Stealing Harper (Taking Chances #2)(26)
Author: Molly McAdams

“Wasn’t my place to tell you, Chase, it’s your baby. Harper needed to be the one to tell you.”

“No, not that.” I shook my head and took a deep breath, “I—I hated that you had her. I hated that I’d pushed her away in the beginning and told you she was available. And I just acted like a dick to you because of it. I started fights with you just because I wanted a chance to hit you. And you knew . . . for what? Two months? And you never did anything?”

“Three months.”

“What?”

He turned to look at me, his eyes glassy. “I knew for three months. As soon as I came back from Arizona, I knew. You couldn’t go more than a day without trying to start shit, and I come back and you won’t even say a word to me and look like you’re dead . . . and she couldn’t stop looking at that ring you gave her. I didn’t know she was pregnant yet, but I knew I’d already lost her.”

My gut churned with guilt. “And you did nothing?”

“What, Chase? What could I have done to make things different than how they were? She was in love with you, too. You’d already slept with her. She was already pregnant! I couldn’t f**king change anything. I couldn’t change the way she felt for you! So what’s the point of beating the shit out of you when it would change nothing?”

I watched as the tears rolled down his face, and, for the first time since all of this started, I felt sick. All I’d wanted was her, and I never considered how that would hurt my brother. All I cared about was how I felt like I was dying without her. “I’m sorry.”

“You were like a brother to me.” Before I could respond, he turned to glare at me again. “But I’m sure you can understand why I’m saying we’re done.”

Trying to swallow past the lump in my throat, I nodded and took a step back when he turned his Jeep on.

“Chase.” He cleared his throat and shook his head once. “That girl means everything to me. Which means her baby does, too. I will never do to you what you did to Harper and me. But know this. If you do not take care of them, and cherish them . . . I will not hesitate again to beat the living shit out of you. You get me?”

“I got you. I love them, I’ll always take care of them.”

With a hard nod, he threw his Jeep into drive and took off.

Chapter Twelve

“YOU GOT EVERYTHING ready for today?” Brad asked as he jumped up onto the counter and brought Sarah between his legs.

“Pretty sure.” I took the last bite of my apple and threw the core into the trash. “Called the dealership, called the B&B . . . everything should be good to go.”

“Harper’s gonna love today, Chase.” Sarah said with a wide smile on her face. “So sweet of you to do all this for her. But she’s going to think you’re gonna propose with how the day is set up!”

I grinned. “I already know when I’m going to propose, and it’s not today.”

“When?” Her eyes brightened, and she bounced up on her toes a few times.

“You’ll see.” I shrugged and caught the bottle of water she threw at me. “I’m not telling anyone, it’s a surprise.”

“Whatever. So you’re going to find out if it’s a boy or a girl today?”

“Guess so, she’s due October 4, so she’s sixteen weeks today, and her doctor said we should be able to . . . but I already know—” I broke off, and the massive grin I’d been sporting fell as Brandon walked into the kitchen.

“It’s not like I don’t know what’s going on,” he said without looking at anyone as he grabbed a bottle of Gatorade and two bottles of water. “You don’t have to stop talking because of me.”

Brad’s eyes bounced back and forth between the two of us, and Sarah was covering her mouth while she slowly shook her head, her eyes full of pity as she watched Brandon.

After he’d grabbed a couple of protein bars and put everything in his bag, he finally looked back at us, his gaze resting on me. “Or maybe you do.” Without another word, he left the kitchen, and Brad hung his head.

I pushed away from the counter and followed after him. “Brother—”

“I thought we’d already decided we weren’t that, either.”

Grabbing his shoulder, I stopped him before he could reach the door. “Look, I’m sorry! I’m sorry I did this to you.”

He turned to look at me, his brow raised high. “You’re sorry. So, what . . . we go back to being cool again?”

“I don’t know, man. But we can’t do this.”

“And why can’t we? You couldn’t stand to let me have one normal day with her. Have I done anything to you since she and I broke up?” He paused, but I didn’t respond. “No. I haven’t. You dealt with it by being an ass, so let me deal with this my way. And my way doesn’t include acting like you didn’t steal my girl from me.”

“I didn’t steal Harper!”

He opened the door and took a step outside, his shaking hand gripping the outer knob. When he looked back at me, his eyes were flat and lifeless. “You stole my entire world.”

“Chase”—I turned to see Brad leaning against the wall—“you need to give him space. He’s right, you were the biggest dick to him while he was dating her. Now that you have her, you can’t act like the two of you can just go back to being the way you were. He needs time to get over what you guys did to him. You know he told Derek he planned to marry her?”

“No”—my eyes narrowed—“what’s your point, Brad?”

“His best friend and the girl he wanted to marry, stabbed him in the back. He has every right to try to ruin this for you, or at the very least to beat you into next week. And he’s stepped back . . . so let him step back. What you’re doing is just twisting the knife.”

I nodded and sighed heavily. “Fuck.”

“Yeah. Well, you’re about to find out if your son is actually going to be a son. And you planned a weekend I know Sarah is seriously jealous of.” I snorted, and he clapped my shoulder. “So cheer the f**k up. Because if Harper sees there’s something wrong, she’s going to want to know what it is. And you can’t tell her about this shit; she hates herself enough as it is.”

“I know.” No need to remind me that the woman carrying my child still loved someone else.

It didn’t take much for my mood to change again. Seeing Harper and being able to pull her into my arms always made everything right again. And knowing I was about to see our baby for the first time had everything else just slipping away. I met her doctor and talked with her about everything I’d missed so far and what to be expecting, and about took off running for the ultrasound room when it was time for that part of the appointment. Princess had just laughed and gripped my hand to keep me by her side, and I’d continued to cling to her when the doctor turned off the lights, and the ultrasound started.

And all I could think was holy shit.

The air had left my body in a rush when our baby appeared on the screen and a lump formed in my throat. My mouth opened, but nothing came out, and when the heartbeat filled the room, it took everything in me to not break down right there. This baby is ours. I turned to look at Harper and saw her eyes glistening through the dark in the room as we listened to our baby’s racing heart.

“I can’t even believe how perfect a position your baby is in right now! That is unreal.” The doctor laughed. “Now, did you want to find out the sex of the baby, or do you want it to be a surprise?”

“I already know.” My princess glanced back at the screen and smiled softly when I squeezed her hand and laughed.

“I told you, baby,” I whispered. “I told you it would be a boy.”

We both looked at Dr. Lowdry. “It is a boy, isn’t it?”

“Oh, he is definitely a boy.” She laughed again, and I watched as our baby boy moved around on the screen.

I looked back over at my beautiful girl and kissed her softly, keeping my lips brushing against hers as I told her, “I love you and our son so much, Harper.”

When I pulled back, I saw that her eyes were glistening, and a few tears had fallen down her face. Using my thumbs, I brushed the trail of wetness off her cheeks and was rewarded with a heart-stopping smile.

After the doctor handed us the ultrasound pictures, I continued to stare at our son as Harper and I left the building. I’d known for months that I was in love with the girl walking next to me, and I’d known that I would give anything to make her mine, forever. But I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with her all over again, or to have this instant love for our baby.

When we got to my truck, I grabbed around her waist and hauled her back to me, my mouth crashing down on hers. Harper laughed softly, and her arms went around my neck as I walked her slowly backwards ’til she was against my truck. Our kiss was slow and heated as I tried to show her how happy she was making me.

I broke the kiss on a huff and looked into her smiling gray eyes, “That was . . . that was absolutely amazing!” I laughed and kissed her hard once more.

Her hands found their way into my hair as she pulled back. “Having you there made it so special, all I could think about the last two times was how I wished you were there to experience it with me.” Harper’s eyes filled with pain when she whispered, “I’m sorry it took me so long to tell you.”

“No sorrys today. I love you, and we’re having a son.” Holy shit, we’re really having a son. I smiled and pushed some hair away from her face. “Today is only allowed to be an I love you day.” When she nodded, I opened the door and helped her into the truck before running around to the driver’s side and getting in.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as my Princess looked over the pictures with a wide smile. I only hoped the rest of today kept her smiling just as big.

We stopped for Mexican food, but thank God Harper was too distracted by the appointment to notice I could barely touch my lunch. My palms were sweating, and I was praying that the rest of the day wasn’t too much too soon for her. I hadn’t been lying to Sarah and Brad. I already had an idea in mind for a proposal to the only girl in the world that would ever matter; and it wasn’t going to happen that day. But everything I had planned for that day could definitely scare her just as bad as a proposal this soon would.

I was so stressed, I couldn’t even hold Harper’s hand as I drove us to the Ford dealership I’d had her dream car sent to. So I kept the music up loud enough that there wouldn’t be much room for talking and kept my right hand on the steering wheel, so I wouldn’t go to grab her hand. There was no way she could miss my shaking if I did.

As soon as I pulled in, Harper’s head stopped moving in time with the music, and she instantly stopped singing, “Uh . . . ?”

I had to clear my throat before I could talk to her as I turned to grin at her. “So I’ve been thinking, you’re going to need your own car soon, and I happen to know that you want a blacked-out Expedition.”