Ram Remy (Providence Family Ties 4)

My lips pressed together tightly to hold back the question I wanted to ask, and he didn’t miss it. “I’ve never had that with anyone, baby. Toby was an accident, a happy accident, but one nonetheless. The condom must have split.”

Blowing out a breath, I shook off the jealousy. It was ridiculous to feel it. I knew he had a kid, and I absolutely adored Bub, but the thought of him not using a condom with someone else felt like I was being jabbed in the chest with a knife. It was something I’d always associated with deep intimacy that came from deeper feelings, that’s likely why.

“Just so you know, I’m on the pill because my periods suck balls. I didn’t want to have an accident during that time of the month when I got the job here or have to call out if I was in pain, so I went to the doctor before I moved here.”

He shot a small grin over his shoulder as he walked toward the bathroom to get rid of the used rubber. “Okay, then I’ll make an appointment tomorrow.”

While he got rid of it and did what he needed to do in the bathroom, I shuffled until I was under the comforter, the cold temperature he kept his bedroom at hitting me now I didn’t have his body on top of mine.

When he crawled into bed next to me, he immediately pulled me into his side, tucked one of my legs between his, and slung the other over his hip. “Just like this.”

Peering up at him through the darkness now that the bathroom light wasn’t on, I asked, “What?”

“When we sleep, I want it just like this.” His hand pulled me closer until I was pressed up against him as tightly as possible. “I was wrong, I want you as close as this every time.”

Snorting, I buried my face against his chest, not giving one shit that he hadn’t showered since he’d gotten in. He didn’t smell of sweat, and without his t-shirt on, all I could smell was body wash and deodorant.

I fell asleep snuggled up against him, feeling like my world was now complete. And, when he rolled me onto my back during the night, asked me if I was too sore to take him again, and then did just that when I assured him I was fine, I didn’t think it’d be possible to get any happier.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. I just didn’t expect my world to explode the way it did.

THIRTEEN

REMY

My brain knew it was almost time to get up, but my body wasn’t happy with that plan at all. Pulling Tana closer to me, I breathed in the smell of her shampoo as I nuzzled my nose in the hair at the top of her head and grinned.

Finally—fucking finally—she was mine. Just mine.

That huge fact blew my mind and made me feel like a caveman. I was also determined never to fuck it up.

Instead of the irritating sound of the alarm on my phone going off, it began ringing and vibrating across the surface of the bedside table, making me frown. If the alarm hadn’t sounded yet, it had to be before five-thirty. Who would call at this time?

Rolling onto my back, I tagged the handset and glared at the screen when I saw Webb’s name on the screen.

Hitting the green answer icon, I held it up to my ear and cleared my throat. “Webb?”

Sure, I’d grown up with Marcus’s brothers so I knew them, but we didn’t call each other that often. Especially not at the ass crack of dawn.

“Rem, sorry, man. I need your skills.”

I bunched the pillow up behind me as he laid out what the problem was, aware of Tana sliding out of the bed and pulling on my t-shirt before she left. Just as she got to the door, she saw me watching her and blew me a kiss. It may have been a cliché or an innocent thing to do, but, fuck me, I loved it.

“Okay, if you send me the shit you’ve got, I’ll start working on it today. Is she safe in the meantime? We’ve got rooms here if you need to move the woman?”

“No, I’ll keep her safe,” he muttered darkly, making me smile.

“Right. Send it through now. I’ve got another job on, but the ranch is smooth right now, so I can juggle both of them.”

I was just hanging up when Tana wandered into the room, staring at her phone like she’d seen a ghost.

Not giving a fuck about the fact I was naked, I got out of bed and walked over to where she was. “Baby? What’s wrong?”

“I’ve got eleven missed calls from Mom, seven from Merrick, twenty-one from Hart, and six from Pawpaw.”

She didn’t have to explain to me why that was freaking her out. Anyone who saw that shit on their phone would know immediately it meant bad news.