Full Circle (Rockin' Country #3) (19 page)

“That was really sweet, what you said about me on the radio.”

Garrett grinned over at Hannah. They were in the backstage area of the arena where they were playing for the night. At the moment, he wasn’t even sure where
here
was. He’d have to find out before he went on stage. They sat closely together on a leather couch, Hannah resting her hands on her stomach. It had appeared out of nowhere in the past few days. She’d had a bump for a while, but now, it was very noticeable in the T-shirt she wore.

“Only true things.” He grinned down at her, adjusting his glasses on his face.

“It’s been forever since you wore your glasses. I forgot how smart and sophisticated you look.” She smiled up at him, pressing a kiss to his stubble-covered jaw.

He yawned, leaning his head back against the couch as she slung an arm around her neck and adjusted so they were comfortable. “My eyes are really tired today for some reason.”

“You’ve been going at this for a few months, Garrett. You’re gonna be tired.” She grabbed his hand and stroked the palm.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few minutes when she gasped.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, eyes wide, urgency in his voice.

“Feel this.” Her eyes were as wide as his as she pulled his hand over to her stomach. “Can you feel that?”

He concentrated for a few minutes, trying to feel what she did, and then he did. His face broke out in a huge grin. “Holy shit.”

“Right? I’ve felt a little here and there the past week or so, but that’s obvious movement now.” She looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

“Holy shit,” he repeated. “It’s real.”

“It most definitely is, and in a few days we find out if this is a girl or a boy.”

They had a few days off at the beginning of September, and while she and Garrett would be going back to Nashville in order to have a doctor’s appointment and find out what the gender of their baby would be, the rest of the group would be going to California. It was just one of the many ways all the members of the band were adjusting to their brand-new normal.

*  *  *

September

S
hell stood at the counter in Jared’s California home, still unable to believe she was there. Many times in their relationship she’d wondered if they would ever make it to this point. He’d finally invited her home. She still wasn’t sure what that meant, but she would take it.

“This view is amazing.” She breathed deeply as she took a drink from the water bottle that sat in front of her.

They had done their customary run and were both trying to cool off.

Jared rotated his neck and shrugged his shoulders to loosen the muscles and gazed at her. “It is pretty amazing. I just never noticed it before.”

She wasn’t accustomed to things like that coming out of his mouth. When they were around the other members of the band, he was tight-lipped. Here, he seemed to have found his comfort zone. It made her blush.

“Thanks.” She grinned up at him and cleared her throat. “So do you want some breakfast?”

He did, but he wanted to take her out more. “Yeah, let’s go get something. We won’t have many more days like this off, and later on we’ll all be sitting in front of our computers waiting to see if we’re going to have a niece or a nephew.”

They were all excited for the gender announcement, but Hannah’s appointment was very late in the afternoon, so they would have to keep themselves preoccupied until then.

“Sounds good.” She nodded. “Give me thirty minutes to take a shower and change?”

“I’ll meet you down here.”

*     *     *

“This is so pretty.” She looked on in awe at the main strip as they walked towards the restaurants.

“You’ve never been here?” He grabbed her hand and pulled her close as a skateboarder went flying by them.

“No, usually when I’m here, I’m either with you or Hannah. Let’s face it, we don’t get out much, and we usually don’t leave the hotel.”

That made him feel like a bastard. His damage was his own, and he could see clearly now he’d been pushing a lot of his own insecurities off on her and their relationship. They had been together for a year, and he’d not once thought to invite her to his home before today. If he wanted to prove to her how serious he was, things were going to have to change.

“I’m sorry about that.”

The tone of his voice caused her to stop in her tracks and look at him. “Oh, I didn’t mean it that way J, I promise. I understand you are who you are, and you have things going on that really don’t have anything to do with me.”

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her into the shadows of two buildings and pressed her against the wall. Wanting to see her blue eyes, he pushed her sunglasses up over her head. Nothing in his life had prepared him for this woman. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’m glad I did it.”

Shell had to anchor herself to keep from falling forward as she stared into the depths of his brown eyes. He was normally high on alert, always taking in what happened around them, but right now, they were focused solely on her. They had deepened and warmed to a darker color that resembled the bottle of Jack he had favored when he was a drinker. “If you keep giving me praise, I’m going to expect it all the time,” she teased, grasping his T-shirt in her hands.

Boxing her in with his hands against the concrete of the building, Jared leaned forward. “You should be getting it all the time, and the fact you’re not is my fault. I want to make this work, Michelle, and I’m coming to realize that in order for it to work, I have to put in the time. I can’t expect you to make all the sacrifices.”

He was so far up in her space she could smell the cologne he wore, she could see the stubble on his cheeks, and it made her swallow hard. When Jared got intense, her body responded in ways she couldn’t explain. “I don’t,” she assured him, digging her fingers harder into his T-shirt.

“You do.” He dropped one hand to her neck, caressing the tendon.

She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, loving the feel of his fingertips, calloused from years of playing the guitar, rubbing against her neck. “No I don’t. I simply understand you’re a different kind of guy,” she told him slowly, pushing her neck into his caress.

This woman was going to be the death of him. He had never been with anyone who was so receptive to his touch. Granted, he’d never really felt the need to touch any of the other women he’d been with, but with Shell, he constantly wanted to be touching her. The fact that she always got into it, like a cat getting into a petting, always turned him on. Leaning closer to her, he couldn’t help himself, he captured her lips with his own.

If there was one thing this man knew how to do, it was kiss. Every time their lips touched he owned her. He wasn’t the type to take it balls to the wall in ten seconds; kissing Jared was a slow seduction in and of itself. He took his time, coaxing her to let him in, and when she did, he took complete control of the kiss. Before she knew it, his hands were in her hair, directing their movements, and he’d completely crowded into her space. Jared’s body was flat against hers, enveloping her in the feel, smell, and aura that was all his.

Jared was on fire, and when she pushed her fingers past the hem of his T-shirt to make their skin touch, a growl escaped the back of his throat. He lost his mind with her. No drugs he’d ever done, no drink he’d ever drank could compare to how she made him feel. He was wild with her in a way he’d never been, even when using illegal substances. It gave her the kind of power he’d never wanted to give another human being, but he gladly handed it over to her. Pulling himself slightly back from her, he broke the kiss, using soft ones to bring them down from the high of arousal. “We can’t do this here,” he groaned in her ear.

“I know.” She buried her head in his neck, trying desperately to steady her breathing. “You do things to me no one else has ever done,” she admitted, kissing him on the ink he sported there.

“Feeling is totally mutual, Shell, but we gotta get this shit under control. We can’t fuck in an alleyway at the beach.”

She giggled at his words. “You’re right. Then we’ll be competing with Hannah and Garrett for tabloid time.”

He’d had enough of the tabloids to last a lifetime. They’d had a field day with his trips to rehab. “C’mon, hot stuff, let’s go get some breakfast.”

Putting her hand in his, she let him lead the way, content to enjoy whatever the day would bring them.

*  *  *

September

H
annah slammed her hand down on Garrett’s thigh, halting his leg from shaking. They sat in the waiting area of her doctor’s office, hoping her name would be called next.

“Would you stop?” She laughed, grinning over at him. “Pulling a muscle won’t help anything.”

“I can’t help it.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m nervous. This is the first time I’ve been able to come to this doctor with you, and today we find out if we’re having a boy or a girl. It’s a big day.”

She could understand his excitement. It was a big day. In private, they had discussed for months what they would name a boy or a girl, and finally last night they had come to conclusions about two names. Today, they would know what their child would be named, they would know the gender, and they could start decorating and making concrete plans.

“I’m as nervous as he is,” her mom said from where she sat across from them.

“Me too,” Marie agreed where she sat next to Hannah’s mom.

They had agreed to invite their moms to this appointment. They knew there would be no peace unless they did. Their moms were very excited and at this point a little annoying.

“Hannah Thompson,” the nurse called as she came through the door that lead to the examination rooms.

“Okay, Moms, we’ll have someone come get you when they’re ready to do the sonogram, I promise,” she told them as she stood up, grabbing Garrett’s hand. This was his first appointment with her, and she wanted to let them both have some privacy and memories of their own.

They made their way to the back and were ushered into an empty room.

“I hate being in doctor’s offices,” he whispered to her.

“Why are you whispering?”

“It’s so quiet in here, I’m afraid to speak too loudly.” He grinned. “Plus, it’s nice to be away from the probing eyes of our mothers.”

“I know.” She laughed. “They were getting on my nerves with all their questions. I love them, but they have to remember this isn’t their pregnancy.”

He shivered. “Thank God for that.”

She giggled again, a huge smile on her face.

“I love that smile,” he told her as he leaned over, giving her a kiss.

A knock sounded on the door, and Dr. Willis walked in, grinning at the two of them. “I heard the giggling out there. How are the three of you doing?”

“Good.” Hannah nodded. “I’d like you to finally meet my husband, Garrett.”

Introductions were made, and he did all the normal things he did at an appointment before he helped her sit up.

“Do the two of you have any questions for me? Anything going on that I need to know about?”