Grinder (Seattle Sharks 1)

Gage stood in my hallway, his hands pressed against the doorframe, his blue eyes wild. His black hair was mussed, his white thermal and jeans wrinkled like he’d just gotten off the plane and came straight here.

“Bailey,” he said my name like it was the first breath he’d taken in weeks.

I placed my hand on top of my belly, my heart racing. “Gage. What are you doing here?” I asked, completely shocked.

“May I come in?” He asked when I hadn’t moved from my stunned position.

“Of course,” I said, craning my neck outside the hallway, half expecting to see Lettie bounding up in her sparkly snow boots.

“She’s with my mom,” he said, stepping past me. His eyes darted around my apartment, noticing the luggage packed in the corner. “You still haven’t gotten around to unpacking everything yet?”

“No, I…” I let my hand fall off my belly, only now realized I’d still had it there. “Shouldn’t you be in Ontario?” I mentally pulled up the Shark’s schedule, almost one-hundred percent certain he should be in Canada and not here. That’s when my brain clicked into place, and I gasped, my hand over my mouth. “Oh, God. Did Helen fight the papers? Are you going to court? Do you need me there for Lettie?”

Gage closed the distance between us, his hands gently clutching my shoulders as he shook his head. “Breathe. We’re fine. Lettie is mine. Helen gave me the papers yesterday.”

A breath of air escaped me, and I used the moment to step out of his touch. “That’s a relief.”

“I came here for you,” he said, taking a step toward me where I had stepped back. “Bailey, I love you. And I’m sorry I didn’t chase you down the second you left me in your bed.”

I flinched, fastening an apologetic look to my face. I hadn’t wanted it to end like that. “I’m sorry I left like---“

“Don’t,” he cut me off. “I should’ve fought for you. Should’ve made you realized how important you are to me, to Lettie. You’re our family. And we want you back. I need you back.”

A new rush of tears spilled down my cheeks when he said the word family.

“Hey,” he said, reaching to brush the tears off my face. “I’m not asking you to choose between us and your internship. I’m done putting choices like that on you. We’ll come here if you want. I’ll finish out the season and won’t sign on for another one. We can be the family you’ve always wanted. I don’t care where we are, Bailey. If I’m with you, then I’ll be happy.”

I cried harder, pressing my head against his chest, letting him wrap his arms around me. “Gage,” I stuttered through my tears and sucked in a sharp breath to regain control over myself. I pushed back from him, locking with his beautiful blue eyes, my heart lurching at the thought of him leaving because of what I’d just learned. Of what he didn’t want. “I love you. I do. But there is something I have to tell you.”

He instantly backed away from me, his skin turning a shade of white that matched my walls. His eyes darted all over my body, then around my apartment, a crazed look in their center. “Fuck. Is there someone else, already?” He clenched his hands into fists and I quickly shook my head.

“No! Of course not,” I said, reaching for his hand.

He sighed and uncurled his fingers before entwining them in mine.

“Well, sort of,” I said and his eyes flew wide.

“Bailey. Talk faster.”

My heart raced and I forced myself to find some courage. “Look, I know you’re fixed,” I said and he went incredibly still beside me. “But I swear to God I didn’t cheat.” I tugged his statue-like form through my bathroom door and pointed to the two tests lying on the counter.

“The procedure reversed…” he scooped up one test, then the other.

“What?” I asked and he set the tests back down, his eyes on me.

“I made an appointment. To see what I’d have to do to get it reversed, so we could try someday. The doctor called and told me yesterday that it had healed itself.” Gage looked at my tummy, then back up at me, a smile shaping his full lips.

“So we fought for nothing?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said and we both chuckled. “We’re going to have a baby?” He asked me like he needed more assurance than the tests to make it real.

I slipped my hand over my stomach. “Yes. You’re going to be a father of two.”

Gage sank to his knees, timidly raising my shirt and placing his lips against the smooth skin of my stomach. I closed my eyes and sighed as he held my hips in his hands. “Hi baby,” he said, his lips grazing my skin. “Daddy loves you.”

Damn these tears. They wouldn’t stop coming. I swiped them away, fingering Gage’s hair to make him look up at me. “Are you sure?”

He slowly rose, planting kisses along every inch of my body until he made it to my mouth. “I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life, Bailey. You’re my best friend, the one I want to wake up with, go to sleep with, make love to, fight with, and make up again. I was an idiot for ever thinking you would be anything like the women in my past and I’m sorry I pushed you to another fucking country.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “You’re it for me. And I’m willing to do anything…and I mean anything for you to understand that. If you’ll have me.”

I grinned at him, my heart swelling with his declaration as I glanced over my shoulder. “Those bags?” I motioned toward them. “They’re for my trip home in a few weeks.”

He tilted his head, his fingers rubbing up and down my arms.

“The Seattle gallery has a position opening up next month. I accepted it immediately. I’d left my heart there…with you, and Lettie.”

Gage crushed his lips on mine, parting them with his tongue. I sucked him into my mouth, sighing between his lips as he angled my head to kiss me more deeply. He tasted like home and the connection made me slick between my thighs.

He pulled back, his eyes a blue molten pool of lust. “Can we?”

I nodded, wrapping my arms around his neck. “God, please, Gage.”

He gently scooped me up and carried me to the full-sized bed that took up half the living room in my tiny apartment. He laid me down with the softest touch, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing his jeans and briefs on the other side of the room. My mouth watered at the sight of him, his carved abs, his broad chest—and he was mine, all mine.