Pulled (12 page)

“We can’t wait any longer. You’re showing, and
people are starting to notice.” I raked my hands through
my hair and breathed out heavily, the sound hanging in
the air. “I talked to Erin. She said the whole school is
talking about it. Your dad is going to hear about it, if he
hasn’t already. I think we need to tell him tomorrow.”
She bit her lip, fighting tears. I knew she was
scared, but there was no way around this.

“It’s going to be okay, Mel. I’ll be there with you,
okay?”

I wiped the solitary tear that ran down my girl’s
cheek, and she nodded against my hand, giving her silent
promise that we’d get this out in the open tomorrow.

“So what are we naming this little thing?” I
affectionately rubbed her stomach, trying to lighten the
mood. We had tonight left, and I didn’t want to ruin it with
the worry of tomorrow.

We flipped through page after page. There were
so many names it was overwhelming. “Daniel, look at
this.” She pointed to a name.

I read it aloud, “Eva.” I let the name run through
my head and it clicked in my heart. “It’s beautiful,
Melanie.”

She sat up a little further. “It means “life” in
Hebrew. It’s perfect.”

She placed both of her hands on her stomach,
cradling her child, whispering, “Eva, my life.”

“God, I love you, Melanie.” I kissed her, tasting
her sweetness as I ran my hands over her belly.

Melanie whimpered against my lips. She shifted,
and pressed her body against mine.

I made love to her softly, slowly—carefully, her

body still perfectly fitting with mine. Every touch was like
fire against my skin, her love for me undeniable in the
wake of her fingers.

“Melanie, my love. You’re so beautiful,” I
whispered against her cheek.

Her breath tickled against my ear as a low,

“Daniel,” tumbled from her lips.

The energy that bound our souls together was
suffocating, her fire roaring through my veins.

“Melanie, you feel so good.”

Never could I desire another. There would never
be anyone who could make me feel this way, anyone who
could bring me complete ecstasy in one passing touch or
ease my soul with the warmth of their eyes. There was
only Melanie.

Sleep was difficult, only falling into short bursts
throughout the night. I felt anxious about meeting with
Steve. Telling him that Melanie was six-months pregnant,
and we’d been hiding it from him this whole time was not
going to go over well. If he had a real temper, this would
bring it out in him.

Melanie stirred next to me in the early morning
hours. Turning, she wrapped her arms around me,
fingering the hair on the back of my neck, her simple
touch soothing my nerves.

“Hey, you awake already?” Her voice was raspy
and low.

“Yeah. Couldn’t sleep.”

She sat up on her elbow facing me, her hair
falling to the side over her shoulder, pooling on the bed
below her. Her skin was paler than normal in the early
morning light, her lips swollen and red, and her green
eyes intense as they searched mine.

Her hand moved from the back of my neck to
cup my cheek as her thumb rubbed under my eye, trying
to smooth away the stress. I had tried to hide my own fear
about telling Steve, but it was obvious I was not looking
forward to this any more than she was.

I turned my head into her palm, kissing the
tender skin there.

Sadness washed over me once again at the
thought of taking Melanie back. This was her home now,
and I wanted her to be here with me. These next three
months were going to feel like an eternity, and the worst
was yet to come. I couldn’t imagine coming back to this
house and our king-sized bed by myself after we were
married while she was alone in the small room at the end
of the hall in her dad’s house. It was just so wrong.

We lay together for what seemed like hours
without saying a word, simply showing each other our love
through touch. I could never get enough of her.

We’d been in bed most of the morning, and it
was time to put an end to the procrastination. Melanie got
up to take a shower while I packed her things.

With reluctance, I started my car and drove us in
the direction of Colorado Springs. Traffic was light, so at
least we’d save a few minutes of worry.

Melanie hadn’t said anything in the last half hour
as she stared out the window. “Are you ready for this,
baby?”

She jumped, startled. “Oh.” She blinked a couple
of times. “I guess as ready as I’ll ever be.” She bit her
thumbnail. “I just don’t know what he’s going to say. I’m
really scared.”

I glanced at her. Tears ran down her face, the
moisture on her cheeks reflecting the sun shining through
the window.

She groaned aloud into her hands, shaking her
head at the thought. “I mean what if he has you arrested or
something!” She sounded like she was on the verge of
hysteria, the true fear she’d been harboring coming out. It
dawned on me then that she hadn’t been hiding this from
Steve to protect herself from his wrath, but to protect me
from it.

“Melanie, I know you’re afraid of what he’ll do.

Yes, he’s going to be pissed, and I’m willing to deal with
whatever anger he has toward me, but he’ll never keep
you away from me.” I tried to reassure her with the promise
in my eyes, a promise that no matter what, we would never
be apart. Her green eyes melted my heart as she looked
at me.

Melanie jerked under my hand, every muscle in
her body tensing as she screamed, “Daniel!”
My head snapped forward, but there was nothing
I could do. My vision barely registered the streak of red
before my head filled with the sound of crumpling metal
and shattering glass. Searing pain consumed me as a
desperate cry for Melanie fell from my lips—her name
pounding against my ears as blackness washed over me,
forcing me into darkness.

My hands gripped the steering wheel, my

knuckles white, as I gasped for air. I couldn’t tel if my chest was caving in against my heart or if my heart had ruptured through my chest.

“Daniel, what the hel is wrong with you?” Vanessa yel ed, her voice cracking. I glanced at her and saw the terrified look on her face as she held onto the side of her seat with one hand and the door handle with the other, her back pushed up against the seat, leaning away from me in defense.

Everything whizzed by. I looked at the

speedometer and was topping one hundred. I jammed on the brakes.

I sat rigid in my seat, tension rol ing from me as I clutched the wheel. I real y didn’t care what Vanessa thought about me, but I didn’t need to be putting her and her baby’s lives in danger, either.

“Yeah, you’re really good at that, aren’t you?”
I mocked myself somewhere inside my head, self-hatred burning in my veins.

I stared ahead and muttered, “Sorry,” under my breath.

Minutes later, we arrived at the restaurant, pul ing up to the valet. I tried to regain my composure before I went in there and screwed everything up. Today had been the single hardest day I’d had since coming back from Dal as, and it seemed thoughts of Melanie would not be kept at bay. I would have to smile and fake my way through this night. I prayed they’d do al the talking, and I could just sit there, nod, and sign on the dotted line.

I groaned when I caught my reflection in the mirror.

I was a complete disaster. My hair was sticking up in every possible way, not one strand in accord with another, my eyes puffy and red from this afternoon, my hands visibly shaking.

I grabbed my bag as the valet opened my door.

He gave me my tag, and I went around to gather Vanessa.

We entered, greeted by a hostess wearing a black cocktail dress and heels. I hated places like this.

“Do you have a reservation, sir?”

“Yeah, I have a business meeting with Nicholas Borel i and Shane Preston. I’m not sure if they’ve arrived yet.” I glanced around the restaurant. I’d never met either of them, so I had no idea who I was looking for.

She studied the black book on her stand and shook her head. “No, they haven’t arrived yet, but we can show you to your table.”

She led us to a round table for six near a large bank of windows. Vanessa and I went to the far side, facing the room. The hostess handed us our menus and told us to enjoy our meals as she walked away. “This is very nice, Daniel.” Vanessa pretended to appreciate the room and then looked back at me through her eyelashes.

Was she trying to flirt with me? I uttered a barely audible, “Mm hm,” before turning my attention to the menu, wary of making eye contact with her. This had been a complete mistake. I should have just come alone. It was becoming much too obvious that Vanessa thought this dinner meant more to me than just a need to have somebody accompany me to a dinner meeting. The
accidental
brush of her leg against mine under the table confirmed that.

“Shit,”
I swore at myself. This day just got worse by the minute.

A waiter arrived and asked what we’d like to drink. Vanessa gave him an exaggerated smile and ordered a water.

“Whiskey, no ice.” I was in dire need of a drink.

Vanessa started to make comments about the menu, trying to draw me into conversation, but her words didn’t register. I couldn’t think straight. My head started to spin, my skin prickling al over. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

I tried to shake it off.

Apparently, I had thought too much about Melanie Apparently, I had thought too much about Melanie today because my body was reacting as if she were near.

I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to brush off the feeling. I began to panic when I realized I was final y going to lose it. My hands started to tingle with the palpable energy that connected Melanie and me and made us one, an intense longing fil ing my chest.

I had to pul myself together.

I stood to take a few minutes to clear my head when a strangled sob grounded me to the floor. My head jerked up, my eyes desperate to find what I so longed to see.

My knees went weak, and I grasped the table for support when my eyes met with the emerald that owned my soul.

The ride to the restaurant was tense.

My outright refusal had set Nicholas on edge, and I wasn’t sure he knew how to deal with it.

Nicholas pul ed up to the restaurant valet. Katie and Shane waited on the sidewalk for us as the attendant helped me from the car.

“Hey, Mel.” Shane’s smile was infectious. I could never resist it, my own spreading across my face as he brought me into a huge hug, giving me a quick peck on the cheek. If I hadn’t known him, I might have been a little scared of him, given that he resembled a younger version of my dad. He was just as tal and shaved his head, though his eyes were green where Dad’s were brown. He was muscular from years of hard construction work and so tanned, it nearly washed out the tattoos covering the entirety of his arms.