Page 34

TWENTY-EIGHT

HANNAH

“I wish we never had to leave.” I suck in a lungful of fresh mountain air and tip my head toward the sun. It’s peeking between the trees as we hike the path toward what we’re told is a beautiful set of falls.

We had breakfast with the owner of the inn and a few other guests. It was nice, really—dining with strangers. It gave us the opportunity to try out interacting like an actual couple. Though it kind of felt like we were pulling one over on the other guests, since we still haven’t defined what the hell we’re doing—other than having a baby together.

I can’t say it wasn’t magical. Daniel wrapped his arm around my chair and tugged me close. He filled my plate with a little of everything set out for us, then fed me bites of each while we chatted with the other guests about where they were from and what they were hoping to do here. From what I could tell, no one recognized him, and we were able to steer clear of questions about our occupations. It might have been the most relaxing morning I’ve ever had.

“We can’t accomplish that monster of a bucket list if we’re stuck in one place.”

I giggle and crack my eyes open. “We don’t actually have to do everything on it. I know some of them are ridiculous.”

He cocks a devilish brow. “Yeah, I don’t think we’ll be running with the bulls anytime soon.”

“Fine. We can remove that one, but I still want to do a gondola ride in Venice. And karaoke.”

“Karaoke is not a bucket list item. Just go out with Aiden on a Friday night or hang out in our locker room before a game.” He shakes his head. “Actually, no. Don’t do that.”

“Oh, come on. I’ve always wondered what you boys do in the locker room. Swing your dicks around, I’m sure.”

He swivels his hips aggressively. “Obviously.”

“So who’s the biggest?” I ask, trying my best to bite back a smile.

Head dropped back, he guffaws, the sound so loud he startles the birds in a nearby tree, and they take flight. “Is this really even a question?”

It’s not. I’ve got it on good authority that the honor goes to Daniel. From my personal experience with it, I 100 percent believe the rumors. The guy is hung, but I’ve never hooked up with any of the guys on the hockey team and have zero intention of ever doing so. I have, however, heard the guys talk about their dicks on more than one occasion. I swear that’s all they do, and every freaking time, they talk about how hung my man is.

My man. My heart stutters right out of my chest. Whoa. What the hell was that?

When I don’t reply, Daniel grasps my wrist and tugs me into his chest. He tips my chin up with one finger and leans down. “Do I need to remind you of just how big I am, or can you still feel me between your thighs?”

My body pulses with a desire that never seems to wane when he’s around. I lick my lips, hungry. No, famished. It must be his age. I’ve never met a man who could keep up with me the way he can. “We could cross off another item on the bucket list.”

He brushes his lips against mine. “Which one?”

I bite down on his lip softly, then in one quick move, dart back and take off at a run. “Skinny dipping!” I yell as I head straight toward the falls ahead.

When the forest opens up and they come into full view, I pull up short. Holy fuck. All around, there’s nothing but lush greens, a flowering mountain, and the heavy, thundering rush of water. The way the sunlight glints off the water makes the whole clearing glow. Like an oasis. Like a mirage. It’s too beautiful to be real.

Daniel barrels into me, sweeping me off my feet and heading straight to the edge of the water. “I’m going in first to make sure it’s safe.” He sets me on my feet, then gives me the sternest expression he can manage. “Seriously, if you listen to nothing else I say, let this be the one thing you do.”

I smile. “Aw, you want to protect the baby.”

With a grunt, he yanks me in for a kiss. It’s not a brush of lips. No, he goes for it, his tongue massaging mine as he holds me in place, forcing me to accept what he’s trying to tell me. Then, just in case I didn’t get the message, he pulls back and ducks so we’re nose to nose. “I want to protect you and the baby. You are nonnegotiable in that equation. You get me, dream girl?”

“I’m beginning to,” I say, the words barely audible with the way emotion clogs my throat. He’s told me again and again that I’d eventually get it, and now, I think that maybe I’m beginning to. “Now strip.” My voice is a little stronger now.

With a slow, cocky smirk, he grasps the hem of his shirt, and with a ridiculous amount of teasing, he inches it up his torso, showing off his abs. He dances to nonexistent music, swinging his hips in a way that would have his dick rolling if he was naked.

I scan the area to make sure we’re truly alone before I egg him on. “Take off the pants, Hall. Remind me what we’re working with here.”

He unzips his pants, and when he whips out the goods, I have to bite down on my lip to keep a moan from slipping out.

The way his eyes flash tells me he caught the reaction. “All right, dream girl, stay on the shore,” he reiterates as he steps to the edge and dips his toes in. “Shit, it’s cold.”

“This is almost worse,” I whine. “I think I’d rather jump in. Get it over with quickly.”

“Not happening.” He growls at me. But in the next heartbeat, he does just that. When he lands with a big splash and then stands up easily, he swipes the water from his face. “Okay, hot girl. Now you can come get wet.”

“That’s what she said,” I mutter.

Daniel’s laughter is like a balm for my soul. Every moment of this day has been. I make a show of undressing for him, and like the good boy he is, he hoots and hollers until I’m running toward the edge and cannonballing into the water beside him.

When the ice-cold water hits my body like a million pinpricks, I surface and practically throw myself into his arms. “Holy shit, you said it was cold, not frigid.”

“How long do we have to stay in here for this to qualify as skinny dipping?” He palms my ass and lifts me.

Automatically, I wrap my legs around his hips. Like we’re two pieces of a puzzle, his dick slots perfectly between us. “Wait a second.” I wriggle against him. “How in the fuck are you hard right now?”

“Um, you’re naked.”

“The water is freezing.”

“Yeah, the rest of my body will probably go into hypothermia because all my blood rushed to my dick the second I saw your tits.”

With a laugh, I whack his chest. “Shut up. That’s not science.”

He rolls his hips. “Then how do you explain this?”

I open my mouth to quip back, but I’ve got nothing, so I snap it shut again.

“You could keep me warm,” he suggests, pressing kisses to my chin.

“Oh, could I?”

“Public sex was on your bucket list.”

“Pretty sure we covered that at the stadium,” I murmur even as I lick across his lips.

He slips a hand between us and lines his head up with my entrance. As he pushes himself in to the hilt, we moan in unison. “Fuck, you’re perfect.”

“No, we’re perfect,” I breathe as he fucks me, keeping his dick buried deep and his movements small. God, how is it possible he feels this good?

How can everything with him always feel so good?

“I watched this episode of Grey’s Anatomy where a couple went skinny dipping, and the guy got a worm in his penis.”

Daniel grabs his dick and sucks in a breath. “Take it back.”

I take a long, dramatic lick of my ice cream.

We’re in downtown Enchanted Falls, Vermont, and as the name suggests, everything about it is absolutely magical. After our afternoon romp, we had a picnic—another one of my bucket list items—and took a nap. I woke feeling rested but also bad about wasting so much of what little time we have together sleeping.

Daniel, of course, responded with something like “There’s no such thing as wasted time as long as you’re in my arms.”

He might be making it really hard not to fall for him.

We have dinner plans in an hour, but I mentioned craving something sweet and salty, and Daniel was ecstatic about being around when a craving hit, so he forced me to put on my shoes and dragged me to the fudge shop, insisting we could have dessert before dinner. He’s going to make a fabulous father.

“You should probably check the anaconda in your pants and make sure it’s the only thing there.”

With a shiver, he surreptitiously eyes his crotch.

Head tossed back, I laugh. “Men are so easy to rile up. Dicks, women, and sports. That’s about all you think about, isn’t it?”

“I can’t speak for all men, but for me, yes.”

“Great.”

“With one caveat,” he adds, holding up a finger.

“I’m all ears.”

“It’s not women, it’s woman .” He drapes an arm over my shoulders. “You.”

“Such a romantic,” I tease him, even though I’m swooning internally. It’s pathetic, really.

Daniel slides his hand down my body and links his fingers with mine. “So you were a Grey’s Anatomy fan?”

“Oh god, who wasn’t? I binge watched every episode of the first ten seasons after my divorce, and I’ve been hooked since.”

He side-eyes me, though he doesn’t turn his head.

I huff and take another lick of ice cream. “You want me to tell you about the marriage?”

All I get is a simple shrug. “Only if you want to, and only because I want to know you.”

I lean my head against his chest, making sure to hold my cone out so neither of us wears it. “There’s not a lot to tell. It’s a simple story about a girl who’d been told all her life that if her mother just found the right man, she’d be happy. My mother’s happiness was dependent on one man or another for years. You’d think that would have made me run in the opposite direction of love”—I glance up at him—“And it did eventually, but back then, I went to college intent on finding a man and falling in love, certain that if I did that, then life would be perfect.”

“I’m guessing it didn’t work out like that?”

I take another swipe at my ice cream. “Not at all. I married my professor. Very cliché. He was older, obviously. I thought it was this grand love affair.” I shake my head. God, I was so na?ve. “He wanted me to drop out of school so we could start a family right away. It’s funny, because I went to school not really caring about the actual education, but once I was there, I fell in love with it. My dreams were bigger than just being his wife, and well…” I shrug. “We fought a lot, but I figured that was normal for people who were just settling into marriage. I didn’t expect to end up divorced so quickly. But when my mom called me about her fourth divorce, I planned a have a day trip with her. I booked a couple of nights at a hotel, and Mom planned to come to town. Rafe, apparently, took that as his get out of jail free card .”

He growls, his whole body going rigid.

All I can do is shrug. “My mother was supposed to meet me at the hotel, but she texted a couple of hours after she planned to arrive to tell me she’d met someone at a bar and that I was off the hook for the night. I went back to my house and—” I squeeze my eyes shut; this part is hard to admit. “I don’t want you to hate my mother, because even I don’t hate her.”

Daniel winces. “Fuck, please tell me she wasn’t at your house.”

“I wish I could.” With a deep inhale, I force myself to get the rest of it out. “She’d never met my husband or been to my house. I’d gotten married on a whim that semester. It was this big, fun, secret love affair, and it was all mine.” I let out a sarcastic laugh. “Until it wasn’t. She still doesn’t know she slept with her daughter’s husband. The second I saw them in bed, I turned around and walked out of the house. I never said a word.”

“That asshole.” Daniel holds me tighter, his eyes burning with anger. “Please tell me he had a heart attack and died. Or that you stabbed him. Yes, that. Tell me you stabbed him and he’s rotting in the basement of your old house.”

I bow my head and bite back a grin. This man. “No. I told him I knew he’d slept with another woman—I didn’t tell him she was my mother, because once again, how fucking embarrassing is that? He tried to gaslight me, telling me it was my fault for gallivanting around town with my mother when I should have been at home working on our marriage. Whatever. He’s a dick, and no, I have no idea whether he’s alive or dead. I signed the divorce papers and never looked back.”

Daniel sighs, probably realizing just how uphill his battle is if he really wants to keep pursuing me. I can’t blame him. I don’t trust easily. Though I do trust him. He’s proven time and again that I can, and it’s not in my nature to hold the sins of another person over his head. I give people the opportunity to show me who they are. But that doesn’t mean I’m not still tending to emotional scars. I’m wary, yeah, but I can give this a chance. I’ll let Daniel decide whether this is something he can truly handle.

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” He pulls me to a stop in front of a small restaurant.

A handful of small tables are scattered around the patio out front. The ambient lighting and the music from the solo guitarist make for the perfect low-key spot.

“I’m not,” I say, chin lifted. “Because if he hadn’t screwed up all those years ago, I wouldn’t be standing here with you. And Daniel?”

He presses his hand to my cheek, his eyes warm with adoration. “Yes?”

I one-up him and cup both his cheeks. “I’m really happy I’m here with you. And I’m really happy we’re having this baby.” I swallow down the emotion bubbling up inside me. “What you said last night about this being the best thing to happen to you? Well, same . I can’t say I ever would have written this into my own story, but I know now that I’d have been missing out. So thank you for giving me the time to get here. And thank you for this.” I peer around us. “This place, these past few days, they’ve meant everything to me.”

He leans down and kisses me gently.

When he pulls back, I smile up at him. “Seriously, how did you find such a perfect spot?”

Hands at my hips, he turns me so I’m facing the restaurant. “You can actually thank your brothers for this one.”

That’s when I realize I recognize two faces on the patio. Riggs and Ash are sitting across from one another, grinning at me.

With a squeal, I charge toward them excited to spend the evening laughing and talking with two of my favorite people. All thanks to the man who is climbing the ranks and not so slowly unseating everyone else for that title.

“I still can’t believe you’re both sitting here with me,” I say to my brothers, still in shock.

Ash gives me that knowing smirk that he’s so famous for. He’s cocky in a way most people simply cannot be, because his cockiness is backed up by years of experience as a Navy SEAL. The man has seen and done things that I know have left him both scarred and a bit weary of the world, but somehow, he never manages to let it affect the people around him. He’s aware of the darkness in the world, not grumpy. And I’m a hell of a lot happier that he’s now on this side of the globe, even if I still rarely see him because of his demanding job. “We couldn’t leave it up to Noah to let your boy know he better behave.”

I roll my eyes, even as Daniel chuckles easily. For as much as he shouldn’t be comfortable around my brothers—two men who are trained to kill in more ways than I’d like to imagine—he is completely at ease. “Like I told you on the phone, I’d cut off my own hand if I hurt her.” He lifts our hands, which are joined on his lap and brings it to his lips, his eyes never leaving mine. “She’s safe with me.”

“We’ll be the ones to decide that,” Riggs says, dragging an annoyed sigh from me.

“Everyone can stop with the I’ve got her thing.” I arch an unimpressed eyebrow at both of my brothers. “You all know that I’ve got myself. I don’t need a man to protect me.” I dart a glance at Daniel, and the tension in my body releases. “But I like this one, so be nice.”

Daniel squeezes my fingers, and Ash blows out a breath. “Fuck, never thought I’d see the day that Hannah was nice .”

I think Daniel is about to tear Ash’s head off—even if he is a dangerous motherfucker who’s not to be messed with—but when I bark out a loud laugh, he relaxes and shakes his head. “You guys are all brutal,” he mutters.

Riggs chuckles. “You’re part of the family now. Get used to it.”

I bite down on my lip hard as a realization hits. I want it. I want it so bad I can taste it. But I’m scared to want it at the same time, so I change the subject before I can focus on the way Daniel’s cheeks have gone a warm red, like he’s both surprised and pleased with that idea. “Speaking of family, how are my nephews?”

Riggs pulls out his phone and gives us a play-by-play of all the sports the boys are now involved in and how Pierce—their father—is already itching to teach them how to shoot. I shake my head. I hate guns, but I know it’s a big part of life in rural Vermont. Especially for my brothers, who work in security.

“How’s Teddy?” I ask Ash.

My brother’s fists clench slightly, a tick that most would have missed, but I know him too well. When we were kids, he had a crush on the middle Berkshire girl, and I don’t know that it ever faded. I’m not sure if anything ever happened between the two of them, but she was married by the time he left the SEALs, and I’ve never seen him date or even mention another woman.

“She’s fine. Her daughter’s first birthday is this week and they’re doing some big celebration at the estate. Whole family is going to be in town. That’s how I knew we could make tonight work.”

I smile. “Give her my love.”

I’ve met Teddy a time or two over the years, but I feel like I know her far better than those limited interactions allowed because Ash has always talked about her, even if he never realizes it. It’s sad to think that they never got their chance.

That thought has me turning my focus back to Daniel.

I’m glad we’re getting this chance. I’m glad he’s giving it to us. Not just for our child, but because I’m starting to realize I could see a future with him. And I don’t want to look back years from now and wonder what would have happened if I’d spoken up, or what would have happened if I’d been brave enough to try.

As if he somehow knows precisely what I need, he wraps an arm around my chair and tugs me closer, pressing a kiss to my forehead. Then he turns back and answers question after question, acing the interrogation my brothers have thrown together.

I don’t bother to try to shut them down. I know better. Plus, I know that, to him, I’m worth it.