Reckless Love (Cowboys & Angels 7)

Trevor cough-whispered, “Damn, the old man is strong. He nearly brought up a lung.”

I covered my mouth to hide my giggle as my parents walked up to us.

It was as I expected it would be. Formal. As was everything with them. But I wouldn’t let that diminish my happiness in this moment. I did get a hug from my mom, though, so there was that.

“Scarlett, darling, we’re so happy. Not how we wanted this to happen per se, but we are happy nonetheless! I cannot wait to shop for baby clothes together.” I could tell my mom was truly happy in her heart, but she had that worried edge to her words.

“Trevor, I expect you to do right by my daughter and grandchild,” my father added.

With a nod and a firm handshake, Trevor replied, “I will indeed, sir. I promise you that.”

When the last two people walked up to us, it finally hit me what had just happened. I got my celebration. Everyone was here to celebrate our baby news, and it was all because of Trevor. He made this happen and he did it for me. My heart felt like it was about to burst. I was so excited and appreciative for everything that he had done. I was almost on the verge of being speechless knowing what he’d pulled off in such a short period of time.

Melanie took me in her arms and pressed her mouth to my ear. “Congratulations, sweetheart. We really are so happy for you both. I can’t wait to be a grandmother again!”

“I can’t…wait…either,” I said between sobs. I hadn’t even broken down when my own mother hugged me, but there was something in Melanie’s voice. In her embrace. Something that told me everything was going to work out the way it should. That this wasn’t a mistake, that it was God’s plan, and everything would truly be okay with me and Trevor and our baby.

John waited patiently until I got the tears under control, then gave me a hug and also gave one to his son, hitting him on the back just as hard as granddad did. I had a feeling there was more to those slaps than I knew or could understand.

When we stood alone, I looked up at Trevor. He had a huge smile on his face as he scanned the room.

“Were you surprised?” he asked, looking down at me, the smile not faltering.

No words would form, and if they did, I knew I would start crying the moment I spoke. I nodded, covered my mouth and began to cry anyway.

Trevor wrapped his arms around me, allowing me to bury my face in his chest while I got my stupid pregnancy emotions under control. Inhaling his woodsy cologne, I closed my eyes and got lost in the feeling of being in his arms.

“I did it for you, Scarlett.”

I replied in a muffled voice, “I know. Thank you. You’ll never know how much this meant to me.”

Trevor stared down at me. “All I want is for those to be happy tears. Are they?”

“Yes!” I said, wiping them from my cheek. “Thank goodness I wore waterproof mascara.”

What Trevor did next made my heart stop. Hell, it made everything in the room stop. He leaned down and kissed my left cheek softly, then my right, and finished it with a kiss to my forehead. When he turned to walk over to everyone, I took hold of his arm and stopped him.

On tiptoe, I placed my hand on the side of his face, letting him know I wanted him to kiss me. He looked unsure at first, almost afraid. But he lowered his face and our lips met. It was soft and tender. Like the very first kiss this man ever gave me. The one that sealed my heart to him. When I opened my mouth to his, he groaned and just barely slipped his tongue into my mouth before he bit my lower lip and pulled his mouth away.

It hadn’t been much, but it was what he needed, and I was more than happy to give it to him.

“Thank you,” he whispered before guiding us both over to the large table that was set up in the room. Everyone was taking their seats and when Chloe called the seat next to me, I felt a warmth spread over me I’d never felt before.

Love.

A completely different type of love that was so foreign to me. And one I never wanted to let go.

“It’s going to be fun being pregnant with you, Scarlett!” Harley said. She and Tripp were sitting directly across from us.

“I think so, too! We can see which one of us eats more pints of ice cream or who has the craziest cravings, right?” I couldn’t contain the grin that spread from ear to ear when I looked at Harley.