Page 90 of Theirs to Take

As for Ranger, Millie was sure that finding out that she was pregnant wouldn’t change things between them. He had sent her a message and she received it loud and clear. After she foolishly asked him out, and he basically laughed in her face and told her no, he stopped talking to her all together. It was embarrassing enough to be turned down but to have him ignore her hurt.

The morning after they slept together, he pushed her to let him move into her apartment. He said it was for her own good—to keep her safe. That made her feel cheap like he had sex with her just so she’d agree to let him move in. He had used sex to get what he wanted from her—her compliance, and that was something she would not give him.

Millie refused to let him stay at her place, she told him that if he wanted to protect her, then he could continue to do so from Ruby’s apartment. She also let him know that if they wanted to stay with her because he wanted to be with her, then she’d allow him to move in. Millie had never seen a man backtrack so fast in her life. It was as if Ranger’s ass was on fire with the way that he beat it out of her place and went back to Ruby’s. He didn’t want her. He wanted to keep a promise to his friends that he’d keep her safe, and that wasn’t something that Millie was willing to help him do.

She wanted to kick herself for agreeing to take his job offer. Well, it wasn’t exactly a job offer. He said that McTavish could use someone with her skill set. She didn’t give him the chance to tell her that there wasn’t really a job offer. She foolishly believed that working with Ranger would bring them closer, and afterthey had sex, she wasn’t thinking clearly. Millie said that she’d take the job and asked Ranger when he wanted her to start and that was it. He told her to come in on Monday and he’d walk her through everything and get her set up with HR.

She wasn’t sure what she was expecting to happen after that. Maybe she had bought into the romantic notion of them spending time together at work and falling madly in love with each other, but that never happened. Ranger seemed to find ways to avoid her. He barely spoke to her unless it was absolutely necessary for work, and usually, he’d have Luke do it. He completely ghosted her.

When she figured out that she was pregnant, she knew that she had to make some hard and fast decisions. Millie thought about telling Ranger about the baby, but then, every time she tried to corner him to have that conversation, he dodged her. She tried to tell him five times—five, and when she got the brush off the fifth time, she decided that enough was enough. Millie knew that she couldn’t raise a child with a man who wouldn’t even speak to her, so she decided to leave town. What was the point of sticking around?

Ruby had stopped coming around as much since she and Luke had gotten a place out in the country. She saw her friend once or twice a month and that was usually around McTavish. Ruby was busy with Luke—building her new life and getting ready for the baby. Watching how happy her friend was should have made her happy too, but it didn’t. Instead, Millie only saw what she wanted and didn’t have. She was going to be a single mom and have no support from a loving partner. Sticking around and watching Ruby have everything that Millie wanted wasn’t her idea of a good time. So, she gave her notice at McTavish, making sure that Ranger would be the one to receive it since he was technically her boss, and then, she packed up her meager belongings and left town. She had found a job thatshe could work from home, and she really didn’t have to move—that part was a total lie. Millie could work from anywhere, but she knew that she couldn’t stay in town. Her friends would start noticing her baby bump sooner or later, and then, Ranger would find out about the little secret that she was keeping. Millie knew that she’d have to tell him about the baby eventually, but she wanted time to think before that happened. Plus, there was nothing he could do for her until after the baby got there. That’s when she planned on telling him and leaving town was her only option, and it worked out for her too—at first.

She liked her new little apartment. It had just enough room for her and the baby. Later, when the baby grew and would need a room of his or her own, she’d find a bigger place, but for now, she’d save some money for everything that the baby would need. Baby items weren’t cheap, and the crib alone was going to set her back almost a week’s salary. Still, she had a little bit of time and was a master at budgeting. Plus, she learned to scout out yard sales and secondhand shops for almost everything that she was going to need. If she played her cards right, she could be ready before the baby got there, and that was the plan. Millie would have to take a couple of weeks off, but for the most part, she’d be able to get back to work quickly, working from home. Being able to work around her baby’s schedule was one of the main reasons she took the job. Millie also liked the fact that she wouldn’t have to put the baby in daycare to return to work. She was really beginning to feel as though she had gotten her life together—until that call with Ruby.

Millie would have never thought that Ruby would betray her the way that she had, putting the call on speaker for Ranger to listen to and getting her to say things that she normally wouldn’t. Ruby wasn’t playing fair, and now, Millie had to figure out what to do next.

She sat back on the sofa, her hand on her belly, and smiled. “I think that we’ll stay right here,” she said. “I’m sure that your father won’t bother to come looking for us, and if he does, I’ll just tell him to leave us alone.” She half expected a response but got none. She knew that her plan to stick around could backfire on her. Ranger could show up and prove her wrong. The only question that remained was why was she actually hoping for that to happen. Millie didn’t usually like to be proven wrong, but in this case, she’d make an exception.

Ranger

Ranger left Luke and Ruby’s house to run to his own, grab a few essentials, and then, he took off for the address that he’d found for Millie. She wasn’t the only one who could track people down. He had done a pretty good job finding her when she made it nearly impossible to find where she had moved to. Her only mistake was that she left her new address with HR to have her last paycheck sent. It took him breaking into the HR office after hours and going through her file, but he had found her.

He drove two hours south and finally found the apartment complex in a not-so-great-looking part of town. He was sure that she had picked the most run-down place in the whole county and moved into it. What the hell was she thinking?

Ranger parked his car in the lot in front of her building and practically ran up the two flights of steps to her place on the second floor. There was no security and nothing to stop anyone from getting into her place—him included.

He banged on the door a few times, and when she didn’t answer, he shouted her name through the door. “Millie, I know that you’re in there,” he yelled.

A little, old woman to the left of Millie’s apartment opened her door and peeked out at him. “Do I need to call the police?” she asked.

“No ma’am,” he insisted. “I just need to talk to Millie. Do you know her?”

“Nope,” the woman said, “that one keeps to herself.” That sounded like Millie—well, what he knew of her. Ranger really didn’t know her much at all, besides what he learned about her during their one night together. He remembered everything about her from that night, including her breathy little sighs every time he kissed her or touched her just right. He shook his head, trying to shake those memories loose so that he could concentrate on the here and now.

“Are you all right?” the woman asked.

“I am,” he lied. He wasn’t. Nothing about what was happening made him feel all right in any way. “I just really need to talk to Millie.”

“I noticed that she’s pregnant,” the woman said. Yeah, everyone had noticed that except for him. “Are you the baby’s father?” It wasn’t any of Millie’s nosey neighbor’s business, but maybe if he answered just a few of her questions, he’d be able to get into her place to talk to her.

“I am,” he admitted. “Although, she didn’t bother telling me that. I just found out and that’s why I’d like to talk to her.” There, maybe a bit of honesty would play in his favor.

“If you promise not to upset her, I can give you a key to her place. My friend who used to live there passed away and I still have the key she gave me. I doubt that Millie changed the locks since she moved in.” Yeah, he doubted that too.

“Thank you,” he said. “I really appreciate it.” He waited outside the older woman’s door for her to return with the key. She handed it to him and smiled.

“Go easy on her,” she said. “Us women make some crazy decisions when we find out that we’re pregnant. Just give her a chance to explain,” she said.

Ranger nodded and thanked her. It wasn’t really Millie who needed to explain anything to him. He was the one who had some explaining to do. He was the one who had shut her out of his life and basically turned his back on her. Ranger didn’t give her a chance to tell him about the baby, and that was on him.

He quietly walked back to Millie’s door and opened it, hoping that she didn’t buy a gun or taser in the past couple of months. He was essentially breaking into her place, and she’d have every right to clobber him over the head if given the chance. He waved to her neighbor who was still watching him and quietly shut her front door. The last thing he needed while he groveled was an audience.

Ranger looked around her tiny apartment. It looked like Millie had already started to buy a few things for the baby and the thought of not being included in any of that made him sad. He walked back through the dark apartment to the only bedroom and found Millie sleeping. She looked so peaceful, he almost didn’t want to wake her, but he had to. He didn’t come all this way to not talk to her.

He reached down and touched her shoulder, shaking her just a bit. “Millie,” he whispered.

“Not now,” she breathed.

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