Page 6 of Theirs to Have

Cash shoved his hands into his pockets as if trying to stop himself from touching Mercy. He stood next to her and Callan understood the draw of wanting to touch her. He felt the same way. “I need to know little one, how far along are you?” Callan could tell that Cash was holding his breath waiting for her to answer. They both were.

Mercy shook her head as if not wanting to answer Cash’s question. Finally, she sighed and whispered, “Six months.” Cash sucked in a breath and Callan cursed.

“So, the baby is ours?” Cash seemed to give up the fight and pulled her into his arms. Callan felt a pang of jealousy at how willingly Mercy let Cash hold her.

Mercy nodded, “Well, one of yours. I just don’t know which one of you it is,” she sobbed into Cash’s shirt and Callan cuddled up behind her trying to offer her some comfort.

“It’s okay, little one. How could you know which one of us is the father? We both took you at the same time. Fuck, neither one of us used protection. I’m so sorry that we didn’t take better care of protecting you. I just assumed you were on the pill,” Cash said. Callan had to admit, he thought the same thing, but he also felt like a complete asshole for not asking.

“I am on the pill,” Mercy cried. “The doctor said that this happens sometimes, contraception fails and babies are made.” She cupped her tummy, “That’s how this baby was made.” Cash ran his hands down to join hers and damn if they didn’t look like a couple again. Feeling left out by the two of them was starting to piss Callan off.

“I won’t know which one of you is the father until he or she is born.” Mercy looked back to where Callan stood, “There was no reason to tell the both of you. I was going to wait until this peanut was born and then have a paternity test done. I wasn’t trying to keep either of you in the dark, I swear.” Mercy looked nervously between the two of them as if pleading for them to believe her. Callan wasn’t sure what he was thinking or even feeling.

“So, you’ve known about the baby for months now, but you weren’t going to clue us in?” Callan knew that he sounded like a first-class ass, but he didn’t care. It was late and he was ready to go home, drink a few beers, and try to wrap his head around the fact that he might be a dad. Did he even want kids? Hell, up until a few minutes ago, he didn’t have a care in the world, and now, he might be a father. He needed some air and some space and time to think. He couldn’t do that with Cash looking at him like he did something wrong. Mercy looked at him as if he slappedher across the face, hurt and confused. He needed to get out of there, and fast.

“Listen, guys, I have to run. How about you just let me know whenever you figure this all out, honey.” He got into his car and slammed the door, speeding out of the parking lot, he chanced a look back to where Mercy stood in Cash’s arms crying and his friend watching him like he just lost his fucking mind and maybe he had.

Cash

Cash knew that the news of Mercy being pregnant hit Callan hard. His friend felt blindsided and quite honestly, so did he. Cash knew that Mercy was going to be at the wedding today, Jackson had given him a heads-up since she would be paired with him. He wasn’t sure what Jack knew about him and Mercy hooking up with Callan. Jackson knew that Cash liked his privacy and respected the fact that if he didn’t bring it up, then they didn’t talk about it. And Cash didn’t want to talk about Mercy because doing so would mean that he had to think about her and remember the one steamy night the three of them spent together. It was all that he could think about most days and those memories had him longing to hold her for one more night. He knew that was a dangerous game to play, one night would always morph into another and before he knew it, she would be living at his place and demanding a piece of his heart—one that he might not be willing to give.

Watching Mercy walk down the aisle at Jack, Travis, and Emily’s wedding only made him long to claim her even more. She looked so fucking sexy in that little blue dress that she wore with her long, dark hair spilling over her shoulders anddipping down into the swells of her breasts. He spent most of the ceremony hard and when it came time for the reception and the first dance, he worried if he would be able to get through it without whisking Mercy off to a back room and taking her. But then, she refused to dance with him, giving him some bullshit about her ankle hurting and he wasn’t sure if he felt relieved that he wouldn’t have to hold her against his overly eager body or if he was pissed that he wasn’t going to get the chance.

For the rest of the evening, she barely talked to him, hanging out with Regan or some of her and Emily’s friends from the hospital. Hell, until today, Cash didn’t even know where Mercy worked. He was afraid to find out where she worked or lived for fear that he’d show up on her damn doorstep begging her to let him in.

He caught her looking at him throughout the night and a part of him wanted to drag her off by the hair and claim her, but he also knew that if he pushed a girl like Mercy, she’d run. He saw the hint of fear in her eyes every time he caught her stealing a glance at him. By the end of the night, when the band announced the last dance, he knew that his chance to hold Mercy in his arms again was fading away. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her, she was so fucking perfect. He watched the way she looked at the happy newlyweds with longing and for a moment, he wanted to be that for her. But that thought would lead him down a dark road that he wasn’t ready to go back down.

When Mercy gently cupped her tummy he felt like he had been run over by a freight train. The realization that she was pregnant had him throwing all his good sense out of the window and crossing the dance floor to find out if the baby was his or Callan’s. Mercy being so upset that she fainted wasn’t a part of his plan, but it gave him the excuse to hold her again. He lifted her into his arms and carried her out of there like she was his to take and dammit, she was. If the baby was his, there would be noway in hell that he’d ever let Mercy go. Knowing that was even a possibility had his inner caveman roaring to life.

Finding Callan still at the bar was a relief. If Mercy was pregnant with their baby, his friend needed to know. What Cash wasn’t planning on was Callan acting like a complete ass and treating Mercy as if she was disposable. After Callan left, Mercy broke down and cried letting him hold her and her sobs nearly broke him.

“It will be all right, little one,” Cash crooned. He loved the way Mercy fit against his body and thoughts of making her his danced through his mind again. He wasn’t sure what to do about his desires for her. All he knew was that letting her go wasn’t an option. He watched her walk out of his life once and he didn’t know if he could do that again.

“How can you say that? You don’t know that it will all be all right, Cash. I am pregnant and I don’t even know which one of you is the father. Callan just walked away from me like I have the plague and I’m not sure that I blame him.” Mercy sniffled, and Cash noticed the way that she shivered even with Callan’s big jacket around her.

“Let’s get you inside and we can talk there. You’re cold, little one.” Mercy seemed to hesitate, she looked back at his truck and a part of him worried that she would ask him to take her home. He wanted to take her up to his apartment and figure out what the hell he was going to do next. If she wanted to go home, he’d take her, but he was afraid that she would disappear from his life again and that was unacceptable.

“Please Mercy, I just want to talk. Let me take care of you at least for a few hours,” Cash begged. He knew that he sounded desperate, but he didn’t care. Mercy shyly nodded and he let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding.

“Thank you, Cash. I would love to sit down, I’m exhausted.” Mercy wrapped Callan’s jacket tighter around her curvy bodyand a pang of jealousy sliced through Cash. He knew that it was crazy to feel that way, especially since Mercy wasn’t his but he did.

He led her through the dark bar and back to his office, unlocking the door that led up to his apartment. “I haven’t been up here in months,” Cash admitted. “I’m not sure if I have much to eat but I can offer you a drink.”

Mercy sat down on his sofa making herself at home while he turned on lights and rummaged through the kitchen pulling a bottle of vodka from the minibar that he had set up. “Um, I really can’t drink right now, Cash.” Mercy barked out her laugh and he put the bottle back in the bar.

“Right, sorry. I haven’t been around too many pregnant women. How about some water?” Mercy smiled and nodded. He grabbed two glasses and filled them with some bottled water from the refrigerator. He crossed back into his tiny living room and handed her the glass noting the way she was still shivering.

“Sorry, it’s a little chilly up here. I keep the heat set lower when no one is using the place.” Cash sat down next to Mercy and pulled her against his body, hoping to share some of his body heat with her. Hell, he wanted to share a whole lot more than just some body heat, but they would get to that.

Her rigid body didn’t give him much hope for her accepting anything that he was about to suggest but he had nothing to lose. “Mercy, I’m just trying to warm you up.” She sighed against his chest and relaxed some in his arms. He could still tell that she was uneasy about being at his apartment with him. Cash had to admit that being there felt strange to him too. After he woke to see Mercy sneaking out of his place, after the night that the three of them spent together, he found that he just didn’t want to be there. He had a cleaning crew go through weekly but other than that and the occasional friend that needed a place to crash, his apartment stood empty.

“Why haven’t you been staying here?” Mercy whispered. “If it’s okay for me to ask,” she quickly added.

Cash hesitated. Should he be honest and tell Mercy that memories of their night together kept him up most nights and that the thoughts of being here without her and even Callan felt wrong? He wasn’t sure if Mercy was ready to hear the truth from him, but he had no choice. He wouldn’t lie to her.

“I didn’t want to be here without you or Callan. It just didn’t feel—right.” Mercy groaned and tried to push away from him. He tightened his arm around her waist not letting her run from him or the truth. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, little one. I know it sounds crazy, but I have no other explanation.”

“Please let me up, Cash.” He sighed and released her. He knew that he had probably pushed her too hard, but he didn’t care. Mercy stood and paced in front of him, and he resisted the urge to pull her back down and roll her under his body. She palmed her bump, and his eyes followed her little round belly. He wanted to do the same, touch her and their baby but he sat on the sofa, his eyes glued to her every movement.

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