Hold On to Me

Mortified, Alyssa’s cheeks reddened. She totally was and got caught. But seriously, how could she not? Between his well-defined hot as sin body and backwards hat, John’s strong jaw stood out and those damn dimples made an appearance.

Propping a hand on her hip, she looke

d into his gleaming eyes and lied. “No, I wasn’t. You just scared me.”

“Right,” he drawled. “Here, take cupcake and I’ll finish since I rendered you speechless … and motionless it seems.”

Alyssa puckered her lips together trying not to laugh. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, country boy. Now go sit down, I’m just about done.” As Alyssa shoed Johnny out of her kitchen, she noticed where his eyes drifted before leaving to fasten Brooke into her highchair.

Alyssa’s heart dropped and her blood ran cold.

He knew.

Alyssa thought she could get away with not revealing the results until the weekend, but it looked like she was going to be opening the letter tonight. Maybe it was a good thing since the letter had been taunting her for the past week.

God, please give her strength. She was going to need it.

Turning the water off, John dried his hands with the dishtowel. Alyssa had just wiped the table down and was now leaning against the counter.

“Where’s Brooke?”

“In her playpen.”

“What time does she go to sleep?”

“Pretty soon.”

John bobbed his head. “When she does, do you want to open that? Or have you already?”

She didn’t need to turn around to know what he was talking about. She’d seen him looking at it a few times. “I haven’t opened yet. I was going to wait until the weekend with you to do it.”

“How long have you had it?”

Alyssa looked away. “Last week.”

John huffed in irritation, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Why didn’t you tell me? Were you not going to tell me? Or did you think I would forget?”

A stinging pain slashed through her chest and her stomach tightened. Alyssa was insulted. “How could you think I would do such a thing?”

He shrugged. He was working really hard to keep his composure. “I don’t know … maybe because you didn’t tell me you got the results and were going to wait until the weekend? I expected you to tell me the minute you got them.”

“That’s because I don’t normally see you during the week. I also didn’t want to stress you out while you’re training either. I just figured I’d wait until the time was right. I was just thinking of you.”

“Stress me out? There’s a beautiful baby girl in there,” he said, angrily pointing to the living room, “that could be mine and you were going to wait until it was the right time? Who gives you the decision to decide that? You should have told me the moment you got the letter, Alyssa.”

John breathed heavily, an angry tick working in his jaw. Hell, he had every right to be upset. How could she not tell him the moment she got the results? Knowing how much he cared for them, how much he’d done for her and she just kept it a secret? That was a low blow.

“You’re twisting my words and taking them out of context. You’re acting like I was never going to tell you. How could you think so low of me? That hurts, John,” tears burned the back of her eyes. “I was waiting for the weekend, that’s all.”

Alyssa strolled past John and headed for Brooke. She scooped her up and hugged her while walking into the nursery. She changed her into pajamas as John stood by the entire time, watching silently. What could he say? What could she say? Swallowing down the lump in her throat, Alyssa looked at John, tears heavy in her eyes, her lips in a firm tight line.

“Just give me a few minutes to put her to sleep and we’ll open the letter.”

John nodded, strolling back to the couch. He took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to desperately get his emotions under control. He was stewing, his thoughts running wild.

Sitting down on the couch, he leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. He popped his knuckles in each hand and cracked his neck and then placed his head in his hands. He was brewing, but somewhere deep down he knew she wouldn’t have kept it from him. How could she? Nevertheless, it still bothered him that she did for the past couple of days after all they’ve been through. She should’ve had the decency to let him at least know it came and then they would decide when to open it.

Alyssa stepped into the living room taking John out of his thoughts. “She’s already asleep?”