Chapter Twelve
Elizabeth stared at Kevin for several seconds. When she heard the eggs start popping she looked down, breaking the connection. Hope raced through her. Maybe she hadn’t just totally ruined her life.
Flipping the eggs, she thought about what Kevin said.
Everyone had a breaking point. She couldn’t say he was wrong.
Her breaking point had been those two pink lines.
That had sent her into a tailspin. Not sure what else to do, and mostly numb, she’d done whatever she was told to get ready for the wedding.
Thankfully, mostly she had moved from one chair to another while someone styled her hair, gave her a manicure and a pedicure, or did her makeup.
People had talked around her and she’d answered on autopilot.
She had no idea if anyone had assumed she was nervous about the wedding or if they’d even noticed how quiet she’d been.
The timer on the stove went off. She pulled the biscuits out of the oven. She plated Kevin’s eggs, added some bacon and a couple of the biscuits then slid the plate across the bar toward him.
“Thanks, sugar,” he said.
She didn’t bother with eggs for herself as she’d managed to cook his, but the smell of them made her stomach start to churn.
She could cook them and now that they were cooked, her stomach was starting to settle but just the thought of eating eggs this morning made her want to ralph, but grabbed a couple of biscuits for herself, and a few slices of bacon.
“Do you have any honey?”
“In the cabinet over the coffee pot. If you’ll bring it, I’ll have some too.”
She retrieved the honey and took it back to the island and slid onto the stool beside him.
“What do you need to know?” She leaned against his side, resting her head against his shoulder for a couple of seconds, hoping he understood how much she appreciated how he’d handled all of this. He was doing better than she had, that was for sure.
“Tell me about Anderson. You said he was the one who wanted to wait until after you were married to sleep together?” He turned to look at her for a second, then turned his attention back to his plate.
She nodded. “I didn’t see the point, but he was insistent.”
“Did he say why?”
She shook her head. “Nothing that made sense. I know he wasn’t a virgin, he knew I wasn’t.
I asked more than once, but all I got were vague non-sensical answers, or he would change the subject and distract me.
I don’t know how many times I asked, how many times I tried to entice him into giving in before I gave up. ”
Kevin nodded slowly. “Did you ever get the feeling there might be someone else?”
“It occurred to me, but I don’t know how he would have done it. I never saw him with anyone but some of the guys. He never talked about any women, more than to mention someone he worked with or a stranger when telling me a story.”
Kevin was quiet for a moment, as he finished the last of his egg, then used one of his biscuits to sop up what was left of the yolk.
“Was he into sports of any kind?”
“Football, but what southern male, and half the women, don’t get into football?”
Kevin nodded. “Anything else? Baseball, basketball, golf, dogs, horses anything?”
Elizabeth tilted her head to one side, trying to remember anything he might have said he wanted to see or watched when they were together.
“I can’t think of anything.” She shrugged. “We spent a good amount of time together, but not all our time. He could have watched other things when I wasn’t around.”
Kevin didn’t say anything for a moment as he added butter to his biscuits. She wondered what he was thinking as she picked up a piece of bacon and took a bite, enjoying the crunch of it between her teeth.
“Why don’t you tell me what you’ve found out, then I can tell you if I knew anything about it and add any details I know or tell you if it’s new to me.”
Kevin tore a chunk off one of the biscuits and popped it into his mouth, after a moment, he turned on the stool to face her.
“I’m trying not to upset you. I don’t want to start whatever we’ve got going here with you upset or hurting.”
Elizabeth slid off her stool, went to the far counter, and pulled two paper towels off the roll, used one to clean the butter off her hands, and took the second back to him.
But instead of getting back onto her stool, she moved her stool away and stepped to stand between his knees.
Setting his paper towel next to his plate she looked up at him.
“You’re sweet. Thank you for trying to take care of me.
But I know there’s something off about him.
I think I’ve known for a long time, but because Mama convinced me marrying him was the right thing, I ignored it.
I already told you, I don’t love him. I never did.
I don’t think I ever would, despite what Mama insisted.
The whole wedding and walking out thing?
I’m not upset by it, not at all. I’m more stressed about the work involved in sending back gifts than that I won’t be spending the rest of my life with him. Ask what you need to know.”
He leaned in and kissed her forehead, then pulled her into his arms. She leaned against him, laid her head on his shoulder, and let herself relax into him as he held her.
“I’m trying to take care of you, sugar.”
“I appreciate that, but I’m not made of glass. I can handle knowing what’s going on.”
“I know you’re not made of glass, Elle, but I want to protect you, to make sure you have everything you need, even if it’s not me.”
Elizabeth didn’t know how to respond to that.
“That’s why you were going to keep your mouth shut and let me marry Michael, isn’t it?”
“If he made you happy, I wasn’t going to stop it. I didn’t know he didn’t make you happy.” His body went stiff.
She picked up her head and looked him in the face. “What’s wrong?” she frowned up at him.
Kevin looked down at her. “What were your honeymoon plans?”
“We were going to go to St Lucia, why?”
“When were you supposed to leave?”
“Not for a couple of days yet.” She let her shoulders droop. “That’s another thing I need to look at canceling. Though I’m sure we’re too late for any kind of refund.”
“Who was paying for that?” Kevin asked.
“Michael and his family. Why?”
“Trying to figure out what’s going on with him. Are you sure you want to know what we’ve found about him? It’s not pretty.”
Elizabeth nodded. “I need to know. I need to learn from my mistakes, so I don’t make them again.”
“Sugar, if I get my way, you won’t have to worry about making them again, because you’re done dating and trying to find the right one.”
She frowned at him, not sure what he meant.
Kevin tugged her against him for a moment.
“You rent your apartment, right?” Kevin asked after a couple of moments.
Elizabeth’s frown deepened as she nodded slowly. She couldn’t help but be confused by the abrupt change of subject.
“When’s your lease up?”
“Next month. We timed the wedding so that after we got back from the honeymoon I could move into his place. He’s got a house in Spring Hill that’s more than big enough for both of us.”
Kevin’s brows lifted for a moment then he pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes for a moment.
“I want you to move in here. Live with me. You’re having my baby, I want you to be here where I can take care of you both.”
It was her turn to frown. “And what? You want us to be roommates?”
Kevin pulled his head back and scowled at her.
“Roommates? Fuck no. I want you to be mine, Elle. I want you to be my old lady.”
She stared at him for a moment, then tears pooled in her eyes. She blinked rapidly trying to keep them from falling.
“I don’t know.” She rolled her lips inward and bit them for a moment before starting over.
“No. I know I can’t stay here, live with you, and be yours while you’re out running around and sleeping with the Belles and the Angels.
I can’t do that. I need to know that whoever I’m with is only with me.
I can’t handle knowing that any time you’re in that damned building,” she waved one hand toward the clubhouse she’d never been inside, but heard plenty stories about, “you’re screwing around with other women. ”
“Sugar, that’s not how it would work.” He tugged her close for a moment to place a gentle kiss on top of her head, then he leaned back enough to meet her gaze. “Do you want to know the last time I had sex?”
Elizabeth shook her head. She didn’t want to hear about him with other women.
“It’s been a while. The last time I got off, sugar, was when you were underneath me screaming my name.”
Her face heated. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She looked away, not sure if she could believe him.
“Move in with me and I’ll prove it to you. I’ll give you everything you want.”
Elizabeth’s chest ached. She wanted to believe him. But could she?
She stared at him for a moment, not sure what to do. It was that she’d been hurt. She was the one who had walked out on Michael. She was the one who had cheated, though Michael had known she didn’t love him.
As she thought about it now, she couldn’t recall him ever telling her that he loved her. Only that they fit, they would be good together, they got along well, they could make a good life. There had been little talk of love.
But would that make a difference? Did she still love Kevin? She stared at him, still not saying anything as she thought about what she would do without him. How would she feel if Kevin had done to her what she’d done to Michael.
She didn’t have to think long about that. Her answer came almost instantly. She would be devastated. That told her all she needed to know.
Elizabeth nodded. “All right. But you need to tell me everything you find out about Michael. I don’t want you leaving anything out.”
He stared at her for a moment and she wondered if he was going to call it all off, but after what felt like forever, he nodded.
“I don’t like it, but okay.”
“Thank you.” She stretched up and puckered her lips. Kevin bent and kissed them.
“Where did you leave your keys?”
“For the car?” she asked with a frown.
“Your apartment. And I’ll need the address, as well as a list of what you want to move in here, what you want to put into storage and what to get rid of.”
“I’m not sure there’s room for my stuff.”
“Babe, this stuff is just shit. If you don’t like it, replace it. Bring your shit, toss it all, and buy new, I don’t care.”
Elizabeth stared at him for a moment wondering if it was true. Was he really okay with her getting rid of everything if she wanted?
“I’ll think about It. it will take me a few hour to wander through here and decide what I want to do, is that okay?”
“That’s fine, sugar. But don’t take too long. I want to send the prospects over to take care of things.”
Elizabeth nodded. She had a lot to think about, and she suspected there was more about Michael that Kevin hadn’t told her yet, but he would. She trusted him. She trusted Kevin more than she’d trusted anyone else in a long time.