Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 67120 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67120 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 336(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
“Wow,” I said in startled surprise and met eyes with Nathan. “It’s like he really is your kid.”
Nathan, looking rather puny himself since he’d been injured, grinned. “Can I have that chair, man?”
I got up and gestured to it with my chin. “After you. And then you can stop being a little bitch and feed your baby.”
Nathan looked like he’d been handed a ball of snakes instead of his kid as I transferred him over to his father’s arms.
“He fits in the palm of your hand, man,” I said as I moved some wires around and then handed him the bottle. “Do it.”
Nathan took the bottle and looked like he wasn’t sure where to stick it.
“In his mouth,” I teased.
Nathan shot me a dirty look. “I like it better when you don’t talk.”
I laughed my ass off all the way to Sierra.
“Give me a kiss, woman. I have to get back to work,” I ordered.
She looked up from her paperwork and smiled. “Thank you for the lunch. It was delicious. And thank you for bringing it to us all. Today’s been a wild day.”
I pressed my lips to hers until she gasped lightly causing me to pull back.
“Call me when you head home?” I asked.
She’d be off for at least two hours before I was, so I wanted to make sure that she was all right after all the shit I’d had to deal with today.
“Sure,” she said softly. “I’ll call.”
I winked and waved at the rest of the nurses that I saw before heading out the door.
Once I shed my gear, I headed back down to my cruiser and got back to work.
All the while, though, I wondered what it would feel like to hold Sierra’s baby in my hands.
Would I wish that it was mine?
CHAPTER 16
I’m not needy. I’m wanty.
-Text from Sierra to Malachi
SIERRA
Gabriel,
It’s been six months.
I’m officially on the brink of panicking.
I really hope you’re okay.
Here’s my new address. If you need me, call me. Here’s my cell phone number.
Gabriel, God I hope that you’re okay.
Always thinking about you,
Sierra
• • •
I was nervous.
Not because I was bringing Malachi home to meet my family, but because I was worried that they were going to figure out that this all started out as a lie.
“I should tell them,” I muttered to the man that was walking up the front walkway beside me. “I hate lying.”
“Then tell them.” He shrugged. “But, let me ask you this, what’s it going to accomplish telling them the truth now? You’re pregnant. That’s not going anywhere. Nobody’s mad anymore—at least that’s what you’re telling me. Everyone already thinks I’m the father. And you have other things to discuss with your mother, like my ass. Not my ass, ass. But, me, like my entire body, ass.”
I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I think that you might’ve slipped a little drink before coming here.”
He sighed. “Parents don’t usually like me. And for some reason, I want them to.”
“My dad liked you before he found out that we were dating,” I said. “I don’t see why that would change now.”
“Because I knocked you up?” I teased.
She rolled her eyes and walked into the house as if she still lived there, not bothering to knock.
It was to her utter horror that she found her parents making out on the couch, her father’s hand shoved up the front of her mother’s shirt cupping her breast.
They broke off upon hearing the door opening.
“I know that you heard us,” Sierra yelled, closing her eyes and then going one step farther as she pressed her hands to her eyes.
“I know that you learned manners and know how to knock,” Miller countered as he got up, removing his hand almost reluctantly from his wife’s chest.
My face was neutral, but I would’ve laughed had this been anyone else.
Like I said, Grans had desensitized me to all things embarrassing. I’d seen things that I could never unsee thanks to that woman.
“Sorry, you can rest assured that next time, I’ll even make sure to call before showing up,” she muttered.
“You did call,” I pointed out. “They knew you were coming.”
She peeked out at me through splayed fingers that were still covering her eyes. “I know. I was being sarcastic.”
I nodded in understanding and then turned my attention back to the more dangerous person in the room.
Miller was staring at me with narrowed eyes.
My eyes went from him to his wife who was looking at her daughter anxiously, and I said, “Honey, why don’t you go help your mom for a bit? I want to talk to your dad for a minute?”
Sierra’s eyes narrowed on me, as if she was about to argue, but a quick shake of my head had her sighing. “Fine.”
She walked past her mother and into the kitchen, and Mercy followed.
Her eyes came to me and she winked before mouthing, “Thank you.”