Chapter Twenty-Two

Blake

After the hellacious week I’d just had, seeing Hadley standing across the lawn in a barely-there swimsuit and a smile on her face nearly gutted me. Here I’d been wallowing in the lower pits of hell and she was what? Happy? She sure looked happy. She’d also been shopping. My eyes scanned over her body and I didn’t know whether to spank her or praise her for her choice in swimsuits. Yes, it showed way too much skin, but it also showed that she was pregnant. As always, when I looked at Hadley, I felt a sense of possessiveness, but it was so much more than that. I also felt love and now, thanks to my stupidity, an aching sense of loss. I’d fucked up. Granted, Hadley hadn’t exactly handled things well, but still, I knew she had an issue with my past. She was right, I should have never let Courtney past my front door, much less inside my house, but at the same time she was also wrong, because never, in a million years, would I intentionally try to damage what we had. Yet, I’d done just that.

I wish I could take it all back. At the time, I was too angry to fully comprehend what I’d done. Who did she think she was? She saw me with Courtney, and instead of confronting me like an adult, she jumped to the wrong conclusion...again. Then, when I tried to force her to listen, she flew into a rage and accused me of shit I didn’t do...shit I would never do. It was when I saw the look on her face...the mistrust in her eyes, that I truly got it. Nothing I could say or do would change her mind about me. It was then that something inside me broke and I told her to go. To make matters worse, Courtney then tried to console me and I kicked her out, too. I didn’t want Courtney. I wanted...Hadley. Talk about messed up. It was definitely not one of my finer moments, that’s for sure. Of all the things Hadley said, it was her comment about the tables being turned and what if I’d walked in and busted her and Ashe together, that bothered me the most. Just the thought of her with Ashe infuriated me—so much so that I tracked him down after work the next night and told him to stay the fuck away from Hadley. In his usual dickhead fashion, he goaded me about nailing my woman on a dirty floor and I lost my cool. Ashe may have taken the first swing, but I did the most damage. In the end, I made sure we understood each other.

Ironically, the person to shine a blinding spotlight on how badly I’d messed up, was Hunter. The guy was shit with his own life, but damn if he didn’t have perfect insight into mine.

“You did what?” he asked, shock written all over his face.

“Fuck, Hunter. She accused me of screwing around on her. You should have seen her. It was like everything we’d said and done didn’t matter...like she was looking for an excuse to run.”

“So what? You just let her go?”

“Pretty much,” I answered with a shrug.

“No offense, man, but you are one dumb motherfucker. Look at all the shit you’ve thrown at that woman. She moved here scared out of her mind because she was pregnant, only to discover that her baby daddy is none other than the Dirk Diggler of Charlotte.”

“You’re not helping,” I huffed, thinking that of the two of us, Hunter was more of a porn star than I was. Actually, of the three of us, Zane was the porn star.

“All I’m trying to say is put yourself in her shoes. What if you’d chased Hadley all the way to Alabama and discovered she’d slept with half the town. Would it have bothered you? Would you have stayed?” His words were beyond irritating. They were infuriating. They also hit a nerve.

“So what if I had a healthy sex life? That was before Hadley. The moment I found out she was pregnant, I stepped up, so why am I on trial here?” I angrily snapped.

“Because you kind of are, dude. If you’re serious...and I mean really serious about making things work with Hadley, then you can’t keep Belinda or Courtney or any woman, for that matter, waiting in the wings. You can’t invite them in for tea and crickets.”

“Crumpets,” I corrected.

“I’m pretty sure it’s crickets, but whatever. The point is, you asked Hadley to move in, but then you showed her that she wasn’t safe in your care—not that I’m judging or anything,” he added.

“Yeah, well, you’re sounding pretty damn judgmental to me, Dr. Phil,” I muttered. He smiled.

“I prefer Dr. Oz, but Phil will do in a pinch,” he noted, then continued, “Look, you need to ask yourself what you want. If it’s Hadley, then find a way to get her. If it’s not, then man up and let her go. Either way, you’re still going to be a dad to that kid, so make sure and tread lightly.” He gave me a contemplative look before adding, “Though, I’m kinda hopin’ you cut her loose, ‘cause I sure wouldn’t mind tappin’ that hot ass of hers.” I couldn’t help but laugh. Even though he had some wise moments, the guy wasn’t exactly a rocket scientist.

Over the past three days I’d finally come to grips with the fact that I’d let the best thing I’d ever had slip through my fingers. Hadley Jacobs was everything I never knew I needed and I wanted her back. I wanted her to move in with me and for us to start building a life together. Most of all, I wanted to apologize, to tell her how damn sorry I was. Last night at work Hunter let it slip that he was planning on crashing Cat and Zane’s monthly pool party today, and I knew that Hadley would be there. This was my chance to make things right.

So here I was and there she stood, looking way too pretty for words. The distance between us felt immeasurable. My heart galloped inside my chest as our eyes met and held. I needed to get to her...to touch her. When the door behind her opened and a woman stepped out, I remembered the other entrance.

Not even a minute later, I was around the corner, through the front of the building, and rushing for that door. I swung it open, and there she stood.

“I thought you’d gone!” she gasped.

The word never whispered through my head. “Can we talk?” I asked, thinking that if she said no I’d kidnap her anyway.

“Uh...sure. Let’s go upstairs to my place. Just let me get my cover up.” There was no way in hell I was letting her back outside.

“You can get it later,” I said, holding out my hand to her. Take it, I silently pleaded.

“Oh, okay,” she replied, and without even the slightest hesitation, she slid her hand into mine. A feeling of euphoria swept through me. Hand in hand we strolled to her apartment. Once inside, I pulled her to me, buried my head in her neck, and breathed her in.

“I missed you,” I whispered, my voice weak with emotion.

“God, you have no idea,” she replied on a sob. Pulling back from her neck, I glanced into her gorgeous, tear-filled eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered as I gently wiped her tears. “You were right. I never should have let Courtney past my front door, but you need to know that I wasn’t with her. I wouldn’t do that to you. Not now. Not ever.”

“I know. I saw her there and just...lost it. I try not to let your past get to me, and for the most part, it doesn’t, but I was so excited about seeing you that morning and finding you there with her...” My heart ached as I watched her cry.

Brushing her hair from her face, I whispered, “Shhhh. Baby, I get it, but I need for you to get that I have a past. There’s not much I can do about it, but I can and will do my damndest to protect you from it. I didn’t mean to hurt you and from this moment on, I promise to do everything in my power to never hurt you again, but in return, you have to promise something for me.” When she lifted her eyes to mine, I said, “Promise that you’ll stop holding my past against me. Also, promise that before you fly off into a rage, you’ll first talk to me.” She’d barely spoken the words, “I promise,” before I had her in my arms.

“God, I missed you,” she panted as I lowered the straps of her swimsuit and palmed her beautiful breasts.

“They’re bigger,” I noted with admiration.

“Everything’s bigger,” she dryly replied as she dropped her head back and pushed those babies right in my face. While I contemplated stripping her bare and taking her on the living room floor, I decided we’d probably had enough floor action for now. Grasping her hand, I walked her into the bedroom. Then slowly, so not to miss a single visible inch of what lay beneath, I peeled her swimsuit from her body. When I saw the full extent of her belly...of my child, I dropped to my knees and cupped it between my hands. “That morning, I wanted to surprise you with breakfast and to tell you that I felt the baby move,” she told me.

“You felt it move?” I asked, feeling as if I’d missed out on so much.

“Not it,” she corrected. The way in which she said the words caught my attention. The minute my eyes hit hers, she mouthed, “She.” For a moment I completely lost my breath.

“We’re having a girl?” I gushed on an exhale.

“We’re having a girl,” she repeated, squealing when I suddenly lifted her from the ground and spun her around in the air. When I dropped her onto the bed, the sound of her laughter rolled over me. It was the sweetest sound in the world—a sound I wanted to hear for the rest of my days. As I slowly stripped off my clothes, Hadley’s warm brown eyes melted into liquid lust.

“I missed you...this...us,” I confessed as I crawled up her body and dropped down between her luscious thighs.

“Me, too,” she breathily replied, spreading them wider to accommodate me.

“I have a secret,” I whispered before placing a chaste kiss on her left breast.

“Oh, yeah?” she breathed.

“Actually, I have two. Wanna hear them?” I asked, lightly circling her nipples with my fingers.

“Oh, God,” she groaned. Her scent was intoxicating. Add that to the way she shamelessly rubbed her pussy against my lower abdomen, and I was just shy of detonating. However, I had things that needed to be said.

“Before I tell you, I need to know that you’re still moving in with me.”

She stopped mid-motion and asked, “Can we please do this later?”

“Because if you are, we’re going to need to find a house pretty damn quick,” I continued. Her brow creased in confusion and I explained, “I sold my townhome this morning.”

Her body froze underneath mine. “You did what?” she screeched.

“I want us to start fresh...together, so I sold the town house, which means we need to find a place to live...like fast.”

“Oh my god, you’ve lost your mind,” she said on a laugh.

“No,” I murmured, grazing my fingers down her side and between her legs. She gasped when I slowly plunged them inside. Stroking up and down her slit, I circled around her clit a few times before pulling them out. The look of lust on her face seared through me as I shifted up onto one hand. With my cock in the other, I steered him to her entrance, and with a thrust of my hips, I seated myself deep inside. As I gazed deep into her eyes, I finished my sentence. “I’m just a man in love.” Then I proceeded to show her just how much.

Later, as we lay in each other’s arms, she asked, “When did you know?”

“I think I always knew, but this week without you solidified it for me.”

“I’ve been in love with you since that first night, but this week...” Her response was cut off by a sharp gasp.

“What?” I asked.

She grasped my hand and pressed it into the side of her stomach. “Feel,” she whispered. Seconds passed before I felt a tiny tap against my hand. For the next twenty or so minutes, Hadley had me chasing the baby all over her belly. It was hard to feel the baby move through our laughter, but I didn’t care. All I cared was that we were together. Hadley had agreed to live with me, we were having a baby girl, and we were finally putting this shitty week behind us, once and for all.