Chapter 8
Danica
T he door shut behind us, locking me in with the man who was now such an important part of my life. And virtually a stranger. How had I gotten into this mess?
His eyes lifted to mine, and a spark of desire snapped to life inside me. That was how. I’d never met a man I was so attracted to. He made my body riot with a simple look. How else could I explain agreeing to come live here?
“I’m so sorry,” I muttered.
He frowned at me as he pulled sheets, blankets, and a comforter out of a linen closet. “For what?”
“Um… Everyone started showing up downstairs. I…wasn’t prepared for all the questions. I sort of ended up blurting out that I was pregnant,” I admitted, feeling ashamed for losing my cool.
He nudged a door open and tossed all the things in his arms into the room before turning back to me. Crossing the room, he was in front of me in two long-legged strides.
I looked up at him, my heart melting when he cupped the back of my neck with one of his large hands. “I shouldn’t have left you alone for so long. I knew you were nervous about coming here.”
“It’s okay. Everyone was incredibly kind, and very welcoming.”
“Good.” His smile was a bright flash that blinded me. “Want to help me make the bed?”
“This isn’t the same room as before,” I said, following him into the bedroom he’d thrown the sheets into. They’d landed on the large king-sized bed that took up a good portion of the room.
“Lockout gave us this apartment so we’d have a bit more space. I’ll go get your stuff from your car after we get the bedroom set up.”
“Bedrooms.”
“What?” he asked, setting the comforter and pillows aside on top of the oak dresser that sat in a corner.
“Is the other room mine?”
He paused in the act of spreading the bottom sheet out. “It’s a bedroom. I figured you’d just stay in here with me.”
My jaw dropped. “I can’t sleep in here with you.”
“Why? Are you afraid you’ll get more pregnant?” There was a smile playing over his lips.
“No,” I snapped, shooting him a disapproving look. I paused for a moment as I let that play out in my head. I shook it off. “I don’t know you.”
He straightened, dropping the sheet onto the bed, and crossing his arms over his muscular chest. “You didn’t know me that night either.”
“That was different.”
“How?”
Glaring at him, I put my hands on my hips. “That was a one-night thing. Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I’m just going to…warm your bed every night.”
“Warm…my bed.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what that means. I thought we were getting to know each other?”
“You don’t need to sleep with me to do that,” I pointed out. Sighing, I gave a little. He’d taken my news in a surprisingly calm manner. I needed to give him a bit of a break. I held my hands up as a way of declaring a truce. “I’m not ready for anything like that.”
His eyes narrowed, but then he nodded. “We’ll set up the second room for you.”
“Thank you.” I rounded the bed and wrapped my arms around him. My family was big on hugs, so it was second nature to me.
He stiffened against me and I pulled back, looking up at him in surprise. Confusion was lining his features, not irritation, so I smiled at him and squeezed my arms before letting him go. I went back to my half of the bed.
He didn’t seem to know what to say, so he just picked up the sheet again and held out an end for me to take. We made both beds in silence. Once we were done, I sat on the edge of the bed that would be mine while I stayed here. “Are you angry with me?”
He chuckled. “It’s a bit harder to bruise my ego than refusing to share a bed with me, Wildcat.”
I ignored the nickname. “I meant…about the baby?”
He leaned against the doorframe, his muscular shoulder holding up his weight. His green eyes were intense, but I refused to look away. “No. How could I be? It wasn’t anything either of us planned.”
“Are you…happy…about it?” The hope in my chest was a tiny burning ember.
Maybe it didn’t matter that I was twenty-five and getting a divorce, because maybe this man was the start of something new.
Or maybe I was crazy. He didn’t owe me anything.
He’d already agreed to step up for our child, but that didn’t mean he wanted me as a part of this deal.
Him wanting to share a bed with me wasn’t definitive proof that he wanted to keep me.
It wasn’t that I needed him to save me from the mistakes I’d made.
His protective streak appealed to me. I’d loved how he stood up for me with Eli.
I’d never had a man treat me that way before.
All I knew was my soon to be ex-husband, and he liked to tear me down more than build me up.
It wasn’t any wonder why I was feeling this way about Smokehouse.
My god am I really that easy? Just don’t shit on me and I’ll move in with you? I had some real soul searching to do. It was time to get back to the woman I was before Eli had broken me down. Only, she’d been so young, I wasn’t sure even she’d known who she was.
“I don’t know.” There was indecision on his face and I wasn’t sure if it was about me and the baby, or about telling me the truth.
“I appreciate you being honest.” Smiling at him, I shrugged. “I cried when I first found out.”
His eyes softened. The look he was giving me was making me want to stand and walk into his arms again.
To take comfort in him. I forced myself to keep sitting.
He’d seemed a bit shocked to be hugged before.
It wasn’t smart to push him too fast or he might cut ties all together.
I didn’t want that for myself or for my baby. Our baby.
“It’s tough news to get when you’re not expecting it. Tougher when you find out by getting assaulted with a piss stick.”
His gentle, teasing smile was enough to make my body shake. The urges he pulled out of me were shocking and I didn’t know how to handle them, or him. I ran my fingers through my hair to hide my blush.
“I just wish Eli would have signed those papers.” I sighed and stared down at his boots, unable to meet his eyes. “I don’t know what he’s holding out for.”
“I do.”
Our gazes clashed as mine darted up. I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but before I could ask, he shoved off the door, straightening. “I’ll go get the rest of your bags. Then I need to get my stuff from my old room. I’ll be back. Make yourself at home.”
My breaths were catching in my chest as I watched him leave. Tears were bubbling just under the surface and I had no idea why. I was a mess. Standing, I dragged my bag into the room that was to be mine and began unpacking my clothes into the dresser and closet.
Once I was done, I wandered the apartment. It was really nice, if a bit empty other than the beds and dressers. No wonder this building was so large if it had multiple apartments like this, plus all the space downstairs. I tried to use the time Smoke was gone to pull myself together.
I needed to make it through a few weeks of school and then I could have the summer to decompress. To figure out where my life was going. To decide what I truly wanted. And maybe to find out what Smoke wanted, too.
The door opened and a man walked through, I backed up a few steps, not recognizing him. He was huge. It was like his muscles had muscles. He was wearing the same leather vest as the rest of them, and he had two of my hard shelled suitcases slung over his burly shoulders, but still I was nervous.
I backed up a few more steps, staring at him. He saw me at the same time as I noticed him and he froze in his tracks. “Sorry. Smokehouse is on his way up. I’m Hellfire.”
“That’s… Your names are really strange,” I said, offering him a smile. I didn’t want to alienate Smokehouse’s friends.
Hellfire laughed. The sound was warm and rich and for some reason my muscles relaxed. Something told me that he posed no threat and I listened to my gut and stepped toward him. “Can I help you with those?”
“Nope. I got ‘em.” He motioned toward the guest bedroom door with a jerk of his chin. “In there?”
“Yes. Thank you.” Hesitantly, I followed him into the room. He swung the suitcases down like they were filled with feathers.
“They’re road names.”
“What does that mean?”
“We give each other nicknames that we use,” he told me, tossing a grin my way. The smile chased away the last doubts I had about him.
“How did you get yours?”
His lips twitched. “I was in the Army, same as Smoke, and we worked as crew chiefs on the Apaches. There was an…incident…and the Apache crew needed to lift off as soon as possible. But we had to reload their missiles first. To save time, I brought them over two at a time.”
I frowned. “I’m sure that’s impressive, but I’m afraid I don’t know much about any of that.”
“Those Hellfire missiles are about a hundred pounds apiece,” Smoke said from behind us. “This asshole was running across the flightline with one slung over each shoulder. Running .”
My mouth dropped open upon hearing that. “Oh, my. Yeah, that’s impressive.” I eyed his biceps and realized why it’d been so easy for him to cart around my luggage.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d stop ogling my brother, Wildcat,” Smoke said, a dark look crossing his features.
A blush spread over my face. “I wasn’t ogling.”
Hellfire grinned while Smoke just folded his arms over his chest. “What, you afraid of her dropping twins, one yours and one mine?” Hellfire asked with a malicious grin.
Smokehouse blinked in complete confusion for a few seconds. “I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work that way.”
Hellfire chuckled and shrugged his massive shoulders. “Does for dogs.”
I bit my tongue before I snapped out that not only wasn’t I a dog, but that I didn’t sleep around enough for that to be a worry. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I asked, “So what does your name mean?”