TROUBLE, A New Adult Romance Novel (The Rebel Series) (40 page)

He finally stills and kisses me loudly on the shoulder before slowly withdrawing and lying on his back.

I turn over with great effort, my belly feeling twice as heavy as normal.
 
The baby shifts inside and makes her presence known.
 
I’m so glad she waited until we were done.

“You okay?” he asks, looking worried.

I smile as I rub my belly.
 
“Okay?
 
Yeah.
 
More than okay.”
 
I scootch over and put my head on his chest, snuggling in when his arm wraps around my back.
 
I wish I could get closer but this giant balloon between us makes it impossible.

“More than okay, huh?”

“Yes.”
 
I can’t stop smiling.

“Me too.
 
Can I sleep here with you?
 
I’m too tired to move.”

I’m secretly thrilled.
 
He wants to stay!
 
“Yes.
 
Sleep,” I say, trying to sound all casual and cool, like I do this all the time.
 
No big deal.

As I listen to his breathing even out, I’m sure he’s fallen asleep.
 
But then he startles me by speaking.

“Thanks.”

“Thanks for what?”
 
I try to look up at him but the angle isn’t good.

“For trusting me with your body.”

My lips tremble. The baby kicks. I’m suddenly back in that doctor’s office with him sharing my intimate ultrasound moment.
 
And now we have this thing we’ve shared too, him helping me move past my traumatic past sexual experience. He’s been so good to me.
 
Why do I have to be such a butthead sometimes?

I push off him and get out of bed.

“Where are you going?”

I walk over to the dresser and pull out the ultrasound pictures from the top drawer.
 
Using the dim light from the window, I tear off the one that shows the baby in profile.

“Here,” I say, coming back to the bed.
 
I hand it to him before lying down by his side.
 
I’m not as close to him now as I was before I got up.

 
He takes it from me.
 
“What’s this?”

“You wanted a picture.
 
You said you did, anyway.
 
I don’t know why I didn’t give it to you before.
 
Sometimes I can be … a jerk.”

He stares at the picture as he answers.
 
“You’re never a jerk.
 
You’re just dealing with a lot of stuff most people don’t have to deal with.”
 
He looks at me.
 
“Thank you.
 
For this.”
 
He holds out his arm.
 
“Get back in here, would ya?”

I smile and snuggle in as he reaches over and puts the picture down on the far corner of the bed.
 
“I’ll put that in my wallet tomorrow.
 
I’m too tired to move right now.”

“Okay.”
 
He’s going to put my baby’s picture in his wallet.
 
I’m afraid to think of all the wonderful things that could mean.

I lie there as the night seeps in, wondering what tomorrow will be like.
 
Will it be awkward?
 
Will he regret what he did with me?
 
Do I assume too much about what he’s done and said?”

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Doing?
 
Nothing.
 
Just thinking.”

He spanks me lightly on the butt.
 
“Just don’t think yourself into a corner, ‘kay?”

I smile, realizing that he knows me way better than probably anyone at this point.
 
“Okay.
 
G’night.”

“Night.”

He’s snoring softly less than a minute later.
 
It’s the last thing I remember hearing before I’m asleep too.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

I WAKE UP BRIGHT AND early and join my roommates downstairs.
 
Colin beat me to the shower and is sitting next to Rebel at the kitchen table, his hair still wet and slicked back.
 
I grin at him shyly as Teagan walks up and hands me a mug of hot tea and a post-it note.
 
“Made you an appointment at the lawyer’s office.”
 
She pats my shoulder and takes the nearest seat.

I take a sip of the herbal tea and then smile at my friend. “Thank you for doing that for me, Tea-Tea.” Easing my belly behind the table, I pick up a doughnut from out of the box in the center of the table.

I’m putting it up to my mouth and taking a bite before I realize the room is totally silent and everyone is staring at me.

I look around at their confused expressions.
 
“Wha …?” I say, directly into the sweet, sweet goodness that is my breakfast.
 
It comes out really muffled, so I laugh a little, causing a big poof of powdered sugar to fly out over the table.
 
I lower the doughnut from my mouth and smile again.
 
“Oopsy.”

Teagan looks at Colin.
 
“Did you drug her last night or what?”

He looks down at the newspaper and a hint of a smile appears on his face.
 
“Nope.
 
Not drugs.”

My face is instantly on fire.
 
Memories of his fingers sliding up my back and then down again, his hand grabbing my butt and squeezing …
God, I’m going to need a cold shower now.
 
I try not to look at him, but it’s impossible.
 
When he winks at me, I nearly have a heart attack.

“Oh my effing G, you did not …” Teagan looks at me and then him and then at me again.
 
She points at my face, her own lighting up with happiness.
 
“Ha! You totally did it! Pregnant lady sex!
 
I thought I heard some shouting last night.”

I slap at her finger.
 
“Stop pointing.
 
That’s rude.”

Rebel looks up over his paper first at me and then at Colin.
 
It’s possible he rolls his eyes before going back to his reading.

Teagan’s chuckling as she picks up her doughnut.
 
“Holy shit. You guys are nuts.”

I kick her under the table.
 
“Hey.
 
Be nice.”

She drops her breakfast on the plate and holds up her hands in surrender.
 
“Hey, I’m good with it.
 
No judgment here, no judgment.”
 
She pauses, cocks her head to the side and then goes serious, looking at me.
 
“Is it hard to do it with your belly that big?”

“Teagan, come on,” Rebel says, standing up, his chair making a loud dragging sound on the floor.
 
“Time to go to work.”

She pouts and stands with him.
 
“Slave driver.”

He comes around the table and grabs her, slamming her body into his and gripping her buttcheek with one hand.
 
“Don’t sass me,” he says, before giving her the hottest kiss I’ve seen outside a rated-R movie.
 
I have to turn away to ease my embarrassment.

Out of the corner of my eye I see her pushing herself away.
 
“Holy alpha male alert.
 
Save it for the bedroom, babe.
 
I have filing to do.”
 
She leaves the kitchen after grabbing her purse off the counter.
 
“Go to that appointment!” she yells from the foyer.
 
“I’m not playing!”

“I’m going!” I yell back, staring at the note.
 
I look up at Colin.
 
“Can I get a ride from you? It’s in a half hour.”

“You bet.
 
Just let me grab my wallet.”

He leaves the kitchen but not before kissing the top of my head and rubbing my belly.
 
I think he’s gone but then he’s there again, leaning down to kiss my stomach.

“What’s that for?” I ask, my face warming.

“Gotta kiss the baby too.”

I sit there at the table crying happy tears for a change, waiting for my boyfriend to take me to my appointment.
 
I don’t know how long it’s going to last, but the ghosts that Charlie conjured have officially been removed from my brain.
 
All I can think about now is how bright my future is.

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

WELL, THAT EUPHORIA DIDN’T LAST very long.
 
Thanks, Natalie.

“I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it is what it is.
 
You need me and you need my colleague William or someone like him.
 
He’s the civil torts guy.
 
You need to file one suit for the child support issues and then a separate one for the assault and battery and whatever else he can come up with out of the statutes.”

“But why can’t you handle it all?” I ask, sick over the idea of this many lawyers in my life.
 
One is more than enough, thank you very much.

“Because, I don’t know that area of the law.
 
You want an expert.
 
That’s not me.
 
I can do the serious tango over child support, custody, and so on.
 
But I’d lose and lose badly in a civil assault case.
 
I’d be in over my head.”

“I can’t believe you’re saying that.”
 
I just stare at her like she has two heads.

“Why?”

“Because you seem so … capable.” My whole vision of her as a superhero is fizzling out.

“And I am.
 
In family law.”
 
She comes around her desk and sits down next to me.
 
Her penetrating stare is almost too much.
 
“I’m good because I focus on what I know and what I like.
 
Bringing justice to girls like you is my calling.” She clasps her hands together and then points at me with her two first fingers pressed together.
 
“You are running out of time.
 
Now that you’ve exchanged heated words with your attacker and the father of your child, things are going to roll out fairly quickly.
 
People like him do rash and stupid things without thinking.
 
I want you to have all your ducks in a row before he gets his feet under him.”

“What does that mean exactly?
 
I mean, what will I have to do?”

“Give me the right to act as your lawyer.
 
I’ll get the ball rolling by filing papers in family court.
 
When you give birth, you put Charlie’s name on the birth certificate, not ‘unknown’.
 
If he wants to fight that, we’ll do a paternity test.
 
You will win your case.
 
I don’t know if he’ll go to jail for what he did, but over my dead body will he get anything more than part custody.”

“Part custody!” I yell.
 
“Are you kidding me?!” I lean as far away from her as I can.
 
The idea is positively abhorrent to me.

“Fact is, he’s the father.” She holds up a finger to keep me from exploding my anger all over her.
 
“But, he’s also a criminal.
 
I’m going to leverage that as best I can to show that it’s in the best interests of the child to be one hundred percent with you.
 
If he wants visitation, I’m going to argue it needs to be supervised by an outside party.”
 
She puts her hand on my arm.
 
“Hey … he might not want anything at all.
 
My guess is he won’t.
 
But his parents … they might have other ideas.”

“His parents?”

“They have no rights as grandparents, so don’t get worried about that.
 
But they have considerable influence over their child, so what he wants might not matter.
 
We’ll deal with that as it comes.”

I shake my head, everything feeling like it’s hopeless again.
 
“I wish I’d never come.”

“Why?
 
So you can live with your head in the sand?
 
Don’t go there.
 
He wins with that attitude.”

“I don’t want him to win, but this … this is … it’s a nightmare.”

“Yes.
 
It’s a nightmare.
 
I’m not going to blow smoke up your dress and tell you differently.
 
But we can control the outcome to some degree if we’re smart, if we do everything right.
 
That’s where my team and I come in.”

“Your team?”

“Yes.
 
I have three paralegals and one associate who work with me.
 
I call them the gators.”

“Gators?”

“Yes.
 
They lie in the water waiting, looking like harmless logs, but then when their prey least expects it, they leap out, grab ‘em in their jaws and give ‘em the old death roll.
 
It’s not pretty.”

“Wow.”

“They’re very effective.”
 
She stands, holding out her hand to help me up.

“So what’s next?” I ask.

“Sign my contract and I’ll call Charlie today.
 
I’m going to introduce myself and get the name and number of his lawyer so we can start a dialogue.
 
I’ll have papers ready to file in court in three days. Maybe even today if we’re lucky.”

“Three days is … Monday.”

“Yep.
 
We work weekends when it’s necessary.”

I’m in a mild state of shock.
 
All this information.
 
All the threats Charlie laid out, and my legal status as Natalie has explained it to me.
 
It’s too much to digest in one meeting.
 
“Thank you.
 
I mean.
 
I guess.
 
Yes.
 
No.
 
I do mean thank you. I appreciate your help.”