Delta's Baby Surprise (Special Forces Elite 1)

I had to drive. Drive and think.

Ten

Gretchen

I flipped through my third magazine of the day before throwing it in the recycling bin.

“This is stupid.” I huffed.

I read all my emails. Sorted through junk mail. I thought putting my phone face down would help, but it didn’t. I waited for a call or a text, no matter what I did. I had to find a better way to distract myself.

I hadn’t been able to do one useful thing on my day off. I couldn’t do anything but think about Brett and his hands on my body. The way his mouth felt teasing my skin. I’d never felt anything so possessive and hot in my life.

I looked at my phone, annoyed that I kept checking it. He hadn’t called yet, but why should I count on that? Why was I so convinced he was going to call me? He didn’t owe me anything. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t had dates go bad before. Maybe I had misread the attraction cues. Maybe he was only using me to get back in the dating game. I was like a bad test run, and he realized it wasn’t what he wanted.

He wouldn’t be the first guy to use me.

I didn’t want to remember what had brought me to Havenville. It was a small town, with one area hospital that served a fifty-mile radius. Most medical students didn’t exactly classify it as the ideal place to finish residency. The hospital was lucky to get quality students here. But I eagerly applied for the position. It was the only thing I wanted. I couldn’t remember anywhere else I applied. I had to have this residency. In this town. I did it because I thought I was following Mr. Right.

It was hard not to feel betrayed every time I clocked in for my shift. It was something we were supposed to do together. He had promised me we would work and study medicine together in this tiny town. I felt lured and trapped.

I had no one to blame but myself. I fell for it. I bought the promises. I believed him.

Before we were supposed to move, Mr. Right ended up taking another residency in Seattle, leaving me alone in Havenville. I clenched my jaw, remembering how it felt rolling into town alone. How it felt when I told the landlord I was taking the house by myself. How it felt when I only had half the things I needed to set up the house. Mr. Right had been nothing but heartbreak and disappointment.

I wasn’t enough for him—he made that clear. He wanted the perfect wife to give him the perfect family. A family. That’s all he wanted.

My chest tightened. The memory of why he left made me angry and resentful.

Who was he to make that decision? Who was he to discard me as if I were defective or broken.

After I received the diagnosis he took off as if I were toxic. He hadn’t even been willing to try options or give me a chance. I expelled a giant breath. No one had ever made me feel so useless and worthless.

“Bastard,” I muttered.

I needed to get out of the house. I threw on a sports bra and tank top with a pair of cropped yoga pants. I laced up my running shoes and left my phone inside the house as I stepped onto the stoop of a front porch. The only way to stop checking my phone was to physically distance myself from it. I had quickly turned into a phone addict this morning. It was pathetic.

I rounded out of the driveway, passing my mailbox as I jogged on my regular route

.

It had taken years, but I had finally accepted that things were better this way. Better alone. Better making it on my own. Without Mr. Right, I could focus on the medicine. Focus on my patients. Focus on all the things in my life that mattered. I knew I had things to offer in a relationship. More than just bearing children. I was smart and determined. I was caring. I was an excellent doctor. So what if I had a diagnosis that didn’t make me mother qualified. If there was one thing I knew, it was that family could be defined in many ways.

I hopped over a puddle and headed up the sidewalk. It felt good run. It felt good to get away from my phone. It felt to feel the blood rush through my body and the air fill my lungs. I just had to keep running. Keep running, until everything else fell away.

Eleven

Brett

I drove until my truck was almost out of gas. Hours later, the answer wasn’t any different than when I first got behind the wheel. If I didn’t get married, the land and my family’s legacy would be gone before I got back from my next mission. If I did go along with the crazy contract my dad made me sign, I would leave my wife alone to face the feud Cane hadn’t been able to dispel.

On top of that, I needed to get her pregnant. Fuck. I wasn’t ready for any of this.

Neither was a good choice. But I was hungry for Gretchen. Now that I knew her, she was all I could think about. I didn’t know if that meant we should get married. I never expected marriage to come at a cost like this.

There was a time when I ran from my responsibilities. I didn’t want to face the weight of everyone’s expectations. They didn’t see it as a burden. It suffocated me. Corned me. I did the only thing I thought I could do at the time.

I joined the Army after my father passed away and quickly applied for Special Forces school. I knew with my strength and skill I would be able to graduate all the schools. I could file through the ranks faster than most men.