“Why would he need to be on call?”
“Because I’m in love with a woman, and the mother of my kids is not going to take that well. I’m not delusional and need to be prepared for anything. Connie’s a wild card, and if she thinks of dragging my kids through the mud, then I’m prepared.”
My heart sinks because this is exactly what I was trying to explain to him. We will never work. “Pierce, I think we need to be realistic. There are too many cards stacked against us.”
“No, Darby, there aren’t. What we have is a lot of balls in motion. And I’m getting ready for a fight.”
I draw in a breath and decide to say it before I lose the courage. “I’m not strong enough for a fight. I’m about to enter into a new stage of my career, and your life doesn’t allow you to be a part of it.”
“Baby, you don’t need to worry about anything because I’m strong enough to fight for both of us. You’re going to kick ass, and I’m going to be there cheering you on. You stay focused, and I’m going to protect you from anything that threatens that.”
“Protect me? That’s why you showed up today.”
“You had to know all that backstory to know what happened today. I told Connie last week I had a business trip out of town and would be leaving on Sunday. She didn’t question me because my job is not her business. Connie’s mom wanted the kids early. I already had plans to surprise you and take you to dinner. I knew you were spending the day getting ready for the trip, and when I was finishing up at my last site, my assistant, Andi, messaged me. She told me that Connie had approached a woman named Darby in the nail salon.”
That’s who she was! I knew I’d heard that voice before. She was talking in the background when Pierce called me the other day.
“Andi must have heard your name before. She perked up, felt the hostility, and thought to message me. Then my mom texted that she heard Connie was there. One by one, texts came in, and by the time Stephanie got me, I was in the parking lot. Connie is not going to make your life in Charleston hell unless she wants repercussions. I’m not hiding what you mean to me, and she saw today that her games are useless.”
“Good lord, we’re going to be on an episode of Jerry Springer.”
“Not in my lifetime. She can act like a fool, show her ass, and try as hard as she wants, but she has nothing going for her.”
“She has two things I don’t,” I confess.
His face goes pale, and I can see the turmoil building behind his eyes. He knows I’m right. “Give me time to prove this to you, Darby. Give me tonight, give me Aspen, give me these experiences we should have been celebrating all along. I need that. I need you.”
The desperation in his words hits me square in the chest, and I unclasp my hands and fall over, hugging him tightly. “Okay.”
He shifts me easily over his body and squeezes. “Trust me enough to stick with me.”
I don’t answer, burying my face into his neck. “I think you’re crazy, but I’ll jump on the bandwagon.”
“Thank fucking God, because I wasn’t taking no for an answer.”
Chapter 15
Pierce
“I’ve got about a quarter of an ounce of patience left, which means there’s not enough to deal with you.” I gulp my whiskey, eyeing Miller over the rim of my glass.
He walks through my front door anyway, setting a full bottle on the coffee table in front of me. “Peace offering.”
“Piss off. Unless you have the ability to time travel and give me the twelve years I missed with Darby, your offering is useless.”
“Are you going to put all that shit on me? I have the right to my opinion, Pierce, even if it doesn’t fit into your perfectly planned world. I was worried about you, had concerns, and voiced them to our parents when I thought we were alone. How the fuck was I supposed to know she was eavesdropping?”
A growl rumbles from low in my throat, and I glare at him. “Get out.”
“No, this has gone on long enough.”
“You used that ounce of patience. I repeat, get out.”
“Not leaving here until you talk to me.”
“Fuck me, Miller. I don’t want to talk to you. I just hung up the phone with a highly pissed off Connie, who’s raging so hard, there’s no telling what she’s going to do.”
“You can’t be shocked, considering the scene you caused yesterday. If you were going for low drama, you missed the mark.”
It doesn’t surprise me that Miller heard about the nail salon. Over half the town knows. Even with the aftermath, I’d do it all over again to see the look on Darby’s face after I kissed her.