“You have no idea,” I replied.
He nodded. “I’m sure I have some idea.”
I gave him a knowing grin. Poor guy. Today was their first day on their honeymoon and his new wife had already dragged him out of their bungalow. Sucks for him.
My phone went off in my khaki dress pants.
“Excuse me,” I said, pulling it out. Cord’s name splashed across my screen.
Cord: You need to come home. Now.
I typed out a quick response.
Me: Piss off. I’m on my honeymoon, dickhead.
Cord: Listen here, Grumpy Smurf, Mom has lost her damn mind. I need you here to distract her from her current mission.
Damn. He’d piqued my interest.
Me: What is she doing?
Cord: She is butting into my life. That’s what she’s doing. I guess she got bored with Trevor, so she’s coming after me.
I chuckled.
Me: How exactly is she coming after you?
Cord: She thinks I’ve grown a fondness for the Irish. I opened my refrigerator today to find three tubs of Irish butter in there!
I laughed, and Harley glanced my way. Her smile nearly sent me to the ground each time. I had pinched myself a dozen times over the last few days, making sure this wasn’t one of my dreams where I dared to think Harley and I would ever get back together.
Me: My wife is giving me fuck-me eyes…later.
Cord: DUDE! Too. Much. Information.
Slipping my phone into my pocket, I cleared my throat. “Honey, we better get to our dinner reservation.”
Harley nodded. “Enjoy your trip tomorrow! I hope you have fun.”
The young woman clapped her hands in excitement while her poor bastard husband forced a smile.
“So they seemed nice.”
“They’ll be fighting in less than twenty-four hours.”
She looked up at me and frowned. “How do you know?”
“It’s easy. You can tell by the poor guy’s body language he hasn’t been able to have sex with his wife yet. She’s probably kept him going since they landed on the island.”
Harley covered her mouth to hide her laughter. “She did mention they’ve been on the go exploring all day.”
“See? Poor bastard.”
Hitting me in the stomach, Harley laced her fingers in mine as we made our way to dinner.
After an amazing meal and another round of conversations with yet another couple on their honeymoon, I practically dragged Harley back to our bungalow.
The moment we walked into the room, I had her pinned up against the door. My mouth on hers. I knew my unshaven face was rough against her mouth and face, but she didn’t complain. Instead she wrapped her hand around my neck and pulled me in closer. My hand went behind her leg, lifting it at the knee while I pushed my hard cock into her stomach.
“I can’t get enough of you,” she whispered against my mouth.
“Good, because I feel the same way.”
Her hands slid under my polo shirt. When she squeezed my nipples, I bit her lip. We both moaned. Two seconds later, my shirt was off and her hands were exploring my bare chest.
“Your body is so damn amazing.”
My fingertips trailed across her cleavage. “So is yours. This damn red dress is driving me fucking insane.”
“As insane as when you saw me on our wedding night?”
My eyes closed. I pictured Harley standing in front of me dressed in nothing but a baby blue lace bra, matching panties and those fuck-me shoes that laced up her legs. I had her whimpering on the bed of the hotel as I slowly took them off.
I let out a deep growl. My eyes snapped open and our gaze locked.
“More insane.”
Her teeth sank into her lip and I pulled it out, gently sucking it. Grabbing her hips, I walked backwards, kissing her lips, down her neck, then back up to her lips.
When my legs hit the sofa, I spread out over it, motioning for her to crawl on top of me.
“Why, Mr. Parker. Are you wanting me to take control this evening?”
The lust in her eyes was unmistakable.
“If that’s what you want.”
She nodded, and crawled on top of me. Placing her finger under my chin, my gaze met hers. I could easily get lost in those eyes. Those light green eyes that were the color of emeralds. The slight specks of golden yellow seemed to sparkle when she was turned on.
As she lowered her body, my hand went to her thigh.
“What I want is for you to take control. I want you fast and hard, then slow and gentle.”
My cock strained against my zipper, making me moan. I was so hard it was almost painful.
“Fucking hell, Harley.”
Her finger traced my lips before she pushed it into my mouth.
“Did I mention I wasn’t wearing any panties?”
And like that, I was lost. Flipping her over, I acted like a madman. One hand pushed her dress up, exposing her sweet, wet pussy, while the other hand managed to get my dick out of my pants.
“Hard and fast?” I asked, pushing my fingers into her, priming her for what she’d asked for.
“Exactly.”
One quick move and I was buried balls deep inside of my wife. A hissing yes came from her mouth with each pull out and hard thrust back in. I gave her exactly what she wanted. What I needed. We’d had some pretty intense sex over the last few days, but each time we were together was better than the last.
Her hands rubbed against my chest as she arched her back.
“Harder, Tripp,” she demanded. “I’m so close.”
My body was covered in sweat, and I realized we both still had our damn shoes on. When her nails dug into my back and her eyes closed, I knew she was close. One move of my hips, and she was calling out my name. Fuck, I loved hearing it fall from her lips. Especially when they were swollen from kissing.
The feel of her pulsing around my cock made me come so hard I swore I saw stars. Stilling inside her, I held my body up while we both caught our breath.
“Shower?” I asked, slowly pulling out of her.
Her mumbled response made me smile. My wife had been thoroughly fucked, and she looked like it. I stripped out of my shoes and the rest of my clothes before taking off her high heels and pulling that fucking sexy dress off her even sexier body. I couldn’t wait to see her pregnant with our baby. It was an image I had dreamed about many times over the past few weeks.
We stood in the hot water for the longest time, her body up against mine. I shampooed her hair then conditioned it. After I washed her head to toe, she returned the favor. When I lifted her up and slowly sank her down on me, she gave me the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen. We made love slowly. The moment was beautiful. She was beautiful.
July
“Progress is good.” Jonathon said, walking Tripp and I through both the vet clinic and Tripp’s new office.
“Do you think I’ll still be able to get in by early fall?” I asked, chewing on my nail.
“Once everything gets framed in, weather won’t be a problem.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. It had already been a wetter-than-normal start to the summer, and we couldn’t afford delays. Gerald had turned down our proposal to rent the space from him to keep the vet clinic open until I was able to get mine up and running. The day after the money was wired to my account, he had the building knocked down. The land now sat void of anything. How that man was Doc Harris’s brother was beyond me. Rumor had it he was planning on building a house there. Doc had apologized a dozen or more times. I assured him in the end, everything had worked out. If it hadn’t been for Gerald, I might not have gone to Tripp’s office that day. We wouldn’t be married, and I wouldn’t be getting ready to tell my husband I had missed my period.
The pregnancy test was tucked safely in the middle section of my purse. I had peed on it, slipped it back into the box and hadn’t looked at it since.
“That’s great, Jonathon!” Tripp said, sla
pping his future brother-in-law on the back. “Now, when is it exactly you’re going to be marrying my sister?”
Jonathon’s face turned a few shades whiter. When he took a step back, Tripp let out a low grumble.
“You didn’t,” he said with a touch of anger, but even more amusement in his voice.
“It was Waylynn’s idea. We had your folks, my folks, and Liberty there with us.”
I gasped. “Y’all got married!”
A smile bigger than the state of Texas spread over his face. “Yeah. It was just to make it official. Once Liberty gets a little bigger, we’re thinking a beach wedding.”
“Oh! I love that idea!” I said, rushing into his arms. “Congratulations!”
“Thanks, Harley.”
Tripp extended his hand. “As long as my folks were there, I’m good with it.”
“We plan on announcing it tonight at the family dinner,” Jonathon said. His happiness shone. I was surprised Tripp and I hadn’t noticed it before now.
A car door shut behind us, making us turn around. Mitchell jogged around Corina’s car and helped her out.
“Holy shit!” Tripp whispered. “She’s huge.”
I hit him. “Hush up, Tripp Parker.”
They made their way over to us. Well, Mitchell made his way, Corina sort of wobbled. She looked miserable.
“Hey there!” I said, rushing to her so she didn’t have to keep walking. I hugged her, while her stomach had me arching to get my arms around her.
“How are you feeling?”
She sighed. “Big. Hot. Big.”
I tried to give her a sympathetic smile, and she returned one, but it didn’t touch her eyes. Something was off.
“Wow, this place is really coming along,” Mitchell said.
Tripp, Mitchell, and Jonathon walked off to talk about everything men talk about on a construction site.
“Come on, let’s sit in the chairs.”
Corina looked at the camping chairs. “I won’t be able to get back up if I sit in that.”
I laughed. “Yes, you will. Let’s get you off your feet.”
After making our way over to them, I decided to see if Corina knew anything about Amelia.
“So the day of my wedding, Chloe mentioned something to me.”
Corina was fanning herself with a piece of paper she had brought from the car, a makeshift fan. Poor thing. I was secretly hoping I was pregnant. If so, I’d be giving birth in the winter and wouldn’t have to deal with the Texas heat at nine months pregnant.
“What did she mention?” Corina asked.
“It was something about Amelia.”
The fanning stopped and our eyes met. She knew something…or at least she suspected something. Leaning toward me, her brows pulled in tight.
“What do you know?” we said at once.
“I don’t know anything!” we exclaimed in unison.
Falling into a fit of laughter, Corina rested her hands on her stomach.
“Honestly, I don’t know anything, but we all suspect it. She hasn’t said a word, and Mitchell and Steed have started to ask Wade when they thought they would start a family. The man is like stone. He responded with something like, ‘In a few more years. We want it to be just us for right now.’ Or something like that.”
Chewing on my fingernail, an idea occurred to me. “Corina, what if Amelia is pregnant and hasn’t told Wade?”
Her face dropped.
“You don’t think so, do you? I know Wade said that, but he would be over the moon if they were having a baby.”
“I don’t know. I can’t imagine she would be able to hide it. I mean, I can’t wait to show Tripp the pregnancy…”
Stopping abruptly, I tried to cover my mistake. “The, um, the progress of the vet clinic.”
Corina slowly shook her head. “No way. You cannot hide that blunder, Mrs. Parker.”
“Why, Mrs. Parker, I don’t know what you mean,” I said, placing my hand over my chest in a fake shocked way. Okay…that had to be a Parker gesture. Once you married into the family it wore off on you.
“Harley! Are you?” Corina whispered. Her body jerked and she let out a quick breath.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She nodded. “Just got too excited.”
I watched as she rubbed her stomach. Placing my hand on it, I felt her belly tighten and watched her breathe heavily until the contraction subsided.
“Braxton Hicks, I’m sure,” she said.
“That was a pretty strong contraction from the look on your face, Corina. And I felt it.”
She chewed her lips. First the bottom, then the top. Tears formed in her eyes. “I’m not due for another few weeks. I’m scared.”
I dropped down in front of her. “Sweetheart, it’s okay to be scared. I would be too.”
“What if the baby isn’t ready to come out?”
“He or she is. I promise.” Reaching for her hands, I pulled her out of the chair. “Is everything packed up?”
“Yes. My bag is in the car already. Mitchell likes being prepared.”
I giggled. “Smart guy.”
“He’s going to panic. I know he is. It’s all for nothing. I’m sure it’s just a false alarm.”
“Nah. He was a cop, he’ll be fine, and better to be safe than sorry.”
We made our way over to the guys. When we stopped in front of them and stood there in silence, the three of them turned to us.
Mitchell looked at Corina and frowned.
“It’s probably nothing,” Corina said with a light-hearted laugh. Then she looked down at the ground. “Or…it is something.” Her head jerked up, and I knew.
“Your water broke, didn’t it?”
She nodded.
“Wait! What?” Mitchell yelled. “Water broke! Now? It’s time? You’re in labor?”
We stared at Mitchell as he spun in a circle to the left, then to the right. His hands pushed into his air and then down his face.
“Right now? It’s not time!”
Jonathon grabbed him. “Mitchell. Dude! Calm down, you freaking out isn’t going to help Corina.”
That seemed to snap him out of it. In one second, he calmed. Rushing to Corina, he cupped her face within his hands and gave her a sweet smile. My God. Every single one of the Parker brothers were handsome. Each of them had a smile that was sure to melt any woman’s heart. The way Mitchell was looking at Corina right now was even melting my heart.
“Are you okay to drive to the hospital, Mitchell?” I asked.
Tripp’s gaze bounced among all of us. “Hold on. You’re going to have the baby? Like…right now?”
I laughed. “Not right now, but her water broke so we need to get her to the hospital in Uvalde. How about I ride with Corina and Mitchell? Tripp, you follow me, and Jonathon, you get on the horn and alert the family.”
“I’m on it,” Jonathon said, pulling out his phone. He kissed Corina on the cheek. “See you soon. You’ve got this!”
Turning to Mitchell, he gave him a hard look. “You’re fixin’ to be Papa Smurf.”
We all laughed and Mitchell’s shoulders relaxed. He wrapped his arm around Corina and guided her to the car.
“Tripp, can you get the towel in the backseat of your truck? Oh, and grab my purse.”
He nodded and took off. Mitchell made it to Corina’s car, and I glanced over to see what was taking Tripp so long. He ran up and handed Mitchell the towel. He laid it in the passenger seat and helped Corina back into the car.
Handing me my purse, Tripp kissed me on the lips quickly. “Y’all be careful driving, and I’ll meet you there.”
By the time we got to the hospital, Corina’s contractions were getting closer together. I was proud of how calm Mitchell kept himself. By the time the entire Parker clan arrived, Mitchell and Corina were checked in and had disappeared to their room. Waylynn held a sleeping Liberty in one of those front pouch things. She was still so tiny at three months old. My chest fluttered at the thought I
might be pregnant. I remembered the test in my purse and sighed.
Looks like I won’t be sharing any possible news tonight…
I wasn’t sure how I was going to keep my hands off that test. But I had to. I wanted us to find out together.
Amelia and Wade sat in the corner. I wanted desperately to pull her to the side and demand she tell us whether or not she was pregnant. She looked tired, and my heart ached for her for a reason I wasn’t clear about. I could see sadness in her eyes, though, and that made my stomach knot up.
Paxton sat on the floor and played with Gage. He was walking now, and it kept Paxton and Steed on their toes.
Steed sat next to his parents, Chloe in his lap, as he softly read her a story.
Melanie and John sat with their hands intertwined. John’s leg would jump up and down every now and then, until Tripp leaned over and said something. Whatever he would say, John would calm him down for about ten minutes. Then his leg would jump again.
Melanie’s eyes scanned the room, landing on Waylynn and Liberty for a few moments before moving on to another one of her loved ones. This time it was Jonathon and Paxton who were both trying to keep Gage interested in the game they were playing. Then her eyes locked on mine. I smiled and she returned the gesture.
“Harley, stop pacing, honey. Come sit down,” Melanie said.
“I can’t seem to sit still.”
Tripp stood. “Let’s go find some coffee.”
I nodded. “Good idea.”
We walked off, and I glanced back over my shoulder. “Don’t you need to see who wants some?”
He chuckled. “No. It was an excuse to get you some fresh air.”
“Oh, I could use some fresh air.”
The elevators closed, and I wrung my hands together. The thought of the test sitting in my purse was driving me crazy. Wondering how Corina was doing only added to the insanity.
“I don’t know why I’m a wreck,” I stated with a nervous chuckle.
When we stepped off the elevator, Tripp took my hand in his.
“I know why.”
It took everything out of me to act normal.