Baby on Board (11 page)

fake smiles and the pretense of caring. I know you know who I am. You

probably Googled every bit of information on me to gauge how much I’m

worth outside my military paycheck. I know that if I were just a lowly

soldier you wouldn’t be fawning over me like you do. I don’t want you,

Donna, or anything you’re offering. Stay away from me, stop being cutesy

and stop being a pest. Leave me alone. Go find an older, rich man to

bother.”

She gasped as he walked away. “Fucking bastard,” Rafe heard her say

under her breath. He smiled. There was the true Donna in all her glorious

venom. He knew women like her well. He unlocked the door and stepped

into his house, crossed over to the sofa and threw himself face down with

a sigh. Rafe decided to lay there for a while and contemplate how he

could fix things with Ivy. The chasm between them seemed to be growing

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in leaps and bounds. What would it take to give them that push that

ultimately would bring them together before he lost whatever chance he

had completely?

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Chapter Six

“And then I come home to find them fighting on my front lawn,” Ivy

told Marie, who was wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.

Marie sighed and hiccupped. “Why don’t I live in your neighborhood?

I would pay to see that. I wonder if anyone got it on video and put it on

YouTube.”

Ivy stared at her in horror as she realized that could have happened.

“Oh, my God.”

“I’m kidding, Ivy.” Marie grinned. “You’re making a mental note to

check later, aren’t you?”

She nodded and Marie started laughing all over again. It took a few

seconds for her to settle down. “Seriously, you have two hot guys fighting

over you. I should bitch slap you for that alone. Yeah, I’m jealous, so sue

me.”

“I don’t want them fighting over me,” Ivy moaned. “I don’t know

what I want. Reese is sweet and caring, and he asked me out right after

my feelings had been bruised by Rafe and his lack of consideration. But

when he kisses me it’s just nice, you know. Rafe is different. I mean, he

kissed me on his couch and next thing you know, we’re wrapped up in

each other’s arms and it feels like I swallowed lava because I’m on fire

from the inside out.”

“Damn, put me down for some of that,” Marie said. “So then you

made out with Rafe?”

“He’s kissed me a few times,” Ivy admitted.

“Yeah, but were those kisses just little pecks or were they kisses that

say, ‘I wanna take your clothes off and take you on the dining room

table?’” Marie asked and leaned forward.

“The second one,” Ivy said and sat down before blurting out, “it was

amazing. Oh, my God, I’ve never felt like that before.”

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“While with Reese it’s just nice?” Marie said. “In that case, I think

you should go with door number two.”

Ivy shook her head. “That could purely be a chemical reaction. I can’t

build a relationship based on that. He’s a hound dog. You should see the

parties he throws at his house and the girls running around in tiny

bikinis…”

“Seems like a damn good foundation to me,” Marie said. “And you’re

crucifying the man for having a good time? Unless he was having sex on

the front lawn, it doesn’t sound like he’s doing anything wrong. Maybe

you shouldn’t be thinking that all the women you see at his place are for

him. You’re being prudish. You should’ve thrown on your bikini and

joined in on the fun.”

“Ugh, I hate when you’re critical and right,” Ivy fussed.

“I do my best, darling,” Marie said. “You might be passing up an

amazing thing for just feeling okay with someone. I wouldn’t want to feel

just okay about any relationship I’m in, I’d want fireworks. I want to look

at the man I love when I’m sixty and still feel that sexy little tug in my

belly. Can you say you’d have that in a long term relationship with

Reese?”

“I don’t know. I’m going to have to think about it all.” Ivy stuck her

tongue out at Marie. “I don’t like you.”

“You love me and you know it,” Marie said.

“Excuse me, can you help me?”

They turned to see a young woman standing in front of the nurses’

station. Their conversation was forgotten and they went into business

mode. The woman was tall and slim and reminded Ivy of a super model.

Her hazel-brown eyes were large and doe-like and reminded Ivy of

Bambi. Her chin-length hair framed the tiny face perfectly.

“Yes. How can I help you?” Ivy said gently. She’d seen enough young

wives come in looking for their husbands to recognize the total shell-

shocked look on her face.

“I’m looking for Jon Alvater. My name is Katie DeRichie,” she

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stammered and tears filled her eyes. “You see, I helped raise Jon and then

his brother and I broke up. No one told me he’d been injured when he

deployed until I heard from a friend in Michigan, and so I got on the first

plane here.” She gave a shaky laugh. “Why wouldn’t Reese tell me? I

didn’t want to move with him and so I gave him back his engagement

ring. Oh, God, why am I telling you this?”

Ivy’s gaze flew to Marie and she wore a look of surprise as well. This

was Reese’s ex girlfriend…well, ex fiancée, really, that Ivy knew nothing

about. It seemed the good cop was keeping some secrets of his own. Still,

she couldn’t help but feel pity for the young woman who stood before

them crying.

“I understand this is a bit much.” Ivy came from around the nurses’

station and led Katie to a chair. “Let me call Reese to come. I can’t let you

in to see Jon until he gives permission.”

“How is he? Jon, I mean,” Katie asked.

“Again, I can’t disclose that information, but I can tell you he’s very

fragile in some ways. That’s why Reese has to be here,” Ivy said gently.

“You sit here and I’ll get him on the phone. Marie, can you get her a cold

glass of water? She needs it.”

Marie nodded and went off down the hall while Ivy used her cell

phone far enough away from Katie so that she wouldn’t hear.

Reese answered on the first ring. “Hey, sexy lady. I guess you’re not

mad at me anymore?”

“You need to come to the hospital now, Reese,” Ivy said.

“Is it Jon? Has something happened?” Reese asked.

“Oh, no, Jon’s fine. I’m sorry, I should have thought about how you

would take that,” Ivy apologized. “Katie DeRichie, your ex fiancée, is

here to see him…and you. You need to come and give permission for her

to see him.”

“Katie’s there?” His voice was hoarse and Ivy heard emotion there.

Her female instinct kicked into overdrive. He still felt something for

Katie.

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“Yes, she is. Can you come?” Ivy kept her voice gentle even though it

gave her a little ache to know that he had been using her to forget

someone else. She couldn’t criticize, though, because wasn’t she doing the

same thing when it came to her feelings for Rafe?

“I’ll be right there,” Reese said and she hung up the phone.

“He’s on his way, Katie.” Ivy smiled at the woman who now held a

paper cup in her shaking hands. “Don’t worry. It will all be okay.”

Katie smiled back at her. “I hope so. God, I hope so.”

Ivy did, too, for all of them.

Twenty minutes later, Reese came off the elevators in full stride and

Katie stood so quickly that she spilled the water from her cup. He was in

uniform and he stood staring at Katie and no one spoke. Even though Ivy

was behind the desk with Marie, she felt as if they were both intruding on

a very personal moment. She could see the look in Reese’s eyes. He never

looked at her that way.

“Why didn’t you tell me Jon was hurt?” Katie asked Reese.

“I thought you wouldn’t care,” Reese replied.

She looked at him, shock on her face. “I helped you raise him. He is

like my own family. How could you think that?”

Reese shook his head and gave a sad smile. “I thought it was implied

since you didn’t move with us and chose to stay in Michigan.”

“That’s doesn’t mean a damn thing and you know it, Reese. You

always let your pride get the best of you,” Katie said angrily.

“Well, how do you think it made me feel? I felt like you didn’t love

me enough to leave your friends,” Reese shot back. Katie’s eyes filled

with tears and Reese said gruffly, “Jesus, don’t do that. You know I can’t

stand it when you cry.”

She nodded. “Can we go see Jon, please?”

Ivy met Reese’s gaze. She’d watched the exchange between them

silently. What was it with men? She could tell he obviously still felt

something for Katie but he was willing to date her to forget the woman he

truly loved. Ivy didn’t want to be second best in any relationship. They

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were both waiting for her and she moved briskly from behind the desk.

“I’ll take you to his room,” she said in a businesslike manner. She met

Marie’s raised eyebrow with a warning look. Her friend looked down to

the papers in front of her and began to shuffle them.

She walked down the hall and knocked on the door and poked her

head in. Jon looked at her and smiled. “Hi, Ms. Ivy.”

“Hi, Jon. Your brother is here to see you and he brought a friend.” She

smiled at the injured soldier.

Reese stepped in. “Hey, Bro. Guess who’s here to see you.”

Katie stepped from behind Reese and teased, “Why are you in bed?

Didn’t I teach you sleeping in is just for the weekends?”

Ivy watched Jon’s face light up like she’d never seen it before. “Katie,

Katie, you came to see me!” He held out his arms to her and Katie walked

into his hug. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, Jon.” Katie’s voice was muffled with tears.

“Jon, how about I give you your meds so you and Katie can spend

time with each other?” Ivy said gently.

Jon shook his head stubbornly. “I want Katie to do it.”

She looked at Ivy. “Would it be all right if I do it?”

Ivy nodded. “That would be great. Just make sure he takes everything

in the cup and eats, please.”

Katie nodded. “I will definitely do that. Thank you so much, Nurse

Ivy.”

“You’re welcome.” Ivy smiled at her. She couldn’t help but be

genuine with the young woman who traveled all that way to see Jon. “I’ll

be at the front desk if you need anything.”

“I’ll step out with you for a minute,” Reese said.

Ivy said nothing and fought the sliver of jealousy that speared through

her. She was accustomed to be being Jon’s caretaker. Even though the

therapist said they would have to work toward breaking his imprintation

on her. She felt cast aside
. Way to have bruised feelings, Ivy. You cannot

be the center of his world.

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“Hey, I’m sorry that she showed up like this,” Reese said.

“Hmm, why ever for? Maybe it’s because I didn’t know about her,”

Ivy snapped. “You obviously still have feelings for her. What I don’t

understand is why you asked me out in the first place.”

“Because she lives in Michigan and my life is here now. I didn’t

expect her to show up,” Reese explained.

“Because you didn’t tell her Jon was hurt,” Ivy hissed. “That was cold.

If you were in a committed relationship and she helped you take care of

him when your parents died, you should’ve called her.”

“You’re telling
me
about secrets? You had a freaking Marine trying to

break my neck at your house!” Reese retorted.

“Excuse me, I’m not the one who has a fiancée—”

“Ex fiancée,” Reese interjected.

Ivy glared at him. “It doesn’t look like that to me. Either way, you

were dating me knowing you still have feelings for someone else.”

“I don’t have feelings for her,” Reese said and Ivy gave him a pointed

look. He muttered a curse. “I don’t know what I feel.”

“I suggest you figure it out,” Ivy snapped.

“I can say the same for you, Ivy,” Reese ground out. “Maybe you’ve

been dating me while you want someone else.”

Ivy couldn’t deny it. “We’ll both take a step back, dissect our

feelings.”

He turned and went back into the room while Ivy walked back to the