Page 32 of Tangled Up With You

When I knocked on the glass to get his attention, his whole body jolted. He bolted upright, smacking his head on the roof of the cab at the same time his elbow flew back and slammed into the window. “Motherfucking fucker! Shit ass goat fucker!” he shouted, rubbing at his sore appendages.

“Sorry! Sorry,” I squeaked holding my hands up and jumping back from the door just as he flung it open. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

He finagled himself out of the backseat, still rubbing at his head as he gave me a squinty-eyed look. “Are you...laughing?”

I curled my lips between my teeth and bit down to keep from smiling as I gave my head a shake.

He rubbed at his eyes and let out a jaw-cracking yawn as he stretched himself out. “Everything okay? Do you need me to take you back to the hospital?”

“No, no. Everything’s fine,” I assured him, appreciating his concern. “I was, um...” I tugged at the collar of my T-shirt and cleared my throat. “I was wondering if you wanted to come inside. To talk,” I added quickly so he wouldn’t get the wrong idea. “I promised that when I was ready, I’d talk to you, and, well, I’m ready if you are.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed on a swallow. “Yeah. Yeah, sure. I’m ready. If you’re ready I’m totally ready.”

The corner of my mouth ticked up in a little grin, the nervous rambling making him a little more endearing to me.

It was like a switch flipped the moment Connor stepped across the threshold and into my house. I was suddenly nervous to share my space with him. He’d only been here one other time, and that visit hadn’t exactly ended well.

He was so damn big that every room he entered felt smaller in his presence. I couldn’t stop wondering what he thought of the eclectic artwork or the old velvet mismatched furniture in a wide array of bright colors.

I fidgeted in place, twisting my fingers together in front of me as he took in Aunt Sylvia’s old macrame designs on the walls or the wild paint choices. Last time we’d been a little too busy trying to kiss each other’s faces off so I didn’t think he’d been paying much attention to his surroundings.

“Didn’t notice how colorful it was in here before,” he said softly as he turned in a circle, taking in what he could see from the living room area. “I love it.”

My brows pinched in surprise. “You do?”

“Of course.” He grinned at me then, wide enough to make those dimples of his pop. “It’s you. Wild and bright and fun. It matches your personality perfectly.”

My cheeks infused with heat as I lowered my face. “Thanks,” I whispered.

He took a step closer, closing enough of the distance between us that I could smell his woodsy, leathery scent. I’d always loved how he smelled. It was rugged and manly and sexy. And it was doing crazy things to my insides. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay, actually. A lot better. That medicine the doctor gave me really worked wonders.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” A shiver ran through me at his gentle tone, and when he reached up to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear, his rough fingers scraping lightly at the sensitive skin on my neck, my whole body broke out in goosebumps.

I took a quick step back, knowing I needed to put distance between us, mainly because of how badly I wanted to lean into his touch. “Um... do you want something to drink? I have water, iced tea, soda... or I got a new ale from Lennix that they just introduced at the Tap Room. It’s really good.” My features pulled into a slight pout. “I won’t be able to drink it now so you might as well finish it off.”

Damn, and I’d really been looking forward to enjoying that beer too.

His smile stretched wider and I told myself that the fluttering sensation in my tummy was pregnancy related; I was full of shit. “Water is fine.”

“Great,” I chirped, my nerves making my voice higher than I’d intended. “Just, uh... take a load off, I guess. I’ll be right back.”

I whipped around and power-walked into the kitchen like my ass was on fire. “Good lord, get your shit together,” I scoldedmyself on a whisper before whipping the refrigerator open and stuffing my face inside to cool my burning skin.

It wasn’t like the guy was a stranger, yet for some reason I was acting like a freaking virgin on prom night. Which was laughable, given that the predicament we were in was proof of just how far from a virgin I actually was.

Filling a glass from the tap, I headed back into the living room, determined to get this over with. It was a serious talk that needed to be had, and I figured the best way to handle it was to just get it over with.

“Here you go.” I handed him the glass and moved over to the deep blue wingback chair across from the couch where Connor was sitting, snuggling into the plush cushion and pulling my feet up to tuck beneath me. I waited as he drank, watching how his throat worked as he swallowed down the water before diving right in.

“So, I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I decided I want to keep the baby.”

His shoulders slumped on a sigh. “I’m really glad,” he said with relief, and I realized then that I’d been worried he might be disappointed with my decision. Hearing that he was happy about it eased a lot of the tension that had my shoulders bunched up around my ears.

I hugged my knees tighter to my chest. “I want you to know that I don’t expect anything from you. You can be as involved as you want to be, and if you decide this isn’t something you want, I’m totally okay with that. I can raise this baby on my own. I don’t want you to think you’re being pressured into anything. This was a shock for both of us, and I get that you might need more time to figure out what you want to do. I know how important your job is for you, and I don’t want you to think I expect you to give anything up so you can move here and help out. I’m good. I’m fine, really. I can do this by myself.”

I didn’t realize that I’d been rambling, pouring every sentence out without taking a single breath, until I finished on a heavy exhale, expelling the air that had been trapped in my lungs.

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