Page 6 of Nothing to Beat (Nothing to… #13)

IF ALICE AND SAVANNA had heard Roxie’s tale of love already, they were polite enough not to let on.

Pizza came, and, man, did it hit the spot. Deep dish, there was no better pizza. How long had it been…? A taste of home; one of the few that comforted her.

On a subtle stretch, she stood up. “Thank you, ladies. I’ve had an amazing time.”

Getting to know Roxie and Savanna reminded her just how optimistic love could be. Savvy was good for Darroch. She’d never considered he needed to settle down in a hurry, not until his match came along.

“You can stay longer,” Roxie said, leaping up. “We can go upstairs. You can spend the night. Plenty of room.”

“I should be heading home too,” Alice said, rising at her side. “I can drive you home, Sequoia.”

“Thank you.”

Alice Breckenridge was a woman like no other.

If she wasn’t as inherently gentle as she was, Sequoia might worry about getting the third degree on the homeward journey.

Though Alice said “drive,” the woman wouldn’t be behind the wheel.

Breckenridge money led to all kinds of luxuries that the family sometimes, unintentionally, took for granted.

Language was different, words had other meanings, when that kind of legitimate means cushioned your life.

Illegitimate wasn’t the same. She should know.

Turning, intending to find her coat, a rush of heat flooded her head. And that was it, the last thing until opening her eyes to Alice and Savanna looming over her and she was… on the floor. Why was she on the floor?

Alice’s hand was tight around hers. “Sweetheart, are you with us? Sequoia?”

“I…” When she tried to sit up, nausea put her down again. “Oh…”

Roxie crouched by Alice. “You passed out, honey. Are you hurt?”

“No, I—”

“She may have hit her head.”

“Should I call an ambulance?”

“God, don’t do that.” Still woozy, she forced herself to sit up, closing her eyes for a little more stability. “I didn’t eat anything today, I should’ve—”

“You ate here,” Roxie said. “That pizza has strong-as-a-horse enzymes in it, this was no hypo.”

“Don’t try to get up.” Savvy did her bit to keep her still. “Help’s on the way.”

And suddenly a head rush was the least of her concerns. “Help?” Uh oh. “What do you mean—” The door opened, bringing all women around and, of course, who was first through? “Breck—”

“What happened?” he asked, storming right on through the women, practically knocking them aside to crouch and cradle her head. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m not hurt. I’m fine.”

“Coy—”

“Don’t paw at me.” Pushing his hands away did little to slow him down. “Breck—”

“You’re on the floor.”

“Only because no one will let me get up. I’m fine.” And this was more than a little mortifying. “Honestly. I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“You’re fine,” he repeated to which she nodded, hoping that would be the end of it. How naive. “Both of you?”

A gasp. More than one. Not from her, no, from behind him, in the audience she couldn’t actually see.

“Oh,” Roxie said, “plot twist.”

Did he really just…? Shit… Her jaw pushed to the side at the same time her eyes narrowed. And, no, he didn’t leave any doubt as to what he meant. The stroking of her belly would clear up any uncertainty.

“There is no both of us.”

This time when he tried to hold her down, she was more persistent in pushing his fawning away.

“You’re not…?”

She couldn’t say that. Not exactly. With his supporting arm around her, she got to her feet.

“Can we maybe not do this now?”

Blinded by his zeroed-focus, she had to twice shift her own gaze past him to remind the idiot they weren’t alone.

No, not an idiot, just not exactly with it.

Had he been scared? She might mock him for that, internally, until considering how she’d feel on learning he’d just hit the deck for no reason.

“Coy—”

“Can I go home?”

“No,” Breck said, surprising her with a bow that swept her off her feet.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“The doctor’s on his way upstairs.”

More than just the trio of women she’d spent the evening with, there were now a large cohort of men in their party too. Breck bypassed all of them to carry her through the building.

The busy building.

No, they didn’t go through the main restaurant, but they did cross from private corridors to the main central lobby. Plenty of people there. And with a lot of the walls to different units transparent, they probably made quite a spectacle for those in the various venues.

Maybe she should be angry. Indignant. Make a point of asserting her strength and independence.

Except his actions weren’t meant to diminish or question her capability, this was classic Breck.

The man had to fix things. Had to act to remedy any wrong.

Given the guy wasn’t a doctor, he wasn’t the best placed to remedy anything that might be broken.

No. So what did he do? Overstretched in his reaction, heightened by fear, and coddled her.

Oh, how was he always so delicious?

She tipped her chin higher to murmur. “You don’t have to carry me.”

“You’re not well.”

“I’m fine,” she said, though he was completely adorable. “I’ve passed out before.”

“You have never passed out before.”

And his certainty was… huh… “I haven’t?” As he called the elevator, she searched her memory. “No, I don’t think I have. Or, maybe, I just don’t remember.”

“All the more reason you shouldn’t be living alone.”

Her body arched as flirtation threatened her lips but… no, she wasn’t supposed to be flirting with him or thinking about anything remotely… flirty around him.

“You’re supposed to stay twenty-five feet away from me.”

It wasn’t until they were in the elevator that his hooded eyes met hers. “This is serious.”

“It is not serious. I fell over.”

And had no memory of it, that was normal… wasn’t it?

“Were you drinking alcohol?”

“I was not drinking alcohol,” she said like she might to the school principal in high school.

Well, other people, she’d never been called to the principal’s office. No principal would dare.

“Healthy, non-intoxicated women do not fall over for no reason.” Okay, maybe. “And you claim there’s no baby.”

“I can’t believe you asked me that in front of your mother. What were you thinking?”

“It’s been a month and any time I try to get close—”

“We had this discussion. The baby is not your responsibility.”

“You lied? There is a baby?”

“No! I did not lie,” she said. This wasn’t so cute anymore. “Would you stop scowling at me like that? Since when is judgment welcome in our relationship?”

“It’s not judgment, it’s…”

The elevator opened and out he went without finishing the thought. The long, carpeted hallway was one she recognized. High up in Crimson, they were on a private floor of suites, reserved only for Roxie and Zairn’s special guests.

She didn’t complain when he took her into one of the suites, or when he carried on through to lay her down in one of the bedrooms.

No, it was when he went for her shoes that she rebelled and pulled her legs away. “Don’t take off my shoes.”

“Why not?”

“We’re not having sex.”

Another voice interrupted. “Least wait until the doc’s checked her out, bro. Have some class.” Breck stepped aside and there was Tripp sauntering on in to join them. He came to sit with her, propping a fist by her hip to lean in and kiss her temple. “You should’ve called me.”

Their eyes met. “I’m not pregnant.”

“That’s not what I’m hearing.”

“Because your brother opened his big, stupid mouth in front of people. There’s no baby—” Except this was Tripp. “I don’t think there’s a baby—I don’t know if there’s a baby.”

“You took a test?”

“No,” she said. “This is one of those things that happens whether you know it or not. I figure at some point, or not, I’ll know.”

“You were scared to be disappointed. You want to be pregnant.”

“Conning your brother into giving it a shot once was difficult enough. I don’t have it in me to hoodwink him twice.”

Yeah, okay… so she could, it wouldn’t take much. It was distancing themselves afterward that was the real hard part.

“You do have it in you, Seq. If it’s something you want, you’ll get it.” Tripp’s smirk grew. “Not like my brother’s ever fought you off.”

From each other, their focus went to the stern man standing at the foot of the bed. Okay, he was cute again. All angry and grumpy, she missed the days when it was her job, and delight, to loosen him up.

A whole stream of people barreled through the suite disrupting her burgeoning fantasy. They heard them coming before the cascade of bodies burst in.

“Ben is on his way.”

“This is insanity,” she said, pushing herself upright while Tripp adjusted the pillows so she could sit against them. “No one has to worry. No one has to—”

“You’re carrying the next generation of Breckenridge in there.” Darroch’s arm went around Savanna to pull her against him. “Guess ours will be the spare.”

All suspicion suddenly turned on the affianced couple. Good. Let’s see how they liked it.

“We’re not pregnant,” Savvy said, elbowing her love. “And, Gentleman, you’re not being kind.”

“What’s not kind about that? I can’t wait to meet the little guy.”

Caber, another brother, didn’t let that one slide. “Might be a girl.”

“A girl.”

The sentimentality in Alice’s voice cracked her heart.

“Alice, I really don’t know. I don’t.”

“The gender?” Caber asked. “Or if it exists?”

Tripp, still close, back to the others, showed sympathy in his smile, but what could he do?

“Nothing you can do to get them all out of here, Priest?” she asked. “You’ve never hesitated to clear a room before when necessary.”

“Think if I use my usual tactics, Breck might rip my head off.”

Think? Might? No, darling Tripp, there’d be no question about it.

Giving in, this wasn’t going away on its own. “I don’t know if there’s a baby. There might be a baby. I don’t think there is, but…”

“You never took a test?”

The question was valid. No, in the regular course of their lives women didn’t go around taking pregnancy tests for no reason. Except… Breck hadn’t given an inch, his tense muscles remained tight, and it wasn’t fun to see him so scrunchy.

“We have tests upstairs,” Roxie said.

“We do?” Zairn asked.

Roxie rested her weight against him. “Come on! You think with all the sex that goes on around here, Jane isn’t doing random spot checks? I think we get them wholesale.”

“Jane’s in California.”

“What does that matter? She doesn’t have to be in the state to hold us accountable,” Roxie said. “She’s attentive, she notices things.”

“What kind of things?”

“None of your business, Skippy.” Roxie fixed on her. “You want a test, Sequoia?”

“Yes,” Breck answered.

Tripp kissed her again and stood up. “Let’s give these two a minute.”

“We’ll wait in the living room,” Savvy said, using two hands on Darroch’s to tug him that way. “Should we send the doctor in?”

Normally, she wouldn’t stand for any man dictating the moment, but Breck was so clenched, some alone time would do him a favor.

Alice touched his arm and he raised it a little, that was as much acknowledgement as his mother got.

When the door closed, she arched a brow. “You see what you did.”

“What I did? Why haven’t you taken a test?”

“I already answered that.”

“You didn’t.”

Coming around the bed, he didn’t ask permission to grab her ankles and toss off her shoes. Throwing them aside, he wasn’t shy about driving his hands up her thighs to push her skirt as high as it would go. Before she could ask, he snatched her head in both hands and planted his mouth on hers.

Yeah, he was mad. Their kisses were a whole other language. The push of his tongue and the strength in his grip proved his fear too, his longing. A month apart, without any direct contact… how long had it been since they’d gone a month cold turkey? Had they ever?