Chapter 23
TWENTY THREE
ARCHER
My pulse jumped and I glanced around the firehouse, ensuring no one was around to see whatever pictures Darcy was sending me, before opening the text message. Two different light green squares sat below my last text to her, the three dots indicating she was typing flowed beneath.
Darcy: Which color do you think is better for a nursery?
I snickered despite myself. The fact that I’d seen she’d sent pictures and automatically assumed they’d be risky ones was an exact representation of where my head was at when it came to her.
In the two weeks that had passed since Christmas, I’d seen her every opportunity I could without coming off as desperate, although that’s precisely what I’d become where she was concerned.
Granted, at first, I did actually need to see her.
We’d started moving all the workout equipment in her home gym to the corner of her living room, which was temporary until she was able to sell it.
However, moving the equipment took two days, and the only reason it took that long was because Harrison had to leave an hour into day one.
After the room was cleared out, I began babyproofing her apartment—a task I performed slowly so that I could keep coming back—but that didn’t last long.
The next time I showed up, it was to clean out her vents which were actually in need of cleaning, but it was more so that I could see her.
Being around her was oddly soothing. Not that there was anything wrong, but being around her felt infinitely more right than sitting at home by myself.
I craved our verbal sparring matches, even if some of the previous sharpness had softened, and while it wasn’t one of the reasons I kept going back to see her, the fact that said sparring matches usually ended with her hands in my hair while I pressed her back against whatever available surface was present was definitely a plus.
We hadn’t taken things any further than kissing—I wasn’t sure if more fell under our agreement, and I didn’t want to press my luck because, truthfully, kissing drove me mad enough—but the way my body needed hers bordered on pain.
Darcy: Hurry up! I need your opinion ASAP.
Her urgency struck me as odd.
Me: Why?
Darcy: Can I call you?
Me: Sure.
A second later my phone rang, and I answered it immediately.
“Hey, is everything okay?” I asked.
I could practically hear her eye roll through the phone. “Yes, everything is fine. I’m at the store to buy the paint and I’m between those two colors. I need to know your vote.”
“My vote is the first one,” I answered honestly. “But I work the next two days, so I can’t paint it yet.”
“Oh, I know. I was thinking maybe I’d do it myself.” She responded with casual nonchalance, but it had me feeling anything but.
Why was she wanting to paint the room? Part of our deal was that I’d do it, so why did she suddenly want to paint it herself? Inwardly, I started panicking that she was backing out, or that I’d been in her hair too much, but outwardly I kept calm.
“I thought you wanted me to do it.”
Scratch that. That didn’t sound calm at all. It sounded every bit the grumpy ass she’d claimed I was.
“I did, but I thought it might be therapeutic?” There was a small pause before she spoke again. “And I was also kind of thinking that it might be nice to maybe hang out without you doing some sort of project.” Her voice sounded unsure all of a sudden, but my relief was instant.
I smiled. “Darcy?”
“Yeah?”
“Hanging out sounds good, and we can do that, but let me at least help you paint the nursery,” I insisted.
There was a moment of hesitation on her end. “It does?”
How very Darcy of her to focus on one part of my answer. “Yes. I’d really like to hang out with you.”
“You’ve only been coming over to do things around the apartment, so I wasn’t sure if it was crossing a line or something.”
I shook my head. “Not crossing a line.” Then, deciding I didn’t have anything to lose, I added. “I’d come over there now if I could.”
“Archer Mack! Are you saying you miss me? It’s been two days!” she teased.
“Shut it, Brat,” I grumbled, but there was no bite to it.
She ignored me, and muttered more to herself than to me. “Who the hell is in charge of naming paint colors? Okay, anyway, I guess I’ll get a gallon of Moss Mist, and I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
I chuckled, crossing my ankle over my knee.
“It’s a date.” The expression left my mouth before I could stop it, but once the words were out, I realized I didn’t want to take them back.
A night at her place could hardly be considered a date, but this at least felt like more than my previous visits to her apartment, and honestly, I didn’t hate the way it sounded.
“It’s a date,” she repeated. “Now stop slacking off and get back to work.”
“All right. Bye, Darcy.”
“Bye, Arch.”
She hung up, leaving me smirking like an idiot at the kitchen table.
Not bothering to lock my phone, I started researching if paint fumes were okay to breathe in during pregnancy.
I’d said I’d help her, but if it wasn’t safe, all bets were off.
She could scowl and curse at me from the living room while she watched me paint the nursery for all I cared.
The internet, however, was largely unhelpful, every website stating different things, but the consensus seemed to be that as long as it was well-ventilated, and she took breaks, it’d be fine.
I didn’t see Darcy willingly taking breaks, so I ordered a mask for her to wear when she inevitably fought me on it.
Talking about painting the nursery had me thinking about all the other things that would need to get done.
Darcy was waiting for after the baby shower Linnea and Shayna were throwing her to buy a lot of the things, but I started researching baby cribs anyway.
The look on her face when we were in the baby section of Target was like a deer in headlights, and I didn’t blame her.
There was no way babies needed all that crap, but some things were necessities, and I wasn’t sure if she’d done any of her own research yet or not.
“In the market for a baby crib?” Startled, I whipped my head around to see Ralph directly behind me. How had he managed to sneak up on me? One, he was never quiet, but two, it was damn near impossible to catch me off guard.
I stared at him, weighing my options before realizing I had none.
Ralph knew I didn’t have siblings, it’d come out in one of his prying sessions, and he also knew I didn’t have a whole lot of friends.
There was also a part of me that wanted to tell him, to share this piece of information with someone who wasn’t Harrison.
“Actually, yeah. I am.”
His hand came down and clapped me hard on the shoulder. “No shit! You’re not kidding?”
I shook my head, smiling at how loud his exclamation was. At this rate, the whole firehouse would know, and strangely I was okay with that. “No, I’m not kidding. My girlfriend is pregnant.”
Ralph’s laughter echoed. “Holy shit! Congratulations, kid!”
Smiling, I couldn’t help but wish Darcy were here to bathe in his excitement, which, for a man who didn’t know me all that well, was palpable. “Thanks, Ralph.”
“Do you know what you’re having?” He pulled out a chair. “Sorry, but god, I miss the baby days! It’s hard to see it when you’re in it, but now that my kids are grown, I wish I could go back and hold ‘em again.”
“No, we don’t know what we’re having. She wants it to be a surprise.”
“Oh that’s fun! That’s real fun—best surprise you’ll ever have!” He chuckled, the shine of fond memories lighting his eyes. “When’s she due?”
“In May. She’s twenty-two weeks.”
He nodded. “The last bit goes by fast. Well, at least for us men it does. My wife would probably tell you she lived a whole year in those last ten weeks.”
I didn’t tell him exactly how fast it felt. Opening up this much felt good, but letting him know the whole thing was an accident was a whole other story. There was also the fact that Darcy wasn’t technically my girlfriend, and he couldn’t know that, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Last ten weeks of what?” Chief Abrams asked as he walked into the room.
All at once, my heart plummeted and leapt into my throat.
The whole point of this fake dating plan with Darcy was to secure the lieutenant promotion which couldn’t happen if no one knew that we were together, but using the pregnancy, the baby, to get it felt wrong.
The whole thing suddenly felt wrong. It felt like crossing a line, and as much as I wanted the position, I wanted it because I earned it, not because I’d lied my way into it. But it was too late.
“Pregnancy. Mack here is going to be a dad.” Ralph answered before I could so much as open my mouth to speak.
The chief’s eyes snapped to me, shock creeping onto his face as his eyebrows hitched towards his hairline. “You don’t say! Congratulations! You certainly work fast!”
I scanned his face for signs of disbelief or skepticism, but found none. If he was suspicious about the sudden roots I’d seemingly sprouted, he was doing a good job of hiding it.
“Thank you.”
Chief glanced over his shoulder at the bulletin, then back to me. “I didn’t see your name on the company’s New Year’s party signup. Are you not going?”
“Uh, I hadn’t really given it much thought honestly. Parties aren’t usually my thing.”
He waved a hand at me. “Nonsense! You should go! There’s still time to sign up, and you can bring your girlfriend. It’ll be a nice night out before the baby gets here.” Smiling at me, he looked at Ralph. “Plus, Ralph here isn’t wrong. The last few weeks fly by, and I’d love to meet her.”
There wasn’t really any saying no to that. “Sure, why not? I’ll text her to make sure we don’t already have plans.”
His smile turned into a grin underneath his mustache. “Excellent. I look forward to seeing you both.”
Once he was gone, Ralph turned his attention back to me. “Well, I know I’m excited to meet this Darcy. Must be one hell of a girl if she managed to lock down the lone wolf in ya.”
“Oh, she is.” I nod in his direction. “You might want to hit the gym because she could kick your ass with her eyes closed.”
“Something tells me that’s an ass kicking I wouldn’t mind getting.” He chuckled, and shot me a wink before standing and heading toward the bunk room.
I pulled out my phone.
Me: Do you have plans next Saturday?
My phone buzzed less than a minute later.
Darcy: I don’t know, why?
Me: Want to go to a company party with me?
Darcy: Oooh, that’s tough. You see, I was planning on eating a whole thing of ice cream to the face while watching Homeward Bound…
Me: What if we do that together after?
Darcy: Do I have to dress up?
Me: In theory, but if you want to wear sweatpants I’ll wear them too.
Darcy: You’d do that for me?
Me: Yes.
Darcy: Fine, but we’re getting two flavors of ice cream and I get to pick both.
Me: If we get three, do I get to pick out the third?
Darcy: No.
Darcy: Ice cream selection is firmly in my jurisdiction.
Me: Hahaha okay. Fair enough.
Me: So, you’ll go with me?
Darcy: It’s a date.