Chapter Thirteen
“L ogan and Cici are going to know something is off about our wedding,” Val said.
Instead of the day after they returned home, they hadn’t managed to set up a meeting with Logan and Cici for several days. Either Liam needed to be at the ranch or Logan was working.
“What’s wrong, Val?” She’d been acting nervous since they’d set the time to see his brother and sister-in-law. He couldn’t figure out why.
“Cici hates me.”
“What?”
“Okay, maybe hate is too strong a word, but I’m sure she doesn’t like me. The worst of it is, I can’t even blame her.”
“Why wouldn’t Cici like you?”
“Because I was really rude to her when I first met her.”
“Why?”
“I knew you’d brought her here and I thought you were going to marry her.”
“So?”
She muttered something he couldn’t hear.
“Val?” He glanced at her then back to the road. “Why were you rude to her?”
“I just was.”
“Why?” He turned his head to stare at her.
“Watch the road,” she told him.
He dragged his gaze back to the road. A short time later they pulled up to Logan’s apartment. He parked and turned off the ignition. Val started to jump out, but he grabbed her arm. “Hold on. Tell me why you were rude to her. It didn’t seem to bother her at hers and Logan’s wedding.”
“Of course not. It was her wedding day. She had more important things to think about. I only told you because I didn’t want you to be shocked if she was standoffish to me. So drop it, okay?”
Luckily, telling Logan and Cici about the marriage wasn’t hard. His brother was so wrapped up in his new wife that he hardly seemed surprised by the news. They all hugged, and Liam was pleased to notice that Cici seemed fine with Val. Maybe Val hadn’t been as bad as she’d feared.
It dawned on him that Logan might have had another reason to not be surprised. “Did you already know we got married?” Liam asked Logan. “Did Connor tell you?”
“I told you your poker face needed work,” Cici told Logan.
He shrugged. “We knew but it wasn’t Connor. Mom told us. Of course she said not to tell you we knew. Who wants a beer?”
Liam and Cici asked for beer. Val asked for water.
Logan passed out the drinks.
“Who all knows about your wedding?” Cici asked.
“Our parents, Riley, Connor, and Letty. Velma and Mercy and all the ranch hands and both ranch managers,” Val said. “I’m not sure who else knows.”
“Since the ranch hands know the whole town probably knows by now.” Liam laughed. “No, make that the entire county.”
“True,” Logan said. “So it’s okay to confirm it when people ask us?”
“Sure, why not.”
“And when they ask us why it was secret and so quick?”
Liam glared at his brother. “Tell them it’s none of their damn business.”
“I’ll just play dumb.”
“Shouldn’t be too hard for you,” Liam said.
“Now, now. Is that any way to talk to your beloved brother?”
“It’s how I talk to my pain-in-the-ass brother.”
“Enough, you two,” Cici said, laughing. To Val she said, “I’m sure you know since you’ve known them forever that they can do this all night.”
“Yes. And add in my brother or Connor and it’s even worse.”
They talked some more until everyone had finished their drinks. Val had excused herself and gone to the bathroom. When she came out, a good bit later, Liam was certain she’d been sick. She was pale and she’d apparently splashed water on her face.
“Are you okay?”
“Not really. I’d be better if I had some crackers.” They’d been talking quietly but Cici must have heard them because she went to the kitchen. A few minutes later she returned with a sleeve of crackers.
“I have soft drinks too if you need one.”
She ate some crackers, which seemed to help. “You might as well tell them,” she told Liam.
“Are you sure?”
She rolled her eyes at him which he took as a yes.
“Val is pregnant.”
“Congratulations!” Cici said. “How exciting.”
“That’s great,” Logan said. “Congratulations.”
“We haven’t told many people. We’re going to wait a while. Only Connor, Riley, and Letty know,” Val said.
“We won’t tell anyone,” Cici assured them.
They left not long after that. Once on the way home Liam asked Val why she’d told them.
“Logan can’t be the only sibling who doesn’t know. It would hurt his feelings.”
“He’d live.”
“I’m sure he would but there’s no reason not to tell them.”
“When do you want to tell our folks?”
“I’d like to keep it to the people who already know as long as possible.”
“So, not until we have to.”
“You got it.”
*
The Monday before Thanksgiving Liam asked Connor and Logan to meet him at Grey’s for a beer. The saloon was a favorite meeting place of the locals. It was in no way fancy, with its battered bar and scarred wooden floorboards that were who knew how old. Their customers didn’t care. They liked the atmosphere. He chose a booth in a corner in the back, because he didn’t want to see anyone else. His two brothers were enough. Liam had waited just about as long as he could. Something had to change, or he was going to lose his mind.
“Where’s your bride?” Connor asked when he walked up.
“She’s at some girls’ night out thing.”
“Let me get a beer. I’ll be right back. Need another?”
“No, thanks. Not yet.”
Logan came in while Connor was at the bar and stopped there. Both of them returned a few minutes later and took a seat. “Okay, what’s going on?” Connor asked.
“Yeah, you sounded a little desperate when you called,” Logan said.
“Bullshit.” Desperate my ass. Liam thought about leading into it but decided what the hell. He had to talk to someone and he sure as hell wasn’t talking to Riley about his and Val’s sex life. Or lack of it. So that left his brothers. “Thursday is Thanksgiving.”
“I know. So?” Connor said.
“Val and I have been married two and a half weeks. By Thanksgiving it will be nearly three.”
“Why are you telling us shit we already know?” Logan asked.
“I’m getting to it,” Liam snapped.
Connor drank some of his beer and set it back down. “Are you regretting the marriage?”
“Do I regret marrying Val? Hell, no. But it’s been two and a half weeks and we haven’t had sex and I sure as shit regret that.”
Connor choked in mid sip. “Nearly three weeks and you haven’t done it again? Why the hell not?”
“Okay, Liam, that’s just weird,” Logan added.
“At first she didn’t feel good. So I didn’t push her.”
“No sex the entire honeymoon?”
“Nope.”
“Well that sucks.”
Liam nodded and finished his beer.
“And since then?” Logan asked. “She’s felt bad this whole time?”
“Kind of. And the longer it’s gone on the harder it’s been to figure out how to approach her.” Okay, he knew this sounded lame. If she really was pregnant with his baby, then they wouldn’t have any problems having sex again.
“This is bullshit. Val is pregnant but now you’re telling me you haven’t had sex since you got married? That doesn’t make sense.” Connor drank beer and shook his head.
“I didn’t think it was going to take this long and I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Good God, Liam. It’s not like you’ve never slept with a woman before. And Val’s pregnant so you’re bound to have…” Connor’s voice trailed off and he stared at Liam.
“Oh, shit,” Logan said. “You haven’t slept with her. The baby isn’t yours, is it?”
“We’re married. The baby is mine.”
“But not biologically.”
Fuck. He shouldn’t have ever brought this up. He could continue the lie, but neither of his brothers was stupid. They’d know he was lying. And Val had said he could tell his brothers the truth. He took a sip of his drink and sighed. “No. The son of a bitch denied he was the father. So, I married her. And now the baby is mine.”
“You’ve never had sex with your wife. Damn, Liam. What a mess.”
“I haven’t slept with Val.” He thought about it and added, “No, I have slept with her. Every damn night since we got married. But we still haven’t had sex.”
Connor studied him, then asked, “Are you in love with her?”
“No.” He rubbed the side of his nose. “At least, I don’t think so. But I like her a lot. And we’re married. And I don’t know how much longer I can sleep with her every night and not have sex.”
“Shit, man,” Logan said. “Seduce her. Unless…is it the pregnancy?”
“No. Not for her and sure as shit not for me. She’s not even showing. Her morning sickness is getting better too. We talked about it before we got married. We agreed neither one of us wanted a marriage without sex.”
“Well, there you go. Just go for it.”
“I can’t.” He’d left it too long and now he didn’t know how to approach it. Or her.
“Hmm.” Connor shook his head. “Okay, the way I see it you have three choices. You can talk to her, you can seduce her, or you can wait until you totally lose it and see what happens. By the way, I don’t recommend the third option.”
Liam put his head in his hands. “I thought she might do something to let me know she was ready, but she hasn’t. I didn’t think it would be this hard.” He looked up. “But she’s so damn pretty. Every night she washes her face and she puts on her pajamas—pink flannel pants or blue flannel pants and a T-shirt. And I just want to rip those damn pants off of her. She smells so good. Like lavender. Her soap or her lotion smell like lavender.”
Connor stared at him. “Uh, Liam. You sound like you’re in love with her. Hell, I’ve never heard you talk like that about a woman. Not even—”
“This is totally different,” Liam said, cutting him off.
“Connor’s right. You’re in love with her.”
“Dude, take her out and romance her. Have you tried that yet?”
“No.” They’d gone out once, not long after they first came back to Marietta. But just to Grey’s. It hadn’t been particularly romantic. Val hadn’t felt well, and they’d had to leave not long after they got there. Besides that, they’d only told their families and employees they’d gotten married. Hardly anyone else knew for sure they were married, though they might have heard rumors, so they were the subject of a lot of speculation. Which was the only good thing about having to leave early.
“The Christmas Stroll is next weekend. I’m sure she’d like to go to that.”
“So you want to wait another week?”
“No. I’ll talk to her before that.” How hard could it be?
If it’s so easy why the hell haven’t you done anything yet?
Shit. He had no answer to that.