Something's Gotta Give (Tempered Steel Book 3) (13 page)

“Chance?” she panted. “Gotta tell you something.”

“No, No talking, darlin’. Just feeling…”

Georgia groaned. “It’s important, Chance.”

He pulled back and raked her with a hot gaze. “
This
is the most fucking important thing ever right now.”

He reached for her, but she evaded his arms. “Please, we need to talk.”

              “Enough talk, Peaches,” he grabbed for her again. “We communicate so much better without words.”

He kissed her long and hard, easing her back down onto the pool table and Georgia gave in until a loud cough sounded from behind them followed by, “Excuse me, folks, but would you mind moving off the table. We’d like to play a game.” Georgia looked up into the twinkling eyes of a man dressed like a grizzly bear.

Laughter and guffaws greeted that last statement as Chance pulled Georgia up from the pool table, Georgia hastily buttoned up her shirt and blushed furiously.

“Sorry, folks. She agreed to marry me and things got a little out of hand.”

Amid the cheers and well wishes, they left to enter the main bar, but Georgia held Chance back as they walked into the hall. “Please stop, honey, I’ve got to tell you something right now.”

He sighed. “All right, if it’s important to you.” He fixed her with a wicked look. “But after that we’re going to tell everybody we’re getting married. Then I’m taking you home and making sweet love to you, no interruptions.”

Georgia smiled because he reached out to kiss her again. “It doesn’t have to be sweet love all the time.  I liked it down and dirty, too, you know.”

Chance smiled against her mouth. “I knew you were lying. No way you could have been that smokin’ hot and not loved everything I did to you.” His mouth slanted over hers and she opened to let him in. Their tongues matched their furious feeling of restlessness.

This was it! This was her life now
. Chance was her soul mate, and she basked in the glow of his love. Now, she just had to be brave enough to tell them one more thing. “Chance,” she said. “You said you wanted a life with family and marriage. Well, I’ll give you the life and the marriage and the family.”

“I know, Georgia. I know some day we can have a big, beautiful family and all the babies you want.”

She reached out to touch his face. Such a handsome, beautiful face. They will have beautiful babies together. “Chance, baby, I think it’s going to be sooner rather than later. I’m pregnant….we’re pregnant.”

Georgia watched as Chance’s eyes rolled in the back of his head. He started to slide down the wall. She grabbed at him but he snapped up and hugged her tight. “What? You were teasing me?
You were teasing me?
” Georgia yelled, then punched him in the shoulder.

Chance laughed. “I couldn’t help it, darlin’. You looked so damn serious. We’re going to have a baby. I’m going to be a daddy. You are going to be my wife. This is the happiest damn day of my life so far, but I know there’s going be a lot more.”

He kissed her tenderly and held her close as he whispered, “I’m so happy for the baby, Peaches, but tell me… would you have come to me if you weren’t pregnant?”

Georgia pulled back. She heard the vulnerability in his voice and saw it reflected in his eyes. She had to reassure him. “I thought about running, but I knew you would find me.”

Chance held her tighter. “You’re damn right, I would have.”

Georgia touched the small scar on his cheek from the fire. “I tried to picture my future alone, existing with only my memories of you, and I wanted so much more, for me, for you and our baby and mostly for us as a family.” She sighed. “You were my hero when my mother passed, and I knew then I would love you forever. I just needed to grow up and now I have. So yes, I would have come to you, even if I wasn’t pregnant.”

She pulled back and wiped a small tear from his face “You rescued me that day. You’ve rescued me again.”

She started to cry, “Oh, and Missy Dee took out a loan before she died, and the bank’s foreclosing and that’s why the relators sign is in the yard. I have no home and no daycare.”

Chance drew back in shock. She had been trying to do this all alone. God, he better never hear her say she wasn’t brave again. “Oh sweetheart. You’re home and your life is with me. So hush my sweet, Peaches. Every day now is going to be forever and always wonderful. I promise you.”

He allowed her a few moments to dry her tears while he held her. “I must look a mess.”

Chance took in the swollen lips from his kisses, the bright eyes from her tears of joy and her mussed hair from their lovemaking. “You are perfect, my Peaches. Just the way you are.”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her along. “Come on, baby. We’ve got two announcements to make.” He led her into the main room.

The Coalsons were gathered around the bar talking and laughing, but when they saw Chance and Georgia, they grew quiet. The only noise came from the corner of the room where Rochelle stood with several of her friends. “Like Chance is ever going to go for some sugar sweet babysitter. That man needs fire, not sugar.” She smirked. Her friends’ eyes got wide just seconds before Rochelle was tugged by the roots of her hair by none other than Georgia.

“The thing about sugar, bitch, is that it was raised in a mean hard cane. And that’s exactly what I’m going to use on you if you ever come near my man again.”

Georgia yanked the screeching woman across the room and toward the front door.

“Georgia, what are you doing?” Chance’s shocked voice ricocheted across the silent room.

“I’m taking out the trash!” She snarled.

With that, Georgia pushed open the bar doors and flung the redhead out, sending her tumbling onto the dusty sidewalk. She turned to the others in the nasty group that had tormented her for years.

“Who’s next?” she roared.

Georgia took a threatening step toward them, and they screeched, tumbling on their high heels. They ran through the back room to the exit. Within seconds, the bar had cleared of every woman who had ever thought to give Chance a try.

Ginny Coalson started clapping. Dixie and Angel joined in. Seconds later the entire crowd was clapping and cheering. Chance hugged Georgia as she hid her face in the crook of his neck.

Chance chuckled. “Remind me to never get you mad, Peaches.”

Georgia blushed but stood her ground as she looked up at him. “Well, some of those women wouldn’t take ‘NO’ for an answer. I’ve seen how they work before. They needed an incentive to stay away.”

Georgia smiled when Chance threw back his head and laughed. He reached for her, cupping his hands around her face. She went willingly, lifting her face for his kiss. He kissed her with a tenderness that made her tearful, then swept in again to take her mouth with an almost desperate edge.

Her panties were damp when he finally pulled away.
How does he do that?
She wondered as cat calls and whistles permeated the room.

“Well are congratulations finally in order?” Hank Coalson winked at Georgia.

“Yes! I’m not only going to be lucky enough to soon be married to this beautiful woman, I’m also going to be a dad!” Chance bent and kissed Georgia right on the mouth.

Tears welled in Angel’s eyes as she ran to hug them amid all the congratulations. “I’m so happy for you.”

Her actions opened the floodgates and everyone surged forward to the happy couple. Corks popped as Ginny and Dixie wiped tears of joy. Nick passed out glasses of champagne for everyone, but the impending mothers. For them, he reserved a special bottle of sparkling grape juice, which he produced with a flourish amid the laughter.

Georgia basked in the glow of Chance’s family. She had never felt so happy or so loved. She knew her momma and Missy Dee would understand. Chance was the other half of her soul.

Angel raised a glass of champagne and called for silence to toast the couple. “Congratulations, Chance, for winning the war. And thank you, Georgia, for surrendering so gracefully,” She nodded toward the front windows where Rochelle Wilkins was giving the sheriff an earful of what had just transpired.

Georgia’s shocked look made Chance chuckle. He drew her close to him once again. “Don’t worry. He’s on our side.”

Amidst the noise and tears the phone began to ring. Nick went to answer it. “Lucky! Hey, I’ll put you on speakerphone so everyone can talk.”

Nick clanged the bell that hung near the bar for silence. “Lucky’s on the phone.”

“How are you doing? You leave for four weeks and all hell breaks loose. Sam and Angel are finally together again. Chance and Georgia announced they’re engaged.” Mac informed him.

“Oh, and they’re going to have a baby, too!” Brandon relayed the news in a shout.

“Hey, it sounds like congratulations all around. Well, I’ve got some news of my own.”

“Did you find something in Vegas?” Mac asked excitedly.

“You might say that.” Lucky returned. “Congratulate me, boys, I just got married!”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Two days later….

Rebecca Morgan sat at her desk in the tiny office of Morgan and Morgan Private Investigations. Her sister, Renee, was sitting in the only other room, brooding. Rebecca could practically feel it. Something wasn’t right about the drug case that Renee had helped on. The Feds had captured who they thought of as the kingpin, but Renee wasn’t so sure. The oh-so-flashy Juan Santiago, was definitely a player in the drug world, but was he the big fish? That question plagued her sister and had Rebecca striving not to fall asleep at her desk while her sister turned it over in her mind. She knew better than to bother Renee with a simple need for sleep. Renee could exist on three hours or less.

Renee burst through the door. “Someone’s coming. I saw them through the window. Douse the light and get in the bathroom.” Rebecca saw that Renee had pulled out her lethal looking revolver. She was always a bit dramatic.

“Renny, how do you know they’re here for us? Maybe they’re visiting the bar downstairs?” Rebecca asked. Nevertheless, she doused the light.

“Because something’s not right with the damn drug bust. I told you. And if it’s an inside problem, then they’ve got my name.” She ran a hand through her long chestnut colored hair. “Dammit! I never should have taken the Fed job.”

Rebecca followed her sister into the bathroom. “It was just pictures and we needed the money.”

“Shh, I can hear them on the stairs.” Renee clicked off the safety.

The outer door knob jiggled. Voices could be heard from the hall.

“Sam, I told you she wouldn’t be here. People actually do go home, you know.” Nick complained.

“No, Nick. My intel isn’t wrong. We’ve been made, that’s all.” Sam knocked on the door to the office. “Ms. Morgan, we know you and your sister are in there. This is Sam and Nick Coalson. If you wouldn’t mind coming out, we’d like to talk to you about Bob MacIntyre. He’s dead.”

“That’s too bad,” Renee shouted out. No way was she leaving this room.

She heard more feet shuffling up the stairs. “I spotted a figure heading toward the back.” Brandon Coalson whispered. “Looks like we got here just in time. Jax is on it.”

The ping of a rifle shot rent the air and Sam wasted no more time. Kicking in the door, he came face to face with a tall brunette and a petite redhead. The redhead held the gun aimed at his chest. The brunette held her side. Blood was seeping through her shirt.

“You leave us alone!” The tiny redhead shouted as Nick came through the door. She glanced his way, and that was all that was needed for Sam to push the brunette to the side and grab the gun from the woman.

Renee tried to break her fall to the ground, knowing it was going to hurt like a bitch. She was grabbed by the hair and yanked back, falling against a hard chest. She looked up trying to memorize her captor’s face.
No one that good looking should be a killer
, she thought. Light blonde hair and piercing blue eyes hidden behind nerdy glasses, like a real live Clark Kent.

“Hi, I’m Brandon. We’re, um, the good guys,” he mumbled with a blush.

“Get down woman!” Nick tackled the petite redhead to the floor as bullets ricocheted around the room.

“You get the women out of here! The van’s running,” Sam exclaimed.

Sam herded them along the perimeter of the room and to the door. “On my count…”

“Just say Go, Sam,” Nick huffed. “We’re not your damn soldiers.”

Sam grinned. “Fine…Go!”

Sam ran ahead, checking for possible harm as Nick and Brandon carried the women down the stairs, the promised van waiting near the door.

“Get them in. I’m going after the sniper,” Sam yelled.

Jax came around the corner. His long blonde hair and muscular build, not to mention the wicked crescent scar along his cheek, making him look like a biker’s nightmare. “No need. He’s dead.” He wiped his hands on his shirt, leaving a trail of blood.

Sam cursed. “Dammit, Jax! I needed to know who hired him.”

“I know who hired him. He spilled before he turned the gun on himself.”

They clambered into the van after the women. Jax nodded at Renee. “She need a hospital?”

Brandon took her wrist. “Probably would be best.”

“Her name is Renee. Renee Morgan,” Rebecca stated primly.

“How about you, Red? How you holding up?” Nick looked her over with a keen eye.

“I’m fine,” she mumbled. “And my name is Rebecca. Are you really saving us?” She had to ask. Renee had lost a lot of blood. She needed help. She didn’t know what she would do if her older sister died. Tears threatened to spill.

Nick groaned and pulled her into his lap. He was a sucker for tears. “It’s going to be fine, Red. Your sister’s tough. We’ll see she’s taken care of.”

“Where are you taking us?” she whispered.

Renee chose that time to try and struggle out of Brandon’s arms. She cried out in pain as she bumped her side. Brandon hastened to calm her. “Shh, sweetie. It’s okay. We really are the good guys.” She still struggled.

“Stop!” Sam grabbed her hands. “Sam Coalson, Navy SEAL, retired. These are my brothers. I was part of that drug bust.”

“You said Bob was dead?” Rebecca whispered. She shivered in Nick’s arms.

“Yes. He was the point man. Got caught by Sam and took out a security officer. He mentioned something about a woman being targeted if he didn’t do the job. Jax pulled some communications and realized you and your sister were working with the Feds and Bob was dating you.”

Jax waved a hand in greeting, but kept his eyes on the road.

The casual way he had wiped the blood off his hands terrified Rebecca. These men weren’t anywhere near the type of men she knew anything about. And this Nick person seemed to think it was perfectly fine with her that she sat on his lap. She tried to wiggle away. She didn’t like the way her heart was fluttering either. He was too much male for her, with his dark blonde hair and blue eyes. His face seemed carved from granite. His arms tightened around her.

“Settle down, Red. You’re fine here,” he mumbled in her ear.

His razor stubble grazed her cheek. She shivered as his lips touched her ear.
Whoa! Why did that make her want to snuggle into his chest?

“So Jax, you going to tell us who the asshole is, or you going to make us guess?” Brandon inquired.

Jax laughed. “You’ll never guess in a million years.” He paused for dramatic effect.

“Jax!” Sam barked.

“Anybody think it was kind of funny that the good Reverend Pyle made his way from the scene of the crime tonight to the police station?” Jax smiled.

“What?! The Baptist pastor?” Brandon shook his head. “No way!”

“Did you bug the damn police station, Jax?” Sam growled.

Jax gave him a shit eating grin. “Of course. You learn the best intel doing that.” He sobered slightly. “I couldn’t get a clear view of him, but I thought it odd when I did get a bead on him, he went to visit Jeb Hawkins instead of helping Angel in her grief.”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell us before?” Nick yelled.

“No way to do anything about it at the time. Had to get the women. Besides, he wasn’t going anywhere. He has no idea we are onto him.”

Jax pulled up to the hospital emergency room. “Next stop, Grafton police station.”

“What are we going to do about the good Reverend?” Nick asked.

Sam pulled open the sliding door. “Nothing for the moment. We know our man. But no evidence that can be used for a warrant.”

“The tape?” Brandon inquired as he hefted Renee in his arms, Rebecca following close behind.

“Not admissible. Jax wasn’t exactly playing by the rules.” Sam returned. “But at least we know who the bastard is. And we’ll soon find out if he’s working with the damn arsonist.”

Nick stepped up. “Brandon and I will stay with the women. You two get this shit back to Ben.” He started to head to the ER doors, but turned back. “And tell Chance. He’ll make sure the other women are safe.”

Sam got into the van and Jax took off. “So, how does this tie in to the vandalism?”

Jax shrugged. “That’s why you were always the brains of the operation, boss. I’m just the muscle.”