Page 20 of Baby, Be Mine

“I got myself into this mess, and I’m the one who has to deal with it.”

It sounded like there was more to the story. “But you have family, right?”

She got quiet and turned her head to look at me.

Damn, those huge blue eyes. She already looked exhausted, but she was excruciatingly beautiful as well. And she seemed insanely young too. “We’re in this together.” I cleared my throat. “At least until you let me go to get your phone.”

“Don’t go. Just…for a minute. I—”

“It’s okay.” I wiggled back a little to brace my back on the post and opened my legs to let her use me for support. I remembered seeing something about this position in the baby books I’d read by the dozen. Mostly to ease my brother’s mind when Gina had been pregnant. And my own nightmares about being stranded with her while Jared was on shift. “Ease back against me like I’m one of those huge teddy bears from the fair.”

She laughed.

“We’ll just look out on the water and calm things down, okay?”

She nodded and relaxed a little.

The sun bounced off the water, making the swells of the waves sparkle and flash.

“Distract me.” She shifted against me, obviously uncomfortable. “What made you buy this place?”

“That.”I absently stroked her arms which were as soft as the water we were looking at. “My older brother lives on this lake too. Not too far from my restaurant. He’s also the Chief of the CCPD.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. I grew up nearby. Back when Crescent Cove was just a nearby sleepy town with a few shops. My father has a greenhouse and little plant shop on the edge of town. There wasn’t a damn thing to do here. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever come back.”

Her fingers flexed on my thigh as the contractions started up again. “Keep talking. Distract me.”

“Right. I left because small town life was too boring.”

“Me too. My hometown is even smaller,” she said with a gasp. She gripped the window ledge with her other hand and nearly levered herself up and off me.

I didn’t know where to put my hands.

“Feels like this is gonna get really crazy, Mason.”

She arched and I grabbed her before she rolled off the bench. “I’m getting that.” I gripped her hips to hold her against me, squeezing her with my inner thighs to keep her braced.

“Tell me about the restaurant!” Her voice was practically a growl.

“Okay. I stood on that shore right there. The very place that I built the dock. The place had a little shack that sold fish fries and the old man wanted to sell.”

“This is not a shack.” Her voice was wild and an octave away from crazy.

“Not anymore. Not after I bought the land.” Old Man Landis didn’t want to sell to just anyone. He’d made me promise him that I wouldn’t sell to Maitland Enterprises no matter what they offered me. Me and Xavier Hastings bought it. Not that he wanted many people to know that. I couldn’t afford it on my own. I had a sizable nest egg from working overseas. I worked cruise ships and yachts, hell, I’d even been a flight attendant for a while. Once I got the wanderlust out of my blood, I realized that all I really wanted was home.”

“I really like your restaurant.” She gritted her teeth and breathed out a keening cry that made my teeth sing. “And now I’m here to make you even more awesome. I’m going to make this boat awesome.”

She was going to give me a heart attack, that was for certain. “Emma…”

“I am. You’ll see.” She dug her nails into my thigh. “I drove into your parking lot and just felt it. That I was meant to be here. Then I stepped out of my station wagon and just knew this was supposed to be my place.”

I recognized the feeling. I’d felt the zing of knowing when I’d stood on the lake, but the timing could not be worse. But right now, she wasn’t thinking straight. Pain made people crazy. “Did you say station wagon?”

She laughed. “I need a seat for a baby, right? And I’m not about that minivan life. But I can rock out a station wagon with wood paneling.”

I laughed. “Do they even make those anymore?”

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