Page 3 of Teasing a King

I don’t think I’m ready to tell Luke just yet. I’ll have to tell him eventually. I just need some more time to work through things in my personal life. First things first, though. I have to tell my baby daddy.

Afterward, I can tell Hope. I could use some of her optimism right now. I need her to tell me everything is going to be okay. Whatever happens, I know she’ll support me. That’s the kind of friend she is. But Van deserves to know first, since it affects him just as much as it does me. I just hope he takes it well. I wince.How is he supposed to handle that news, Mya?‘Surprise, you're going to be a dad’ isn't usually high on every single guy's list of things they want to hear from a one-night stand. Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t blurt it out like that. I’ll find a way to soften the blow a bit. Use a little tact. Yeah, tact. I can do that. I’ll tell him tactfully that he knocked me up.

Another wave of nausea comes over me and I pull the car to the side of the road and breathe deeply until it passes. I've gotten better at managing my morning sickness in the last two weeks. Still, sometimes it hits me hard, and I have no choice but to vomit. Keeping saltines by my bed for when I wake up in the morning seems to help some. But there are times when it comes out of nowhere and I can’t do anything except lie down until it passes. It’s after 4pm now. Why the hell does anyone call it morning sickness? In my experience, it’s more like anytime-of-the-freaking-day sickness.

The nausea eventually passes, and I feel up to finishing the drive to Mack’s. The parking lot is half-full when I pull in which means the restaurant shouldn’t be overly crowded. I don’t know if Van is working or not, but he lives above the restaurant, so odds are good that he’s here. I sit in my car for a few extra minutes, giving myself a mental pep talk to boost my confidence. Eventually though, I tell myself to just do it. It’s the only way. I climb from the car.

When I walk into the restaurant, my eyes scan the dining room searching for a familiar set of shoulders. I see Wyatt first, his nearly shoulder-length hair and tattooed arms making it obvious it’s him and not his twin. He’s behind the bar, filling a glass with beer. I look him over without him seeing me as I approach.

Wyatt is attractive, certainly. He’s tall and muscled, but he’s leaner than his two older brothers. He and Van are built more like swimmers. It’s easy to see why Hope fell into bed with Wyatt. After getting to know him and seeing the way he is with her, I can also understand why she fell in love with him. He’s funny, charming and ridiculously handsome. All the King men are good-looking, though. It’s almost unfair to have that many hot people in one family.

On that note, it’s not hard to understand why I fell into bed with Van. He’s just as handsome as his three brothers. More so, actually. Even though he and Wyatt are identical twins, there’s something about Van that’s different. It’s not just the haircut or the lack of ink on his skin. It’s something in his eyes. He has a way of looking at you and making you feel truly seen. That thought brings back memories of our night together. Those intense blue eyes locked on me as he slid slowly into me, inch by inch. My breath catches at the unbidden memory, and I have to force my thoughts back to the present. Now is not the time to fantasize about Van King.

I make my way to the bar without seeing Van anywhere. Maybe he’s not working today. I feel a mix of disappointment and relief that I have a little more time before telling him. I’m such a coward. Putting this off isn’t going to make the conversation any easier. Maybe Wyatt knows where he is. But that means asking him outright which will immediately make him wonder why I’m looking for his brother. As far as anyone knows, Van and I are nothing more than casual acquaintances. I steel myself for the questions I’m bound to get from Wyatt.

“Okay, I’m out of here.”

My head whips around at the familiar voice and I see Van walking out from a back hallway. My heart races in my chest as I stand frozen. His gaze is on his phone at first, but he looks up just before I can muster the courage to speak. When he sees me, he stops in his tracks and stares, mouth agape. Then a wide smile spreads across his face, making my stomach flip in a way that has nothing to do with morning sickness.

“Hey,” he says, walking slowly toward me. His voice is just as sexy as I remember. There’s something in his tone that sounds like a sexy promise. How I get all that from a single word, I don’t know.

He looks good. Who am I kidding? He looks amazing. His dark hair is slightly longer than it had been the last time I’d seen him. It’s messy in a way that looks like he just rolled out of bed. Now I’m picturing him in bed again.Stop that!His jaw has a shadow of a beard that somehow makes him look even sexier. Those devastating blue eyes are fixed on me as though he doesn’t see anyone else in the room.

“Mya!” Wyatt calls out to my right, pulling my attention from Van. “Hope didn’t tell me you were coming,” he says, walking toward me with a big grin on his face. “It’s good to see you.” He pulls me to him in a brief, friendly hug.

I give him a smile, but my gaze goes back to Van who’s standing there silently. “It’s a surprise visit,” I say, trying to make my voice sound normal. “I’m going to see her next.”

I’m not sure I succeed because Wyatt gives me a puzzled look. “You stopped by here, first?”

I shrug. “I wasn’t sure if she’d be here or not,” I lie, knowing that sounds stupid. Hope is a writer. She does most of her work on her laptop at home, when she’s not traveling. That didn’t change just because she moved to Oak Hill. Besides, I just talked to her on the phone last night. I know good and well that she’s not at Mack’s.

“Right,” Wyatt says, drawing out the word. His gaze goes from Van back to me. I can see the question in his eyes, but he’s tactful enough not to say anything aloud. “Well, she’s not here today, I’m afraid.”

I smile again, wondering if he can tell how forced it feels. “I’ll head over there next.”

Wyatt nods slowly. “I’m going to get back to work. It’s good to see you, Mya. I’m sure I’ll see you later?”

I just nod and force a smile. “Definitely.”

He walks back toward the bar slowly, shaking his head as if confused. I’m sure he’s probably putting puzzle pieces together and figuring out that I’m here to see his brother. I can’t worry about that right now. Van’s family was always going to find out about the two of us once I made the decision to come back here. Speaking of Van, he’s still standing there looking at me as if he can’t quite believe I’m real.

“Hi,” I say lamely.

He smiles. “Hi.” His gaze travels down the length of my body and back up to my face. “You look incredible,” he says in a low voice that steals my breath.

I can’t help but smile. This time it’s genuine. For just a second, I imagine I’m just here visiting friends and not here to turn his whole world upside down. “Thanks. So do you.”

He grins and shakes his head. “Did you come to visit Hope?”

There it is. So much for pretending. My stomach rolls and I suck in a shaky breath and blow it out. “Not exactly. Is there somewhere we can talk? Privately?”

I see a hint of concern in his blue eyes, but he nods and gestures back down the hallway he’d just exited. “Is everything okay?”

I ignore the question and follow him back through the kitchen and into a small office. The room is tiny, a desk and two chairs taking up most of the space. As soon as the door closes behind us, Van turns to face me. He’s so close I can smell him. I breathe deeply through my nose, the scent of him threatening to bring back the memory of the last time we were this close. I push those thoughts back and move as far away from him as the tiny office will allow. Van seems to sense the seriousness of the moment and lingers back near the closed door, giving me my space.

“Mya are you okay?” he asks.

The concern in his voice makes my throat tighten with the possibility of tears. I swallow them back. I will get through this without crying. I’ve done enough crying in the past few weeks to last a lifetime. I’ve thought of a dozen different ways to have this conversation, but now that I’m here, it seems that they’ve all escaped me. Besides, I’m not sure there’s a good way to have someone you barely know tell you that you’re having a child with them.

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