Chapter Six
“You’re not going.”
“Yes I am.”
“No. You’re. Not.”
“For god’s sake Tristan, it’s just a group of women getting together and talking. We’re not climbing a mountain.”
“The doctor ordered you to rest.”
Cov rolled her eyes at him. “I have been resting and I’m not running over to Amanda’s you’re going to drive me. The most active I’ll be is a couple of trips to the bathroom which is all I’ve done for days.”
Two days. It had only been two days since they saw the doctor. But he could hear the frustration in her voice, see it on her face and knew he’d have to give in on this. Just the thought of her out of his sight for a few hours gave him hives. How the hell was he going to cope when he went back on shift in two days time?
Forty-eight hours without seeing her would kill him.
He didn’t want to think about the things she’d get up to without him here to remind her to rest. Or think about the huge storm heading their way. The forecast called for eight inches in one day. The one day he wouldn’t be home.
“Look. I know you’re worried. I am too, but Dr. Gilmore said my blood pressure was only a little elevated from my last check up and could be attributed to the long drive across the country and lack of sleep,” she reasoned.
He knew all that. Knew he shouldn’t be as worried as he was but that didn’t stop him from coming up with numerous bad-case scenarios. Which was why he’d bought a blood pressure machine. Although he hadn’t told her about it. Hadn’t shown her everything that had arrived with the UPS guy this morning. Not after she’d freaked out when he opened the box of pregnancy books.
So he’d bought a few. Twenty was a few, right?
“Please. If I don’t get out of this house soon I’m going to go postal and beat my head against a wall.” She threw her hands in the air then gripped her head and crossed her eyes for emphasis.
Tris cocked one eyebrow. “Dramatic much?”
“Ha! You’re not the one who’s not allowed to lift more than a glass of water or walk more than five steps without being yelled at.”
He grinned. “Yelled at?”
She let go of her head with a sigh. “Okay, fine, not yelled at exactly.”
Reaching out he drew her closer and tipped her face up to his. God he wanted to kiss that mouth. He hadn’t touched her in a sexual way since the other day. In spite of the fact they were sharing his bed each night he’d managed to keep his hands—and lips and let’s not mention any other body parts—to himself. But she had this pout thing going on and she looked so cute in her frustration that he couldn’t resist dropping his mouth on hers for a brief kiss.
“All right. I’ll drive you to Amanda’s.” Her grin blinded him. “But you’re only staying for two hours, not a minute more, and I’m checking your blood pressure before we leave and again when I pick you up.”
“Okay. Whatever you say.” Her smile drooped, her eyes narrowed. “Wait. How are you going to check my blood pressure?”
“I bought a machine.”
“You bought…” She shook her head. “When? You haven’t left me alone for five minutes. There’s no way you could have gone to the shops without me knowing.”
She looked at him as though she’d cut his knees off if he admitted to sneaking out without her. Laughing, he dropped another kiss on her lips before tucking her in close and holding her tight. “I bought it online.”
“When?”
“Same time I bought all those books you turned you nose up at. Thursday night. After you went to sleep.” He’d watched her for hours, the glow from his phone screen the only light in the room, while he’d googled all manner of things to do with babies and pregnancy. Eye opening were the words he’d use to describe that night.
“Oh.”
His brain was now filled with far more information about a woman’s body and what happened to it during pregnancy than one man could handle. But it was his heart that was overflowing. In the dull light of his bedroom, with Cov snuggled up next to him sound asleep, he’d had an epiphany.
He was completely in love with her.
Totally, irrevocably in love with Covington Valenti.
The mother of his children.
And he had no idea how she felt about him.
He knew she at least liked him. They were friends—close friends—long before they’d made love. Made babies. But that didn’t mean she loved him. She’d been engaged to another man. Willing to pledge her heart and life to someone else only hours before she’d let Tris kiss her that first time.
She wiggled against him and his cock perked up with interest. That particular part of his anatomy had never been disinterested to begin with. Nope. His nether regions were as interested in Cov as a starving lion was with a fresh kill. How he’d kept from jumping her was anyone’s guess and a fucking miracle.
When she wiggled again, he couldn’t hold back a groan.
She stilled instantly. “Sorry. But…”
“What?” he ground out through clenched teeth. He wouldn’t push himself on her but suddenly he was perched precariously on a tightrope of restraint.
“I have to pee,” she whispered into his chest.
He laughed. Of course she did. It was the one truly predictable thing about her.
“It’s not funny.” He couldn’t see it but he heard the pout in her words.
“You’d think it was if you knew what had been running through my mind while you did your little need-to-go dance.”
Her hips bucked forward, the swell of her belly pressing against his length. “I’m pretty sure I can guess what you were thinking.”
“Cov.” He couldn’t keep the apology out of his voice.
She pulled from his arms and met his gaze. “It’s fine. It’s not like I haven’t thought about it too.”
With that parting shot she disappeared down the hall. A moment later the bathroom door closed and he stood there, mouth agape, mind spinning.
Had she just implied she’d thought about having sex with him?
They’d cuddled, kissed. He’d held her hand and cupped her belly to feel the shape, connect with the babies but he hadn’t done any of that in a sexual way. Yes, their contact was intimate, the most intimate of his life, but it hadn’t been erotic or held any intent.
Not that he hadn’t thought about having her naked and under him.
Their sexual attraction—well his at least—was the pink elephant in the room. He saw it but ignored it. There was no way he could do that now.
He hadn’t wanted to pressure her, especially after the doctor told them her blood pressure was up. Except he still thought they should get married. More so now he knew the babies were his. He’d kept quiet, concentrated on making sure Cov got plenty of rest and the right food. It was the only way to stop himself from dragging her down to the court house and putting a ring on her finger and a signed certificate in her hand.
But now she’d pointed out the elephant…
It felt as though she’d thrown flammable liquid on his libido. In a flash it had gone from smoldering to inferno and he didn’t stand a chance in hell of putting this fire out.
***
For the second time in as many hours Covington watched Tris walk away. Oh, he wasn’t walking away walking away, but he was leaving her at Amanda’s. Again.
He’d delivered her to the book club gathering an hour ago satisfied she was in good hands and her blood pressure at an acceptable level. Not even a little bit high. She smiled remembering the look on his face. He hadn’t expected the reading to be normal.
The second reading—only minutes ago—showed it even lower in the normal range so he couldn’t argue the night out was too much excitement for her.
She’d nearly died when he’d waltzed into Amanda’s house five minutes ago. He’d scanned the room and as soon as his gaze locked on her, headed in her direction.
Tris had always been alpha and Covington wasn’t going to deny getting a little thrill out of it but having it directed at her? Holy hell. It was a wonder her blood pressure hadn’t gone through the roof.
It was certainly spiking now while she watched his jean-covered butt strut out of the room. She sighed. Suddenly wishing her pressure had been up so he’d insist on taking her home with him.
Karina’s laughter drew her gaze.
“What? What did I miss? What’s funny?” she asked bringing her attention back to the women in the room.
“You two are,” Karina managed between chuckles.
Lily put her hand on Covington’s arm. “What she’s trying to say is you and Tristan are too cute. Sneaking looks at each other while the other isn’t watching. It’s kinda painful to watch actually.”
“He looks at me?”
“Oh yes, he looks at you. Like he’s a starving man and you’re an all-you-can-eat buffet,” Tessa added.
“He doesn’t. Does he?” She knew he’d been interested in her earlier—she’d felt the physical evidence pressed against her stomach—and she couldn’t deny they had chemistry. They’d proven that the night they spent together. But did his attraction come from the fact she carried his babies or because he wanted her?
Covington frowned when Karina laughed again. “I’m not sure this is funny,” she muttered.
“No. It’s hilarious. You two are so wound-up in the madness of your unexpected pregnancy you can’t see you’re in love with each other.”
“He doesn’t love me. He’s just being the upstanding guy he is and taking responsibility for his future children.” It was the babies that had his attention. Her by default.
“Didn’t you tell us he asked you to marry him before he knew the babies were his?” Karina prodded.
“Yes, but he—”
“I’m pretty sure that goes well beyond upstanding guy,” Tessa pointed out.
“I…” Covington stumbled over Tessa’s words as they ricocheted through her head.
Did it go beyond Tris’s honorable good-guy character? He’d always helped her. When Dirk hadn’t been around Tristan had. In fact, now that she thought about it, Tris had been around far more than Dirk in the last year of their engagement. She’d even called Tris a few times when she couldn’t get hold of her fiancé.
And he’d come running, every time.
Lily patted her arm. “You don’t see how he loves you because you’re too busy hiding how you feel about him.”
“Oh, I don’t…” Her heart did a funny squeezy beat thing. Oh god. Did she?
Had she been so involved in the drama of her life she hadn’t taken notice of her own feelings?
She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t attracted to Tris, but lust was only chemistry and a relationship couldn’t be based on that alone. Dirk had taught her that. And while she’d had more in common with Tristan than her ex-fiancé, she’d never looked closely at their friendship—at how deep it went.
Now that someone else pointed it out…
“I need a drink.”
“You’ve got one,” Amanda said, waving her hand at the virgin daiquiri she’d made just for Covington.
“I need a real drink,” she clarified. “Something strong enough to give me the courage to talk to Tris.”
Karina smiled. “You don’t need liquid courage for that.”
“You’re right.” She swallowed. “I already feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“You’ll be fine.” Lily patted her arm again. “Trust me. No man looks at a woman the way Tristan looked at you just now and rejects her.”
“From what Jake has told me, Tris has been torturing himself over something since he arrived in Hope Falls. The guys at the station all had money on it being a woman. Seems they were right.” Tessa frowned. “They actually did put money on it too.”
“Yeah, I, um, may or may not have made fifty dollars when you rolled into town,” Deanna said with a sheepish grin.
Covington stared at Tristan’s fellow firefighter. “You bet money on Tris being twisted up over a woman?”
“Nope.” Deanna grinned. “I bet he’d fall like a house of cards at the feet of the first woman to come looking for him.”
“But…how…what…?”
Deanna laughed. “Don’t get all worked up. It was obvious the guy was head over heels in love—”
“He’s not. He can’t be. He left!”
Deanna arched one eyebrow.
“Okay so maybe he had a reason, but still.” Covington sighed. She had no idea what still was. “I can’t believe how fucked up this whole thing is. I was engaged to his friend the morning these babies were conceived. What does that say about me? About him?”
“Considering you’re here, I’d say it says you’re in love with him,” Lily said.
“I’m pregnant with twins and he’s the father, in love or not where else would I be?”
And that was the million-dollar question.
If she hadn’t gotten pregnant would she have come looking for Tristan?