Page 26 of Adoring Delaney

I was dragging the trash to the front door when I heard it.

Unmistakable.

I never had to look out my front windows to know when Carter was pulling in. I’d long ago memorized the rumble of his truck.

Before I could execute my plan of escape, Carter was at the front door. He also didn’t knock. No, not Carter Lenox. He walked right in like he had a right to be there.

“Why are you here?”

“We need to talk.”

My right eye might’ve twitched as irritation surfaced.

“Aren’t you tired of saying that? Because, I sure as hell am tired of hearing it. We talked, Carter. Then you left—like always. Now we’re back to, there’s nothing to talk about.”

“Don’t throw that in my face. You’ve had nine months. Nine. I’ve had three days to process you were pregnant, I was gonna be a dad, now I’m not.”

I jerked in surprise at his harsh response, though I shouldn’t have been shocked. He had every right to be angry with me. I’d kept my pregnancy a secret and the truth was, I hadn’t planned on ever telling him.

“I’m gonna say this once, then it’s behind us. Pissed as shit, you didn’t tell me. I had a right to know we’d created a baby. I get you felt alone in that. But if you would’ve stopped and thought you would’ve remembered you were not. I knew I was wrong each time I pushed you away. Knew it down to my soul. But you also knew, and you cannot deny it, how much I loved you. You knew that no matter what I said, I always came home to you. You are my home, Laney. Not Virginia. Not the Navy. Not my team. You. And I know you felt it, because it poured out of me every time we were together. I couldn’t hide it from you. So while you were alone, you were not. And you damn well should’ve told me we were having a baby.”

Something had changed. Something big. And while I was trying to sort through the fact I’d never seen this side of Carter, he continued.

“When Lowe took our baby from us, you absolutely should’ve told me—”

“When?” I blurted. “When should I have done that? Sent you an email? An SOS? Called you while you were God knows where?”

“Yes to any of those. Wanna know why? Because my woman and my child come first. And cast your mind back, Laney, I was struggling with us being an us, because I told you flat out, I didn’t know if I could do the job I did and leave my woman and child at home. I told you my family would come first and that would fuck my team. I would put my safety before having their back to make sure no matter what, I came home to my wife and kids and I’d let my brothers swing in the wind if it were them or me. Remember that, Laney? Remember how hard that was for me to admit? I’m such a selfish prick I’d choose you and my children over them. So once again, yes, you should’ve done something so I could’ve come home and saw to you.”

He had told me that. He’d said he couldn’t be a husband and especially a father while he was a SEAL. He couldn’t have the distraction. Which was what I was.

“That’s why I didn’t tell you. I also remember you calling me a distraction.”

“Yeah, well, it never mattered how hard I tried to push you out of my mind, baby. You were always there front and center. My best distraction. My lifeline. My reason for living. It’s done. You didn’t tell me. And I don’t need to tell you never to keep shit from me again, because we’ll never be in the position where you’ll need to.”

Damn, that reminder hurt.

“We’re starting over,” he declared on a demand. “Right here, right now. I’m done hesitating.”

“What?”

“Full stop. We’re hitting the reset button and starting over.” I started to shake my head but he continued. “Not asking, Laney. I’m telling you. I screwed up big, so did you by keeping my baby a secret. We were both wrong, me more. But all of that is over. We’re putting it all behind us and going forward.”

“That’s—”

“It’s gonna happen. You can fight it. You can push me away. You can tell me we’re done, you don’t love me, you’ve moved on, and whatever else you come up with until you are blue in the face. But check this, Laney, I don’t care. I know you’re lying. I know because we’ve known our entire lives, we were meant to be together. I know because never, not once, has any other woman ever made me look twice. Not from beauty or action. My heart is so twined with yours no one else exists. You own my soul, you own my heart, you own my mouth, you own my dick. Never have any of those parts touched another woman since you’ve been eighteen. Which brings us to that shit you pulled with Steve. I get why you made that play, but don’t ever pull that shit again. You do, it will not be pretty. But that’s done, too. I don’t wanna know if it went further than what I saw. Don’t ever tell me. From here on out, we reboot, we’re startin’ over—you and me.”

“That doesn’t work for me. And I don’t think I like you being a bossy dick either. You don’t get to tell me—”

“Just did, baby,” he interrupted me.

What the hell was going on and who was this man?

“Who are you?”

“Your man.”

What? He was serious?

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