Calling Kupid (Kupid's Cove Book 1) (6 page)

He rubbed her cheek while he stared at the test. He looked up at me. “What does the 3+ mean on here?”

“Apparently the test will also tell you how many weeks pregnant you are. The 3+ means she’s more than three weeks pregnant.”

“I’m almost two months late,” she whispered, looking down at her hand covering his, still over her belly. “I couldn’t tell you. I kept thinking I would get my period, but I never did.”

He pulled her back into a hug. “I wish you had. You wouldn’t have had to worry for so long. That’s not good for you, or our baby.” He whispered the last two words. You could see on his face that it was beginning to sink in that Freddie was carrying his child.

“I felt like, after the accident, you were worried about me all the time. I didn’t want to make that worse when we were just getting back to normal.”

He belly laughed, as if what she said was funnier than anything he’d ever heard. He held her by her shoulders and kissed her long, hard, and to the point I felt uncomfortable being in the room. When he finally ended the kiss, he held her hands to his lips.

“Nothing is ever going to be normal again, Winnie. From this moment forward, our lives change for the better. He has blessed us in a multitude of ways. We can never deny His timing.”

“But your business,” she started and he kissed her silent.

“My business isn’t one percent important right now. We have money, as you know. I work because I want to keep using my skills to help people. So maybe the business isn’t where I want it to be, but that’s okay. I’ll hire someone to work on-call shifts, so I can be home more with you and our baby.”

Freddie nodded and he looked at her under his brow. “Trust me?”

“I do, you know that. I’m just trying to wrap my mind around this. I have been since Kate found me on the bench by the pharmacy.”

He looked up at me and winked. “Thanks for taking care of her. You’ve always been the one to do that.”

“After all these years she’s like a sister to me. I would do anything for her. I wanted to call you, but she kept crying every time I said your name. I’m happy for you two. You’re going to make wonderful parents. I’m excited because I can’t wait to be an aunt!”

Flynn helped Freddie stand, steadying her by holding her elbow as she came around the couch. She hugged me, relief evident in her body language now that Flynn was here.

“I’m sorry. I forgot earlier or I wouldn’t have dragged you into this. I mean, you were going to find out eventually, but I wouldn’t have done the test here and been such a wreck. I should have been stronger for you. I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“Don’t apologize, honey. I’m glad I got to experience this with you. It makes me feel that much closer to my niece or nephew. I’m happy for you, really. I don’t ever want you to apologize again, feel like you have to be strong for me, or any such nonsense as that.”

Freddie leaned back and Flynn was there to capture her in his arms. “I’m missing something,” he said, frowning.

“You are, but it’s not a big deal. Freddie can tell you later. For now, I think you should take her home and have some quiet time, just the two of you, or rather, the three of you.”

Flynn kissed her cheek. “The first place I’m taking her is to see Dr. Alexander. I want to make sure everything is okay. She’s still taking the pill and I don’t know what that will do.”

“It won’t hurt the baby,” Freddie whispered. “I already checked.”

Flynn squeezed her then picked up the test, dropping it into his shirt pocket. “We’re gonna take a picture of that for prosperity. The day our lives changed forever.”

“I was thinking we should Facetime with your parents tonight and just hold up the stick.”

Flynn froze mid-step and turned back, excitement filling his face. “Oh my gosh, my parents! You know they are going to fly back here the second we tell them.”

Freddie laughed with pure glee, finally, and took his face in her hands. “I think it’s safe for them to stay in Florida for a few more months, but they’re going to be so excited to be grandparents. Did you notice all the hints your mom was dropping at Christmas?”

He tucked her under his arm. “How could I not? She even bought you yarn to make baby blankets, pink and blue. Not very subtle.”

“Maybe she knew something we didn’t,” Freddie said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

I leaned against the counter with a smile on my face as they left my apartment, completely oblivious to the fact that I was even in the room. I was totally okay with that.

“She’s pregnant!” Rosie exclaimed, her eyes wide.

“That’s what the test said.”

I was sitting on the couch in the reception area of the law firm and she was behind her desk finishing the day’s work. It was Thursday, which meant she was ready to start her weekend. We are only open by appointment on Friday.

“Good for them! That’s so exciting! Think of the fun we can have shopping.”

I laughed tucking my leg up under me. “She was much happier when she left my apartment than when she got there.”

“I was really worried. Flynn came racing through here like your apartment was on fire, and then the two of them just waltzed back out without saying a word to me. I didn’t know what to think.”

“Sorry to keep you in the dark for so long. Freddie was scared because apparently they had a plan. They actually planned how many years until they were going to have kids. According to her, now wasn’t the time.”

Rosie giggled and shook her head. “As if life works on a plan.”

“Ain’t that the truth?”

She paused in her filing. “What does that mean?”

“Remember when you asked about the yelling today?”

“Geez, how could I forget? If you had been much louder, you would have brought down the house.”

I rolled my eyes. “We weren’t
that
loud.”

Rosie slammed the filing cabinet and came over to the couch. “You’re kidding, right? Even Cagle wanted to know why you were yelling at clients. I told him you weren’t yelling; you were talking loudly.”

I lay over on the couch giggling. “Thanks for taking one for the team.”

“I am curious as to why the meeting started out in a knock down drag out fight, but ended in you going to lunch together.”

I sat up and clapped my hands together lightly. “How much time do you have? It’s a long story.”

“For this, all the time in the world.”

I gave her the abbreviated version of what went down in Hawaii, but stopped when her hand started waving.

“You were so drunk you couldn’t answer questions? You don’t drink.”

“Exactly, so I guess it didn’t take much to get me drunk.”

“But you knew him as Strong, not Gideon Armstrong.”

“You got it.”

“Don’t tell me you didn’t try to look him up on the internet. He told you he owned the place.”

I frowned. “I didn’t actually believe that line. I mean, come on. How many guys don’t have a running plan with a bartender, where when they say an afore planned line, the bartender jumps in on the story? I didn’t actually believe he owned that resort. He took me to a little hut on the beach. I figured the owner would have a suite in the posh hotel.”

“Guess he fooled you.”

“Tell me about it. When he showed up today I was horrified, embarrassed, and angry.”

“I can’t say I blame ya there.”

“He swears now, of course, that he insulted me to get me out of his room because he was being chivalrous.”

“Chivalrous?”

“That’s what I said. He said I was too drunk to know what I was doing or what I was agreeing to.”

She went back to her desk, tidying it up and turning on the answering service. “Maybe you were too drunk. Maybe the only thing left for him to do was insult you.”

I brushed my hand at the door. “Doesn’t matter now. That was months ago and lasted for about one hour of my life. I can manage to have a working relationship with him until we get the pharmacy taken care of. We went to lunch today and once I made sure he understood where I stood with everything, it was kind of fun to talk with him. He’s a corporate lawyer; did you know that?”

Rosie sat in her chair and rested her head in her hand. “Kate, you’d have to be you not to know who Gideon Armstrong is.”

“What does that even mean?” I asked offended.

“It means that you never socialize with anyone or stay up-to-date on the social aspects of Snowberry.”

“I’m an outsider here, Rosie. You know that. It’s been years since I’ve been able to ‘socialize’ with anyone or stay up-to-date with Snowberry.’”

“You grew up here and your past is just that, the past. You’re the only one who still thinks you’re an outsider.”

I shook my head sadly. “No, I’m not, but I wouldn’t expect you to understand. Everyone likes you, Rosie, and you don’t have more skeletons in your closet than clothes.”

“Kate, it’s not like that,” she tried to say, but I stood to make my way back to my apartment.

“It’s okay, Rosie. I’m going to go home and make some dinner. See you Monday.”

I noticed her eyes trained over my shoulder. I turned toward the door, my shoulders slumping when
you know who
was waving wildly behind the glass door.

“I wonder what he wants,” I mumbled, going to the door to unlock it. I pushed it open and he grabbed the handle, coming inside.

He rubbed his hands together before sticking them under his armpits. “Hey, glad I caught you. You promised to let me know what happened at the pharmacy, but you never called.”

Rosie turned off all the lights except the security ones before grabbing her coat and purse. “You two can lock up when you’re done. I’m out.”

And like that, she was gone, which left me alone with,
him
. He was waiting for an answer and I turned away, rather than look into those crazy sexy eyes covered in his nerdalicious lenses.

“I didn’t make it over to see Hank today. It’s first on my list for the morning. I got, um, caught up in some other business.”

“Oh, okay, well that’s no problem. I’m here for a week. I know when you talk to him tomorrow, he will assure you he wants to keep running the place.”

I clasped my hands in front of me, bouncing up on my toes as I turned to him. “Right, well then, good night.”

I held the door for him as he looked at me closely then swirled his finger around my body.

“I like this look, it’s very relaxed and chic, but don’t you need a coat, and shoes?”

I was going to have to tell him. “Actually, you’re the only one leaving. I live here.”

“Here?”

“Well, not exactly in the office. I live in the upstairs apartment.”

“That’s handy.”

“I think so. Good night, then.”

He pushed the door closed and leaned against it. “So I know it’s only four thirty, but I don’t know anyone in town. I was wondering if you would like to go get some dinner with me?”

“Lunch and dinner? I don’t know, Gideon. People might start to talk.”

“We could order in, if that would be better.”

“Lord, no. Tongues would start wagging even faster if I called any of Snowberry’s establishments ordering dinner for two. We’ll go out. I’ll just introduce you as the guy who didn’t want to have sex with me.”

The words weren’t even out of my mouth before he had me in his arms, his lips on mine. He curled his fingers into my hair and I curled his coat into my fists. I whimpered under his cold lips, but instead of pulling away, he pulled me down onto the couch. He trailed his tongue across my lips, convincing them to open, without me making the decision, then he traced the ridges of my tongue with his. I wound my hands up into the hair at the base of his neck and felt him slow the kiss until our lips fell apart. He stared into my eyes and caressed my face in a manner that told me it wouldn’t be the last time he kissed me.

“Let that be the definitive answer on whether or not I wanted to have sex with you, Katie. I’ve been sitting in that hotel room for the last three hours trying to work, but instead all I’ve been able to do is think about you. I don’t expect that this is a second chance at a missed opportunity. You have every right to be angry about what happened that night. I just hope you realize that I really did have your best interests at heart, because if I hadn’t I would have had incredibly sweet sex with you without caring about the consequences.”

I nodded quickly. “I know. I’m sorry for being flippant. Your arrival today has taken me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting to see you again, ever, but here you are.”

“I’ve been around the world enough times to believe in the theory of six degrees of separation.”

“You mean the theory that we’re all only six people away from meeting anyone in the world?”

“That’s the one. I believe in it. I mean you only needed two the first time you met me. This time I only needed two to find you again. I say that proves the theory right there.”

I started to chuckle and pressed my hand against his chest. “Okay, Kevin Bacon. If you’ll let me get up, I’ll get ready to go.”

“Bacon sounds good. Where can we get bacon in this town?”

He stood, so I could, and then followed me back through the law office after I locked the front door. I knew he was staring at my backside as I climbed the steps to my apartment, but I gave him that small amount of enjoyment for the kiss he had given me.

I opened the door and let him pass me, then closed it again. “We could go to Kiss’s Café if you want some real family style cooking. They have bacon on the menu any time of the day. If you want bacon on a pizza we could go to Gallo's. Last, but not least, if you want a bacon burger we can go back to Wes’s Saloon.”

“That’s a lot of choices. Wes’s was good, but one burger a day is my limit. I need to keep my physique up,” he said, preening right then left.

“Sure, that’s why you want bacon again.”

I grabbed my shoes stepping into one. He held his arm out for me to steady myself and I did, enjoying the way the soft wool coat felt under my hand.

“I haven’t had family style cooking in a long time. Let’s say we go to that café you talked about.”

“Good call,” I smiled at him. I was genuinely glad he had stopped over. I needed to get out of the apartment after my long, emotional afternoon, so why not do it with a good looking guy?

“Can I use your restroom before we go?”

I motioned him towards the back of the apartment. “Sure, it’s the first door on the right. I’ll grab my coat.”

He disappeared into the apartment and I pulled my coat off the hanger where I hung it when I brought Winifred in earlier. I froze. Oh, crap. I swung the coat around my shoulders running back into the apartment, skidding to a halt at the bathroom door just as he opened it.

“Are you pregnant, Katie?” he asked, holding the instructions Freddie must have left on the counter.

I snatched them from his hand. “No, I’m not. The test wasn’t for me. It’s the reason I didn’t get over to see Hank today. I found my best friend, Freddie, in tears after my appointment this afternoon. I had to help her.”

He put a supportive hand on my shoulder. “Is this the Freddie that you were in Hawaii with?”

I nodded. “Yeah, she was afraid to tell her husband, so by the time I got it all straightened out it was too late to see Hank.”

“That’s no problem. Hank will be there tomorrow. Is everything all right with them now?”

My chin trembled even as I tried to stop it. “They’re very happy,” I said, my voice cracking.

He pulled me into him and hugged me lightly. “You don’t sound very happy.”

I pushed away from his chest and grabbed a tissue from the box that still sat on the coffee table.

“I’m happy for them. I haven’t had a chance to process any of it yet. Freddie and I went through some horrifically crappy things in our lives, and we were there for each other through them all. It’s wonderful to see her so happy and full of life now. The baby wasn’t planned, but once she knew Flynn wasn’t upset about it she walked out of here on a cloud.” I wiped my eyes and balled the tissue up in my hand. “I didn’t mean to get emotional.”

“Babies are a great reason to be emotional,” he assured me. “Do you still want to go out or would you rather I leave you alone for the night?”

“I think the only thing that will help me tonight is some pecan pie from Kiss’s Café.” I smiled and he grinned, holding his elbow out to me. I wrapped my arm through his in a motion of solidarity, grabbing my purse on the way out the door.

Babies
are
a great reason to be emotional. If only he knew the real reason why Freddie being pregnant made me cry.