There was nothing better than waking up to the smell of fresh coffee brewing and breakfast cooking. Lila rolled over, snuggled under her covers, and allowed the hearty aromas to penetrate her senses. She was hungry, and that was a nice change from the three solid months of morning sickness that she’d experienced.
As she came fully awake, however, Lila realized who was cooking and what she’d be facing. Last night, avoiding Nick hadn’t been a problem, but that wasn’t the case now.
More than the simple discomfort of being around him, she had to tell him about the baby. Lila didn’t expect anything from him, but he had a right to know, nevertheless.
A quick shower was definitely in order before facing her day and the man who had been haunting her dreams. Looking at herself in the mirror, she worried he’d be able to tell she was carrying a baby—that he’d know before she broke it to him on her own terms.
There was a light tapping on her bedroom door and it opened a bit before she could even answer.
“Oh, good. You’re up. I made breakfast.”
“Thanks. I was going to shower.” Keep control of the situation, she told herself. Keep control.
“Come and eat before it gets cold. Unless you want company in the shower?” He wiggled his eyebrows and flashed a devastating grin. Damn if the man wasn’t a heartbreaker, but that was a cheesy look if she ever saw one.
“No company required,” she replied as flatly as possible. The last thing she wanted to do was encourage him. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Nodding, Nick closed the door, and as soon as he was gone, Lila collapsed on her bed. “Oh. My. God.” She wanted to call Josie, but what would she say? I want to jump your brother? Because that’s exactly what she wanted to do.
The man was a bundle of walking contradictions. On one hand, he was a trained killer. It was unspoken, but everyone knew who he was and what he did. But his other side was sweet. Kind. Gentle. The time they’d spent together had been perfection. Never in her life had Lila felt more loved.
She thought they were on the verge of something really special…when he left with barely a goodbye. She shouldn’t have been surprised by it, it wasn’t like he loved her.
Or anything like that.
Lila could only imagine how things would be if he did.
Grabbing a simple tank dress out of her drawer, she slipped it over her head and fluffed her hair. Running her hand over her belly, she smiled at the very little bump that was visible when the fabric stretched in just the right way.
Up until now, she’d only told a few people about the baby. But Nick would be the most important. The knot in her stomach grew as she went toward the kitchen. Stepping into the space, she watched Nick sip a mug of hot coffee. He was in a pair of worn, low-slung jeans and a white T-shirt. Simple enough, but on a man like him, the jeans accented the muscles in his ass and thighs, and the T-shirt spanned his broad chest, leaving little to the imagination. It was true he wasn’t as big as she remembered, but he was no less attractive.
Lila cleared her throat.
“Made yourself right at home,” she said, mentally smacking herself as soon as the words passed her lips. This was more his home than hers.
“I haven’t been gone that long.” A grin teased the corners of his mouth.
He was so damn hot. She had to resist, though. “Smells good. Since when do you cook?”
“I’ve cooked for you before today.”
She chuckled, remembering their days together a few months ago. “Popping a frozen pizza in the microwave is not cooking.”
He moved the spatula around in the pan, but kept his eyes trained on her. “Did we have pizza that week? I don’t remember.”
Feeling her face flush, her mind flashed back to what they did when they were waiting for the pizza to be done. He’d gotten to her. He knew it.
“Back to this,” he nodded toward the stove, “I wouldn’t say making scrambled eggs qualifies as cooking either.”
“I’ll get some plates,” she smiled weakly, not knowing what else to do.
They moved around each other cautiously, with him putting food on the plates and her pouring herself a cup of coffee. Just the aroma helped her wake up.
But the question he asked stopped her dead in her tracks. “Should you have that?”
Boom.
He knew.
Forcing herself to stay cool, she responded, turning on the Southern charm full force. “Whatever do you mean?”
There was no hesitation as Nick stepped into her space and removed the mug from her hand. His expression was flat, his tone emotionless. “Caffeine. Bad for the baby.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“I talked to Tony last night.”
“That’s nice, how is he?” she said, reaching for her coffee. Watching him slowly dump her hot cup of morning gold into the sink, Lila thought she might do real violence. “I was going to drink that.”
“I read something that said it’s not good for you.”
Never at a loss for a snarky comeback, this time Lila had lost her words. It didn’t happen often, but she stood in front of Nick so angry she was sputtering. “I do not need you telling me what to do. I… I happen to have a doctor for that.”
“Well, your doctor must be a moron if he’s allowing you to give our baby caffeine. Sit down and eat.”
Our baby. He’d said the words.
Pulling out a chair, he stared at her, willing her to sit down. But Lila was having none of it. She was nervous, upset, angry….
Mostly angry.
“I’ve lost my appetite, thank you very much. I’m going to take a walk.” It had been a very long time since Lila had been this angry, and frankly, she didn’t need his know-it-all, domineering, alpha-hole attitude.
“You need to eat, and we need to talk about the…situation. When were you going to tell me about the baby?”
Spinning toward him, Lila felt the blood pulsing though her body. “When? Do you honestly have the nerve to ask that?” she snapped. “You’ve been gone, Nick. You were here one day, and then ‘poof’ you were gone like a gopher disappearin’ into a hole.” With a long finger, she poked him in the chest. “When should I have told you, exactly?”
His jaw tightened. She wasn’t the only one who was angry. Well, tough.
“Point taken,” he muttered. “But last night would have worked.”
“Last night?” Lila threw up her hands. “Before or after you came out of nowhere and scared me half to death?”
He didn’t answer because he couldn’t. He may have been some tough mission-impossible type, but she was a southern girl who knew how to fight.
“Arguing solves nothing. We need to be rational about this.” Nick wasn’t budging, and it was annoying the crap out of her. He was so flipping calm.
So. Damn. Bossy.
“We don’t need to do anything, buckaroo. I’m talking a walk before I start looking for a sharp object.”
“Stay right there, Lila.”
“Or what?” she challenged.
“You want to push me? Don’t.” His jaw was tense, his lips narrow. He was seriously pissed. Which mattered not a whit to Lila, since she was just as pissed as he was. She had to admit though, the angry scowl was a very good look for him.
“Don’t threaten me!”
“I’m not. But you can’t just walk out.”
“Watch me.”
Marching out of the house with a full head of steam, Lila strode right down to the beach. She turned, heading north, wishing she could jump off the end of Mimosa Key and just swim for safety.
Damn, she was mad.
But at the same time she wanted to cry, and Lila never cried.
When she was finally out of view of the house, she parked her butt on the warm sand and tossed a small stone into the water. It sank with a plop. She did it again and again and again.
After a while she realized it was a pointless exercise, just like running away. Nick was going to want information, and she needed to give it to him. She only wished he wasn’t such an ass.
Leaning back on her elbows, Lila closed her eyes and let the sun bathe her face. The warmth was comforting, soothing, but it was time to go back to the house and talk to Nick about their child. It may not be what either of them planned, but life had other ideas.
When she opened her eyes, she jumped. Nick was sitting right next to her, looking out at the Gulf of Mexico. She hadn’t heard him approach, sit down…nothing. The man was stealthy.
“Nice view,” he said, his voice low and gravelly.
“It is. One of the prettiest spots on the coast.”
“The big resort…” He waved his hand down the beach in question.
“Casa Blanca?” she asked.
“Yeah. That’s not far from here, is it?”
“About a quarter of a mile down the beach. Not far.”
He nodded and focused his eyes on the gentle blue water lapping the shore.
“I didn’t mean to upset you.”
She wrapped her arms around her knees. “No? You did a good job of it.”
“Sorry.” He paused. They’d both made too many missteps. “I scared you last night. Today I’m barking orders, but the news…it threw me.”
She didn’t say anything, but she understood.
Looking at his strong profile, Lila remembered all the reasons she found him attractive. Sure, he was tall and built like a god, but he was also honest, loyal, and smart.
He was sweet with her and he made her laugh, and Nick definitely wasn’t one who could be described as sweet. He certainly hadn’t been sweet this morning.
“What brought you back to Mimosa?” When he’d left for his last mission four months earlier, she hadn’t expected to be abandoned so abruptly. One morning he’d gone out to pick up milk for coffee, and he never came back. After a departure like that, she hadn’t expected to see him again.
“Why I’m back is a very long story.” Like she’d done, he started tossing rocks into the water.
“I have time.”
Nick grimaced and Lila’s radar started pinging. Loudly. Something in his posture, the slope of his shoulders, particularly, told Lila he’d been through a lot. Taking his hand and squeezing, she needed to find out what happened.
The warmth of her skin on his soothed him.
Nick hadn’t thought he’d have to tell anyone about his accident, as the agency had called it, but Lila deserved an explanation. There were parts he’d leave out because the information was deemed classified, but he could tell her most of it. Hopefully, it would clear the air between them.
“I’ve never had to deploy to an assignment as quickly as I did the day I left you. Quite literally, I was tossed into the back of a black SUV at the back of the Super Min.”
“Seriously? In broad daylight?”
“Yep. I’m just happy no one saw it. For a minute I thought I was being abducted. I do have a few enemies.”
Lila gave him the side eye. “Enemies. You mean people who want you dead.”
He chuckled. This woman was something special. “More or less. Are you one of them?”
“I’ll let you know,” she replied. Then she stilled. She was thinking. “I didn’t know what had happened,” she said so quietly he could barely hear her. “I mean, Josie told me about you. That you’d drop in and out. But I didn’t think you’d just disappear.”
“Yeah. Neither did I.” He drew a breath because he was about to reveal something it had taken him a long time to wrap his head around. “I didn’t want to leave. That was a first for me. Usually, I’m all ‘Hell, yeah!’ But not this last time. Not with you waiting for me.”
She didn’t respond. Nick took that as a sign that she didn’t believe him, until he saw her gently wipe her eyes. Dammit.
Scooting closer, Nick pulled her into his chest. “Shh. Don’t cry. It won’t happen again.”
“How can you say that? It’s who you are.”
He hesitated, then confessed the truth. “Not anymore. I’m no longer with that unit.” Facing it with Lila close against him helped take the sting away. It was a step. Maybe he was finally at the stage where he could accept it. “I was injured a couple of months ago. They got me out fast and to a hospital in Germany. I was there for six weeks, then in DC until yesterday.”
“What happened? Can you tell me?”
Nick felt Lila’s arms slip around his waist. The warmth that surged through him was familiar, comforting, giving him the push he needed. “I was captured, and while my hosts were trying to persuade me to tell them what I knew, my shoulder was injured.”
There were no questions, but she held him tighter. “Oh, Nick. What else?”
“I did manage to escape, but that involved me jumping out a second story window. I broke my ankle, cracked a few ribs. I was bruised inside and out.”
“You’re okay, though?” Now she looked up, her large blue eyes bright with tears. “I mean. You said you’re not going back…”
“Not now. Maybe not ever. It depends on how I heal. I’ll get a good amount of function back, but probably not what I need. Not enough to do the job.” He wasn’t going to tell her the details, that during the interrogation, it was ripped from the socket. He didn’t even want to think about it. The beatings were intense and regular. He could have given up what he knew and no one would have blamed him.
“I’m sorry. That kind of change must be hard to face.”
“It’s going to be an adjustment.”
But memories of the torture were making the adjustment easier. There were a number of times he thought he’d be better off dead, and wished they’d just finish the job. His nose and cheek had been broken, and every time he looked in the mirror, the small bump on the top of his nose was a reminder. The more he thought about his injuries, it was a miracle he didn’t have brain damage. But these were details she didn’t need. He got the feeling Lila would have those visuals forever, and he didn’t want to be a broken man in her eyes.
Even if he was broken.
“I came to Mimosa to think. To figure out what’s next. I had no idea you were in the house. And as far as the baby, Tony told me you were pregnant when I called to tell him I was here.”
“Didn’t take you long to do the math, I guess.”
“About ten seconds.” They laughed together, and it felt good. Sharing his story, even if it was vague, settled him. “Tell me about the fire.”
She sighed. “Not much to tell. Someone left a candle burning near a window. A curtain caught fire. It spread quickly.”
“Were you hurt?”
She shook her head slowly. “No. Got out with the clothes on my back and my purse. It was pure luck no one was hurt.”
“But your place?”
“There’s only rubble left. We lost everything. I was lucky I had friends who could help me recover.”
Josie. Lila must have called her when she had no place to go.
Nick’s instinct was to jump in and try to solve her problem, but at this juncture, she really didn’t have one. Unless she considered him a problem, and if she did, she wouldn’t be the first.
“Come back to the house with me and eat something. We have to talk about your pregnancy and how we’re going to handle it.”
Things had been going so well until he said that.
“Handle it?” she repeated.
“I just meant—”
“I don’t need to be handled, Nick. Neither does this child. If you don’t want it that’s fine, but there’s nothing to handle.”
Before he could say another word, Lila sprang to her feet and practically sprinted for the house. She might have been pregnant, but she was still strong and athletic. She was also moody as hell. Cripes.
Josie had told him more than once to watch his latent Neanderthal tendencies around women. He’d have to remember that advice.
Rising and following Lila to the house, he saw their closest neighbor, Lena Vandenberg, watering her flowers.
Lena had lived in her house on Mimosa for over twenty years. One of the original owners in this little subdivision, she knew everyone and everything. Her knowledge of all things Barefoot Bay rivaled Charity and Patti at the Super Min, but she was much better at keeping secrets. She was a nice woman and had been one of his grandmother’s best friends.
“Well, well,” she called. “When did you get here?”
“Hi, Mrs. Vandenberg.” Nick veered to his left and stopped at the bottom of her patio steps. “I got in late last night.”
“Must have scared Lila to death.”
“I did. She tried to beat me with one of my grandfather’s old golf clubs.”
“Ha! I love it.”
“It would have been funnier if she hadn’t been scared. How have you been?”
“Not bad. I get up every day. What brings you to our little island?”
No use in lying. “Injury. Have to figure out my next move.”
“It seems to me, the pretty lady in the house should be right up there on your list.”
She was. But telling Lena that would only lead to more questions. “I’ll keep that in mind. Have a good day, ma’am.”
“Hmm. Charmer. You behave, Nick DeMarco.”
He saluted her before he stepped inside the house, and she smiled back. He was charming and Lila should remember that.
He was also an asshole, and she’d remember that without a problem.