Be My Hero (Forbidden Men 3)

Typical male Mason hadn't set any specific timetable with him. Being guys, they'd only said Saturday night. Well, there was a lot of time to cover during a single Saturday night. I needed to know exactly when he'd make it. I was going crazy without a precise countdown to wait by.

I don't know why I was craving him so much. It wasn't like getting a man was anywhere on my to-do list, plus he was the last kind of person I should choose—if I were on the market. And let's not forget he was married, which I seemed to keep forgetting, damn it. Besides, I had no idea what I'd say to him when he arrived, or . . . damn it, why was he taking so long?

"My baby love. I need you, oh, how I need you," I sang the words under my breath as I pulled up the freezer door. There wasn't much piled inside, so it wasn't hard to spot the peas. But it was impossible to reach them with my baby bump in the way. I tried turning so I could bend down sideways but didn't have any success with that either.

Not ready to give up, I tried the other side and was able to reach in a little farther until the tips of my fingers barely grazed the cold bag. Frozen air wafted up and coated my bare skin. The baby doll top I'd put on had thick straps but no sleeves, so the skin on my arms prickled instantly with goose bumps, which made my breasts bead from the chill.

I'd dressed for Pick. It was stupid, I know. I was seven and half months pregnant, not exactly the most glamorous time of my life. He was married—why I had to keep reminding myself of that was just plain scary. And we came from completely different worlds. My father would've stroked out if he'd ever seen me with a tatted-up, metal-faced guy like Pick.

Okay, so that would've been a plus—anything to kill off the old bastard—but even I hadn't been able to go that far. That type had always intimidated me, as if they were tough enough to chew me up and spit me out without a second glance, as if they saw me as nothing but a spoiled rich bitch.

But Pick had completely smothered my fears and reservation in that regard. He'd never intimidated me. And he'd never treated me as a spoiled, rich anything. He looked right past types, stigmas, and prejudices and made it easy for me to do the same.

He was still forbidden though. Having Reese paint my toenails for

me earlier this evening because I could no longer reach them, just to impress him, was wrong.

Leaning into the freezer a little more this time, I pressed my belly against the opening of the lid, making Skylar jump at the pressure.

"Sorry, kiddo." I patted my belly, hoping I hadn't hurt her. Time to call on Reese for help with pea-from-freezer extraction.

"Holy shit, you got fat."

At the familiar voice, I whirled around and gasped. A chaotic buzzing filled my head as I stared at the sight before me. It didn't seem possible that my ex from Florida, nine hundred miles away, was standing in Mason and Reese's garage. But there he was, gaping in horror at my stomach.

I blinked twice. Then shook my head to deny it. "Oh my God," I finally found the air to gasp. "Alec? What're you doing here?" I looked behind him to make sure my parents or anyone else from home hadn't come with him, but he was alone, thank God. The last words we'd ever shouted at each other had been pretty final. I couldn't think up one more thing he'd need to say to me for closure. "How did you even find me?"

Slipping one hand into a pocket of his pressed khakis, he strolled closer, his lip curling into a mocking sneer as he looked me up and down. "Mason told me you were here."

Next item on my to-do list: murder Reese's interfering boyfriend.

Stopping in front of me, Alec let out a breath and shook his head as if disappointed. In me! "I talked to your parents, Eva—"

"Oh, well, you know what?" I snorted and held up a hand to stop him, knowing he still wanted me to do what he'd been demanding the last time we'd spoken. "I talked to my parents too, and I know exactly what their position is. I wouldn't be here in BFE Illinois, sponging off my cousin, if they hadn't kicked me out because I refused to get an abortion. And since I'm still here, Alec, I guess that means I haven't changed my mind. So, sorry for your wasted trip, but you came for nothing. You can turn around and go right back to Florida."

Alec gritted his teeth, his expression showing all the frustration he was experiencing. I didn't care; he wasn't going to tell me what to do with my baby. He'd given up his right to make a decision the moment he'd called me a cheating whore after I told him I was pregnant.

But then his face went blank.

"You're really going to play this out, aren't you? Fine, I'm willing to play. What do you want, E.?"

When he caught my arm in a hard, vise-like grip, my warning signals shot sky-high. Alec had never been physically abusive before. But something wasn't right about him today.

Men who found themselves on the edge of desperation usually acted out in terrible ways. I'd learned that the hard way from my father. Well, today Alec looked eerily desperate.

Knowing I had to handle this carefully, even though his presence was ticking me off big time, I tried to take his entire reason to feel desperate away from him.

"This isn't a power play for me to get a pretty toy, Alec," I assured. "The only thing I want is my child."

"Bullshit!" He jabbed his finger accusingly in my direction. "What happened to the girl I met who said kids gave her the willies?"

"You knocked her up," I shot back, fury rising inside me. "So I guess I'm just going to have to learn to adjust."

"Jesus Christ," Alec shouted inside the garage, making me narrow my eyes and set my hand on my hip. "Why can't you just take care of this?"

"I am! I'm going to stay here and take care of my baby, like a mother should."

"A mother? Oh my God." He let out a degrading laugh. "Are you even listening to yourself? This is not you. You're not mother material, Eva. You're a fucking spoiled, rich cunt."