Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
K arlie couldn’t stop crying. How could her sister say such horrible things about her?
Sure, she expected Jake to be nasty to her; she was pressing charges against him.
But Jenna? Did Jenna believe that Jake had broken up with her before they jumped into bed together?
If Jake had lied to Jenna to get her into bed, that would change everything.
Jenna could be as innocent in all this as Karlie had been.
Was Jake just using them both? Karlie wished her sister would just listen to her.
She wanted Jenna to just talk to her so they could figure out what Jake was up to.
Karlie just wanted to keep Jenna and her baby safe.
The only way she could think of doing that was to go back to Atlanta.
If she weren’t around, her sister wouldn’t be under so much stress, and the baby would be safe.
But how could she leave Drew? She had to just make a clean break.
She loved him, but it wouldn’t be fair to sacrifice her sister and her nephew’s safety for her own.
Her cell chimed as soon as they pulled into Drew’s driveway. It was her dad. “Hi, Dad,” she answered, her voice husky from crying.
“What the hell did you do to your sister?” he accused.
“Is Jenna okay?” Karlie unbuckled and headed for her car, ready to go back to her parents’ house. Drew blocked her from her car door, shaking his head, looking even angrier than before.
“She’s on the way to the hospital. She’s having contractions and may lose the baby.” Karlie gasped and looked at Drew, unable to stop the tears.
“Baby.” Drew was wiping her tears, not caring that she was still on the call with her dad.
“I’ll go to the hospital now. I want to be there for—”
“No.” Her father’s denial was sharp. “You stay away from her. You’ve already done enough.
Jenna told me what happened yesterday at the church.
Just go back to Atlanta and let her and Jake live in peace.
” With that, he hung up. Karlie dropped her phone on the pavement and followed it down, scraping her knees but not caring.
“God, baby.” Drew was next to her, lifting her into his arms. “You’re okay, baby, I’ve got you.” He was carrying her to his house. She started to protest, trying to tell him that she should just leave. But he kept walking, taking her to his bedroom.
“Drew,” she sobbed, “I need to just go home. I need to leave.” She wiped her nose on his sleeve, and he even found that to be adorable. “I have ruined everything, and everyone wants me to leave.”
“Not everyone,” Drew snapped. “Damn it, baby, you’re not going back to Atlanta. You and I, we’re a team. You seem to keep forgetting that.” He leaned in to give her a hard kiss.
“But my dad told me to leave. My sister’s going to the hospital.
She may lose the baby, and I just can’t—I can’t even think about that happening.
I need to go home and just let everyone get on with their lives.
I’m so sorry, Drew. I don’t mean to hurt you.
” He was holding her so tightly that when he dropped to his knees before her, she went down with him.
“Baby, you can’t leave,” he pleaded. “I don’t think I can live without you.
Do you think I will be able to get on with my life?
There’s no fucking way I can do that without you.
I need you. I finally found you again, and I won’t let you go.
I love you. Please, Karlie, just stay tonight, and we can work out everything else tomorrow.
Stay with me. Let me show you how much I need you; how much I love you.
” Karlie hesitated, not knowing what to do.
If she left now or tomorrow, it would still feel the same.
It would still hurt the same. She knew that she would never be with another man like Drew.
She would never love another man the way she loved Drew.
He was it for her, her forever. But she couldn’t stay in Alabama with him, and she couldn’t ask him to leave with her.
His whole life was here, his business and his family.
Drew stared intensely into her eyes, framing her face with his big hands, waiting.
He seemed to be able to see straight into her soul.
“If you decide you still want to leave tomorrow, I’ll go with you.
We’ll figure this all out, but I can’t get on with my life without you.
Baby, I meant what I said earlier, you are mine.
Everything else just needs to be sorted out.
We’ll do that together.” God, she wanted to believe him.
He looked so earnest, his eyes shining with hope.
How could she take that from him? She nodded her agreement, and he exhaled, collapsing into her, pulling her into his tight hold.
“I will make sure that you never regret giving me a chance.” She wanted to believe him, but she already regretted her decision.
She didn’t want her screwed up past touching him.
People in town were already whispering about her and how Jake left her for her sister.
What would happen if this new lie Jake was feeding everyone hit town?
What would people say about her now, thinking that she was bat shit crazy, trying to break up her sister and her ex-boyfriend?
And, more importantly, how long would it be before Drew believed Jake’s new story and started to doubt her, just like everyone else?
∞
Karlie was going to run again. Drew could see it in her eyes.
His mind knew that he couldn’t stop her from going, but his heart said that he was going to damn well try.
He just found her again, and he wanted forever with her.
He was going to do everything in his power to keep her with him.
For now, he had to come up with a new plan.
His old plan of offering her a job at his shop and moving her into his house didn’t seem to be working out.
He’d have to come up with something quickly, or he knew she’d bolt.
Karlie wanted him to go on with his life without her, but she was his life now.
She was his everything; he just needed to convince her of that.
He couldn’t stand the doubt on her face, the self-loathing that her sister, Jake, and then her father had instilled in her.
He couldn’t understand how her father could believe an asshat like Jake.
Jake was a liar. He had overheard Jake bragging about what he’d done to Karlie and Jenna to Drew’s brother, Ryan.
When Ryan left, Drew could have sworn he was relieved that he didn’t have to be Jake’s best man.
Drew only stepped up because Ryan had felt bad about leaving Jake in the lurch so close to his wedding day.
Drew knew Jake had hurt both Karlie and Jenna, but at the time, he just wanted to honor his promise to Ryan.
Now, Jake’s bullshit was hurting the woman Drew loved, and he just couldn’t let that happen.
Karlie thought that he believed Jake’s lies, but there wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening.
“Baby, I ran you a bath.” He found her lying on the bed, staring at nothing.
She seemed so lost that he didn’t know what to do to reach her.
“Baby, did you hear me? I ran you a bath. I thought we could take a bath, and then I’ll make us something to eat.
” She weakly sat up and nodded. He noticed that she was still crying, and it just about gutted him.
He wanted to bust some skulls together and tear shit up when she cried.
“Honey, please stop crying. We’ll work all of this out.
I promise.” She nodded again and crawled into his lap.
He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her, carrying her into the bathroom.
Drew gently undressed her and stripped himself.
As he lowered them into the tub, she groaned.
“Karlie? What’s wrong?” He started running his hands all over her.
“I’m okay, the hot water just feels really good. My body is a little sore today.” She looked up at him, feeling a little guilty.
“What hurts, baby? Did I hurt you when we—”
“No, God no.” She turned in his arms, framing his face with her hands.
“No, you never hurt me, Drew. You have been so loving and gentle, and you’ve taken such good care of me.
All I seem to give back to you is my problems. I feel so bad that you have had to deal with me and my family’s craziness.
I mean, it started with my flat tire and kept on going from there.
I even had the shit beat out of me, and you have been there for all of it.
I just feel like I came back into your life and turned it upside down.
” She was waiting for him to say something.
He felt like he needed to weigh his words carefully because he had too much riding on this.