Monroe, Marla - Her Biker Bodyguards [The Dirty Dozen 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (11 page)

“Let us help you with your errands instead,” Dillon insisted. “That’s what we used to do. That’s starting over.”

“You’re not getting me on that, Dillon,” she said with a smile. “Now go home and come back at six tonight.”

They grumbled the entire way to the door. Both men insisted on a kiss. She presented her cheek, but they balked at that and got their way. The treated her to soul-searing kisses before they walked out the door.

“Lock the door, Briana,” Gavin said.

She smiled as she closed and locked the door. Then she felt faint and grabbed the chair to sit down before she fell down. She leaned over until the dizziness passed. They’d come back for her. They’d really come back. It was more than she could take in. She’d dreamed about it over and over again, but never believed it would ever come true.

It’s not a profession of love, Briana. Stop and think this through. They haven’t said they love you. They admitted to caring about you. There’s a big difference there. But it’s a start.

Briana stood up, feeling better now, and hurried through her errands for the day so she could come home and take a nice, relaxing bath before they showed up. She had a feeling they would be early. It would be just like them.

Chapter Ten

Thursday arrived, and the three of them loaded up in the guys’ truck. She was surprised they had one. She guessed she thought they always rode their bikes. She was thankful not to have to drive. She gave Gavin the directions to the clinic, never dreaming he would blow a gasket at finding out where she was going.

“No, absolutely not! You’re going to a real doctor, not some second-rate hack. We’ll find a better doctor for you.”

“I can’t afford a doctor. I don’t have insurance.” She hated saying it, but it had to be said.

“You don’t have to. We’re paying for it,” Dillon said, obviously on the same page as Gavin this time.

“You’re bullying me,” she accused them.

“Whatever it takes for you to see reason,” Gavin said.

Instead of going to the doctor at the free clinic, they stopped off at a restaurant for an early dinner. Gavin wanted to discuss their situation over food.

“You’ve lost weight. You need to be gaining weight. Have you been having morning sickness?” he asked.

“More like any-time-of-day sickness.” She sighed.

“See, you need to move in with us so we can take care of you,” Dillon said.

They walked inside the restaurant and were immediately given a seat in the back of the building in a secluded spot. She had the feeling they’d been there before, and not alone. It irked her, but she couldn’t keep going back to that. She had to believe that was behind them, for now.

“What do you feel like eating, baby?” Gavin asked.

“I’m not sure. I’m not really hungry.”

“You’re eating something.” Dillon frowned.

“The grilled-chicken salad then,” she said.

“That’s not enough to keep you going with a baby,” Dillon fussed.

“I can’t stomach much of what’s on here. The sauce on pasta upsets my stomach. I can’t even stand the sight of beef. Chicken is about it, and the salad gives me vegetables.” She defended her choice.

“I guess you’re right.” Dillon still didn’t look pleased.

They placed their order, and then Gavin got down to business. Briana steeled herself not to let him talk her into anything she didn’t want to do.

“We’re paying for your health care, end of story,” he said.

She didn’t fight him over that. Her baby deserved the best she could give it, so she would capitulate on this.

“Fine. I won’t argue that point. I want my baby to have the best.”

“Our baby. That’s another thing, it’s all of ours, and we want to be a part of all of the pregnancy.”

“I know, sorry. I’ve just been thinking of it as my baby. I understand you want to be a part of his life.”

“Which includes the pregnancy,” Dillon reiterated.

“Fine.” She could give in to this, too.

“To do that, you need to move in with us so we can be there for all the important things. Like when you feel it move and when it first starts kicking.” Gavin slipped that in almost without her realizing it.

She frowned at him. “I’m not moving in with you.”

“Then we’ll move in with you,” he said.

“Absolutely not! I don’t have room for you. There’s only one bedroom.” Briana was astonished he’d even suggest such a thing.

“We only need one bedroom. I want to feel the baby kick me awake at night. I want to rub your back when you can’t sleep.” Gavin was really getting into this.

Briana wasn’t sure what to think. They were coercing her. She knew it, and yet she couldn’t help but think about it. They argued a good case.

“I’ll think about it.”

Gavin grinned. He really grinned. She had never seen him smile that big before. It softened her heart toward him just a little. Could he have changed his mind? Maybe this wasn’t all just an act.

Their meal came, and they ate mostly in silence. She stole glances at the men whenever she didn’t think they were looking. They looked as if they had lost weight as well. Had they been working anywhere, or were they in between jobs? She wanted to ask, but didn’t feel like she had the right.

She was unsure that they could afford to help with her pregnancy, either. Still, she couldn’t pay for a nice ob-gyn by herself.

When they had finished, Gavin settled the bill and Dillon escorted her out to the truck. He helped her up before climbing in beside her. Gavin climbed up on the other side and pulled out of the parking lot. She didn’t pay any attention to where they were going until she suddenly realized they weren’t heading to her apartment.

“Where are we going? This isn’t where I live.”

“We want to show you our house. It’s only fair that you see where you could be living,” Gavin said.

“You live in this neighborhood?” she asked incredulously.

The houses were huge and well kept. This was a gated community on top of that. Where had they gotten the money? Surely construction didn’t pay that well.

“We got it for a song. It was a foreclosure and needed some work. We know our way around houses and wanted to make some changes anyway, so it worked out great.” Dillon explained how they’d altered the bedrooms and added bathrooms.

“You’ll see.” Gavin parked the truck in the drive of a nice two-story house that looked much too nice for someone like her.

“Come on,” Gavin said.

Dillon pulled her out of the truck and carried her up to the door. He transferred her to Gavin’s arms while he pulled out a key and unlocked the door. Gavin carried her over the threshold like a new bride. She immediately banished that wayward thought.

“Put me down, Gavin. I can walk.”

He carefully let her slide down his body much like he had in the past. She could feel his erection against her belly. It heated up her insides at the thought of all that male flesh. She swallowed and quickly turned around to look around.

The entrance hall opened into a living room complete with a big-screen TV and recliners, as well as a couch between them. There were shelves on either side of the TV filled with DVDs. She itched to go look at them, but refrained. They led her around into the kitchen. It was a large room with plenty of granite counter space and cabinets. The appliances were state of the art as well. She would love to cook in such a kitchen. She wondered about the men. Did they cook at all? She’d never found that out about them. There was a lot she didn’t know about them.

From there, they showed her a walk-in pantry and a combination washroom and mudroom off the back door. Then they circled back around to where there was a large study that had a small desk and bookshelves only half full of books. It looked as if they spent very little time in there.

“Let’s go upstairs and I’ll show you the changes we made,” Gavin said.

He led her upstairs with Dillon behind her as if he would catch her should she trip and fall. He opened double doors to a master bedroom with a huge pedestal bed in the center of the room. There were two generous walk-in closets and a massive bathroom with a giant whirlpool bath big enough for three, and a walk-in shower, equally large.

He drew her out of the bathroom to see the other bedrooms.

“Two of them have their own bathrooms. It’s where Dillon and I sleep. The other two share a bathroom.” He quickly showed them to her.

“Well, what do you think?” Dillon asked.

“It’s all beautiful. I mean, I never would have thought you would live somewhere like this. Not that I thought you would live in a dump or anything, just not a huge house.”

“We knew one day we would want a family, and this was a good house for one,” Dillon said.

It was a side of them she hadn’t seen before. They hadn’t let her see it. Why now? Because of the baby? Or would they have shown all of it to her anyway? She would doubt their actions from here on out, and that sucked. She wanted to believe it was all for her, but the baby was there between them.

“See, you could be comfortable here. How far away do you work?” Dillon asked.

“She doesn’t have to work at all, now. If she moves in here, there’s no rent or utilities for her to have to pay,” Gavin said.

“I’m not giving up my job. I love my job.” She crossed her arms and stared him down.

“Fine, you keep your job. Where is it? How far do you have to drive from here?”

She sighed. “I only go in to the office every once in a while for meetings. I work out of my apartment.”

Gavin grinned. There it was again. “Perfect. See, it would work great for you to work here. We don’t use the office at all. You can move in there with all your stuff.”

“I haven’t agreed to moving. I need to think about it. You’re pushing me here.” Briana shook her head.

“Come on. Let’s watch a movie, then if you insist, we’ll take you home,” Dillon said.

“Wait, first I want to call Cole and talk to Tina. She’s a nurse and works here in
Dallas
a lot. She’ll know a good doctor for you,” Gavin said.

“Then they’ll know I’m pregnant,” she said in horror.

“So? They’re going to know anyway in a few days. You don’t think we’re going to keep it a secret, do you?” Gavin asked.

“I guess I wasn’t thinking about them knowing.” Briana felt her face heat up at the thought of their gang knowing she was pregnant.

Gavin settled her on the couch then pulled out his phone and pressed a number. After a few seconds, Cole must have answered.

“I need to speak to Tina about a doctor. No, I’m fine. Briana is pregnant and I want a good pregnancy doctor for her. Yeah, thanks.”

After a few seconds, Tina must have gotten on the line. Briana cringed.

“Hey, Tina. Look, do you know a really good doctor for Briana? She’s pregnant. Yeah, uh-huh. Okay, thanks. Yeah, I’ll tell her. Bye.”

“Okay, she gave me the name of a good doctor for you. We’ll make an appointment tomorrow. Is there any time you can’t go?” he asked.

“No. I can go just about any time. What were you supposed to tell me?”

“Oh, she said if you have any questions or trouble to call her. She’d be glad to talk to you.”

“That’s nice of her. She doesn’t really know me.”

“Don’t worry. We’re going to change that,” Dillon said. “You’ll go with us to the meetings and parties we have.

“I don’t know…” she began.

“No ifs, ands, or buts, Briana. You’re a part of the family now,” Gavin said.

“Just because of the baby,” she whispered. “Look, I really need to go home. I have a long day ahead of me. I need to get some sleep.”

She knew they wouldn’t argue with her about needing sleep.

Gavin sighed and nodded. “Okay. You’re right. You need your sleep. We’ll watch a movie tomorrow night or Saturday.”

The three of them climbed back in the truck with Dillon helping her up and strapping her in. They made it to her apartment in no time. She really wasn’t that far from them, which meant she wasn’t far from work, either.

They helped her out of the truck, then walked her up to her apartment.

“You really don’t need to be negotiating these stairs when you get a little bigger. You’ll be off balance. I’ll be scared you’ll fall,” Dillon said.

“That’s enough, Dillon. You’re trying to influence my decision.”

“That’s the plan,” he said with a mischievous grin.

When they got to her apartment, she didn’t invite them in, much to their obvious dismay. They pulled her in for intimate kisses where tongues intertwined and teased along their mouth. She was almost dizzy by the time they had finished kissing her one right after the other. She held on to the door handle to keep her balance.

“Lock the door, Briana,” Dillon reminded her.

She nodded and closed the door and locked it. She rested her head against it and prayed for the strength to make the right decisions. Then she stood up straight and headed to bed. She would sleep on it. She had a lot to make up for with work tomorrow after missing out most of the afternoon.