Page 45 of Love Bitters

Imogene

I wake early the next morning to the alarm I’d remembered to set the night before. There’s a kink in my neck that feels like it’s going to take a lot to work out from using Wes’s arm as a pillow all night. It doesn’t help that it’s four in the morning. We’d all sat up for hours, just talking. At one point after my sandwich, they’d moved furniture around and dragged mattresses to the living room. It was so much like my favorite night at the cabin, I’d let them convince me to strip almost all the way down so they could give me a massage as we talked. In the quiet of the night when we dropped our guards down, it was just like old times again. The highlight being when Wes had asked if we were having a boy or a girl. Not only had the man never given up and come back for me, but he was also the first to ask that question. Not purposely giving him a one up on the others, I’d whispered it in his ear. I just felt like he deserved to be the first to know. They’d all given him hell until we fell asleep, trying to get the info out of him. Especially Ollie. He was more persistent than anyone else. If Wes doesn’t tell them soon, then I will, but for now, it’s our little secret.

Now, I’ve got to scoot out from between Wes and Thatch on the mattress and get dressed without waking them. I’d love nothing more than to spend the day like this, but I’ve got work, and I know some of the others do as well. I manage to squeeze out, grab my clothes, and make it all the way to the bathroom without waking anyone. Feeling gritty and decide to go ahead and take a shower before I leave since I’m already in the bathroom. For whatever reason, as soon as I step beneath the warm spray of water, I’m hit with an anxiety attack so bad that I have to prop my arm against the wall to hold me up while tears stream down my face.

I’m only like that for a minute or so before the curtain pulls back slightly to show Murphy on the other side. Already naked, he steps inside before I’ve even stood up straight.

Pulling me to him, he wraps me up in a tight hug, leaving the water to gather between us and stream down our warming skin. “I was going to say turnabout’s fair play since this is how you came to me the first time, forcing me to either share my shower or turn away a beautiful woman. But what’s wrong, babe? Why are you crying in here?”

“You’ll think I’m crazy if I tell you,” I answer honestly.

He snorts softly, the hair on his chest tickling my cheek. “You ran away from us because you didn’t want to burden us with something that was fifty percent our fault. If I can accept that kind of crazy, I’m sure I can take whatever you’ve got for me now.”

“Everything is just too perfect,” I murmur before I lose my nerve.

“Come again?” he replies.

I shrug a little. “I’ve stressed about this for months. In all that time, I never could have foreseen one of you, let alone all of you, forgiving me so easily. Especially under the circumstances. Now, here we are acting like nothing happened. Well, everyone but Thatcher. I’m pretty sure he’s still angry with me. But how long does it last this time? Anything as good as this never lasts.”

His thumb hooks beneath my chin and lifts it so that my eyes can lock onto his dark blue ones. He wipes away a few stray droplets of water that were sliding down my forehead as he says, “Thatch has got his own problems right now. Something we, as his friends, should be ashamed of not helping him with. I don’t think any of us realized it at the time, but we put all of our eggs in the same basket with you. When you left, they just started cracking one by one. We were too worried about keeping one piece at a time together rather than a whole, if that makes any sense at all. Which leads us to the real issue. Yeah, you broke our hearts when you left, and I’d prepared myself to be as angry as Thatch for a long time. But now, knowing why you did it, I get it.”

“So you’re only forgiving me because we’re having a baby?” I ask, the question doing nothing for my anxiety.

He huffs and shakes his head. “No, woman. I cared about you before finding out about the baby. Nothing has changed for me. We just took a little break. All I’m saying is I might have done the same in your shoes. Who knows? It makes it a little easier to forgive when I think about being on your side of the fence.”

“Now,” he starts, brushing a quick kiss across my lips, “can we stop this crying business, so we can shower together? I don’t know about yours, but mine have been pretty boring and lonely lately.”

I let out a short laugh and nod my head, closing my eyes as he lathers shampoo into my hair. I’d never been one to like having my hair played with until that first shower with him. He’d gotten me close to being spoiled by the magic of his hands, and I didn’t realize how much I’d missed it until this moment. In the couple seconds between him rinsing it out and putting in the conditioner, I let my eyes roam over his body. I’d been right with my assessment about more muscles. Not just in the ridges of his abs either. His thighs, shoulders, and arms all have a tighter definition to them.

That wasn’t my biggest shock at seeing him, however. Keeping my eyes open as he lathers in the conditioner, I reach for the beard I’m used to and instead end up rubbing my fingers across shorter stubble. “What happened to your mountain man look?”

His lips pull up at the corners. “Had to get rid of it when I went back to the force.”

“So, you did get your old job back?” I ask, knowing the backstory as to why he had been put on leave to begin with.

He nods. “Yeah. It’s not exactly the same, but I’m back in my uniform again. You’re looking at the station’s newest desk jockey.”

“I’m sorry,” I tell him sincerely, rubbing my palm against his cheek.

Snorting softly, he directs my head back under the spray as he says, “Don’t be. I asked for it. I have no qualms about taking to the streets again on patrol. I just don’t want the same kind of attention and publicity that the case had. I’m just as happy stapling and filing papers.”

I’d bet a jar of peanut butter that he’s not being honest with himself. Murphy isn’t one to sit back on the action when he could be out there helping someone. “I’m not sure how all of the logistics work, but have you thought about maybe being a detective?” I ask.

“Yeah, I’ve considered it,” he replies. “I’d have to go elsewhere if I take that route, though. There are still too many prejudices against the station and captain for him to allow something like that. I’m pretty sure when he offered to let me come back, he’d already decided I was going to be riding the desk anyway. I just beat him to the punch by asking for it.”

My heart breaks for him and what’s happened. He’s a good man and deserves so much better. Then I ran off and left him to deal with it alone because, as he said, the guys weren’t really available for emotional support.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, stepping so close that our bodies are plastered together again.

“No worries,” he reassures, clearly understanding I’m apologizing for my part in making his life miserable too.

After a few more seconds, I come to realize that we’ve got a bigger issue than apologizing for the past. In our present, Murph’s cock is hardening between us and beginning to poke me in the belly. Feeling bolder than I did last night, now that we’ve talked, I do the only thing any woman in her right mind would do. I take him in my hand and work it up and down several times until he’s as hard as he’s going to get.

“You may have to help me back up,” I warn him, dropping gently to my knees.

“Wha-,” he starts, cutting himself off when his cock slips between my lips.

Water flows down his body, some of it splashing off into my face, and I get a glimpse of his blissed-out expression before I have to close my eyes. He doesn’t grab my hair or rock his hips to force me to take him any deeper.

---