Monroe, Marla - Her Biker Bodyguards [The Dirty Dozen 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (14 page)

“No, you weren’t keeping me awake. I’m just angry at this entire situation.” She pulled away from Gavin and walked over to the dresser where she pulled out her clothes for the day.

“What do you mean?” Gavin asked in a neutral voice.

“You claim you didn’t know about the baby, and I guess I believe you because I hadn’t told anyone, unless you guessed it when I called you.” She paused, thinking it over. It was a possibility.

“I never asked you for a promise of marriage. I just asked for fidelity while we were seeing each other. It was a responsible thing for me to do. In today’s world of diseases, you’re stupid if you don’t.” She pulled on her panties and then her jeans. She jumped up and down, trying to get them on over her belly. “But now you’re telling me that you really do care for me and want to take it to the next level and live together. Why the sudden change of heart after all this time? What happened to make you change your mind?”

Briana finally managed to get the jeans fastened with a lot of effort and breath holding. The damn things were baggy in the ass and legs, but tight around her belly. It didn’t make sense. Tears threatened to fall again. She gritted her teeth and grabbed her socks and shoes. She walked over to the chair and dropped them all on the floor in front of it.

Dillon walked over and gently pushed her down on the chair, then knelt and started putting on her socks and shoes for her. He looked up at her with a sadness in his expression that squeezed her heart.

“We were stupid, Briana.” He looked over at Gavin as if telling him to say something.

Gavin sighed and walked over to kneel in front of her next to Dillon.

“I was scared, baby. I’ve never cared about another woman like I care about you. When you asked me to promise that I wouldn’t see other women while we were seeing you, I panicked and lashed out at you. I’m sorry. I wish I could take it all back, but I can’t.”

He took both her hands in his and kissed her knuckles. Then he leaned in and kissed her jean-clad belly.

“Just give us a chance to show you how important you are to us. We want to be a family, Briana. The four of us. Me, you, Dillon, and the baby.”

“And what if there were no baby, Gavin? What then?”

He looked stricken but continued holding her hands.

“Then it would be the three of us. We’d still be a family.”

Dillon had finished putting on her socks and shoes and was waiting on her and Gavin to decide where to go from there. Briana looked at Dillon and asked the same question of him with her eyes.

“I love you, Briana. With or without a baby, I’m still going to love you.”

Her heart swelled at his admission. The moment would have been perfect if Gavin had said the same thing, but she knew he probably never would. He was a hard man with different values. Love, evidently, wasn’t one of them. Could she live with half of their love? Briana pulled her hands from Gavin’s and rubbed her face in an effort to shove some answers into her head.

“Look, let’s go one day at a time for right now. I need a little space. It would probably be a good thing for the two of you to get dressed.”

They looked at each other and then at themselves and grinned.

“Good idea,” Dillon said. He stood up and kissed her on the top of the head.

Gavin stood up and kissed her on the lips. “Make yourself at home. There’s plenty of juice and milk in the kitchen.” He started walking off. “Oh, and decaf coffee if you want coffee. Decaf only, though.”

She waited until they had walked out of the room to stick her tongue out at them. Then she stood up and rubbed a hand over her belly. The jeans really were too tight for her. She would have to go shopping soon. That would eat at her dwindling savings account. Still, it couldn’t be helped.

She needed to pick up on her web work to get into the bonus money they promised her. The more websites she worked on, the more money she got. As long as her work was up to par, they paid out for quantity as well as quality. She needed to be working today and tomorrow instead of attending this cookout to meet Gavin and Dillon’s friends. She really didn’t want to get to know them. It would be more people she would lose when they dropped her.

She was no fool. Dillon said he loved her, but he wore his heart on his sleeve and probably fell in love with everyone he was with. It was just who he was. Gavin, on the other hand, would fall in love for life if he ever let himself take the plunge. How she wished it would be with her. She dropped that idea like a hot potato and concentrated on finding the kitchen in the rather large house.

She located it without getting lost and poured a glass of juice before searching for the coffee. She couldn’t find the real coffee, so she made a cup of decaf and suffered through it. It just wasn’t the same.

“I see you found the coffee,” Dillon said.

She eyed him with evil intent. He took a step back.

“Where did you hide the real coffee?”

He relaxed and grinned. “You’ll never find it. Now, what would you like to eat?”

“I’m really not hungry. I never am in the mornings. Food isn’t appetizing then. I usually eat at lunch.”

“The baby books say you need four or five small meals a day, Briana. You can’t skip breakfast. How about toast and jelly?”

“She needs more than that, Dillon,” Gavin said when he walked into the kitchen. “I’ll fix eggs for her.”

“How about I eat a piece of toast and jelly and drink a glass of milk for protein. I don’t think I can keep anything else down right now.” She dared either brother to contradict her.

Evidently they recognized determination when they saw it because they backed down and didn’t push anymore. Round one went to Briana.

Chapter Thirteen

Their friends began coming over at three that afternoon bringing food and beer in coolers. She remembered Cole and Zack and Tina. The other woman was gorgeous with all her auburn hair. She was also very nice.

Then she met Kyle, West, and Brandy. They were the only other married couple there. The rest were all single and hadn’t brought dates with them. Ranger and Drew were familiar to her from Round Rock, but she couldn’t remember Shane, Neal, Alan, or Mark.

“What do you think about The Dirty Dozen now that you’ve met them all?” Gavin asked.

“They’re all really nice. You have great friends,” Briana assured him.

Dillon appeared with a glass of something in his hand. He handed it to her.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Apple juice. I figured you might need something to drink after talking to everyone that’s come in.”

“Thanks, I guess I am pretty thirsty.” She eyed everyone else holding a beer and sighed.

She wasn’t a drunk, but she liked beer with grilled food and pizza. Then a sickening thought hit her. They were grilling out hamburgers and hotdogs. She knew she couldn’t eat either one of those.

“What is it, baby?” Dillon asked, standing in front of her.

He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. She was sure no one could see her around him.

“I, um, can’t eat what you’re cooking tonight. I’m sorry.” She looked pleadingly at him.

“Baby, we knew you wouldn’t be able to, so we have chicken breast for you. Will that be okay?” He smiled at her.

She let out a sigh and closed her eyes for a brief second. “That will be great. Thanks for thinking about it.”

“All the meat is going to be cooked well done. Will it bother you to be around it while they are eating? I know you couldn’t eat your chicken the other night because we had the steak.” Dillon’s perceptiveness amazed her.

“No, I should be fine. I’m sorry for being so much trouble, Dillon.”

“You’re not any trouble. Come on. Let’s go talk to Brandy and Kyle. West is talking with Cole, Zack, and Gavin.”

When time came to eat, she found herself with Brandy and Tina eating inside away from the mosquitoes, while the men all gathered he-man-style outside.

“How are you feeling?” Tina asked her.

“I’m doing fine. I don’t have much of an appetite, and that’s driving the guys crazy.”

“You’re far enough along I would think that it should be picking back up. When do you see the doctor?”

“Tuesday afternoon.” Briana took a small bite of her grilled chicken.

“Have you tried eating a lot of small meals?” Brandy asked.

“Yeah. I still end up eating about the same amount, just spread out.”

“Well, the doctor should be able to offer some advice to help you,” Tina assured her.

They talked about the men and how they were committed to only taking jobs close around
Dallas
now. Brandy was glad. She didn’t like it when they were gone weeks at a time. She didn’t like being by herself, but hated being all alone at the hotel when she went with them.

“If they take jobs around here, they can either stay at home, or at least come home on the weekends,” Brandy said.

“I would think they would need to go where the money is,” Briana said.

“They don’t need the money. They’ve all invested their money and could probably retire if they really wanted to. They just like working with their hands too much to stop right now.” Tina shook her head. “They love construction for some reason.”

“Kyle says it’s because it is building something instead of blowing it up or tearing it down,” Brandy explained.

“I guess all the time they spent in the army shaped their views on things.” Tina got up with her empty plate.

“Anyone else through?”

Tina shook her head. “I’m still eating. This potato salad is delicious.”

“Briana? You still have a lot on your plate, hon.”

She had been handing hers to Tina but lowered it again. “I just can’t eat a lot at one time.”

“Well, come on and we’ll put it up for later.”

They searched through the kitchen until they found some aluminum foil to cover her plate with. Then they put it in the fridge.

“Now you can eat it later tonight when you’re hungry again.”

“You didn’t eat all your food?” Gavin asked as he walked into the kitchen.

“I ate all I could, but I’ll get hungry again later.” Briana used Tina’s words to ward him off of lecturing her.

His eyebrow went up as he shook his head. “I’m going to hold you to that.” He wrapped her in his arms.

Dillon walked in and shook his head. “I’m always the last one in on the hugging.”

Tina laughed. “What are Cole and Zack doing?”

“They were talking with Shane and Alan about something,” Dillon told her.

“I guess I’m going to go interrupt them. We should probably be going soon.”

“Hey, it’s not even
ten o’clock
yet,” Gavin pointed out.

“Yeah, but you need to get her to bed early or she’s going to fall asleep on her feet.”

“I’m fine. I’m not all that sleepy.” Briana yawned, and everyone laughed.

She hated being laughed at. She frowned and pulled out of Gavin’s arms.

“Come on, baby. Let’s go say good night to everyone. If Cole and Zack leave, they’ll all take it as time to leave,” Gavin said, taking her hand.

Dillon grabbed her other hand and took her around to everyone. She apologized for leaving the party early, but she was sleepy. She made sure her eyes promised Gavin and Dillon retribution later. They seemed to take it in stride.

Once she’d made the rounds, Briana started to head upstairs. It was obvious she was going to be spending the night again tonight.

“Dillon, go with her and help her get settled.” Gavin pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

His tongue licked along the outside of her lips until she opened them and he could rub against hers. Then he sucked on hers before pulling back.

“I’ll see you in a little while, baby.”

Dillon took her hand and led her to the stairs and then the bedroom. He closed the double doors and smiled.

“I’ve got you all to myself.”

Briana frowned and backed away. “So?”

“So, I can have my wicked way with you.”

“Um, I’m sleepy, Dillon.” She grasped the excuse in hopes it would deter him.

“Now you confess you’re sleepy.” He grinned at her and winked.

“Asshole.” She started to pull her T-shirt over her head, but Dillon was there and pulling it off for her. Then his deft hands made short work of her bra.

“Come on and sit in the chair so I can get your shoes off.”

“I can take my own clothes off, Dillon. You don’t have to undress me.”

“I like undressing you, Briana. I like watching each piece of your gorgeous body appear before me.”

“I don’t see my feet being gorgeous,” she said dryly

“Believe me. They are.” He pulled off her shoes then her socks as soon as she sat down.

Then he pulled a foot into his lap and massaged it for her. He did the same thing to the other one. He got up and pulled her to her feet before unfastening her jeans.

“Hmmm, they’re tight across your belly. That can’t be comfortable. He pulled them down and frowned. “They’re baggy everywhere else.”