Adrenaline spent, Viviana nodded and let herself savor what might be the last time in his arms. “I’m listening.” Kind of. God, he feels so good.
His heart beat loudly in his chest while he took a moment to choose his words. “You once told me you went to Boston because you needed to discover who you really were. I had been asked to do something for my family that required I leave my office and talk to people. Regular people. I don’t know if you’ve realized this about me, but that’s not an area I excel at.”
Despite how she tried to keep the walls around her heart, they started to crumble as he opened up to her. This was the man she’d laughed with, trusted, started to fall for. “You could start by not calling them regular.”
He tucked her head under his chin and hugged her closer. “Noted. But when I call you regular, I mean real, grounded, honest. It’s not an insult. So many people in my circle pretend to be something they aren’t. You’re you, and that’s pretty incredible. This life you have here is what I’ve always imagined average Americans liv—”
“Average is actually more offensive than regular.”
“I see,” he stopped, then sighed. “I didn’t realize how isolated my life had become before I met you. I went to work. I went home. Yes, I saw my family and met my social commitments, but there were no surprises—at least, not good ones anyway.”
She eased back and placed a hand over her stomach. “You consider this a good surprise?”
He laid his hand over hers. “Don’t you?”
She started to shake again as emotions rushed through her. “I do, but I’m realistic. Neither of us planned this. That’s why I didn’t tell you.”
He raised her chin so her eyes met his. “No, you didn’t tell me because you thought I was an asshole.”
“I don’t know you well enough to know what I think of you.”
He kissed her briefly, gently on the lips. “Then let’s change that.”
She wasn’t ready to throw caution to the wind and believe in what he was offering. “For the baby’s sake.”
A smile tugged at one side of his mouth. “And for mine. My life was boring before you. Don’t send me back to it.” He kissed her gently again. “That would be cruel.”
She studied his face, looking for any hint of insincerity but found none. “Although it’s flattering to imagine I’m interesting enough to keep around—I don’t know what that would look like or if I could agree to something like that right now.”
“Not interesting—captivating.” He ran a hand through her hair. “As far as what it would look like, I’ve heard of this thing people do when they want to get to know each other better—I believe they call it dating.”
He said it with such a straight face that for a second she thought he was serious, then she saw the laughter in his eyes. She smiled and swatted his arm. “Jerk.”
“Say yes, Viv.”
“To start dating now, after we’ve already made a baby? I don’t know.” It seemed like too big of a decision to make hastily. This wasn’t saying yes to a drink with a stranger at a bar. It wasn’t agreeing to go to the movies with someone she’d just met. This was the father of the child she was carrying. If he wanted to be an important part of their child’s life, that meant he would be part of her life—always. Was it better to try to move forward as friends or give this another try?
What if round two ended worse than round one had? Where would that leave them? What would it mean for their child? She asked, “Why did you say yes to staying at my father’s place?”
His eyes darkened. “Because if we marry they’ll be my family.”
Marry? Holy shit, that’s where he sees this going? No. He didn’t say when, he said if. He doesn’t know either. “They don’t like you.”
“Yet,” he said with a confidence she envied.
There was a knock on the door. Gerald popped his head in. His eyes widened when he saw broken glass and flowers everywhere. “Everything okay in here?”
She blushed. “I was wrong, Gerry. I guess I didn’t want the flowers.”
“Guess not,” he said. “And him?”
“We’re still figuring that out,” she said as much to Grant as to Gerald.
Grant put his arm around her waist.
Gerald’s eyes narrowed. He looked around the trashed room again. Viviana saw the room through his eyes and rushed to say, “I did that. Not him.”
Gerald nodded. “I hope so. Funny thing about small towns, Grant Barrington: we protect our own. You remember that.”
After Gerald left, Grant joked, “I was sure he was going to threaten to use some large machinery to bury me in the back like your brothers did.”
Viviana’s head snapped back. “When did my brothers say that?” He didn’t need to say anything to guess what had happened. “I’m going to kill them.”
“No,” Grant said. “If you want there to be any chance of them accepting me, let it go.”
I don’t know if I can. “Rats like cheese. Dylan thought you’d already ratted him out for telling you I was pregnant.”
“I’m taking the fifth on all of this, so it’s not a lie when you say you didn’t hear it from me. Especially if they’ll be sleeping down the hall from me. They do both still live with your father, don’t they?”
“Yes, they do.”
Grant rubbed his jaw as if it were tender.
Anger surged in Viviana again. “Did one of them hit you?” Grant said nothing but he didn’t have to. Her brothers were hotheads, which was why she hadn’t told them when, Sidney, her ex-boyfriend had stolen from her. “I almost called the police on you, but so far you’re the one with reason to.”
He shook his head. “Who knows, given similar circumstances I might have done the same.”
“You don’t have to say that. I know they’re meatheads. I love them, but that doesn’t mean I’m not aware of their . . . more impulsive side.”
“I have brothers I feel the same way about. That’s something else we have in common.”
He meant it. She could see it in his eyes. “In Boston, I did think you were an asshole.”
He smiled. “I know.”
It was scary to lower her guard once she’d raised it. “I didn’t in the beginning. When we first met I saw you more like this.”
He pressed his lips together briefly before answering. “They’re both me. I’m not perfect, Viviana. I work too much. I don’t have friends because I never made time for them. According to the women in my family there is an inevitability to me offending you, despite their guidance. That’s me.”
“Your family knows about me?” she asked, swallowing hard.
“Just the basics,” he said, looking briefly down at her stomach then up again.
“I bet I know what they think of me.”
He ran his hand through her hair again. “I bet you don’t. If I survive your family, I’ll introduce you to mine. Then we’ll call it even.”
She chuckled. “That bad?”
He shrugged. “They can be, but things have been better lately. You’ll understand once you meet them.” After a pause, he looked around at the mess. “So, should we warn the cleaning crew about the glass?”
Viviana blinked a few times, half expecting him to start laughing. When he didn’t she went over to the closet, retrieved a dustpan and broom, then handed him the broom and said, “Watch out for the glass we need to pick up.”
“Of course.” He looked at the broom as if it were a complicated gadget, and he needed a moment to figure it out. Then he smiled and started sweeping up larger pieces. “This isn’t so bad.”
He looked so adorably proud of himself, Viviana burst out laughing. He started laughing along with her. For a moment, they were back to who they had been when they’d first met, two people simply enjoying each other, before everything got complicated.
Viviana went up on her toes and kissed his smiling lips. They both froze. She stepped back. “Let’s do it. Let’s date.”
“Soun
ds good,” he said in a strangled voice before returning to the task of sweeping the glass into a pile.
Desire licked through her, held in check only by their location. A heated look from him said he was waging the same inner battle.
Viviana instinctively placed her hand over her stomach. Please. Please let this be the right choice for all of us. “Want to see what we do here?” she asked in place of the other questions racing through her head.
“Sure.”
She led the way out of the trailer. The two of them stood for a moment at the bottom of the steps. Some of the crew were returning equipment and paused to watch. One had sent her flowers that day. Would they accept Grant?
Viviana glanced at him then back at the crew. They’ll have to because this is not their choice to make, it’s mine. Working in construction had taught her the greatest risk of getting hurt came from half-assing something. She squared her shoulders and took Grant’s hand in hers.
Okay. Here we go.
Chapter Thirteen
‡
Grant finished another beer then reached for more pizza, but he doubted he could eat it. His sides hurt from laughing so hard. Viviana’s family was fucking hilarious, even when they didn’t mean to be.
Or I’ve had too much alcohol.
No, they’re funny.
The initially tense meal had started with Viviana explaining to her family that they’d decided to try to work things out. A brief interrogation followed that he thought he’d handled well.
What did Grant do for a living? The pointed questions his father followed up with revealed two things: Sean Sutton was an intelligent man who understood more than he let on.
How would he navigate working in Boston and dating someone three hours away? Easy. Helicopter. Saves time.
Things got a little dicey when Dylan asked him what his favorite beer was, and he explained he wasn’t a big drinker.
“That’s because you’ve never tasted our homemade brew,” Connor had said gleefully, which perhaps should have made Grant question his motives.
Instead Grant had said, “I’d love to try it.”
One beer had led to two then three. Viviana, water in hand, had warned him to slow down, but Grant had felt like he’d stepped into an improv skit where the instructions had been to one up each other with embarrassing stories. Connor did an impression of Dylan that was so spot on Grant almost spit out a mouthful of beer when he heard it. Dylan told a story about how Viviana had been tougher than Connor when they were little. When a bully had started harassing Connor in middle school, ten-year-old Viviana had confronted the boy and kicked his butt.
Which, according to Dylan, begged two questions: How tough could that bully have been if he got his ass handed to him by a ten-year-old girl, and if Connor was once that much of a pussy was he destined to always be one?
Viviana had rolled her eyes at his comment, but she didn’t seem offended by the comment. Grant had looked at Sean to see his reaction, but rather than looking disappointed as his father would have, Viviana’s father laughed as he told his son to watch his language.
Viviana had chimed in then with a retelling of the time Dylan had pretended to be too sick to go to school because a girl in his class had said she wanted to kiss him. She and Connor had high fived over the table, and Dylan glared at them for a second before laughing along.
Grant had laughed too and had another beer.
The room spun a little, but Grant was enjoying himself too much to mind. He slapped his hand down on the table and declared, “I love this family.”
Dylan laughed. “Oh, man, he really is a lightweight.”
Viviana slapped her brother’s arm. “He told you he doesn’t drink.”
“If he hugs me can I punch him?” Connor asked.
Grant chuckled at that. Yes, he knew they were talking about him like he wasn’t there, but they were just too funny.
“Touch him and you die,” Viviana threatened. “Dad, tell them to stop. He’s important to me.”
I’m important to her. Grant swayed a little in his chair and gave her a goofy smile.
Suddenly Viviana looked concerned. “Did you spike his beer with your home-brewed grain alcohol as well?” She slammed the pizza box closed. “That’s it. Party’s over. I’m leaving, and I’m taking him with me.”
Her father said, “He stays here.”
A blurry Viviana went toe to toe with her equally blurry father. “No. You’ve just proven I can’t trust you with him.”
Grant tried to tell her it was no big deal, but his words came out slurred. So this is how drunk feels. Like a child who had imbibed in too many sweets and made himself sick, Grant shared a guilty look with her brothers. “Are we in trouble? She looks pissed,” he whispered.
Dylan said, “We are, and she is.” Her brothers roared with laughter. Grant tried not to, but he joined in.
Viviana’s voice rose. “Dad, I’m serious. This isn’t a joke to me. I came home because I missed all of you, but this will never happen again.” With hands on her hips, she waved a finger at her brothers. “Never, do you hear me? No matter how things work out between us, Grant will always be the father of my child, and you will either treat him with respect or you won’t be part of our lives.”
She is so fucking beautiful when she’s angry.
And, man, is she angry.
“Now, Dad, help me get him into my car. We’ll drive him to my place and put him on the couch. And then, tomorrow morning, I want Connor and Dylan at my house apologizing.” She sniffed and suddenly looked like she might cry. “Tonight was important to me. I’m disappointed in all of you.”
Never had Grant ever felt more like an ass.
From the way her brothers hung their heads they felt the same.
“I’m sorry,” Grant mumbled. He tried to stand, but his legs wobbled beneath him. Normally he would have been upset at the idea of someone making him look foolish, but when he met her brothers’ eyes they all burst out laughing again.
One day, this might be a story they shared about him. The idea was strangely pleasing. He tried to explain that to both Viviana and her father as they drove him to her place, but neither paid much attention to what he was saying.
They sent him into the bathroom, gave him water and Tylenol, then tucked him into the couch with a blanket and pillow. Viviana took a seat in the chair across from him.
“I’m sure he’s fine, but I’ll stay up to make sure he’s okay,” she said to her father.
Grant smiled at her.
She didn’t smile back.
Her father took a seat in the chair beside her. “I’ll stay as well.”
Grant’s eyes began to flutter and close. The last thing he said before he gave in to sleep was, “Your family is awesome, and I think I might love you.”
Dinner with her family hadn’t gone at all the way Viviana had hoped it would. Disaster was an understatement.
If I were a person who believed in signs, I would say this relationship has not received the approval from above. So far my family has threatened Grant, assaulted him, and now potentially given him alcohol poisoning. He might think he loves me now, but when he wakes with a killer hangover and the clarity of a sober mind, he’ll see he doesn’t and run back to Boston. And I won’t even blame him. She sighed.
“It’s all going to be okay, baby,” her father said from the chair beside her.
Viviana crossed her arms in front of her. “No, Dad, I don’t think so. Not this time.” I might as well tell him the truth. “I hadn’t told Grant I was pregnant. I thought he wasn’t a good enough person to be part of this baby’s life. I had it all wrong. Look at us. We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t fight me for custody, and he’d have a good case for it. Why did I think I could do this? What do I know about being a mother?”
“Stop. We’re good people. Nothing that happened tonight has anything to do with your ability to be a good mother. Your brothers had a little fun hazing your new boyfriend; any man you end u
p with needs to be able to handle them.”
“Gerald almost broke Grant’s nose.”
Her father coughed back a laugh.
Viviana’s temper flared again. “I wish I could laugh with you. This is not Scott Mead backing out of taking me to prom because Dylan and Connor threatened to break his legs if he even held my hand. I don’t know if Grant is the man for me, but I want the chance to find out. I don’t want to have to choose between here and happiness.”
“Is that the choice you feel you’re being given?”
“Tonight, yes. I love it here, Dad, but I’m not sixteen anymore. If you’re here tonight to make sure I don’t sleep with him again, I need to tell you that’s the least of what you should be worried about.” Tears filled her eyes. “I’m ready to cry again, and you know I’m not a crier. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I’ve never felt so happy and sad at the same time. I go back and forth between hopeful and scared out of my mind. All I’m asking is for you to respect the decisions I make. I may make all the wrong ones, but even the right ones won’t work out if you all sabotage them.”
Her father said nothing for a few minutes. When he spoke his tone was deep with emotion. “I wish you could remember your mother when she was healthy. She had a way of cutting through crap and refocusing me on what’s important. I see her in you so often. Your brothers didn’t mean any harm, but I’ll talk to them. We’d all like to see you with a husband and family. Or single if that’s what you decide.”
“Thank you.”
“Just to clear the air, Connor confessed to me they went to Boston to threaten Grant. Dylan admitted he clocked him as well.”
Viviana covered her face with her hands. “Oh, my God. Grant needs to take a self-defense course just to visit me.”
“I’ve been looking into your boyfriend. I don’t think he’s not retaliating because he doesn’t know how.”
It was an odd enough comment that Viviana lowered her hands and looked over at her father. “What are you saying?”
“Not sure if it’s a good or bad thing that you don’t know.”