Cherished (Wanted) (20 page)

“Not here though. I want to get you home. I just want to leave and go home.”

She bit down on her lower lip. “Me, too,” she whispered.

“Lark has got some girl with him, but he should be ready in about forty-five minutes or so,” I said as I rolled my eyes.

“Okay. Can we just sit here for a bit? Will you just hold me for a while, Scott?”

I stood, and she started to slide over. I crawled into the chair next to her. I pulled her close to me and silently thanked God for bringing us back together.

“Scott?”

“Yeah, baby?”

She turned and looked at me, tears filling her eyes. “I love you. I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

My heart broke in two. The last thing I wanted was for her to be stressed or worried, especially with her being pregnant. I kissed her forehead and pulled her closer to me.

“I love you, too, baby, and I’m sorry for getting angry earlier. I need to be honest with you as well, baby.”

She looked up at me, and I saw the fear in her eyes.

“At the bar one night, I kissed another girl, and I touched her breasts when I was drunk, but that was all I did. I swear to you…all I could see was your face, baby, and I couldn’t do it.”

She swallowed and gave me a weak smile. “Can we just forget that the last five weeks ever happened?”

I kissed her forehead. “Let’s just get home and share our good news with everyone, okay?”

She gave me a weak smile and nodded as she snuggled in closer to me. As I looked out over the ocean, I thought about Trey and what he’d said. I was pretty sure that was not going to be the last time I ever saw him.

As we got closer to Austin, I looked down at a sleeping Jessie in my arms.

Lark had been on the radio with someone, talking about a mission or something. When I realized he was talking about a girl and not his job, I rolled my eyes. He glanced back at me and winked. I couldn’t help but laugh. I’d met Lark in college, and we had quickly become friends. I swore that we’d done everything together. Lark’s father was in the Secret Service, and Lark seemed to have followed in his footprints. Whatever Lark did for a living, it sure as hell was a secret.

I woke Jessie up when Lark said we were about fifteen minutes out.

“Are we stopping for fuel again?” Jessie asked.

“Nah, we’re fixin’ to land in Austin, baby.”

Her eyes lit up, and she smiled so big that it caused me to laugh.

“Glad to be almost home?” I asked.

She nodded her head and put her hand on her stomach. “I’ll be glad to land, too. I feel sick.”

Lark snapped his head around and looked at Jessie. “There’s a puke bag, doll, right there if ya need it,” he said with a wink.

By the time we landed and made it through customs and all that bullshit, Jessie was practically running to the restroom. I felt so bad. I watched her as she almost plowed over a poor old lady.

Lark came walking up and slapped me on the back. “Thanks for the mini vacation, dude,” he said with a grin.

“Pesh, I paid you good enough for that quick little trip.”

His crooked smiled spread across his face, and he nodded his head. “Yeah, ya did. Boss man said anytime you need the use of the helicopter again, just let him know.” Lark threw his head back and laughed.

“Dude, I paid you to go to Belize and pretty much get laid,” I said as I glanced back toward the restroom.

Lark’s smile faded. “Shit, I can get laid anywhere, dude. Perks of being single…and a pilot. Ain’t gonna lie though, the strawberry-blonde was a good fuck.”

“Lark, don’t you want to settle down? Think about a family, maybe? I mean, I get the lure of traveling, and it seems like you have a pretty good paying job,” I said as I rolled my eyes again, “but don’t you want someone to wake up to every morning? Someone to say ‘I love you’ to or have her say it back to you?”

His eyes filled with sadness before he quickly snapped out of it. He watched a girl in a pair of tight jeans and cowboy boots walk by. “Are you fucking kidding me? No, thanks. I know what being in love brings—heartache. No, thank you, I’ll pass. I like my life, Scott. I wouldn’t change one goddamn thing about it.”

I let out a sigh. “Are you going to be in town for New Year’s?”

He looked around and then back at me. “Probably.”

“Come on out to Mason for a few days, dude. Take in the country air. My parents would love to see you. Plus, you can celebrate with Jessie and me—new year, new baby, new beginnings.”

He stood there, thinking for a minute, before he nodded his head. “Alright, I think some fresh country air might be just what I need. Since I’m not heading home to the ranch, I think it would do me some good.”

I smiled and hit him on the back as I watched Jessie coming out of the restroom. “Perfect. It will do you good, buddy.”

Jessie walked right into my arms, and I held her for a second before she pulled back and smiled.

“Can we stop and buy me a new cell phone? Mine is in a field somewhere in Mason.” She scrunched up her nose.

We made plans with Lark to come out and stay with us for a few days, and then we said our good-byes.

Jessie and I headed out of the airport and to my truck. The cool December evening felt amazing.

After a quick stop for a new cell phone, we were on our way to Mason. Jessie was asleep before we were even out of the Austin city limits. I grabbed my cell phone and hit Gunner’s number. After giving him a quick rundown, I asked him to let everyone know we were back in Texas, and we would probably be locking ourselves away for a few days.

I hit End and then peeked over at my sleeping beauty.

A father—I can’t believe I’m going to be a father.

For the first time in the last five weeks, I finally felt happy. I turned and glanced at my bag in the backseat, knowing that I had Jessie’s engagement ring in there. My heart started pounding in my chest. I was so glad I hadn’t asked her to marry me last night in Belize.

As we drove down the driveway, Jessie woke up. She stretched and made the cutest noise. I couldn’t wait to get her in the house and strip off her clothes. I wanted to do nothing but make love to her.

She looked over at me, and the passion in her eyes told me she was thinking the same thing. “I’m so glad to be home!”

“Me, too, baby. I’m gonna make love to you all night long.”

She smiled and nodded her head. “I like that plan—a lot. Maybe I should start undressing now.”

My dick jumped in my pants, and I laughed as I watched her pull her T-shirt over her head. I looked back ahead and slammed on the brakes.

“Shit! Jesus, Scott, why did you—” Jessie quickly put her shirt back on and started laughing. “Oh my god! Are you kidding me?”

I pulled up next to Drake’s truck and took a deep breath. I looked at Jessie. “Looks like you’re in trouble.”

She slowly smiled and gave me the sexiest look I’d ever seen. “I guess you might have to spank me then after they leave.” She opened the door and jumped out of the truck.

“Wait! What?” I yelled out after her.

I instantly imagined Jessie naked with me spanking her.
Holy fuck. Talk about an instant hard-on.

I opened the truck door and jumped out. I tried to adjust my dick. As I walked around and grabbed her hand, she looked up at me and giggled.

“For that, I think you maybe deserve two spankings,” I said with a wink.

Her eyes filled with lust, and she bit down on her lower lip.

“You ready for the wrath of your father and brothers?” I said as I glanced over at Drake, Aaron, and Dewey all standing on my porch.

I guess I should have told Gunner not to call Drake.

As we got closer, Jessie began squeezing the hell out of my hand.

I leaned over and said, “Baby, I need that hand for later.”

She snapped her head over and looked at me. A blush quickly swept over her cheeks, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s gonna be fine. Don’t worry,” I said.

When we reached the top of the porch, Aaron walked up and hugged Jessie. “Jesus, don’t ever do that to us again, you little brat,” Aaron said as he pushed Jessie back and gave her a quick once-over.

He stepped aside and Dewey strolled up to her. His eyes were filled with tears.

“Dew, are you about to cry, dude?” I asked with a laugh.

He shot me a look that made me instantly stop laughing.

“I can still kick your damn ass, pretty boy,” Dewey said as he grabbed Jessie and pulled him to her. “My god, Tiny…don’t ever leave like that again without calling one of us. We were going crazy.”

Jessie wiped a tear away. She leaned back and gave Dewey a weak smile. “I’m so sorry I worried you. I really am.”

Dewey put his arm around her and turned her to face Drake. I had noticed the small smile on Drake’s face when his sons were hugging their sister, but the moment Dewey moved, Drake’s smile was replaced with a look of anger.

“You think you can just run away like that with no word to anyone, and then just walk back in like nothing ever happened?”

“Daddy, I—”

“No. You don’t get to
Daddy
me. You left the goddamn country, Jessie. You didn’t tell anyone. Then, you were holed up with some stranger while we all went insane.”

Jessie sucked in a breath of air and quickly wiped her tears away.

“Drake, I think maybe you need to calm down before you—”

“No, Scott. I don’t need to calm down, and if I were you, I’d be so pissed-off at this girl right now that I don’t think I’d be walking up, holding her hand. You left him without so much as a reason why.”

“I thought he—”

“Well, he didn’t cheat on you, Jessie. You would have known that if you hadn’t run away. How in the hell did you pay for this little trip to Belize?”

I saw her as she started wringing her hands together. She looked down at the ground and then up at her father.

“Oh my god. You didn’t use your savings for the vet clinic, did you?”

Savings? What savings?
I hadn’t wanted to ask Jessie, but I was wondering how she’d paid to stay in Belize for so long. When I’d checked her out of the hotel, they had said she didn’t have a balance due. She had paid in full through the end of the month…in cash.

“At the time, I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly. Daddy, everything has changed, and I don’t think I want to buy the clinic anymore.”