Page 5 of Cuffs and Kink (A Bad Boy Romance #2)

Ty

It had been weeks since my afternoon with Josie and fuck if I could get her out of my head.

I’d had a date scheduled for the next day, but the woman had seemed vapid and I’d ditched her as fast as I could.

Since then, I hadn’t been tempted by so much as one female.

Except Josie. I had seen her around town a few times, but she’d always been looking the other way, or with her parents.

If possible she looked thinner, and I worried about her health.

There were circles under her eyes, and I knew she wasn’t sleeping.

I wondered if that was because of me and what we’d done, or if her parents were still pushing the marriage to Reverend Falks.

It was a Wednesday night, and Josie was probably at church with her family.

I sat at the counter in the Southern Fried Café waiting on my dinner.

I’d gotten off a shift a half hour before, but I was too damn hungry to go home and change before eating.

The loaded burger that Estelle placed in front of me was well worth a little discomfort.

My damn belt weighed a ton, but all that faded away at the thought of food.

Damn burger smelled incredible, and my stomach growled.

“It’s a shame if you ask me,” an old-timer down the counter said. “Good girl like that. Don’t know what her parents are thinking.”

The hairs on my nape prickled.

“I’m sorry, but who’s a good girl?” I asked, dreading his answer.

“Josie Wright. Her parents threw her out from what I heard. She’s been living in her car the last few days. Makes me question just how Christian her folks could be to do something like that.”

“Oh, they had a good reason,” Charlotte Weathers said from across the room. “Can’t say why, doctor-patient confidentiality and all that, but she was in to see Doc Simms the other day and her mama just about went through the roof.”

Was Josie sick? And her parents had thrown her out?

“Where’s she parking her car?” I asked.

“Out at Grovener Park. She parks under the shade tree out that way, or at least that’s where I’ve seen her the past two nights,” the old-timer said.

“Estelle, would you please make my dinner to-go, and get me a second one as well?” I asked.

The waitress smiled and nodded, taking my plate to the back.

About ten minutes later, she had two to-go containers for me, and I was out the door.

I wanted to flip on my lights and barrel through town to get to Josie, but I didn’t want to get my ass chewed by the chief.

When I pulled into the parking lot of the park, that bright red Beetle was hard to miss.

Josie had the seat tilted back, and it looked like she was already asleep.

I got out of my cruiser and tapped on her window. She bolted upright, her eyes wide, and I felt like an ass for scaring the shit out of her. Josie rolled down her window and stared up at me.

“Am I in trouble for parking here?”

“You’re in trouble all right. Why the hell didn’t you come to me when your parents threw you out?”

Tears gathered in her eyes, and she started sobbing.

With a curse, I jerked open her door and pulled her into my arms, her ass resting across my bent legs.

Her arms curled around my neck, and she held on tight like she was afraid I would let her go.

Fat chance of that. She was all I’d thought about for weeks, and now that she was back in my arms, I wasn’t going to let her go again.

“Are you okay to drive?” I asked. “Or do you want to come back for your car?”

“I can drive.” She sniffled and wiped her eyes.

“Follow me home. I have some dinner for you when you get there. I picked up some burgers at Southern Fried before I came here. I could tan your ass for not telling me they’d thrown you out. Why the hell didn’t you come to me, Josie?”

“I didn’t think you’d want us,” she said softly.

“Us?” I looked into her car but didn’t see anyone else in there.

“Me and…” She hiccupped. “Our baby.”

“Our…” My gaze dropped to her flat stomach. “Are you saying you’re pregnant?”

She nodded.

Fuck me .

“Follow me home and we’ll talk about this some more.”

I let her get back into her car and then I got into my cruiser and headed for home, checking the rearview every few minutes to make sure she was still back there.

My mind was reeling with her news. She was pregnant?

Fuck. I’d never really thought about being a dad before, but it seemed it would happen whether I was ready or not.

Christ! A kid? It was one thing to think about Josie every waking moment, but another to raise a kid with her.

What the fuck did I know about raising kids?

Jesus, would she expect me to marry her?

Oddly, the thought of putting a ring on Josie’s finger didn’t freak me the fuck out like I’d thought it would.

Knowing she was home every night, waiting for me, was actually a pretty nice idea.

I’d stayed away from commitment as long as I could, not dating anyone more than once or twice, but Josie deserved more from me. She was having my baby for fuck’s sake.

When I pulled into my driveway, a sigh of relief left me when I saw her pull up to the curb out front.

There was plenty of room in the driveway for both cars, which made me think she didn’t intend to stay very long.

We’d see about that. No way in hell was the mother of my kid going to sleep in her car every night at the park.

Our town might be small and low on crime, but that didn’t mean bad things didn’t happen.

If we were completely crime free, I wouldn’t have had a damn job.

Josie followed me up to the front door and I let her in, shutting off the alarm.

I’d have to make sure I gave her a key and the alarm code so she could come and go as she pleased.

Whether she realized it or not, this was her home now too.

I carried our food into the kitchen and got down two plates.

I wasn’t about to make her eat out of a Styrofoam carton.

She’d made herself at home in the living room, and I handed her a plate and a bottle of water. I wasn’t sure if pregnant women were supposed to drink soda, but I damn sure planned to look it up first chance I got. Whatever she needed, I’d make sure she had it.

“I’m going to grab a shower and change, and then I’ll eat something. After that, we’re going to talk.” I reached out and lifted her chin to make sure she was looking at me. “You’re not alone, Josie.”

She blinked tears from her eyes and nodded.

I left her to eat her meal, and I took the fastest damn shower ever before throwing on some athletic pants.

I grabbed my food out of the kitchen and sat beside her on the couch to devour my meal.

Despite her shocking news, my appetite was still raging, and my stomach demanded to be fed.

By the time we were both done, she looked worn the fuck out.

Without a word, I picked her up and carried her to my bedroom, where I slipped off her shoes and helped her strip down to her panties.

I handed her one of my T-shirts and helped her to bed.

“Sleep as long as you want,” I told her. “I’ll come to bed in a little while, but I expect you to still be here come morning. Understood?”

“Thank you, Ty.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Josie. I’m just glad someone told me what was going on. I still want to spank that ass of yours for not coming to me right away.”

Her cheeks warmed, and I wondered if she wasn’t a little turned on by the idea. Definitely something to explore later.

I brushed a kiss against her cheek and left her to get some rest. I grabbed my laptop and settled onto the couch to do a little research on pregnancy.

If there was something in particular Josie needed, I wanted to make sure she had it.

We hadn’t really talked about her pregnancy or the baby, so I didn’t know if she was having cravings or nausea.

The blogs I read said a lot of women experienced morning sickness during their first trimester.

Not that I’d had a fucking clue what a trimester was before I looked it up.

By the time I’d finished my research, I felt a little better prepared for our talk in the morning.

Before I went to bed, I called the police department and let them know I wouldn’t be in for my shift tomorrow.

It seemed word was already spreading around town that Josie had followed me home and dispatch asked if she was okay.

I assured them she was going to be fine and hung up before they could ask any more questions.

Until Josie and I talked, I didn’t want anyone speculating on why she was here.

My eyes burned from staring at the computer screen.

I made sure the alarm by the front door was set before I went to the bedroom.

Josie was still curled on her side so I slid into bed next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her back against my chest. It was the first time I’d ever actually slept with a woman, and it seemed right that the woman was Josie.

Despite how tired I felt, it was a while before I fell asleep.

Even though I didn’t have an alarm set for the next day, I still woke when the sun rose.

Force of habit. Josie was snuggled against me, and I didn’t want to wake her.

I knew my kitchen had limited options for breakfast, but I wasn’t sure if she’d feel like going out to eat either.

Easing out from under her, I threw on a T-shirt and shoes and quietly left the house.