Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (223 page)

“I do love you.  You deserve better than me.  You always have.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I never should have asked you to come here.”

“I’m here because I want to be.”

“How can you want to be here?  I’ve treated you like nothing but a slut since you got here.”

She silently agreed, but said out loud “You’re just trying to push me away.  It’s not working.”

“Then you’re an idiot.”

“Thank you Daylin.”

He reached out and brushed her hair back from her face.  “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yes you did.”

“I don’t want you to waste your time with me.  There’s so much more for you out there.”

She nodded to herself.  “There’s a lot better out there than a guy like you Daylin.  I mean damn, who wants to be with a guy who does things like put away college funds for his dead fiancé’s brothers and sisters.  Who offered to cosign for his cousin’s house.  Who snuck away from Thanksgiving dinner at his aunt’s house to set up a surprise for me that led to the most romantic night of my life.  I would be so much better off if I left you here to rot in your misery.”

“Fuck off.”

“Are you honestly going to tell me that you’re not miserable?  Are you trying to tell me that you’re doing well?  Not going to work, barely leaving your house, getting drunk all the time?  That is such a healthy way of dealing with your mother’s death.”

“Everyone deals with death in their own way.  I’m dealing with it in mine.  Why don’t you go take a shower?  You look ready to pass out and I want another taste of you before you go to sleep.”

“Yeah.  And you think that talking dirty and sleazy to me is going to make me go away.”  She leaned over and kissed him.  “I’ve got news for you Daylin.  Sometimes a girl might like it a little rough.”

He was laughing as she headed to the bathroom.  His bathroom was disgusting.  The toilet seat was stained like he’d missed several times and hadn’t bothered to clean it up.  There was a big blob of toothpaste in the sink and what looked like several days’ worth of dirty clothes and towels on the floor.

Luckily, there was a clean towel on the towel rack and soap and shampoo in the shower stall.  She took a long shower, confused thoughts running through her head.  Was she right she wondered?  Was he trying to push her away by acting like an asshole?  Or was he really in such shape that he didn’t care how he treated her?  She hoped it was the former, had a feeling that it was because of what he’d said to her about not being good enough for her, but wasn’t sure.

The thing that bothered her the most was his phone call when she’d been in the liquor store.  She still had a feeling that he’d been talking to another woman.  Had he been messing around with other women since his mom had died?  With the way he’d acted since he’d seen her, she wouldn’t think so.  He’d seemed pretty hard up for sex.  Then again, she knew from experience that Daylin had quite a libido.  Maybe he was supposed to meet someone tonight and he’d called it off. 

She still wasn’t sure of anything by the time that she’d stepped out of the shower other than the fact that she wished she’d brought a change of clothes with her.  She pulled the towel around her and went out to the living room. 

Daylin had made himself a fresh drink and was sitting on the couch in his boxers eating a slice of pizza.  He pulled her down onto his lap.  “I’ve missed you,” he said. 

“I don’t believe you.”

He kissed her mouth.  “I missed you here.”  Took her nipple in his mouth.  “I missed you here.”  Moved his hand down between her legs.  “And I most definitely missed you here.”

“Pervert.”

“I’ll show you a pervert.” 

He picked her up and carried her into the bedroom.  The third time they had sex, it was almost enough to make her believe that everything could go back to normal between them.  He seemed to read her mind like he normally did.  He took it slow when she wanted it slow and seemed to know when she no longer wanted it slow.  When he went back out to the living room to make himself another drink, she fell asleep. 

When she awoke the next morning, there were strange noises coming from the living room.  She sat up in bed and reached for a cigarette, trying to figure out what Daylin was doing.  She lit her cigarette and the noises became more familiar.  Moans, the sliding of bodies.  She took a drag of her cigarette and choked.  It couldn’t be; he wouldn’t she thought.

She took a breath and it dawned on her that he was probably watching a porno.  There had been several on the table last night.  She got up and went to the bedroom door.  She didn’t see anything at first.  She had to move out of the doorway and take a step into the hallway before she could see.  Then she discovered that she didn’t want to see. 

Daylin was naked on the couch, a big busted redhead moving up and down on his lap.  He also had the crotch of a blonde woman in his face.  Jess took a deep breath and slammed the bedroom door.  She couldn’t believe this she thought.

She rummaged around on the bedroom floor and didn’t find her dress.  Which meant it was still in the living room.  Fuck Jess thought.  There was no way in hell she was going out there other than on her way out the door.  She slammed open a drawer on Daylin’s dresser.  Nothing.  She had to open every drawer on his dresser until she found a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

When she was dressed she realized that not only was her jacket in her car she had no shoes to wear besides the heels that she had worn to the wedding.  Which meant she was going to have to walk to the church with no jacket and high heels.  She could still hear the noises of passion coming from the living room.

She closed her eyes and pondered her choices.  She could go out into the living room and scream at Daylin.  She could throw something at both of the sluts that he was involved in a threesome with and then she could put on her stupid heels and walk to the church without a jacket.  Or she could see if she could find a sweatshirt in his closet, steal a pair of his shoes and walk out the door and ignore all three of the sleaze bags on the couch.  She thought that the second option sounded much better.

She found a hoodie in his closet that looked like it hadn’t been worn since high school and slipped it over her head.  Then she found a pair of socks and an old pair of sneakers.  The shoes would be way too big for her but right now she didn’t give a shit. 

Once she was dressed, she grabbed her purse and taking a deep breath, opened the bedroom door.  She kept her eyes fixed on the front door as she walked through the living room. 

As she opened the door, Daylin said “I told you so.”

She didn’t give him the satisfaction of answering.  If he was trying to prove something by fucking around right in front of her, he could languish in his misery all by himself.  She didn’t need him.  She didn’t need any man.

Jess made the decision that she was going to leave Welton behind her for once and for all.  She started making plans as soon as she went home and hoped to be moved by the time summer came.

Chapter 13

She didn’t hear anything from Daylin after that.  It was the day before Valentine’s Day when she knew she had to call him.  She was pregnant.  Jess figured that she hadn’t been as good at taking her birth control pills as she thought she had.

After she got off of work, she paced around her living room for at least half an hour before she found the courage to call him.  She wondered briefly if he’d changed his phone number or if he had even bothered to pay his phone bill lately.  But she knew she was just trying to stall further and taking a deep breath, pushed send on her phone.

He answered on the second ring, sounding breathless.  “Jess?”

She wanted to cry.  “Yes.”

“Hi.”

They were both silent for almost a full minute before she said “Daylin, I need to talk to you about something.”

“I’m so sorry about what happened.  I can’t believe that I did that to you.  I wanted to call you, but I was so sure that you must hate me.  Listen Jess, I cleaned up.  I quit drinking, went back to work.  I started counseling so I could deal with my mom’s death.”

“That’s good Daylin.”

“It really is.  I don’t know if you would consider it, but I would really like to see you again.”

“Uh, yeah.  That would probably be a good idea.  This might be something that it would be better to talk to you about in person.”

She wasn’t sure why she believed that he had started to put his life back together, but she did.  It felt so good to hear his voice.  She was mildly disgusted with herself to admit how much she missed him.

“Is everything okay Jess?”

Jess thought about it for a moment before she answered him.  She decided that she was okay with being pregnant with his child.  Though the thought was lurking in the back of her mind that there was a chance that the child she carried could be Luke’s as well.  She knew that she needed to talk to him about that too.

“Yes, it is okay.  Um, I know that it’s Valentine’s Day but are you busy tomorrow?”

“No.”

“Good.”

“Really Jess?  You’d really want to see me again?”

“I would.”

“Oh, that is the best news I’ve heard in a long time.  I get off of work at four tomorrow so I’ll see you about six okay?  I can’t wait to tell Cameron.”

She laughed.  “I’m off of work tomorrow so that works fine.  Bye Daylin.”

“Bye Jess.  Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

When she hung up the phone, Jess felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.  She had a feeling that Daylin was going to be okay with the news, maybe even happy.

She didn’t sleep well that night she was so nervous.  She could barely eat the next day because her stomach was in turmoil.  She couldn’t decide what to wear and finally settled on jeans and a t-shirt only minutes before it was time for Daylin to arrive.

Her heart was beating fast when his knock came at the door.  He took one look at her and said “Are you okay?”

She laughed.  “Yes.  We do need to talk though.”

He handed her a bouquet of flowers and followed her back into the apartment.  “Okay.  Should I be scared?”

He looked good, much healthier than he had the last time she’d seen him.  “It could be a really good thing.  But I have a confession to make too.”

Daylin sat down beside her on the couch.  “Okay.”

Jess took a deep breath and let it out.  “I’m pregnant.”

Daylin’s face immediately lit up.  “You’re pregnant Jess really?”  Then his smile faded.  “Does your confession have anything to do with the baby?”

Jess sighed.  “Yes.  Daylin, I love you.  I tried so long to deny it, and we both kept screwing things up.  But I don’t want to deny it anymore Daylin.  I love you and I want to be with you, but we need to be honest with each other from now on.  I was with another man before the wedding and I didn’t have a period after that.  So there’s a chance that the baby might be his.”

Daylin reached out and took her hand in his.  “It doesn’t matter.  What I said before, I still mean it.  I will raise this baby like my own if it isn’t mine.  I don’t care.  I love you Jess.”

“I love you too Daylin.”

Daylin’s grin was so broad she thought that it looked like his face would split.  “Those are the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard.  Second only to I’m having your baby.”

She took his hand and kissed it.  “Do you really mean it?”

“I do.  I want you to marry me Jess.”

“I will.  Um, Daylin I have to tell Luke.  He made me promise that I would never tell anyone but I feel so bad.  He’s married and has a family.”

“Oh baby.  I wish I wouldn’t have been so scared when we first got together.  If we both wouldn’t have been so damned stubborn none of this would have happened.  Do you want me to be with you when you call him?”

Jess bit her lip.  She didn’t know if it would be better or worse if Daylin was around when she tried to contact Luke.  She had a feeling Luke wasn’t going to be thrilled to hear from her.  But at the same time, she knew it was the right thing to do.

“Yes.”

“Good.  I’m going to make sure that I only let my pregnant fiancé out of my sight when I have to.”  Daylin grinned.

“I like the sound of that.  Your fiancé.”

“Good.  I think you’ll like it even better when I can call you my wife.”

Jess smiled.  She thought so too.  “I’ve missed you so much Daylin.”

“I’ve missed you too baby.  So when do you want to move in with me?”

She laughed.  “Tonight.  Now.”

His eyes widened.  “Really?  You mean it?”

She squeezed his hand.  “Yes.”

He kissed her.  “You’ve made me the happiest man in the world Jess.”

She kissed him.  “I’m happy too.  What do you say about taking a detour to the bedroom before we get out of this place?”

Daylin grinned.  “I thought you’d never ask.”

The next morning before they started packing her apartment, Jess made what felt like one of the hardest phone calls of her life.  She found Luke’s home phone number on the internet.  Her hand was shaking a little as she dialed.  She wished she could have a cigarette to calm her nerves, but since she was pregnant that was most definitely out of the question.

A woman’s voice answered the phone.  Jess almost hung up, but she made herself say “Is Luke home?”

“No, he’s not.  May I ask who’s calling?”

“Um, my name is Jessica.  I liked to be called Jess.  Not that it matters.  I’m babbling.  I’m sorry.  Are you Luke’s wife?”

“I am.  Yes.  I’m Kimber Stone.”

“I don’t know if you’re the person I should be saying this to.  I really need to talk to Luke.  Can you tell him I called and give him my number?”

Jess could tell the other woman was getting irritated.  “What is it that you need to speak with Luke about and why can’t you tell me?”

Jess sighed, and decided to spill her guts to Luke’s wife.  Not that she had been right in doing what she had done with him, but the things he had said had made her feel sorry for his wife.  “I’m a bartender in a small town called Welton.  Your husband happened to be passing through town and came into the bar where I work.  He was staring at me.  I work with my friend Starla.  She was teasing me and happened to tell your husband that I was interested in him.  To make a long story short, your husband and I slept together.  He was drunk and told me that he loved his wife but that she wasn’t the woman that he was meant to be with.  He said that when she was pregnant there was a chance that the baby could be another man’s and that there were times when he hoped the child belonged to the other man so that he could end up with the woman he really wanted to be with.”

The woman on the other end of the phone let out a little gasp.  Jess felt bad, but she also felt that the woman had a right to know the things that Luke had told her.  “I’m sorry.  I wouldn’t be telling you these things if I didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do.  I also need Luke to know that I’m pregnant and that the child could be his.  I talked about it with my fiancé and we are willing to raise the child together, no questions asked.  So it’s up to Luke if he wants to have a paternity test done.  Let me give you my number so that Luke can call me.”

“Sure.”  Kimber’s voice was flat.  Jess figured that Luke was going to walk into the eye of a hurricane when he returned home.

Jess rattled off her number.  Kimber repeated it back, still sounding numb.

Within a month, Jess and Daylin moved into a bigger house.  Within two, they were married.  Chelsea was thrilled to be her flower girl.  She heard nothing from Luke during her pregnancy. 

She never told her mother what Ned had done, though she did make trips home to visit now and again.  Her brother Craig married Steph right after graduation and she was soon an Aunt. 

When her baby was born, he had dark hair and hazel eyes.  The dark hair could come from either Jess or Daylin.  The hazel eyes didn’t rule out either man as his father since both Daylin and Luke had hazel eyes.  Jess wondered sometimes when she watched her son grow who his biological father really was.  It didn’t matter though.  Daylin was a wonderful father to Forrest Craig Creighton.  They put the past behind them and didn’t hear from Luke again.