“It’s not my dream, Piper. Not even close.”

God, not that again. I wanted to scrub my brain free of his voice. But I couldn’t.

I shouldn’t be thinking about this now, of all times. But that parting shot and the way Hudson had just stood there silently and let me babble in my nervousness—I was almost sure I’d even mentioned something about boyfriend pillows—replayed in my head on a constant loop.

Now wasn’t the time to dwell on it. Would it ever be the right time?

Probably not if my tear ducts had anything to say about it. They really preferred not to be called into service.

Besides, I had friend duties to attend to.

I rushed across the parking lot to the front doors. Wheelchairs were being filled and emptied by the dozen thanks to two large patient services vans parked out front. I skirted around the back of one and slipped into the hospital.

I didn’t need to stop and check where I was going. This place was almost as familiar as my house at this point. I was getting used to Callie and these false alarms. However, each one was a little bit more stressful than the last.

It had been two weeks since things had gone sideways with Hudson. One minute, I’d been ready to strip him out of his clothes and give him a proper welcome home. But then he’d asked a question I thought I had the answer for.

The most reasonable solution for a man like Hudson. The one that would allow me to keep him as my very own and give him the freedom to work and not worry about me.

Instead he’d allowed me to ramble like a fool then quite literally pushed me out the door with an armful of asters and roses and a stony, reserved face that followed me into dreams. Not the man I’d come to lov—

Nope.

Not thinking about that, remember?

I just couldn’t.

I couldn’t even process what had happened. He’d never actually said not to contact him again though. Did that mean it wasn’t really the—

God, I couldn’t even say the word end in my head. I couldn’t shuffle all the pieces into any semblance of order. I hadn’t known what to do after he’d put me out. Who did that to someone they supposedly cared about?

I’d literally stared at his door for a full ten minutes, my arms shaking under the weight of the crystal vase. Kinda like I was at this stupid elevator right now. I shook my head when I realized I hadn’t even hit the up button yet.

I slapped the button and rolled my eyes when the doors opened right away. “Get it together, Piper.”

When I’d gotten to his condo that day, my entire focus had been on showing him how much I missed him. I probably should have noticed he had more on his mind. Maybe that was why he threw everything I said back in my face.

He had important stuff to worry about. I did too. Along with the kind of stuff I’d never wanted.

Emotional chaos.

The pain followed me around, no matter how much I tried to work through it. Anytime I didn’t have something taking up my complete attention, I would relive that conversation. The nights were the worst. I ached for him. Not just his body, though that was definitely a factor. I didn’t even realize how alone I’d been until I let him in. And now…

I shut my eyes and released a long, slow breath. The cafe was still on an upswing. Maybe even more so now that we’d broken up. Not that we were ever officially a couple.

But speculation had spread the more times he’d come in to see me. Now he was suddenly gone. I had to listen to the whispers from the regulars. They were afraid to ask me where Hudson was, but they certainly didn’t mind asking Tabs. The worst part was the new Hammered song, “Unbreak the Broken” was playing on a constant rotation. And while I didn’t have to listen to him sing, the slow build of the song was all guitars and drums until there was nothing but the beat pounding in my chest.

Powerful and consuming, this new single was so different from the heavy stadium rock songs the band usually played. The lyrics were full of rage and hope. No matter the time of day, I seemed to have Hammered radar, and I couldn’t help but listen to the song.

Sometimes I even listened to it in my car just so I could have a piece of him fill the hole in my chest for four minutes and eleven seconds.

Even Maya was moping around the cafe, trailing behind me in hopes that she’d see her beloved human. She’d only swiped at me a half dozen times. She was being positively sweet compared to her usual self.

At least Baby Blackwell’s impending delivery kept me busy. I’d been going to the last of the appointments Callie had when Owen was unable to get away. Even if Callie was constantly pushing me to call Hudson. Luckily, she was heavily pregnant. It reduced the urge to smack her.

The rest of the hours in between, I spent in my workshop. I’d finished three orders that weren’t due until after Christmas. My house was cleaner that it had been since I moved in, and I’d taught myself how to make truffles to support my chocolate habit.

Oh, and new jeans had definitely been bought. Considering I couldn’t stop stuffing my face with chocolate at work or home, those five pounds had come on like a speeding bus with Sandra Bullock at the wheel.

The doors of the elevator opened as my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and answered immediately at the name on the screen, hurrying out onto her floor. “I’m on my way.”

“You don’t need to rush.” Callie’s voice was full of frustration.

“What do you mean I don’t have to rush? Aren’t you having the baby?” I was flying down the corridors of the hospital, phone illegally stuck to my ear. I’d even made Tabs drop me off so I could get there as quickly as humanly possible.

“Even if I was in active labor, we’d have time. But, alas, I am not.”

“Oh, no. Not again.” I skimmed the numbers on the doors looking for her room.

She huffed out a sigh. “I know I keep crying wolf, but I thought it was for real this time.” Her voice changed. “No, that’s the Go-Bag. My purse—there you go. Thanks, honey.”

I came around the corner to find a room full of people. I hung up and dropped my phone in my bag as I catalogued all the strangers. A trio of women I’d never met were clustered around the windows, all on their phones. At least I wasn’t the only one breaking the rules. Two of them were dressed in Barbie-style Chanel suits with blond hair. One was in a power red, and the other a powdery pink. The third woman was older, dressed in denim and cotton with a tumble of auburn hair.

“Hey, you.” Callie caught my gaze with a grateful smile and stuffed her phone in her pocket. She was perched on the edge of a hospital bed in the maternity ward. “They’re kicking me out again. Evidently, it’s on like Donkey Kong with the birthing this week. You know, except for me.”

I crossed to her. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m good.” She patted her belly. “This one isn’t quite ready to vacate. Though he keeps throwing out SOS signals, the little prince.”

“Princess,” Owen corrected as he pushed away from the wall. Another gentleman stood beside him, a near carbon copy of him with salt and pepper hair. “We can all fit in the truck, bunny.”

“Not in my current state.” Owen opened his mouth to argue, but Callie held up her hand. “Take our parents to the house. I’ve got it covered. You don’t want them to try and figure out our ridiculous highways at this time of day. They came right from the airport, so there’s all that to deal with too.”

“They’ll be fine.” Owen’s eyes were bloodshot and his lips were pinched with stress.

“Blackbeard, seriously.”

“Calliope, we’ll be fine.” The elegant woman in the pink suit stepped forward. “Owen’s mother and your Aunt Vivian have survived this long without being chauffeured by your husband. We can hire a service.”

Callie dragged Owen down to her eye-line by his lapels. “I need just a few minutes alone,” she said between gritted teeth. “So please take them back to the house. I’m in good hands. You know that I am.”

Owen glanced at me then back to his wife. “All right.” He cupped her face. “This baby will be coming very soon, love. I swear it.”

“It feels like he’s stuck in there.” She grabbed my hand. “Besides, I’ve got Piper with me.”

“But I don’t—” I squeaked when her grip strengthened until the bones of my fingers rubbed together. “I’ve got her,” I said automatically.

Owen started herding. “All right, mums, off we go. We’ll get Cal some food on the way home. Ice cream, right, love?”

“Yes, please.”

“Are you sure?” Callie’s mother stopped beside her. She didn’t look comfortable with the situation in the least, but she was there.

I was surprised. From what Callie had told me, her socialite mother wasn’t exactly the warmest of creatures. Maybe a baby had been enough to break that ice.

“Da?”

“Right.” Another Irish voice boomed through the room, not quite as charming as Owen’s. “Ladies, we’re all getting back to the house so we can get things settled for our girl, yeah?”

Callie sagged against me as the last person left. “Oh, sweet Jesus, thank you. They were en route to my house when I had another false alarm. I swear, I’m going to go absolutely mad. And my doctor is going to redline me soon.”

“Where’s Ava?”

“My mother’s here. My sister practically sprinted out the door when she arrived.” Callie waggled her phone. “She’s been texting me to make sure I’m okay.”

Ava had come off the road to stay with Callie during the last month of her sister’s pregnancy. We’d sort of been doing the Three Musketeers thing for all the appointments lately. “I don’t have my car with me, Callie.”

“Oh, that’s fine. Hudson’s here.”

“What?” My pulse spiked and I pushed my hair out of my face. Suddenly, my work clothes felt so frumpy and ugly. God, why did it matter? “No. Nooo.” I narrowed my eyes at Callie. “I need to leave.”

“No, you need to stay here with me.”

My eyebrows snapped down. “Are you kidding me right now? Tell me you are not matchmaking.”

“No. I wasn’t.” She shrugged. “Well, now I am. You guys need to talk.”

“We are so past talking. He said everything he needed to say that night.” Actually, he hadn’t said nearly enough that made sense to me, but what he had said was plenty memorable.

You’re not the woman I thought you were. Really? I was a heck of a lot of woman, thank you. Sometimes too much.

“Sunshine, I got those ice chips you asked…” Hudson’s wide shoulders filled the door frame.

My heart stuttered. He was back to the remote man I’d met in the cafe that first day. Oh, it was obvious he still had his easy smiles and charm for Callie. Just not for me any longer.

His unrelieved black pants, shirt, and vest were stiff and too formal. He looked like he belonged in a boardroom with Callie’s rich parents more than in a band.

He took a step back into the hall. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

“No, stay. We’re ready to go. And you’re going to drop Piper off on the way. I think you remember where she lives.”

I shook my head. “I can call an Uber. Really.”

Callie gripped my arm. “No, I’d rather you stay with me. Besides, your place isn’t that far from me.”

His jaw muscle jumped. He glanced at me, then quickly away. “Of course. I’ll get the car and meet you guys downstairs.” Then he was gone.

I helped Callie to her feet with brisk efficiency. It was all I could do right now. We shuffled over to the wheelchair waiting by the door. The trip to the elevator was silent. The wait for the next available car was eternal.

“Dammit, Piper.” Callie slapped the arm of the wheelchair. “You guys are so good together. I know you miss him.”

I gripped the handles until my hands ached as much as my heart. The doors opened and I rolled her into the elevator. “I told him I wanted to make things work with us. I’d give him space for the times he was on the road and make myself available when he could come see me. What more could a man want?” I slapped the button for the lobby.

“You what?” She twisted in the chair. “You didn’t tell me that part.”

“It’s the dream for a guy like Hudson. He gets the best of both worlds.”

“I can’t believe either one of you. In fact, you deserve each other.”

I swallowed down the lump that always seemed to be lodged in my throat lately. “Don’t worry about us, all right? We’ve got to get you home and comfortable.”

Callie just waved away my words as we navigated to the front door of the hospital. Hudson’s vintage Mustang was parked in the fire zone and he was arguing with the security guy trying make him move it.

“There they are.” Hudson rushed to help me. “I’ve got it.”

I stepped back.

“All right. Well, move it people.” The guard walked away.

We both helped Callie into the oversized bench-style back seat so she could turn to the side. She stretched the huge seat belt around her and smiled at us. “There we go. I’m all cinched in. Well, as much as a whale can be contained.”

“Beautiful whale,” Hudson said. He glanced at me and then waited for me to turn in my seat before closing my door.

It was a tense fifteen minutes as we drove to the highway.

The air conditioning was blasting against the sun beating down on us. His black leather seats seemed to suck up the mid-morning heat. The worst part was that it worked like a damn diffuser. The entire front of the car smelled like him. It took everything inside of me not to leap across the bench seat.

I didn’t know where we’d gone wrong, but I sure as hell knew where we were right.

“Can you crank the air? I’m dying back here.”

“It’s cranked.”

Callie blew out a breath. “I swear these Braxton-Hicks are going to be the very death of me.” She rubbed her lower back.

“You sure you’re okay?” I turned in my seat.

“Yes. I’ve had four doctors up my damn skirt today. This baby isn’t budging. Just gotta deal with these stupid contractions until he finally arrives.”

Another twenty minutes of silence was going to kill me, but the traffic was backed up to the interchange and beyond.

Maybe half of that time had gone by when Callie lowered the window and blew out a breath. “Um, guys?”

“What?” we both asked.

“Yeah, well, about that whole…you know, baby not coming thing?”

“Yeah?” Hudson asked carefully.

“My water broke.”

“In my car!” he thundered.

I winced and flicked my seatbelt off so I could turn around fully on my knees. “Oh, crap.” The pretty pink skirt of Callie’s dress was definitely wet.

“Are you fucking kidding me here?” Wyatt yelled.

“No. I didn’t mean to, and don’t yell at me!” Callie exhaled shakily. “So all those little cramps? I think those were finally the real deal.”

She unhooked her seatbelt and swung her legs up on the bench seat. “I’m thinking maybe the doctors don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground and I’m having this baby now.”

Hudson looked at me in horror. “She can’t have the baby here.”

“Well, I’m thinking I will be,” Callie answered.

He grabbed my hand. “Get back with her and look.”

Fear made me clutch his hand, our fingers interlocking. “What the hell do I know about babies?”

“You said you’ve helped out with cats. You know, with a litter.”

“This is not the same.”

“Just try.” He swiped his thumb over my hand like he used to.

“This so isn’t a good idea.” But I climbed over the seat to sit across from Callie. She was blowing out crazy pregnancy breaths and I took her hands. “Okay, we’ve done all the classes for this, remember?”

She nodded and let out even breaths. “Oh God. Call Owen. Please!”

“Right. Um, maybe we should try for an ambulance instead first.”

“Anything.” Callie squeezed my hands until they went completely numb.

“Hudson. You need to call nine-one-one.”

“How do you do that from a freaking moving car? What location do I give them?” He rolled down his window and held his hand out of the car to a guy in the next lane.

The guy ignored him.

Shitty California drivers—shocker.

“Jesus, fuck. I can’t get off. We’re on the on ramp.” His voice was tight with stress.

“Hudson. Come on, get a doctor on the phone.” I shoved up my sleeves.

“What? Oh God.”

There was much screaming and possibly a little bit of mayhem after that. It got hazy between Hudson yelling out the window for people to move their cars and a relay conversation to have an ambulance meet us at the next exit.

Owen called in the middle of it all, which only increased the worry factor.

“Hudson.”

“What?”

“Stop screaming. I need you calm.”

“Right. I’m sorry. The ambulance is right there and I can’t fucking get there.” He slammed his hand on the steering wheel. “Not the time to get hysterical. Shouldn’t I be saying that to you guys?”

Callie relaxed as the contractions lessened. She slumped against the door, her phone clutched in her hand as Owen kept talking to her with each successive wave. “I know you’ll get me there. Owen says he knows you will too.”

The clear worry in Hudson’s hazel eyes as he met my gaze in the rearview mirror shook something loose in me. I was wasting so much precious time being proud.

I didn’t know how we’d gotten here, but I wasn’t going to let another minute pass without laying it all on the line. What I wanted was so much more than the halfway relationship I’d tried to suggest under duress at his place.

It was time for the real deal.

“Hudson, I need you.” The words popped out before I could stop them. The words I’d really wanted to say since the second night I’d spent with him.

“What?” He twisted around to look at me in the backseat. “You need me what?”

“I just need you. I know I screwed up. I said all that stuff so you wouldn’t leave me and you left anyway. I wanted to just make things easier so you’d be happy. But then you just… I’m sorry. I love you and I don’t want to only be with you when you’re home. I want you all the time. I want you every day that you’re home and sometimes maybe I can come to see you on the road. I’m so tired of missing you.”

“You…now? You’re telling me this now?” Hudson craned his neck to look at me more fully. His changeable eyes were now a bright gold with a fierceness that made tears prick my eyes. Tears I thought I’d lost the ability to make.

“Okay, you’re going to make me cry.” Callie sniffed.

Hudson wrenched the steering wheel and hopped the curb. He blared the horn and revved the engine until the cars started moving to the side to let him up on the shoulder. He slammed the shifter into park, pushed the seat back as much as he could without disrupting Callie, and shifted until he was sorta awkwardly on his knees. Almost. He had to be in agony in that weird position. “Say it again.”

“Which part?” I squeaked.

“You know which fucking part.” He gripped the seat, possibly for balance. Or to divert some of the pain from being bent like a Hudson-shaped pretzel.

I dragged in a breath. “I love you. I think I’ve loved you from the moment you stood in the street outside my house at two in the morning.”

“Guys, maybe not quite the time for this. Here we go, another one’s coming.”

Hudson reached into the backseat and I inched forward so he could cup the back of my head to drag me in for a hard, hot kiss. “I love you so much I can’t even breathe around it. I don’t care what it takes, we’re going to make this work. I promise you. Everything in my life has been to get to you. I understand that now.”

“This is really beautiful.” Callie blew out a growling breath. “And if I wasn’t trying to squeeze a human out of my body I’d be all about this, but right now, I’m going to rip your steering wheel off your precious car and beat you with it, Hudson Jefferson Wyatt. Can I have this baby first? Then we get the love and marriage proposal?” Callie screeched.

“Right.” I glanced at him and grinned wide. “Right, let’s do this. Show us why you were one of the best Formula One racers on the circuit.”

He twisted forward in his seat and threw it in drive. He maneuvered his way down the shoulder and into a small gap in the traffic. The EMTs had set up cones and flares, leading us right to them on the side of the road.

Finally, the car came to a stop.

“Piper!”

“I’m here.” I clasped Callie’s arms to let her dig her nails into me. It seemed to make her feel better. Right now, I’d do anything to make her feel better.

Callie was in the grip of another contraction and I was focused on keeping her calm. “You can do this. You are going to have this beautiful baby today.”

“Not without Owen.” Fat tears rolled down Callie’s red face. “I can’t do this without him.”

“Owen will be here, I promise. But you know what? You totally can do it without him if you have to. We’ll be right here with you, okay?”

She nodded. “Okay.” She bit back a sob. “Okay.”

The backseat driver’s side door flew open and Hudson disappeared for a moment. Then the passenger’s side back door opened and a pair of strong arms dragged me out of the car. “Wait!”

“It’s okay, kitten.”

I staggered into Hudson and let him hold me close. His arm was firmly around me as the EMTs took over and hauled Callie out of the car and onto a board so they could get her to the ambulance.

We hustled after them and tried to climb into the ambulance with her.

“Only family, ma’am,” the female EMT said.

“Just try and stop me. I’m her coach. I get to be with her.”

The woman huffed out a sigh. “Ma’am, it’s against protocol.”

“Is any of this protocol?” I waved to the side of the road with the cars flying by and flares kicking out smoke.

“Bunny!”

I spun around at Owen’s voice coming from the road.

Callie struggled against the IV and emergency blanket they’d covered her with. “Owen. Oh, thank God.”

Owen’s boots clomped as he raced down the shoulder of the highway. His truck was parked crooked a few hundred feet back. He got to the ambulance and climbed in without asking for permission.

“I knew I shouldn’t have left you.” He clutched her hand and crowded in on the bench seat.

“People, we have to go.” The female EMT flipped down the blanket. “She’s fully effaced.” She turned to Owen. “You’re the father.”

His blue eyes gleamed with a sheen of tears. “Sure am. Husband too.”

“Then we’ve got all our bases covered. Back it up, you two.”

I stumbled back. Part of me wanted to get into the ambulance with them, but then I saw Owen with his forehead pressed to Callie’s, his voice low with words of encouragement and love.

All the things Callie needed right now.

Hudson slid his arm around my hip and pressed his lips to my temple. “Come on, kitten. Let’s get into the car so we can follow.”

A moment later, Owen’s truck backed up and flew down the highway after the ambulance, his father at the wheel.

I nodded. “I’m not sure they need us anymore though.”

“Too bad. We need to be there. I know you want to be.”

I sniffed. “I do.”

“Then off we go.” He held out his hand to me. “But you’re not getting rid of me. I heard you say the words. You can’t take them back.”

I dashed away the tears that I hadn’t realized were falling. “I don’t want to. I’m sorry I didn’t say them the first time. I was just…” I closed my eyes and pressed my face into his chest. Into the heat and smell of him that I knew so very well and missed oh, so much. “I was so afraid I was going to lose you. I wanted to make it easy for you to be with me.”

“I don’t want easy. And I should’ve made that clearer myself. It takes two to mess things up, you know.” He pressed his lips against the top of my head, then reached down to tip up my chin so he could look into my eyes. “But just so there’s no mistaking it now—I want everything, Piper. The hard parts, the easy, the crazy things in between. I even want your freaking cats because they’re part of you.”

“You’re going to make me cry.”

He dashed away the tears with his thumbs. “No crying. I love you. That’s the only thing that matters today. We’ve got time to figure out the rest of it.”

I rose onto my toes and he met me halfway.

Cars rushed by us and the distant scream of a siren reminded me of where we were, but I took just another minute to breathe him in and hold him close. I’d almost lost him because I was afraid to call him mine.

I was never going to do that again. I just hope he knew what he was getting himself into.