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He passes me a bottle of water to wash the pills down.
“You’ve been busy,” Derek comments smelling the air. “Gingerbread, I can see. What else did you make? Cookies?”
“And Snickerdoodles.”
“I think you need to marry me,” Derek teases and I laugh when Tanner narrows his eyes. “I don’t think you’d have a problem with that, huh?” He grins at his son.
“You’re too old to be marrying her,” he says and winces.
I start laughing. “I don’t think my sister would agree considering your dad is a few years younger than her husband.”
Tanner rolls his eyes and presses closer, spreading my legs to accommodate his hips. “I’m so sorry about this.” He brushes my hair back with gentle fingers and once against kisses the bump.
“Please stop. It was an accident.”
He brushes my lips with his. “Mmm.”
“I’ll leave you two alone…for only five minutes,” Derek announces.
I chuckle against Tanner’s lips, and caressing his face, I ask, “Will you tell me why you were so angry?”
80
Tanner
Seeing that Charlotte is in pain from the bump on her head, I pick her up in my arms and carry her into our bedroom, lying on the king bed in the middle of the room. I quickly shuck my jacket to the floor and after wrapping a throw around her, I tug her into my arms.
“I hate that I have to tell you this because I don’t want it touching us anymore, but you need to know that I’ve discovered Emma has been spreading lies.”
“What?” she rolls to face me.
“Apparently, she’s telling everyone I’ve left her because she’s pregnant with my baby. According to her, I don’t want children so I dumped her and found you to replace her… She’s being childish and I’m pissed.”
“She seemed okay when she left here. I mean, I did notice how quickly she changed her tune, but…but…”
“I know. I believe the majority of folk know the truth, but some prefer to believe her. I was pissed, and worried about you.” I sigh. “But then I came home and ended up hurting you when I really wanted to wring her fucking neck.”
“Breathe for a minute,” she suggests, leaning up and brushing a soft kiss across my lips. “Although I do have a bit of a headache, I’m okay...and for the last time, it was an accident. Can we please move past it? Please?”
“I’m sounding like a broken record, huh?” I cup one side of her face. “I love you Charlotte, and I’ll always cherish you. It made me feel sick when I hurt you.”
“I love you too.” Smiling softly, she adds, “What are we going to do about Emma?”
“I’m going to talk to her after Christmas.”
“What if word gets around that you aren’t the father, then wouldn’t the man who she’s been seeing behind your back come forward to claim his child?”
“You’d think so, but not everyone does the right thing…especially when there’s the responsibility of a child involved.”
“I hope she finds her happiness, Tanner.” Cradled in my arms, Charlotte rests her face against my chest and very slowly her breathing becomes even, telling me she’s asleep.
She worries me slightly with the bruise on her forehead. But I’m guessing a couple of hours nap won’t hurt her, especially if I’m here beside her.
Placing a gentle kiss to the mark, regret heavy in my heart, I settle against her. I screwed up badly today and I still feel sick about it. The woman in my arms deserves to be loved and cherished and I’m going to spend the rest of my life doing just that.
Charlotte’s slept in my arms for a couple of hours and just having her close, trusting me in this way is humbling, especially when I’m still kicking myself for hurting her. The bruising on her forehead looks painful and has darkened while she slept.
A smile slips across her lips just before she wiggles closer, her breath teasing across my skin as she moans. Her hands slip down into the back of my jeans and when her nails drag across my ass, my dick goes hard as rock.
