Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
GIA
R osco's phone blaring out insistently on the nightstand shocks me from sleep.
Gray dawn light filters through the windows, and for a moment I'm disoriented.
Strange room, warm male body pressed against my back, the lingering ache between my thighs that reminds me exactly what we did yesterday afternoon.
And again last night. And once more when I woke up around three am with his hands already moving over my body.
Heat floods my cheeks as memories surface. The way he worshipped my pregnant body like I was something precious. How he made me feel beautiful and desired when I've spent months feeling like a burden. The things he whispered against my skin that made me come apart in his arms.
The phone rings out again, and Rosco groans, his arm tightening around my waist. "Ignore it," he mumbles into my hair. "What if it's important?"
"Nothing's more important than this." He presses a kiss to my shoulder, and I shiver at the contact. Even half asleep, his touch sets me on fire.
But the phone keeps buzzing, insistent and shrill. With a muttered curse, Rosco reaches for it, squinting at the screen. "It's Noah." He swipes to answer, his voice gravelly with sleep. "This better be good."
I can't hear Noah's response, but whatever he says makes Rosco's body go rigid behind me. "When?" Rosco sits up abruptly, running his free hand through his hair. "How bad?"
My stomach clenches with sudden dread. I turn to watch his face, seeing tension carved in every line. "I'll be right there." He ends the call and immediately starts reaching for his clothes. "There was an accident at the construction site. One of my guys got hurt."
"How hurt?" I sit up, clutching the sheet to my chest. "Bad enough for an ambulance." He's already pulling on jeans, his movements sharp and efficient. "I have to go, Gia. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize. Go." But even as I say it, my chest tightens with familiar anxiety. "What about tonight? The dinner with Silas and Jordyn?"
He pauses in buttoning his shirt to lean down and kiss me hard. "I'll call Jordyn and cancel. This is more important. I'll call you as soon as I know something."
"Be careful." I say.
"Always am." But he's already moving toward the door, his phone pressed to his ear as he calls someone else.
I listen to his truck roar to life and disappear down the mountain, leaving me alone in his house with nothing but my thoughts and the lingering scent of his cologne on the pillows.
This is what it will be like, I realize. Emergency calls, dangerous work, constant worry about whether he'll come home safe. The thought makes my chest tight with an emotion I don't want to examine too closely.
I can't fall for him. Not really. This is supposed to be temporary, practical, a business arrangement that benefits us both. But lying here in his bed, surrounded by his scent and the memory of his hands on my body, temporary feels impossible.
The baby kicks, a sharp reminder of why I'm here. Not for romance or happily ever after, but for safety and security. For the chance to raise my child without looking over my shoulder every day.
I need to remember that.
I shower and dress, trying to push away the doubts creeping in around the edges of my newfound happiness. By the time I make coffee and toast, Rosco's been gone for two hours with no word.
My phone sits silent on the counter, mocking me. No calls, no texts, nothing. Just like with Zack in the beginning, when he'd disappear for hours without explanation and then act like I was crazy for worrying.
Stop it, I tell myself. Rosco is nothing like Zack. He's dealing with an emergency, not ignoring me for fun.
But the rational part of my brain is losing ground to the anxious voice that's kept me alive for the past six months. The voice that says men disappear when things get real. That says I'm fooling myself if I think this will last.
My laptop sits in my duffel bag, and I pull it out with shaking hands. I need to start planning for the possibility that this arrangement won't work out. That means job applications, apartment searches, backup plans for when Rosco realizes what he's gotten himself into.
The internet connection is strong, and within minutes I'm scrolling through job listings in Vancouver, Calgary, anywhere that's not here. Remote work positions that would let me disappear again if necessary. My business degree might not be much, but it's something.
I'm deep in crafting a cover letter when my phone finally rings. Rosco's name flashes on the screen, and I snatch it up immediately.
"How's your worker?" I ask without preamble. "Stable. Broken leg, possible concussion, but he'll be okay." His voice sounds tired, strained. "I'm dealing with safety inspectors and insurance right now. It's going to be a long day."
"I'm sorry."
"Not your fault. These things happen in construction." There's a pause, and I hear voices in the background. "Listen, I might not make it back until late tonight. I already called Jordyn to cancel dinner. There's food in the fridge."
"Of course." The casual way he's rearranging our plans, like my time doesn't matter, makes my chest tighten. "I understand."
"Do you? You sound upset."
"I'm not upset. Just... processing what this life looks like."
"Gia, what's wrong? Talk to me." Everything, I want to say. This is moving too fast, feeling too real, and I'm terrified I'm setting myself up for another fall. "Nothing. Just tired."
"Get some rest. I'll see you tonight. And Gia? We’re solid, don’t overthink this."
The words should be reassuring, but instead they make the walls I'm trying to build feel flimsy and inadequate. "I’m not."
He hangs up before I can say more, and I'm left staring at my phone with a hollow feeling in my chest. Already the easy intimacy of last night feels like a dream. Reality is emergency calls and long days and me sitting alone in his house wondering if I'm making another terrible mistake.
I close the laptop and try to focus on something else, but the doubts keep circling. What do I really know about Rosco Kane? That he's good in bed, protective, and makes excellent coffee. That his family seems to like me and he wants to marry me.
But wanting to marry me for practical reasons isn't the same as loving me. And good sex doesn't guarantee a good marriage.
The day stretches endlessly. I try reading, napping, even attempting to cook something for dinner, but nothing settles the anxiety churning in my stomach. By evening, I'm pacing the living room like a caged animal, jumping at every sound.
When headlights finally sweep across the windows around ten pm, relief floods through me so intensely it's almost painful. I'm at the door before Rosco's even out of his truck, needing to see for myself that he's okay.
He looks exhausted, covered in sawdust and wearing the weight of the day in his shoulders. But he's here, safe, and when he sees me waiting, his whole face lights up.
"Hey, sweetheart." He wraps his arms around me, and I breathe in his scent, letting it calm the panic that's been building all day. "Sorry I'm so late."
"How's Tommy?"
"Going to be fine. Surgery went well, and he'll be back to work in a few months." He pulls back to study my face. "You okay? You look..."
"Worried sick about you." The admission slips out before I can stop it.
"I'm sorry. I should have called more, kept you updated. This is all new for me too, having someone to come home to."
"Is it? New, I mean?"
"Completely new." His hands frame my face. "I've never had anyone worry about me before. Never had someone waiting for me at the end of a long day. I'm still learning how to be a husband."
"We're not married yet."
"We will be tomorrow." He kisses me softly. "Speaking of which, I have a surprise."
"What kind of surprise?"
"The kind where my family took over planning our wedding because they decided you needed something special since you don't have family here."
My chest tightens. "Rosco, you didn't have to..."
"I didn't do anything. Jordyn and Talia and apparently every woman in Crimson Hollow decided our courthouse wedding wasn't good enough. They've been planning all day while I was dealing with the accident."
"Planning what?"
"A sunset ceremony at Iron Vine Estate. Nothing big, just family and a few close friends. Sage is handling the food, Luna found you a dress somehow, and Jordyn's been directing operations like a general."
Tears prick my eyes. "They did that for me?"
"They did it for us. Because you're family now, and family deserves a real wedding." He wipes away a tear with his thumb. "Is that okay? I know we talked about simple..."
"It's perfect." And I mean it. The thought of his family, these people who barely know me, coming together to make sure I have a beautiful wedding day, makes my heart feel too big for my chest.
"Good. Because I'm pretty sure they would have killed me if you said no."
I laugh, the sound shaky but genuine. "When do I get to see the dress?"
"Talia's bringing it by in the morning, along with whatever other mysterious wedding things women apparently need. I'm banished to Noah's house after breakfast."
"Traditional."
"Jordyn insisted. Something about bad luck and making sure I appreciate you properly when I see you walking down the aisle."
As if I could be more beautiful than I already am to him. The thought makes my lingering doubts feel small and petty.
"Rosco?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry about today. About being weird when you called. I just... I got scared."
"Scared of what?"
"Of this feeling too good to be true. Of getting too attached and having it all fall apart."
He pulls me closer, his expression serious. "I can't promise there won't be more days like today. Emergency calls, long hours, times when work has to come first. But I can promise you'll never have to wonder where you stand with me. You and this baby, you're my priority. Always."
The sincerity in his voice breaks through the last of my walls, and I know without a doubt I’m falling hard for this man, and its far too late to stop it.
"It’s driving me crazy knowing I have to wait even longer to make this official. But tomorrow, I get to marry you on a mountaintop and become the luckiest man on earth."
"Tomorrow." Hope blooms in my chest. "I can't wait."
"Me either." He kisses me again, deeper this time. "But right now, I'm starving and I smell like construction site. How about I shower while you heat up whatever incredible thing you cooked, and then we can celebrate our last night as unmarried people?"
"I like that plan."
"Good. Because I have several ideas about how to celebrate."
The heat in his voice makes my skin flush. Tomorrow we'll be husband and wife. Two people who found each other against all odds, making the most of every moment we have.
And for the first time all day, that feels like more than enough.