’d seen and then felt the baby move in her stomach, a small part of me had hoped that this baby was mine. I was not okay with thinking this way. I only wanted to have children with Ari, not some crazy-ass bitch who has been obsessed with me for the last three years.

Once I got in my truck, I finally relaxed. I put my head down on the steering wheel, and I swore that I just wanted to cry. Why is this happening to me? The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Ari more, but I couldn’t walk away if this baby was mine though. Damn it, I wish Gunner was here.

I pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to the house. Maybe packing up would help keep my mind off of shit for a while before I head over to Ari’s place. My biggest fear was that she wasn’t going to move out to the ranch with me. My life might as well be over if Ari wasn’t in it.

***

After three hours of packing, I called Ari.

“Hey,” she answered.

“Hey, baby. Are you home?”

“Yep, I’m here and just sitting in a hot bath right now.”

Jesus, this girl can make me hard with just the sound of her breathing.

“Can I come join you?” I asked, smiling.

“How fast can you get here, cowboy?” Ari said with a laugh.

“I’m on my way now. Wait for me?”

“Okay. Be careful driving. Jeff?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“I love you.”

My heart just about dropped to my stomach. I love this girl so damn much.

“I love you, too, baby. Be there in a few minutes.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ARI

I placed my cell phone on the bathroom floor and just sat frozen in the bathtub. I could hear the hurt in Jeff’s voice. I hated Rebecca with every ounce of my being. Why is this happening to us?

After we’d left the restaurant, Amanda and I had tried some shopping therapy. The whole time we had walked around Emeralds, I couldn’t get it out of my head how big Rebecca was. Even with her sitting down, I could tell she had to be further along than seven months. I was going to get to the bottom of this, but if this was going to work, I needed my girls to help me.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, maybe I am losing my damn mind. Am I really going to go through with this? Yep, I really am. I closed my eyes, trying to picture what it would’ve been like if this whole Rebecca thing had never happened this weekend.

I wasn’t sure how long I’s sat there with my eyes closed. I heard the front door open, and I could hear Jeff walking to my bathroom. My heart started to beat like crazy. Just the idea of being with him had me almost panting with excitement. The sounds of his footsteps stopped.

I slowly opened my eyes to see him standing in the doorway. His eyes immediately captured mine. As I looked down his entire body, I lost my breath from just the sight of him.

“Hey, Baby,” he said huskily.

All I could do was smile. He walked over and kneeled down by the tub. He brushed the back of his hand down the side of my face. My breathing was louder and faster now, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to forget everything. He was here. He was here with me, and that was all that mattered.

“Jeff.”

“Shh, let me love you, Ari.”

Oh my god. I wanted nothing more than for him to do just that. He stared into my eyes like he wanted to tell me something so desperately. He almost looked…lost. What if he wants this baby to be his? What if– no I have to stop asking what-ifs and start talking to him about this.

“Jeff, maybe we should talk first.” Shit, I can’t believe I just said that.

“I don’t want to talk, Ari, I want to make love to the only girl I’ve ever loved, and will ever love.”

“Jeff…I.”

The next thing I knew, he was sliding his hand behind my neck as he brought my lips to his. He kissed me with so much passion that I swore I was going to explode. He pulled away, reaching over to pull the towel off the rack. He got up and held the towel open for me. As I slowly stood and stepped out of the bathtub, I heard him suck in a breath of air.

I smiled at him. “You’re not getting tired of me yet, I see.”

Jeff let out a small laugh and shook his head.

“Baby, hell would freeze over before I ever got tired of seeing your body.”

He wrapped the towel around me and then pulled me closer to him. “I missed you today.”

“Really? Cause you looked pretty happy at lunch with your baby mama.”

Fuck! Why did I just go there? Oh my god, what is wrong with me?

“I’m sorry, Jeff.” I said.

He ran his hand through his hair.

“What is up with you these last few days? Why are you being such a bitch?”

Oh no, he didn’t.

“What? Are you really asking me that, Jeff? Because if you are, then maybe you need to just leave!”

I pushed him out of the way as I made my way into my bedroom. I was so mad I was shaking.

“Arr, what do you want me to do? Tell me what I need to do!”

I spun around and just glared at him. “Well, for starters, stop calling me a bitch. Do you know what it’s like to be told that your boyfriend, the love of your goddamn life, is having a baby with another woman? To have your engagement night totally ruined because all you can think about in the back of your mind is how you will never be the one to give your future husband his first child? To have to know that you’re going to be at her beck and call for the next few months until this baby is born? Shit, Jeff…I might not ever be able to even give you a baby like she can. And you think I’m being a bitch? Fuck off, dickwad.” I quickly wiped off the tears from my face before I turned away from him.

“Ari, I’m sorry I called you a bitch. I really am, baby. I would do anything if I could turn back the clocks and never even lay eyes on Rebecca. I promise you that, this is not going to come between us. Baby, we’ll have kids. I know we will, and.”

“It is coming between us, and you don’t know if we’ll ever have kids, Jeff. If I’m a carrier of Fragile X…I don’t….I don’t know…” I stopped talking and did the one thing I swore that I would never do. I felt sorry for myself. My body slowly started to sink.

The next thing I knew, Jeff was reaching for me and trying to pull me into his arms. That was when the anger hit me like a brick wall.

I pushed him away.

“Just go, Jeff. I need to be alone. Please just leave.”

“No. I came over here to be with you, Ari. I want you,” he said, his hands still holding me.

I let out a laugh. I wasn’t really sure why because none of this was funny. I tried with all my might to shove him away, but all he did was hold me closer. Then, he pushed me up against the wall. As he lifted me up, I instinctively wrapped my legs around him. He grabbed me by the back of the head, pulling on my hair, as he slammed his lips onto mine. My head was spinning. I wanted him so badly, but at the same time, I was scared to death.

“Ari, please…just let me in baby.”

With that, I completely relaxed in his arms. As he pushed me harder against the wall, I felt him pulling off my towel. Oh sweet Jesus. I put my arms around his neck, I kissed him back with as much passion as he was giving me.

He almost seemed desperate as he moved away from me just long enough to pull his shirt over his head. The sight of his chest still gave me butterflies in my stomach. I placed my right hand on his chest, feeling him shudder under my touch. I wrapped my legs around him tightly as he moved us away from the wall and to the bed.

As he laid me down, my heart was pounding so hard that I could see my chest rising and falling. The sight of him, just staring at me, was turning me on more than I could stand. As he slowly started to take off his pants, I pulled my eyes away from his to watch him. My god, his body is beyond perfect.

“Ari, you look so beautiful, baby. Your skin is glowing.”

I couldn’t even form words. I’d never before had this overwhelming feeling to just be with him. It was almost like I would die if I didn’t feel his touch.

He moved over me, bent down, and pulled my lower lip between his teeth. A small moan escaped my lips as Jeff closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he had such passion in his eyes that I almost sucked in a breath of air because it surprised me so much.

Just when I didn’t think I would be able to stand it any longer, he propped himself up on his elbows and then his hand gently started to move down my face. I felt my body tremble under his touch. He let a small smile come across his face, and I couldn’t help but smile back at him. Then, he moved his hand down my neck to my chest, which was moving up and down so fast from my erratic breathing.

“Do you want me, Ari?”

“Yes, more than anything,” I said with way too much desperation in my voice.

Jeff’s smile got bigger as he moved his hand further down to my lower stomach. All I wanted to do was yell at him to get on with it, but it almost felt like we needed to go slow. We both needed this moment to feel wanted and loved by each other.

“Open your legs for me, Ari.”

Holy fuck. I’d never heard such seduction in his voice before, and I swore that the moment he touched me, I was going to come.

He moved his body between my legs as I stretched them open. Then he kissed me but pulled away to fast. He ran his tongue down my chest and then sucked one of my nipples into his mouth. As he started to slowly pull on it, I let out another moan. Yep, I’m going to explode any second now.

Then, I felt his hand moving down the side of my body, coming to rest between my thighs. My body jerked when I felt him touch my clit. He slid his fingers into me one by one, and I arched up against him as hard as I could.

“Jesus, you’re so wet, Ari. I want you more than anything, baby.”

“Oh god, Jeff…please…I want you, too…so badly.”

He started to move his hand faster as he moved up to capture my mouth with his. I never wanted this moment to end. This was probably the most sensual I’d ever felt, and each passing second was getting better and better.

I could feel that familiar build-up in my body, and all I wanted to do was push harder into his hand.

“Ari,” Jeff whispered in my ear.

That was my undoing. I called out his name over and over before he caught my cries with his mouth.

I slowly came back down to earth, but Jeff never let up on his kissing. I almost needed to pull away from him to catch my breath. Before I knew what he was doing, he was slowly kissing down my neck again…to my chest…down...my stomach. Oh, holy fuck!

I grabbed onto his hair the moment I felt his hot breath inches away from my already sensitive nub. The moment he started to kiss it, I rocked my hips into him. Shit! I just needed more. It was only a matter of seconds before I was arching my back and calling out his name again.

My head was spinning, and I was barely aware of him moving up my body. He kept kissing me ever so gently. Holy hell, this is unreal.

He started to kiss my neck and continued up until I could feel him breathing in my ear. “I’m going to make love to you now, Ari.”

Oh. My. God.

I’d never felt such pleasure like when I felt him enter my body. He made such slow and passionate love to me that I totally forgot about everything, except for him and our future together.

CHAPTER TWELVE

JEFF

As I lay in bed, I listened to Ari breathing as she slept. She kept moaning in her sleep, and it seemed like she was having another bad dream. She had been having them the last three nights. I would do anything to take away all her worry.

Just then, I felt her jerk awake.

“Bad dream again, baby?”

She lifted her head from chest and looked at me. The smile she gave me just about stole my breath away. God, I love her.

“Actually, no. For once, I was dreaming about something nice. Very nice!”

I let out a laugh and pulled her closer to me. I felt her stiffen in my arms, so I slowly started to move my fingers up and down her back.

“Mmm that feels so good,” she said.

We lay there for another few minutes in silence before Ari took a deep breath.

“Jeff, we need to talk about it.”

“I know we do.”

“When’s her due date?”

“She told me August seventeenth. She also said that she’s having a boy.”

Ari snapped up her head, and I saw the tears welling up in her eyes.

“How do you feel about all of this, Jeff? I saw you smiling when you were touching her stomach. If this is going to work out, you need to be honest with me right now.

Holy shit. What am I supposed to say? A small part of me felt something when I’d felt the baby move. Oh Ari. There was no fucking way was I going to hurt Ari that way. I only wanted kids with her. There was no one else for me.

“Ari, it’s hard not to smile when you feel a baby moving around in anyone’s stomach. Something weird did happen though. She seemed shocked when I told her I’d asked you to marry me last Saturday. She couldn’t believe that I asked even after I’d found out about the baby, but it wasn’t just that. When I said that Gunner got married, she was really surprised. I think she thought it was us getting married.”

Ari quickly sat up. She pulled the covers over her as she tucked her legs up to her chest.

“Don’t get mad.”

“Oh shit, Ari. What did you do?”

“Well, I had a feeling that her calling you right before the wedding was all too coincidental. I just had a feeling. So, Amanda and I went to Halcyon this morning, and Crysti happened to be working. She also seemed surprised that we hadn’t gotten married. Turns out she overheard someone talking about a wedding. When she heard your name and mine, she thought it was us getting married. My guess is that she called Rebecca to fill her in with what she’d found out. I think Rebecca came up with this whole baby thing to keep us from getting married.”

Wow. When Ari puts her damn mind to something, she goes one hundred percent at it.

“Well, what are you thinking?”

“It’s possible. If she was lying though, why would she offer to let me go to her next doctor’s appointment?”

Ari’s face turned white as a ghost.

“She did? Did she offer or did say that you wanted to go?”

“Does it matter Ari?”

“Yes, Jeff, it matters a lot! Did you ask to go or did she offer?”

I had to really think about it.

“I think that she offered. No, wait…I told her that I wanted to go since I’d not been a part of the pregnancy for the first seven months.”

Ari turned her head and took a deep breath. What is she thinking?

“Okay. Did she give you the appointment date, time, and doctor? What information did she give you?”

“Um, well, right before I came over, she sent me a text with her appointment time and directions to the doctor’s office.”

Ari jumped up, reached for my phone, and then handed it to me.

“Can I see it?”

I nodded my head. “Of course, you can see it.”

I opened up the message and showed it to Ari. She made a face and then handed the phone back to me.

“Is she going to drop the stupid-ass restraining order against me?”

Oh hell, here we go.

“No, I asked twice. She feels like it would be…safer for her to keep it up until the baby is born.”

“Okay, she’s a weirdo. Does she think I would actually hurt her? Holy hell! What else did y’all talk about?”

I lay there for a moment, thinking about if there was anything else I left out. I really just wanted to put the whole thing as far out of my mind as I could.

“Well, we talked about her having a high-risk pregnancy. She can’t get upset and that kind of shit. She talked about painting the baby’s room and putting up a crib. Ah shit, I don’t know Ari. I wasn’t even listening to her through half the conversation.”

Lying back down under the covers, Ari moved slightly away from me. Shit! Not again. After we’d just spent probably the best night of our lives together, she was pulling away from me again. I couldn’t believe how much I’d wanted her earlier. She’d looked so unbelievable beautiful, her skin glowing, as her eyes filled with love.

“Ari, please don’t pull away from me again, baby.”

She rolled over to her side to look at me. “You can’t let her pull us apart, Jeff. Promise me that you won’t let that happen.”

I pulled her closer to me, and she put her head on my chest. I started to run my fingers through her hair. She smelled so good. Something was making my heart pound hard in my chest. Maybe it was just this whole bullshit with Rebecca. I was so afraid that I was going to lose Ari over this. I can’t let that happen. I won’t let that happen.

“I promise, baby. She won’t pull us apart. I promise.”

Ari reached up, putting her hand on my check, and then she kissed me gently on the lips. I wanted her so badly again. I deepened the kiss as I rolled her over, climgin on top of her.

“Jeff.” She moaned.

“I love you so much, Ari.”

I started to make love to her, my cell phone started to ring.

“Ignore it,” Ari said as she pushed her hips up into me.

No problem.

My voice mail notification went off.

“God, Ari, you feel like heaven. baby.”

Ari smiled at me, and my heart melted. I would never get tired of seeing that smile. She rolled us over, so she was sitting on top of me. Pure fucking heaven.

“So, what are our plans today, cowboy?” she asked as she moved her hips.

I started to laugh, thinking about all the packing that we had to do.

“You really want to talk about our plans for the day…now?” I groaned.

She slowly lowered her lips to mine and whispered, “No.”

She took my lower lip between her teeth and let out a moan.

Then, my cell phone went off again. We both ignored it. When it went off a fourth time, I started to get worried. What if something happened to Gramps or Grams?

“I have to see who it is, Ari. What if something happened to Gunner’s grandparents?”

Ari moved off of me as I reached for my cell phone on the night-stand. Holy fucking shit!….The four missed calls were from Rebecca. Not good.

“Who was it?”Ari asked.

“Um…it was Rebecca.”

“Are you kidding me?” Ari let out a laugh. “Nice. It didn’t even take her twenty-four fucking hours.” She jumped out of bed, grabbed her robe, and walked out of the bedroom.

Son of a bitch! I can’t believe this. I listened to Rebecca’s message. What the hell? She was just trying to give me the information for the doctor’s appointment. I sent her a text message, telling her to text it to me, and to only call me from now on if she had an emergency. Bitch.

I got up and headed into the kitchen where Ari was making coffee. I walked up behind her and pulled her into my arms.

“You don’t want to finish what we started?” I whispered into her ear.

Turning, she looked at me and gave me the weakest smile. I knew she was trying, and I loved her for it.

“I’m sorry. The mood is kind of…gone.” She turned back around and pulled out to coffee mugs. “Do you want anything for breatfast?”

“How about we go out for breakfast?”

She glanced at me, surprised. “What about your run? You never miss your morning run.”

I smiled at her. Reaching down, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her back to the bedroom. There was no way that I was going to let Rebecca win.

“I have something more important to take care of, like making love to my future wife.”

Ari let out a laugh and started to kiss me as I brought her back into the bedroom.

“Well, if you insist on giving up your run for sex, who am I to complain?”

The passion between us was unbelievable. It was like we couldn’t get deep enough into each other. I can never…ever…lose Ari.

I would rather die than not have her in my life.