Chapter 13
Harper
I saw him pull into the driveway. His helmet was on, and his jacket was covering his body, but I knew it was him. Those strong arms and those long legs straddling that smooth red and chrome bike. I sat down on the edge of my bed as I listened to the doorbell ring. My mother was already in bed and I was already in my pajamas. I could hear the two of them talking as Cade’s low tones rumbled up the stairs.
I closed my eyes and imagined he was speaking with me. He was right there. Right downstairs in my fucking home. I felt my body warm at that idea. I felt a ricocheting shiver slither up my spine. I listened closely as my father walked up the stairs, disappearing into his bedroom to do whatever the hell it was my mother and him did before they fell asleep.
I wondered what I should do. Should I risk going down and talking to him? Should I stay up here? I could go downstairs for some water and encounter him that way. I could go grab another blanket out of the hallway closet and peer downstairs. I could hear my parent’s snoring coming from their rooms as I racked my brain for what to do.
The father of my child was downstairs, and I didn’t know what my next move needed to be.
I got up from my bed and paced back and forth. My stomach was protruding, and my heartburn was returning. If I didn’t get it under control soon, I’d have to go downstairs for some milk anyway. I groaned, my hand pressing into my stomach as my little boy began to kick.
He was really giving me a run for my money.
Just then, I heard a sound. I stopped my movements as my heart thundered in my ears. Was that a creak? Was someone in the house? Of course, there was someone in the house. Cade was fucking in the house. But when I stopped I couldn’t hear the noise, so I went back to pacing.
Until the doorknob of my room turned.
Whipping myself around, I watched the door swing open. My eyes widened as I took in his form, his rock hard body standing in the doorway. Cade’s eyes drilled into mine, his light green eyes peering from underneath his stern brow. His eyes fell on my stomach as I rubbed it, trying to get my son to stop kicking.
Our son to stop kicking.
“You can’t be here,” I said in a whisper.
But all he did was come in and shut the door.
“Cade, if my parents find you in here, my parents are gonna kill me,” I said harshly.
“We need to go talk somewhere,” Cade said.
Fuck, how I’d missed that voice. I allowed it to rush over me. To wrap me up in its rumbling warmth and relax my body. I ran my eyes up and down his form, taking in the strength of his legs and the length of his body. I knew that ever second I spent behind these closed doors with him spelled trouble with my father.
At least if we went outside somewhere, I could take the blame and tell my father I couldn’t sleep.
“Okay,” I said, sighing. “We have a private garden in the back.”
“Lead the way,” Cade said.
Grabbing my robe, I slipped my feet in my slippers. I walked past Cade as my robe fluttered against his body. I could feel him studying me. I could feel him taking me in. Cade helped me down the stairs as our feet bypassed the noisy steps, and I sighed with relief once we dumped out into the backyard. My parents’ snores were still coming from their rooms, rattling the walls as I rolled my eyes.
How the hell could the two of them stand one another?
We walked out into the middle of the garden my mother kept up to relieve her stress. Roses and tulips and trees were fading, and the leaves were beginning to change colors. The grass was green and smelled of fresh air, and the dirt beneath our feet was fraught with water and pliable against my heels. I closed my eyes as we walked through the small pathway, the stones dumping out to a porch swing set up in the middle of our backyard.
I walked over to the swing and leaned against the post, knowing that if I sat down, Cade would sit next to me.
And the last thing I needed was to be reminded of how wonderful his body felt against mine.
I looked up at him from underneath my eyelashes. The way he loomed over me and the way his eyes kept scanning the perimeter made me aware of the danger that lurked in the shadows. He took slow steps towards me, his body hovering as he guarded me against every angle. I could feel his heat radiating from my body. Pounding me with its warmth as his musky scent reached my nostrils.
I was inches away from feeling his leather against my skin before he stopped.
“Is the baby mine?”
I looked up into Cade’s eyes and lost myself in his beauty. In the way, the shadows played off his sharp features. I could see the vein in his neck pulsing, and I wished to rake my teeth across it. I could feel the phantom pangs of his large hands coming down against my ass, and my knees shook at the memory of them.
I had no way to run from this anymore.
“Yes,” I said as I swallowed thickly. “It is.”