A throat-wrenching growl rumbled from his chest as he hardened impossibly inside her. Then his whole body shuddered as he released, too, shaking her all the way to the overwhelming end.
As they quieted and softened together, the world fell away, leaving only panting breaths, their inexplicably deep connection, and the sweet remnants of pleasure.
Brea sagged against Pierce, struggling to catch her breath and desperate never to let him go. “What happens now?”
“I tell you I love you.”
She’d doubted that so many times during their days and weeks apart. But now, as he stared into her eyes, she couldn’t deny his truth. “I love you, too.”
He smoothed stray curls away from her face, then cradled her cheek. “So let’s talk—at least until I can’t stand that I’m not fucking you. That means we’ll have to hurry because we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
Brea lay beside him and rose up on her elbow, her long hair playing peekaboo with her lush tits and pretty berry nipples. One-Mile stared and tried like hell not to be distracted.
“All right. Let’s talk.” A little smile pulled at her lips. “Quickly. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stand being without you, either.”
He couldn’t resist kissing her. “I’ve created a monster.”
Her smile widened. “And now you have to deal with me. Poor you.”
“Yeah. It’s a real hardship.” He winked, then he sobered. “Were you ever going to tell me you’re pregnant?”
“I was trying to the morning you said we needed to take a step back. After that…” Guilt flashed in her eyes.
She hadn’t seen the point. She hadn’t thought he’d care.
Fuck. “So because you thought I’d ‘broken up’ with you, you ran to Cutter and got yourself a fiancé?”
“I didn’t see any other choice. I couldn’t risk upsetting Daddy, and not just because I hate to disappoint him, though that played a role, I admit. But his health…”
If her father had suffered another heart attack after that shocking news, he might not have survived.
One-Mile hated it, but… “I get that.”
“I also didn’t want to take a chance that the church or the town would turn its back on me. It may sound silly in this day and age, but that’s why being a single mother was never an option. My reputation affects Daddy, too, not to mention my business. I rely on the good opinion of the folks in Sunset. If I don’t have it, I don’t have any clients.”
And no way to make a living.
One-Mile scrubbed a hand down his face. He’d created a catastrophic clusterfuck with his stupid, impulsive need to feed Montilla his balls, along with a healthy dose of humiliation. Goddamn it. “So Cutter stepped in to ‘save’ you?”
“Yes.”
But why would he do that? Until One-Mile had seen the video of his fellow operator with Shealyn West, he’d assumed the bastard had feelings for Brea and had moved in while she was vulnerable to secure his position in her life. But if that wasn’t true, what the fuck was going on?
“I mean, we knew there still would have been scandal,” Brea went on. “We talked about tying the knot the first week of January, but I’m having this baby in early May. People were going to do the math, but they would have ‘forgiven’ us since they’ve known us our whole lives. If they found out I’d been with you, though…”
A stranger. An outsider. A defiler of innocence. A foul-mouthed killer. They would have condemned her.
Who did they think they were to pass judgment?
“I get that, too. But it pisses me off.”
“Honestly, Cutter didn’t want this, either. But what else could I do?”
And given Montilla’s vow of revenge, their options still sucked. But One-Mile refused to let her go. “Listen, whatever you think happened between us, Brea, I didn’t walk away because I wanted to. Leaving you that morning killed me. You’re mine, and that’s our baby. I don’t want you marrying Bryant. He’s not in love with you.”
“I know.” She looked suddenly sheepish. “He never has been. I love him, but I’m not in love with him, either.”
He froze. “But you’ve been together for years.”
Bryant had called Brea his. The son of a bitch had warned him away at every turn.
On the other hand, he’d never seen them kiss, much less passionately. The Boy Scout had never looked at her like he couldn’t wait to get her in the sack. Until their night together, she’d been a virgin.
“No.” She sighed. “He’s my best friend. The older brother I never had. But we’ve never been a couple.”
Was she fucking serious? “Then why did he let everyone at EM believe you’re his girlfriend?”
“To protect me.”
“From who?” But One-Mile knew the answer.
She winced. “You.”
He stifled a frustrated groan. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner, pretty girl?”
“Honestly?” She bit her lip. “He made me promise I never would.”
Of course the overprotective bastard had… One-Mile wanted to be pissed that Brea had waited months to be straight with him. But he had to focus on the bigger picture. Tonight she’d broken her promise to a man she’d known and trusted all her life. What did that say about where her loyalties lay now?
The satisfaction he got from that realization more than outweighed his anger.
“Now that I know the truth, you’re definitely not marrying him.”
“I don’t think it would work out anyway. The morning he and I officially got engaged, he told me he’s in love with someone else. I’m happy for him…except he doesn’t think they have any future together.”
One-Mile mulled his options, but stupid lies and well-meaning half-truths had landed them in this pile of shit. He saw no point in being anything other than straight-up with Brea from now on. Besides, she should know what was going on.
“I don’t know. Have you seen this?” One-Mile rummaged on the floor for his pants, then pulled out his phone, Googled the
