Knocked Up By the Jerk by Loni Ree

Mason

She lookstired and a little pale, but I haven’t ever seen anything as beautiful as my girl. It’s hard to believe that a handful of stupid misunderstandings caused all this trauma. While I was fighting to keep my freedom, I was pushing my soulmate away from me. She had no idea how I felt and automatically assumed the worst of me. Fuck.

I stare into her emerald green eyes and promise, “I’ll do whatever it takes to make this up to you.” That’s an understatement. I’d do anything to be with her. “I can’t take another day without you. If you want me to move here, I’ll start looking for a new job immediately.”

“Wait.” Livie turns to me. “We need to talk and make decisions about our relationship and the baby.” She bites her lip, and I’m tempted to lean over and replace her teeth with my tongue. I resist because this is too important to fuck up again. “But I need a little time to think about everything.”

My heart and mind rebel at the thought of leaving her, but she looks completely drained. Huge dark circles are swallowing her tired, green eyes. Her stunning, heart-shaped face is pale, and new stress lines mar her perfect skin.

“Alright,” I agree. “I’ll head back to the hotel and let you rest, but I’d like to take you to dinner if that’s okay?” I glance down at my watch and see I have time to run to her parents’ house and have a nice long talk with her dad. I don’t want to start our new relationship with her parents hating me.

She smiles, and we agree on a time for me to pick her up later. As I rush out to my rental car, I practice the other speech I prepared on the long flight here. It’s time to win over my future in-laws.

Convincing her parents is easier than I imagined it would be. Once I explain the huge misunderstanding, minus the whole bathroom conception, they relax. After I assure them I plan to marry Livie, they invite me to stay for lunch so we can get to know each other.

When it’s time for me to leave, Doug Parker walks me to the door and leans over to whisper, “I own property out in the country.” Confusion runs through me as I wonder where he’s going with this. “Hurt my little girl, and they won’t ever find your body.” Wow. The mild-mannered accountant has a huge set of balls.

I shake my head and promise him, “Hurting her is the last thing I ever want to do. That girl owns me.”

He smiles and pats my back as I walk out the door.

I hop in my rental car and feel cool relief flowing through me. One huge obstacle out of the way. Now, I need to convince my girl to sign up for a lifetime with me. I can’t imagine spending my life without her.

I knock on her apartment door and Livie pulls it open. The pale, drained look is gone, and she’s stunning. My cock springs to life in my pants, and I ignore the fucker as I step forward and wrap my arms around her. “You look beautiful,” I whisper against her lips before I kiss her. Hunger and relief blast through me when she slides her soft arms around my waist and hugs me close. Her curvy body relaxes against mine, and I force myself to pull back. “God, I missed you.”

“It’s only been like six hours.” She looks into my eyes and smiles.

“Five hours and fifty-nine minutes too long without you.” I grab her soft hand and bring it to my lips. After placing a light kiss across her knuckles, I lead her out into the hallway. “I hope you like the restaurant I chose.”

“I’m sure I will.” I help her into the rental car, then rush around to my side. The entire silent ride, I prepare myself to beg her if necessary. The rest of my life depends on convincing her to give me a chance.

As the night progresses, she begins to relax. Since our relationship needs to start with total honesty, I lay all my cards on the table. I admit how stupid I acted when she threatened my bachelorhood. “So, you want me, but you don’t want to want me?” God, why do I keep saying the wrong thing?

I take a deep breath and blurt out, “I fucking love you.” Her gorgeous eyes widen, and I sigh. That wasn’t exactly how I planned to profess my feelings, but I guess it works. “I should’ve followed my heart and admitted this a long time ago, but I’m a moron. This whole misunderstanding was all my fault.” I reach across the table for her soft hand. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make my stupidity up to you.”

As Livie stares into my eyes, a tiny smile crosses her face. “We were both idiots.”

After dinner, she invites me back to her apartment to watch a movie, and I almost jump for joy. My celebration is premature, though. My little love cuddles up in my arms and falls asleep before the opening credits finish rolling across the screen. I carry Livie to her bedroom and lay her on the small bed. I’ll never manage to fold my six-foot-four frame into that tiny thing. Oh well. That’s an issue I’ll worry about later. She doesn’t wake up when I tug off her shoes and pull the covers over her, and I realize my baby is exhausting her.

I find a blanket in the front hall closet and head back to the living room. The thought of leaving her here is repulsive, so I guess I’m stuffing myself onto her small-ass sofa. I consider it a little pain and suffering to make up for my stupidity.

* * *

We spendthe next few days getting to know each other. The thought of leaving her here hurts my heart, but I can’t abandon my job indefinitely. Before I head back to Spring, we talk it over and decide she will follow me to Florida as soon as we can arrange everything. I assure Livie I’m more than willing to move here for her, but she actually wants to live close to her sister.

As I board my flight home, my heart squeezes in my chest. I’m leaving half of my soul here. I remind myself we’ll be together soon, but the reassurance doesn’t help the pain.

The next month drags by. Livie refuses to jump too fast. She wants us to have time to learn about each other before we combine our living arrangements. A convenient solution falls into our laps. Bridgett was unable to find someone to sublease her rental house, and it’s sitting empty. I don’t plan on letting my woman live there for the remaining six months, but I’m going to take things one step at a time. Our relationship is too important to fuck up.