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“She and Summer are not staying in that house alone!” Gyth’s gruff voice boomed out loudly. Summer went to his side and where Summer went, Ash was usually there to follow, so the good doggie was right there with her to make sure her master was okay.
“Babe,” Summer started softly, working to calm her guy. “It will be okay, usually you are with me and in return with Alley or I am with you. But I agree that if I am gone, Alley shouldn’t be alone. At least at night.”
I huffed out a breath in frustration because I was capable of taking care of myself and had been doing it for a long time. Sure the letters had freaked me out, but I could handle it.
“You guys, I have been on my own and taking care of myself for a long time. I know you are with me a lot, but when Braxton was gone in the evenings or when he left for the military, who do you think took care of me at night when I was younger?” I paused for a minute as memories of those times in the house with my useless parents invaded my mind. Shaking my head to get them out, I continued. “It certainly wasn’t my parents!”
“She won’t be alone, I will be living there,” Landon’s silky, smooth voice suddenly chimed in, and my stomach dropped at the thought of him being in my house. I wouldn’t handle that well. Two things would happen if he was. Either I would kill him or jump his bones. Neither of which could happen. The second one apparently already had and that was a mistake.
Everyone’s wide eyes turned to look at him. “Oh shit has hit the fan now,” Kace threw out.
“You-u, you-u,” I sputtered but nothing else came out. The hell he was going to be staying with me. There was no way I could handle Landon around all the time, especially in my home. And while I was sleeping? Yeah, that was a big fatno.
“What do you mean you will be living there?” my brother asked, through clenched teeth. Shit, they had just talked, and I thought things were better between them, but here we were again. Before Landon could respond, Embry bounced down the wooden deck steps toward us and straight to her dad.
“Daddy, isn’t it cool that Auntie Alley and Uncle Landon are married? That is why he gets to live with her, duh. Just like you and mommy live together.” All smiles, the little Angel once again didn’t realize she just opened another can of worms, or that she just said duh to her father as if she was some teenager instead of being five.
“Married?” Too many voices chimed in at once and I wasn’t sure where to look or who to answer. My eyes landed on Landon, who looked cool as a cucumber. What the actual fuck! How was he so calm?
“Do something,” I pleaded to him, thinking he would use his lawyer tactics to spin a good story and make this all go away. But no, he made it all worse.
“Alley and I got married while we were in Vegas,” he told the group nonchalantly with a smile on his face as if it was no big deal. So many things happened at once. My best friend's eyes seemed a little worried, but at the same time, they looked happy. Gyth just stood, gaze zeroed in on Landon as if he was accessing him. Kace, the bastard was laughing, and my brother looked madder than a hornet. But it was Embry’s voice that screeched above everyone.
“Look at her pretty ring,” she yelled. “Can I still have sleepovers at your house, Auntie Alley?”
All eyes went to my hand, and I swear the damn diamonds sparkled from the attention. I knew I should have taken it off before we had left the hotel, but I just couldn’t do it. I wasn’t sure why and didn’t have time to analyze the reason before rushing to the airport.
Then everyone’s attention went to my brother as he gently grabbed his daughter’s hand and squatted down toward her. “Hey, Doodlebug, can you do me a favor and go check on your brother to make sure he is okay. We will be inside in a minute, okay?”
Pleased to have something to do because Embry loved her baby brother Hudson, she nodded her head. Releasing her Dad’s hand, she started toward the house.
As Braxton stood back up, thinking all was clear in the way of his little one, he said, “Now you two have a lot of explaining to do.” His eyes met mine and then veered in Landon’s direction and held. But once again, my niece broke the silence and dropped a bombshell of a comment. One that blew my mind and had me flipping out inside.
From the doorway, just before she went inside, her cute, happy voice echoed through the yard for all to hear. “Now you guys can have a baby, but make sure it’s a girl!” Then she was gone.
There was no way for the little angel to know how gut-wrenching her words were. So many emotions went through me as another piece of last night slipped into my memory. The feel of Landon’s cock, sliding deep inside me, no barrier between us and my thinking at the time that I was home. Now I was home, married and we didn’t use protection.
Panic gripped me tightly.
I could not get pregnant, I could not go through that again, I could not lose another child.
When I turned to look at Landon, he looked shocked. I guess Embry’s words had registered with him too. When we woke up and had a talk that left us both emotionally spent, I don’t think either one of us was thinking about all the ramifications of our actions last night and the alcohol hadn’t helped. I had to get out of here.
Taking off in a light jog, I headed around the side of the house without saying a word to anyone. This was like déjà vu from just weeks before, only this time Landon was running behind me, instead of carrying me off.
“I will handle this!” I heard him yell out to the group left in the backyard who were probably wondering what the hell was happening.
“Alley, stop. We need to talk!” he called out to me.
The hell we did. I was all talked out today.
“Go away, Landon,” I said as I continued toward the front of the house but froze as I hit the street. I didn’t have my truck here. And with that, Landon had caught up to me.
“Get in my car, baby.” His voice was soft but stern and I found myself doing what he asked. We obviously had some things to clear up about the two of us. Because there couldn’t be an us.
Walking over to his car, I opened the door and slipped inside the passenger seat. Resting my head back, I sat there until I heard him get into the driver's side. Then, I turned my head to the left and looked into his baby blue eyes.
“I can’t do this.” Pain sliced through my body at the thought of a baby growing inside me. Maybe it hadn’t happened, but what if it had? I failed the first time and losing another would throw me over the edge. And truth be told, being married to Landon was the first thing my heart had desired so long ago and although it couldn’t be, how was I supposed to give him up again?
