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  “I know, but…” She seemed confused.

  “There’s plenty of time for that. Come on, I’m going to give you a t-shirt to wear, and we’re going to lay down and get some sleep. You’ve had a hell of a day.”

  She stuck her lower lip out and pouted. “But...I’m fine.” That lip. Fuck. I wanted her so bad, and I was not gonna do it. I was gonna behave, even if it kept me up all night.

  “Come on.” I pulled her over to the bed and sat her down, then walked to the dresser and grabbed her my favorite Nebraska State football t-shirt. Not only was it my favorite, but I knew she’d look sexy as fuck in it. “Here you go, baby. The bathroom is right over there, and I should have anything you need. But if I don’t, tomorrow, we can get you whatever we’re missing.”

  “Tomorrow? I’m going home tomorrow, aren’t I?” She took the t-shirt, hugging it to her chest.

  “We’ll see what we find at the house. I’d rather you stayed here with me. The thought of you staying way out there by yourself bothers me, especially since you like to answer the door for strangers, wearing nothing but a towel. If you’re here, I know that won’t happen,” I said jokingly, even though I was quite serious. There would be no more of that; she was mine. I admitted it. I just had to convince her of it.

  I changed while she was in the bathroom, but when she opened the door, my jaw dropped. She stood in the doorway, wearing nothing but my football t-shirt and a smile. Her dark brown hair flowing around her shoulders, the light of the bathroom behind her casting a halo around her sexy figure. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Be the good guy. You can do it. I gave myself an internal pep talk while ogling her.

  “Jesus Christ, Jacinda,” I muttered.

  “What? Is something wrong?” She looked down, inspecting herself to see what I was staring at. It was her, and she had no fucking idea. God, I couldn’t get enough of her.

  “No,” I chuckled, running my hand through my hair. “Nothing is wrong at all, baby. Come here.” I pulled the covers down for her to climb in, and caught a glimpse of her bruise. It covered what looked like her ass and went up her back and down her leg. “Fuck baby. Let me see.” I lifted the shirt up, and it looked awful.

  “It’s not as bad as it looks,” she said.

  “It looks like it really hurts.” I touched her gently.

  “It does, but not bad. Those pills are great.” She laughed. “Good thing I ate first this time, though. Who knows what crazy stuff I would have said.”

  I helped her crawl into my king-sized bed, then slipped in beside her. “I don’t know; they were kinda like little truth pills. We should save some,” I teased her.

  As we settled in, and she did what I’d hoped, snuggling into me. I wrapped my arms around her; she was a perfect fit. I wished, in that moment, we hadn’t had our first intimate moments at that damn bar. She deserved to be treated like a princess; hell, she deserved to be treated like a queen. My queen.

  I sighed heavily, relaxing into the moment. “Is everything ok? Am I squishing you?” she asked.

  “No baby, you’re not squishing me. I don’t remember the last time I was this comfortable, actually. Now get some rest.” I kissed the top of her head, and she kissed my chest, where she rested her head. The last thing I remember was smelling that sweet honeysuckle scent of hers before I drifted off to sleep with her in my arms.

  Chapter 13

  Jacinda

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept so well in my life. That bed, his arms around me, and a pain pill, was apparently the magic combination. When I woke up, the sun was just coming up over the fields in view from the enormous bay windows in his bedroom. As I glanced over at him sleeping, I had a brief moment of doubt that I was doing the wrong thing, and needed to get the hell out of there, but then I reconsidered. This man had spent his entire day taking care of me. He wanted me there, and I wanted to be there. He was the kind of man I’d always dreamed of, but was it too soon to be talking like that?

  I didn’t care. I had all summer to figure it out. I wanted him and I wasn’t going to keep fighting it. Musing to myself, happy that I was going to enjoy him, I decided that he needed to wake up. And I wanted to wake him up how I’d like to think every man wants to be woken up every now and again. I lowered my hand from his chest, down to the waistband of his boxer briefs, and started to gently stroke his cock, which was already a bit awake.

  As Flynn started to wake up, realizing what I was doing, he groaned a little. “Baby, what are you doing?” He stroked my hair gently, getting harder by the minute. I wanted him so bad.

  “I’m waking you up,” I said, as I slid my body down, pulling the waistband down completely, bringing his now fully hard cock into my mouth.

  “Oh fuck, baby. That feels so good.” As I licked the tip, I could taste the salty precum already forming and slid his entire cock in my mouth, eliciting another, louder grown. “Fuck,” he moaned out again.

  As I picked up the pace, I could feel the wetness between my legs, and the aching in my core to have him inside me. He pulled me off his cock suddenly, surprising me. “What’s wrong?” I asked, alarmed.

  “Nothing!” he exclaimed, leaning over to the bedside table rummaging through a drawer frantically. He was looking for a condom. “Yes!” He pulled one out and leaned back, relieved.

  Snatching it from him, I tore open the foil, and rolled it on his throbbing dick, right before climbing on top of him. His surprise was evident by the huge smile his sleepy face formed. As he watched me position myself above him, he gently held my hips, being extra careful of the injured side. As I slid down on his shaft, I moaned as he filled me completely.

  Once I’d adjusted, I started to rock my hips gently, as he gripped onto my thighs, letting me ride him slowly. He felt so fucking good, and there was no way I’d last like that. I watched him as he ran his hands along my legs, biting his lip. “God damn, Jacinda. You feel so fucking good, baby. Come here, kiss me,” he demanded.

  As I leaned forward, his cock hit that spot that caused me to start to come undone. I gasped as I tried to kiss him, but my hips began to rock more forcefully, and I moaned into his mouth as he grasped my thighs tighter, feeling me clench around him. I started to ride him faster, wanting my climax, and panting as he rocked his hips, his cock pressing deeper into me. The heat rose between us, and as I started to unravel, he grabbed me by the ass and drove into me, groaning along with me. Unable to contain myself anymore, I cried out as I fucked him with everything I had in me. Two more quick thrusts, and I felt his release follow right after mine. Collapsing on top of him, out of breath, I felt him brush the hair out of my face, then pulled me down and he kissed me passionately.

  “I could get used to that, baby,” he smiled, kissing me again. You’re telling me. That was fucking incredible, and not where I was going with my little wake-up trick. I definitely got the long straw in this deal.

  “Me too,” I grinned, before climbing off him.

  He went to the bathroom to get cleaned up, but came out looking distressed. “Um babe,” he said, staring at me.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, slightly panicked.

  “That condom broke,” he blurted out. A wave of panic washed over me, then I realized I was on the pill.

  “It’s ok. I’m on the pill. That was just extra precaution.”

  His shoulders fell in relief, and the color came back to his face. “Ok, I was worried for a minute there. I mean, I’d have a baby with you tomorrow, if I thought you would, but I don’t want to scare you off,” he said matter-of-factly.

  Scowling at him, I replied, “Yeah, it’s a little soon for that talk, don’t you think?”

  “Maybe.” He winked at me and got back into bed, pulling me into him, where we both fell back asleep, holding each other.

  Chapter 14

  Flynn

  We spent the next five weeks together. All the time, we were together. We worked on her house during the day, came back to my house in the evenings and ate together. Occasion
ally, we worked on my house, but most of all, we got to know each other. We made love all the time, everywhere. Her house, my house, all the rooms in those houses; we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. I took her out, she met my friends. She got along with everyone.

  I knew she was an art teacher, but her job was constantly in jeopardy. I introduced her to my parents at a barbeque they were also invited to. My mom fell in love with her, possibly even more than I was. Ok, well that wasn’t possible, but my parents loved her. When her injuries from the infamous shower incident healed, she started taking my dog for runs. I was completely mad about her, and for the first time in my life, I understood what everyone always said. When the right person shows up in your life, you’ll know. You’ll just know. I could barely remember what life was like before she was in it.

  But there’s always that one thing, right? That elephant in the room you avoid because you don’t want your happiness ripped out from beneath you, like a shitty old rug. She was going to be going back to the city, back to work, in another month. We just avoided the topic altogether until, one night, I couldn’t stand it.

  “Babe, what happens when school starts?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, not picking up what I was putting down at all.

  “I mean, what happens when school starts. You work in the city,” I said, almost curtly.

  “Well, I go back to the city and I go to work, Flynn. That’s where my home is,” she replied, looking confused.

  “What about us?” A pain in my chest was forming, afraid of her answer.

  “Well, I guess we see each other on weekends then?” she said questioningly.

  “I’d rather have you full time,” I pouted.

  She got up from the chair she was reading in, and curled up next to me on the couch she helped me pick out the week before. “I would too, but I have a job, Flynn. This is my summer break. And I’m not saying we can’t keep this going, because I don’t think I could give you up if I tried. But I have a job, an apartment, and a life in the city too.”

  “So, you don’t intend to end this when the summer is over?” I asked, almost surprised.

  Bringing her hand up to my face, she kissed me softly. “Is that what you were afraid of? That I was going to go back and never see you again?” She tilted her head slightly, looking into my eyes for answers.

  “The thought had crossed my mind,” I admitted.

  “I couldn’t do that to us. Who would keep me from burning the house down?” she teased me. In that moment, I knew I was in love with her. She reassured me, and then made me laugh. I loved this woman. “We’ll make it work, baby.” She kissed me again, and this time, we finished our kiss in the bedroom.

  The next morning, I woke up to the sound of her coughing in the bathroom, the water running.

  “Are you ok?” I called out.

  She opened the door, and her face was pale, like she wasn’t feeling well.

  “I’m not feeling so hot. I think I’m coming down with something, stay away.” She held her hands out as if to keep me at bay.

  “Lay down, baby, you look like you don’t feel yourself at all. Was it dinner last night?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. I guess. I feel like I’m seasick. Ugh.” She laid down on the bed and groaned. Almost immediately after her head hit the pillow, she got up and ran back to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. I could hear her getting sick again, and got up to help.

  “Can I come in?” I yelled from the other side of the door.

  “No way!” she hollered back.

  “Baby, let me in!”

  “You’re crazy. You’ll get sick. Stay out!”

  “Um, I’ve probably already caught whatever it is,” I laughed.

  “Not funny. And no. Go away. Go get ready for work.”

  I went ahead and took her orders, and got ready to go over to her house to work on the chandelier. It needed to be rewired, and this was the day I’d planned to do it. I really didn’t need her help for that, but she always found something to do, even if it was just to entertain me while I worked.

  Once she came out of the bathroom, she looked like she was feeling much better. “You should stay here today. I don’t need any help with today’s project. I’ll come home at lunch and check on you, and you can get some rest, ok?”

  She nodded, and crawled back into bed. After tucking her in, I planted a kiss on her forehead and went off to work. I had spent the last month working on her house myself, but did the occasional estimate for other jobs, and had my foreman or my crew take them on. So I figured I’d check on those jobs as well, just to make sure things were going well.

  All of that took way longer than expected, and I didn’t make it back to the house for lunch anywhere near lunchtime. Around three that afternoon, I came home and she was gone. Her stuff was still there, but she was nowhere to be found. After trying her cell a few times, I paced around, waiting to hear back.

  Chapter 15

  Jacinda

  Something wasn’t right. I felt different. It didn’t feel like the damn flu, and dinner was amazing, like it always was, because Flynn did the cooking. So it wasn’t food poisoning, or he’d be sick too. I was pregnant. I just knew it.

  After I showered, and stopped panicking, I let the reality of what it could be set in. I’d be keeping it - him, her, whatever. I wasn’t going to be put in the situation my parents were. Fuck, I needed to know. I got dressed, drove to the little drug store, and bought three pregnancy tests, then proceeded to the diner for coffee because I didn’t need to pee. And I wasn’t going all the way back to Flynn’s house to take these tests. I drank three cups of coffee, pretending I wasn’t about to have a meltdown.

  After all that coffee, I had no problem going to the bathroom in the diner and peeing on all three sticks, waiting for the results. I tapped my foot incessantly, waiting for the minutes to go by, when finally it was time to check them. The first one was kind of pinkish, but the other two were digital, and said in capital letters PREGNANT. Shit. Shit. Shit. I put all the tests back in the boxes and threw them in my purse.

  Looking at myself in the mirror, I turned sideways to see if I looked fat. I didn’t see a bump or anything, so maybe all that coffee tripped the tests up somehow. I knew I was just making shit up to avoid the inevitable; I was pregnant with my new, sort of boyfriend’s baby. Dropping my head in my hands, I turned sad at the thought of how upset he would be. Our summer fun would come to an end - more like a screeching halt. And I had school. I had to go back to teach. Oh the rumors those nasty teachers would spread about the knocked-up art teacher. Ugh.

  I paid my bill and decided the next stop needed to be Doc’s. There weren’t a ton of doctors in town, and at least I knew her, sort of. She didn’t have anyone in the office when I arrived.

  “Well, hi there, Jacinda, how are ya today?” she said cheerfully. “Oh dear, what’s wrong?” she asked, not waiting to hear how I was. Clearly the look on my face spoke volumes.

  “Doc, I’ve got a situation.”

  “Come on back, dear. Let’s talk.” She put her arm around me and led me to the same exam room I had been taken to the last time I was here. Once we were both seated, she said, “Ok, talk to me.”

  I pulled the pregnancy tests out of my purse and set them on the exam table. “I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant.” I ran my hands through my hair frantically.

  “Ok, well, the first thing we’ll do is a little blood test to see how far along you are, if you are in fact pregnant. I will say, those over the counter jobs are pretty accurate. But a blood test is best. So, let’s do that first, and then we’ll talk about what’s next, ok?” She gently patted my knee, and got up to get what she needed.

  Once the blood test had confirmed that I was definitely pregnant, she asked me what I wanted to do.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

  “Do you plan to keep it?” she asked me bluntly.

  “Of course I do!” I exclaimed.
/>   “Good, that’s wonderful. I have to ask, you know. Is it Flynn’s?” She held her hand up. “Never mind, that’s none of my business; you do not have to answer that.”

  “It’s his.”

  “Oh that is wonderful!” she exclaimed.

  “It is?” I asked, confused again.

  “Oh yes, dear. That man deserves a family of his own. This is such wonderful news. Have you told him yet?”

  I shook my head.

  “Ok, well run on home and do that. I’m writing you a prescription for prenatal vitamins. You can make an appointment for four weeks from now, and we’ll do an ultrasound then.”

  I took my prescriptions back to the pharmacy where I had just bought pregnancy tests, which wasn’t at all awkward. Thankfully, the pharmacist didn’t even acknowledge what was running through my head; the new girl in town got knocked up. My head was spinning, and I needed to tell Flynn. I’d have to tell him when he came home for lunch, which was probably soon. But when I checked my watch, I found that it was already after three in the afternoon.

  I dug through my purse and pulled out my phone, seeing that I had four missed calls from him. Shit, he probably came home and wondered what the hell happened to me. Once the pharmacist gave me my new drugs, I took off back to his house at top speed. When I pulled in, he was sitting on the porch, hunched over, elbows on his knees. He looked like he’d been worried, judging by the furrowed brow, which made me feel even worse.

  As I got out of the car, he stood up. “I called you,” was all he said.

  “I know you did. My phone was on silent, I’m so sorry.”

  “I was worried about you, Jacinda. You were so sick this morning and then, when I came home, you were gone. No note, no text. You scared me.” He looked so upset.