Forever Too Far (19 page)

with my baby, I wanted to know there was some protection hidden somewhere. Once the baby was

bigger I was going to have to find some other place to keep it. I didn’t want it anywhere he could

touch it. That was something I needed to talk to Rush about.

Getting to the club was easy enough. The car turned off with one push of the button and I locked the

doors with the thing Rush referred to as a key and headed inside.

Just as I was headed to the dining room, Jimmy walked out of the kitchen and his eyes met mine. A

slow smile spread across his face. “Look at you, hot momma. You can even make a pregnant stomach

the size of a beach ball look sexy. Go inside that kitchen and wait on me. I’ll be right back,” Jimmy

said with a nod of his head. He was only carrying two glasses of water so he just had a quick

delivery.

I opened the kitchen door and stepped inside. Several of the cooks called out greetings and I waved to

them and tried to remember as many names as I could.

“Please tell me you’re back in Rosemary for good now. No more running around the world. I’ve

missed you,” Jimmy whined, pulling me into a hug.

“No plans to go anywhere anytime soon,” I assured him.

“God, Blaire your stomach is huge. When is this baby coming out?” Jimmy asked and started rubbing

my stomach. “You can’t stay in there forever, little guy. It’s time you come on out. Your momma isn’t

that big; she can’t take much more.”

The kitchen door swung open and I lifted my eyes to see a new face. She had dark brown hair and

excellent bone structure. She was watching Jimmy talk to my stomach with a curious smile.

“Hello,” I said and her eyes flicked from my stomach to meet my eyes. She had gorgeous eyes as

well. Where had Woods found this one and had he hired her because of her looks? Because knowing

Woods he had noticed.

“Hello,” she replied with a thick southern drawl that surprised me. The girl wasn’t from Rosemary.

Jimmy stood back up and beamed at the girl. He liked her. That was a good sign. “Glad you’re back,

girl. Yesterday went to shit without you,” he told her then glanced back at me. “Della, this is Blaire.

She’s my BFF who ran off and left me for another man. One I can’t blame her for because he is one

hot piece of ass. Blaire, this is Della. She may or may not be boinking the boss.”

I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. Yep, Woods had noticed her.

“Jimmy!” I said when her face turned beet red and realized she’d been scolding him too. I liked this

girl. I just might have new friend material here.

“Woods right? That boss?” I asked, grinning because I knew there was no way she was messing

around with Woods’ dad.

“Of course, Woods. The girl has taste. She ain’t gonna boink the old man,” Jimmy replied with a roll

of his eyes.

“Would you stop saying ‘boink’?” she asked, still blushing. I needed to ease her embarrassment

because Jimmy was only making it worse.

“Jimmy shouldn’t have told me that but since he did, can I say, Woods is a great guy. If you are in

fact… um… boinking him then you picked a good one.”

“Thanks,” she said, biting back a smile. I really hoped Woods had a thing for her. I had a feeling

Bethy would love her too.

“If I don’t have this baby this week maybe we can get together and have lunch,” I suggested. I would

call Bethy and have her come too. She glanced down at my stomach and I could see that she thought it

was highly unlikely that I was going to make it out the door without having this baby, much less until

next week. She was probably right.

“Okay. That sounds good,” she replied.

I couldn’t wait to tell Rush. Maybe we should invite her and Woods over for dinner one night. That

would be fun.

“Della Sloane.” An angry growl broke into my thoughts and I jerked my gaze from her to the police

officer standing in the doorway.

“Yes, sir,” she replied. I watched as her face went white and I glanced around for any sign of Woods.

Where was he when you needed him? He had always been barging in at the wrong time when I

worked here. Now would be a good time to barge in.

“You need to come with me, Miss Sloane,” the officer barked as he held open the door waiting on

Della to walk out of it. “Miss Sloane, if you don’t come willingly I will have to go against Mr.

Kerrington’s wishes and arrest you right here on the club’s grounds.”

What did he just say? Arrest? Mr. Kerrington? Woods wouldn’t do this. If he had he would have at

least shown up and been a part of it. Besides, I was a good people reader and so was Jimmy. We both

liked Della. Something was wrong.

“What are you arresting her for? I sure as hell don’t believe Woods knows about this,” Jimmy

demanded as he stood in front of Della as if to protect her. I loved him even more for that. She looked

like she was about to faint.

“Mr. Kerrington does know. He is who sent me in here to escort a Della Sloane out of the building

and then arrest her once I had her in the parking lot. However, if she doesn’t come willingly I will

arrest her and anyone who stands in my way.”

Woods didn’t know. I didn’t believe him. Something was off.

“It’s okay, Jimmy,” she said and stepped around him. I watched helplessly as she walked out the

door.

“You gotta find Woods,” Jimmy said, looking back at me. “I don’t believe that. I think there’s more to

this and I think all fingers point at the old man.”

I nodded. I agreed. “I don’t have Woods’ number in my phone. It bugged Rush so I took it out,” I

admitted, looking up at Jimmy sheepishly.

Jimmy shook his head and grinned then took my phone from my hands and punched in Woods’

number. “Call him. If he doesn’t answer go hunt him down. I can’t help. I now have no help this shift

and I gotta get my ass in gear.”

I nodded and headed out the door to watch as Della was put in the cop car with way more force than

was necessary.

Woods’ phone went straight to voicemail. I tried it again but again just voicemail. Running down the

hall, or more like waddling quickly, I went to his office and knocked but nothing. I tried opening it but it was locked tightly. Crap.

I hurried outside as I dialed Rush’s phone. He would know what to do and Woods could very likely

be with him. Just as my foot hit the stone walkway I felt a cramp followed by a gush of water between

my legs. I froze.

My water had just broken.

“You look good for a married guy,” Grant teased as I walked back to the cart to get my putter.

“Of course I do. I’m married to Blaire. I’m the luckiest bastard on the planet,” I replied, not taking his bait. He wanted to get me fired up because Grant thought me getting angry was funny.

“Blaire is smoking hot. Even nine months pregnant,” he drawled, leaning back and propping his legs

up on the dash of the cart.

“If you are wanting a fucking broken nose then keep it up, bro,” I snarled, glaring back at him.

He began laughing and I knew he’d gotten what he wanted. I rolled my eyes. My phone started

vibrating and ringing in my pocket. That was Blaire’s ring. I dropped my club and reached into my

pocket to get the phone. She didn’t call me randomly. If she was calling then she needed me. I started

walking to the cart waiting on her to answer.

“Hey,” I said the moment she answered. She took a deep breath and I threw the cart in reverse and

started speeding toward the clubhouse.

“My water just broke,” she said trying to sound calm.

“I’m on my way. Stay right there. Don’t move. Don’t drive. Just wait on me.”

“I’m in the clubhouse parking lot. I was coming to find you when it happened,” I replied.

“I’m almost there, baby, hang on. Less than a minute, I swear,” I assured her.

She made a grunting noise then took a few deep breaths. “Okay,” she replied then hung up.

“Shit,” I growled and wished to God the stupid cart went faster.

“I’m gathering that she’s in labor,” Grant replied from the seat beside me.

“Yeah,” I snapped. Not wanting to talk. I just needed to get to her faster.

“I guess that means you don’t care that you just left your putter back there,” Grant replied.

“Fuck no, I don’t care about the damn putter.”

Grant crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay, just checking.”

“I need you to take my phone. Get Abe’s number out of it and call him.”

Grant grabbed my phone and did as I asked while I slammed the cart into park and took off running

across the grass to the parking lot.

Blaire was standing beside the Mercedes I’d bought her with one hand on the car and one hand on her

stomach. She looked more relaxed than I imagined.

“That was quick.” She smiled at me when her eyes met mine.

“Are you okay?” I asked, wrapping my arm around her and walking her over to the passenger side.

“I’m okay now. The cramping has eased up. But Rush, I shouldn’t get in this car. It’s brand new and I

have... well... I’m wet,” she said, stumbling over her words.

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about this car. Get in. I’m taking you to the hospital.”

She let me help her in the car although I could see the reluctance on her face. She didn’t want to mess

up her new car. I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I swear I’ll have it completely detailed inside

before you get out of the hospital,” I assured her before closing the door.

I ran around the front of the car and Grant was standing there with a nervous expression. “She okay?”

“She’s in labor,” I stated the obvious and jerked the driver’s door open.

“I called Abe. What else can I do?”

“Call Dean. He’ll want to know,” I told him before closing the car door. I didn’t let myself think

about the fact I wouldn’t be calling my mom or sister. There was no point. I couldn’t trust them

around Blaire.

“Do you think maybe you should call your mom? Or do you think she would rather not know?”

I glanced over at her as I pulled out onto the road and sped to Destin where the nearest hospital was

located. “I don’t want them being a part of this. They don’t deserve it,” I replied, then reached over

and squeezed her hand. “This is our family now. Mine and yours. We decide who we let in it.”

Blaire nodded and laid her head back on the headrest. I could tell she was having some pain from the

scrunched look on her face even though she was keeping quiet about it.

“How can I help?” I asked, anxious to do something to make this stop.

“Drive,” she replied with a tight smile.

She squeezed my hand and let out a deep sigh of relief. “That one’s over. They aren’t very long or

close together so we are good on time,” she sounded breathless.

She squeezed down on my hand again. “Rush!”

I almost swerved off the road. “What baby? Are you okay?” My heart was slamming against my chest.

“I forgot about Della. You have to call Woods. He needs to know that the cops came and got Della.”

Who the fuck was Della? Was she hallucinating? “Baby, I don’t know a Della,” I replied carefully in

case this hallucinating thing could make her crazy. I hadn’t read about this in any of those books she’d kept by the bed.

“Della is who Woods is dating. Jimmy thinks they’re boinking. She was really sweet and I liked her.

She looked so scared. Woods needs to help her.”

She had been at the club to visit Jimmy. That’s why she was there. Not because she had been in labor.

This was making sense now. “Grant has my phone. Where’s yours?” If this didn’t mean so much to

her I wouldn’t be worried about Woods’ love life and his so-called girlfriend being hauled in by the

cops. Because that shit didn’t sound promising and I didn’t want Blaire around someone dangerous.

But she didn’t need anymore stress so I’d do whatever I could to make her feel better.

“He isn’t answering his phone. It goes straight to voicemail. Who else can we call?” she asked.

I reached for her phone and dialed Grant.

“I called Dean and he’s grabbing the next flight out,” was Grant’s greeting.

“Thanks. Listen, Woods isn’t answering his phone. Call his dad. Tell him that Della,” I paused and

looked at Blaire who nodded that I’d gotten the name right, “Della was arrested and she needs help.”

“FUCK! When was Della arrested? What the hell happened?” Grant roared in my ear. Guess he knew

who Della was.

“I don’t know. My wife is in labor. Just call his dad. He can find him. I gotta go.”

“I’ll tell him,” Grant replied and I hung up.

“Woods’ Dad will know how to reach him,” I assured Blaire. She was frowning.

“I don’t know about that but maybe I misunderstood.” She stopped talking and squeezed my hand

again. Another contraction.

I was scared of needles. I’d decided months ago that I wouldn’t be getting a long needle stuck down

my back. At the moment, I was thinking that might have been a bad decision. Because I felt like my

insides were being sliced open.

It didn’t help that every time I needed to scream Rush completely freaked out. He needed to calm the

fuck down. I had to scream to deal with this. Never again would I moan over menstrual cramps.

Those were a walk in the park compared to this.

Another wave hit me and I grabbed handfuls of the sheets and let out another cry of pain. The last time

the nurse checked I was seven centimeters dilated. I needed to get to ten, dammit.

“Do I need to go get the nurse? Can I get you some ice? Do you want to squeeze my hand?” Rush kept

asking me questions. I knew he meant well but at the moment I didn’t care. I reached up and grabbed