One More Chance

Her puckered lips were tempting, and she seemed a bit frustrated that I wasn’t giving in to them, but I didn’t know how smart it was to kiss her while we were in bed like this. What if she pushed for more? Could I tell her no, and if I didn’t, would it hurt her? I moved out of her arms before she could tempt me any more and moved away from her.

“I want to talk to your doctor. Today. As soon as abso-fucking-lutely possible,” I told her.

She sat up and let the covers fall to her waist. The flimsy excuse for clothing she had worn to bed—with no bra—didn’t help. At all. “Is that what’s bothering you?” she asked, seeming almost relieved and a little amused. “I had an appointment yesterday, but I didn’t ask about . . . that. I didn’t think about it being a possibility,” she said, a smile playing on her lips.

“Get dressed, and let’s get some coffee. Wait—can you even drink coffee? Is that safe?” There were so many things I hadn’t thought about, that I didn’t know. I needed a damn class on how to keep Harlow safe and healthy. The helpless feeling I got every time I thought about not being able to save her was beginning to control me already.

“Mase will have made me some decaf,” she assured me as she stood up. Even with the terror of physically hurting her haunting me, my body still reacted to seeing her like this. All sexy and rumpled from sleep. I had to get out of this room.

“OK, I’ll meet you out there for breakfast,” I said, and left the room before she could persuade me to give in and kiss her.

Harlow

I sat back down on the bed and stared at the door Grant had escaped through. He was terrified. It was all over his face and in his actions. When I had seen his face this morning, I had been so happy that I hadn’t thought about his reaction to the news. I had just needed him to hold me. I had wanted him to tell me he would stand by me in this. I had wanted to dream about the family we would have. But the man who had just bolted from the room without even properly kissing me was not going to be capable of fulfilling all of those things.

Of course, Mase was the reason Grant had found out. Mase was scared, too, and calling Rush had been his last hope. I understood that. What Mase didn’t get was that I couldn’t make this decision to soothe Grant’s fears. The truth was, I was scared, too, but that didn’t change anything. Life was full of fears, and running from those fears would keep us from experiences that make life worth living. This baby was a gift—one I would protect.

Dealing with Grant was another thing. I didn’t want him to leave me. I didn’t want to stay here and be a burden to my brother. But just because I didn’t want to do something, that didn’t mean I wouldn’t if I had to. Love shouldn’t make our choices for us; it should just add importance to our choices. Explaining that to Grant and my brother was something I didn’t know how to do.

I would give Grant time to accept this, but if he couldn’t, then I would have to leave again, this time to the safety of my dad’s house in L.A. Even if it was the last place I wanted to be.

The front door to the house opened, and another male voice joined the others in the kitchen. Major was here. He’d made it a habit to have coffee with us ever since Maryann sent him over with biscuits and gravy on his first morning at the ranch. The bully from my childhood was actually quite a charming guy now. A bit of a player—OK, a serious player—but I wasn’t dating him, so I enjoyed his company.

I quickly changed into a pair of cutoff sweats and a long-sleeved T-shirt before walking into the living room and kitchen area. The house was small, so these two areas flowed into each other in one large, open space. The stone fireplace in the living room gave the place a homey feel.

All three men stopped talking and turned to look at me. Grant’s eyes quickly took in my clothing, and he looked pleased. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because he was just happy to be with me. He stood up and walked over to me and pulled me into his arms as if we hadn’t just been in bed together. “I was about to come check on you,” he whispered as he pressed a kiss to my temple.

“Don’t do that in front of me. I got you here, Grant, so at least respect the fact that I don’t want to see your PDA. All it does is remind me of that plane ride I took with the two of you. Not something I want to think about,” Mase grumbled as he frowned up at us. He was sitting across the table with his legs stretched out in front of him and his feet crossed at the ankles. I blushed at the memory of my brother overhearing Grant and me ha**ng s*x on a private plane to L.A.

“Good morning to you, too,” I replied, glad that Grant hadn’t let me go just because of my grumpy brother.

Mase only grunted in return.

“No good morning for me, beautiful?” Major asked with the lazy grin he knew made women everywhere want to please him. He knew I was completely unaffected by him, which made it even more ridiculous that he would flash that smile on me now. Grant’s arms tightened around me, and I felt him tense. He didn’t know Major was a world-class flirt and meant nothing by it.

“Morning, Major,” I replied, snuggling further into Grant’s arms to reassure him. “I see you’ve met . . . Grant,” I finished weakly. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to refer to Grant. “Baby daddy” didn’t seem appropriate.

“Yep, Mase introduced me to him already. I hadn’t realized you had a man. I’m dealing with the heartbreak at the moment,” he replied with that stupid grin. That wasn’t true—I had confessed my feelings for Grant to Major on that hay bale just a few days ago. He was trying to cause trouble. I had started to scold him when Grant loosened his hold on me to take a step toward Major. I reached out to grab his arm, though Major kind of deserved it.