Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 72329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72329 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
“Okay,” she said.
It was said so softly that I could barely hear.
She was scared.
God, I was scared, too.
“You’re a lucky woman,” the doctor continued. “This could’ve been a whole lot worse than it was.”
That was the same thought that I had.
Had Rachelle not knocked on that door…
“If you need anything between then and now, page your nurse. She has permission to give you pain meds. I’ll be in to check on you in just a little bit, okay?” he said.
After Rowen nodded understanding, the doctor left, leaving me and her alone.
I sat on the side of her bed, unsure what to say.
“I was on birth control,” she whispered.
Her promise had me grinning.
“Sometimes it’s just meant to be, sweetheart,” I said. “Had this happened with some random chick, I might’ve been a bit upset about it. But you’re not some random chick. You’re my Rowen. My girlfriend. My soon-to-be wife. It’s okay.”
She raised one brow at me, her eyes having met mine when I said ‘soon-to-be wife.’
“Ummm,” she said. “I think you have to ask a certain question first before I can be your ‘soon-to-be’ anything.”
I grinned.
“Well, I have a feeling that you didn’t get a good look at the fridge today,” he said. “I’m assuming that Shondra got a go at it before you did and changed the letters before you had a chance to read it.”
She blinked.
“It said ‘I hope you die’ or something to that effect,” she said. “Why, what did you put on it?”
I shook my head. “You’ll just have to wait until you can read it again.”
She scrunched up her nose in annoyance.
“Whatever,” she muttered. “That’s crap.”
I snorted and ran my finger lightly down her nose.
“Would you like to tell me what happened from the beginning?” I asked. “I’ve pieced bits of it together, but I still don’t know exactly what happened. Hell, I had no idea Shondra was involved until you woke up.”
She went through exactly what happened, starting with hearing the bang and ending with Shondra hitting her with the hammer.
“She looked behind me,” she continued. “I thought she saw something outside. But when I turned around and looked, everything went black.”
“Where were you standing when this happened?” I wondered.
“In between the kitchen and the living room,” she answered. “My back was to the wall next to your entryway table.”
Right next to the doorway that led into the front bedroom.
A thud-thud had us both turning to look at the entryway to Rowen’s room.
A woman appeared that had me grinning wide.
“This isn’t going to be awkward or anything, is it?” Pru asked.
I snorted. “No. Not unless you make it awkward.”
Pru was the daughter of one of my dad’s best friends, and we’d all grown up together. She was a year or so older than me and liked to make sure I never forgot it.
“I’d never make anything awkward.” She snickered as she made her way up to Rowen’s bedside. “Rowen, how are you?”
After Rowen and Pru exchanged pleasantries, Pru got her ready for an ultrasound. An ultrasound that had a rather large wand covered in a condom going up my girl’s vagina.
“Is there another way we could do this?” I asked, feeling uncomfortable for Rowen, as well as myself.
“Not this early, no.” Pru apologized as she started to press things on the computer in front of her.
It was about a minute and a half later that she was pointing at some blackish gray blob on the screen saying, “There it is!”
‘It’ being a circle with a bunch of gray around it.
“That’s… it?” I asked.
“That’s it.” Pru nodded. “Cool, huh?”
I leaned down so that my face was close to Rowen’s ear and said, “I don’t see shit.”
She turned her face into mine and started laughing.
That laughing immediately turned to a groan.
“Sorry, sorry,” I apologized, pressing both of my palms to either side of her face. “No laughing.”
She smiled, despite the pain.
“I don’t know shit about kids.”
“That’s cool,” I said softly. “We can fuck them up together, because I don’t either.”
Chapter 19
Goest & Fuck Thyself.
-Text from Dax to Harleigh
Dax
“You got her?” I asked carefully.
Reese looked at me.
Really looked at me.
And narrowed her eyes.
She planted her hands on her hips and turned to face me fully.
“Dax Tremaine,” she said softly, her voice barely a whisper. “I know it’s hard to believe, but that girl’s been my heart before you were even a glimmer in her eye.”
My lips twitched for the first time since Rowen had been hurt. I’d left her lying in my bed earlier that morning.
She’d rolled over after I’d made love to her and gone back to sleep as if the orgasm had drained every ounce of energy right out of her.
I’d grinned, smiling wide, and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck.
“I know, ma’am,” I said. “But…”
“But she means a lot to you,” Reese finished. “Do you know what it feels like? To get a call about someone you love? A voice that says that someone tried to kill that person that you love?”