Chapter 24
DARCY
Sunlight pours into the bedroom, and I immediately know it isn’t my own, drenching me in a warm October sun.
I snap an eye open, the other side of my face still buried in Archer’s soft white pillows.
I always sleep well in his bed, and last night was no exception, despite feeling like utter crap.
Aside from dropping the Hiroshima bomb on him and stuffing my face with Taco Bell, all I can recall is Archer carrying me to his bed, where I promptly passed out.
And, my God, could I stay here all day. This mattress is a cloud. I mean, I’ve never actually felt or slept on a cloud, and if I did, I’d obviously fall to my death since they aren’t really—
A loud beeping sounds from behind me, and I forcibly roll over, reaching for the bedside table.
Shit.
Holy fucking shit. I have work in thirty minutes.
I snatch my phone up from the charging pad, muting the alarm as I sit up in bed, eyes scanning my upper half.
Wait.
I push back the duvet to reveal lacy white bottoms that match a silky top. Where did this sleepwear come from?
Swinging my legs out of the bed, the heated floor quells my panic as it warms the soles of my feet. I know I’m going to be late for work.
I look around Archer’s luxury bedroom. He must be reeling over what I told him. To be honest, I wouldn’t have been shocked if he’d packed his bags and left the country, fleeing the crazy parental reality we’re both faced with.
But when my eyes land on a note scrawled in his handwriting, memories of the way he reacted to my news cling to my skin as softly as the silky sleepwear I know he bought me.
All he did was reveal something of his own—the depths of his feelings.
Jesus. After yesterday, I should be the one boarding a flight out of the country. Except I didn’t run or balk or feel any semblance of fear. All I felt was a repeat of the warmth and comfort that’d grown to be familiar in his presence.
I fall asleep so easily in his bed because he makes me feel safe. I don’t hold back or feel like I’m overbearing or too much when I’m around him because he makes me feel seen. Why would I want to run away from that?
I stand from the bed and stretch my arms above my head, the Brooklyn Bridge just in the distance through Archer’s floor-to-ceiling windows. The headache from last night is still present, but the throbbing has at least subsided, and I pad towards his en suite.
I’m a few feet across his bedroom when Archer steps into view, leaning against the doorframe. Keeping his eyes on me, he dips a hand into the pocket of his black sweatpants, tossing his mobile phone and keys onto a plush chair just inside the door.
“I’m going to conclude you didn’t see my note and not that you read it, but still chose to get up and ignore it.”
He reaches behind him, pulling his Blades hoodie overhead, and I catch a flash of toned abs as his T-shirt rides up with the action.
I can’t help it. Regardless of my current condition, my mouth waters. Truthfully, I think I could be placed into a medically induced coma, and this man could still elicit the same response from my body.
He flashes me a quick smile, pushing off the frame and heading towards me. I know my thoughts are transparent. I’ve always worn my heart on my sleeve, and oftentimes, it’s gotten me into trouble, especially with my ex-boyfriend.
He wraps a large palm around my hip, pressing my body into his.
More trouble ahead.
“How do the pj’s feel?”
Heat from his touch penetrates the soft, thin material.
“Let me guess … another one of your purchases?”
He leans forward, pushing a piece of matted hair away from my ear. “Want to know something else I bought you?”
I can feel the goose bumps as they flare across my body. “I have a feeling you’re going to tell me anyway,” I jest, totally wanting to know.
His other hand finds my hip as he kisses just below my ear. I know this exchange is way more intimate than a fuck-buddy arrangement. Our dynamic has shifted, and Archer is driving us, with me as a willing passenger.
“You might’ve been sick with an infection, but you weren’t suffering from hallucinations.
The security system your landlord fitted”—Archer pulls back, shaking his head with a proud expression—“you didn’t ask for it.
I did.” His attention rests on my stomach.
“Back then, I was protecting the girl of my dreams, and now I’m protecting my family. ”
“You’re so intense,” I reply, my throat thick, voice hoarse.
He just smiles, one that creases the corners of his eyes.
“I know.” A hand dips under the hem of my top, coming to rest against my flat stomach.
“I could ask if my intensity is okay with you, although I won’t waste my breath or yours with an answer.
” He pins me in place with his stare. “This is how it is for me, Darcy. You, me, and our baby. It’s really that simple.
” He chews on the corner of his bottom lip.
“Oh, and trying to stay alive when we eventually break it to your brother.”
The calm bubble I was in bursts, unease trickling through my veins. Of course I knew my family would find out I was pregnant—it’s inevitable. But in the overwhelm that was yesterday, I didn’t get to the part where I considered Jack finding out or his reaction.
“I don’t want to tell him. Not yet anyway.”
Archer cocks his head to the side, a mix of relief and worry etched across his face.
“It’s common knowledge that pregnancies are at their highest risk during the first twelve weeks, and I’m not going to spill my business to everyone apart from those I want to know.
” I shrug, a growing sense of conviction in my decision.
“Maybe not even until I start to show. It’s our choice who we tell, and it’s my body to divulge news about. ”
Archer nods lightly, drawing gentle circles against my stomach with the pad of his thumb. I’m not completely sure the action is conscious.
“I know I laid all my cards on the table for you last night, and when I drove here from practice, it was my intention to ask you if you had made a decision about keeping the baby. I think I’ve already figured out what you want, but you always have options, Darcy. I just want y—”
“I’m keeping the baby,” I confirm without a single falter. “I know I have options, but I genuinely can’t see a situation where terminating the pregnancy is the right route for me. I don’t even need to think about it, but I do want to keep my business private.”
Relief doesn’t just fill Archer’s face; it takes ahold of his entire body as every muscle visibly relaxes. He doesn’t need to say anything for me to know how much my decision means to him.
“Holding on to secrets or being liberal with the truth isn’t my strong suit, Doll. But you’re my priority. You and this baby. That said, when we eventually tell my mom, she’ll likely lose her shit. In the good way,” he clarifies.
I snuggle into his cotton shirt, Archer’s freshly showered cologne delectable. “Is she nice?”
He hums softly. “Yeah, family is everything to her.” A light chuckle rumbles in his chest. “And I’m beginning to understand why she feels that way.”
Instinctively, my arms wrap around his waist, and he loops his around mine, resting his chin on top of my head.
“Starting a family, was it something you wanted someday?” I quietly ask. “It was for me, even though I couldn’t picture a time when it would happen.”
As he inhales a deep breath, I cuddle further into Archer’s chest.
“Honestly? Not for the majority of my adult life. I guess I didn’t see settling down with a family, however that looked, as a barometer for my success.
It’s always been about hockey and records and …
” He pauses for a second. “Maybe I feel ashamed to admit it but … how desirable I was to women.” He releases a puff of air into the room.
“Yep, out loud that sounded about as shallow as it had in my head.”
Pulling away from his chest, I peer up at him as he watches me carefully, searching for my reaction.
I don’t have one to give him, other than my respect for how honest he’s being with me.
If Jack and Jon deduce that this man is a deceitful arsehole, then they’re wrong.
All I see is someone trying to do the best they can to go after what they want under difficult circumstances.
And the more I think about Archer’s predicament, the more I can relate to it.
“In that case, I find you even more amazing.”
His arms tighten around my waist. “How so?”
I’ve concluded I’m going to be really late for work. Not that I can find it within me to care.
“For not freaking out and for giving me exactly what I needed last night—and I’m not just referring to Taco Bell. If having a baby was never a part of your plans, then you did a really good job of staying calm.”
His hands move from my waist to my ass as he picks me up with ease, and I loop my legs around him.
“I didn’t say a baby was never a part of my plans, Darcy. I said it hadn’t been for the majority of my adult life. Things change; people change.”
I can’t help but play with the hairs at the nape of his neck as he stands, holding me in the center of his bedroom.
“If you had asked me two years ago if I was happy with my life and the way I was living it, I would have told you yes. On the face of it, I wanted for nothing. Money, the lifestyle, my dream career … the attention from women.”
As he stares up at me with his blue eyes, so sincere, all I can think about is how it would feel to bend down and kiss him.
“It was a safe way of living, but it wasn’t as fulfilling as I thought.
I just didn’t work that out until I set eyes on the one woman I wanted.
No amount of money, fame, or shutouts could win her over or even make her take me seriously.
I hung on every word I could get on nights out and searched for opportunities to hint at how I was feeling, just to see if you felt the same way too, but I didn’t dare let it show because of my friendship with your brother, along with the shitty relationship you were in.
That’s right, Darcy. I could see you weren’t happy with Liam. ”
My fingers are still in his hair. “You could?”
He nods slowly. “If you had been happy, then you would have worn the same smile for him as you do for me. And that’s what kept me going, kept me hoping that I was still in with a shot.
You say I’m amazing for the way I reacted when you told me about our baby—I’m not; I’m waiting and praying that this isn’t a dream, that holding you in my arms like this is as real as the feelings I possess.
The obsession over you that’s growing within me every day. ”
My whole gut wants to blurt out that I’m on my way to being right there with him.
If I admitted it, I don’t think I’d regret the words or ever want to take them back.
Fear of history repeating itself and caution are the only emotions that hold me back.
Everything I thought I knew about my life has changed, and I don’t know how to wade into deeper, unknown waters. I don’t know if I can.
My fingers tease his hair again as I pinch my lips together.
“You’re right; my relationship with Liam was shitty, and now I’m pregnant with your child.
I’m a little fucked up to be thinking straight, let alone jumping into something else that could blow up in my face, whether it’s with my baby daddy or not. ”
Archer lifts me higher in his arms, pulling my top up until my bare skin pebbles against the morning air. His lips ghost over my stomach as he whispers, “Do you think you can help your mommy fall for daddy?”
I laugh toward the ceiling, but it’s only to disguise the flutters as they shimmer throughout my body. I’ve never been wanted like this, never been pursued so relentlessly. Every woman should experience this at least once in their lifetime.
“Don’t listen to him, Baby.” I rub my stomach gently. “Daddy’s getting carried away.”
He smirks, determined to have the final word as he kisses my palm and places it over my stomach. “Looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us. Don’t worry though, Pipsqueak. I’ve got this.”