Gavin rested his long arms across his knees. “Then I guess we’re at an impasse.”
“I guess so.” Ginny started to slide the ring off her finger.
Gavin caught the movement. “It’s a good thing then that we’re already married.”
Taking one of the pillows, Ginny bopped him with it.
Plopping back down on the sleeping bag, he reached out to curl an arm around her shoulders to tug her down next to him.
“You’re such a nimrod.”
“Shh … the stars may hear you.”
“They already know,” she smarted off. Then, raising to her elbow, Ginny opened her mouth to tell him she was pregnant and he better get a move on when she stopped. Closing her eyes, she could hear a male voice screaming in her head.
“Planning a ceremony isn’t as much fun as you expect. To this day, I can’t stand cake because Taylor had to try five different bakers before she chose.”
Ginny tilted her head to the side. Was he seriously mentioning Taylor’s name after proposing to her?
Being so close to Gavin, the screams’ intensity became unbearable. They were back to the level that she had heard months ago. The hurt she felt at hearing Taylor’s name dissipated. Gavin was in agonizing pain.
Ginny laid her hand on his cheek, turning his face toward hers. “I love you. No woman on earth will love a man more than I do you.”
His face grew serious at her words.
“You can’t pretend he doesn’t exist because you’re afraid to get hurt again.”
Gavin jackknifed back into a sitting position. “I don’t know what in the fuck you’re talking about,” he snapped.
“The part of you who you’ve locked away; let him out, Reaper.”
“You’ve lost your mind.” He angrily shrugged away from her touch when she reached out to him again.
“No, I haven’t. You know I haven’t. You want to pretend you’re Reaper, but Gavin is still a part of you. Until you acknowledge him, you both will never heal.”
“Drop it. I’m done talking about this.”
“We need to talk about this.” She tried to soothe him while still holding her stance. Someone had to answer the pleas of the man she heard screaming. If Reaper wouldn’t fight for Gavin she would.
“You want to talk about something? I think we have something more serious to talk about than a figment of your imagination.”
“I’m willing to talk about anything. Are you?”
Reaper blew past the part where he was willing to talk about him, focusing his attention on her. “When are you planning to tell me you’re pregnant?”
“What makes you think I’m pregnant?”
“I know you are.”
“Really? How sure are you?” She narrowed her eyes on him, raising her chin just as stubbornly as his was. “As sure am I about you having a part of you locked away?”
The light cast from the lantern flickered across his face.
“There isn’t,” he snarled.
“Then I’m not pregnant.” Laying back down, Ginny shoved another pillow under her head.
“That’s not how being pregnant works.”
Ginny gave him a determined stare. “I don’t need you to ‘mansplain’ anything to me, thank you very much. It’s my body, and if I say I’m not pregnant, I’m not pregnant.”
“Woman …”
Seeing the telltale sign that she was getting to Reaper when he raked a hand through his hair, she gave him a smug grin. “I’ll admit to being pregnant when you’re ready to tell me you’ve got a part of yourself locked away. And …” she drawled out, “while you’re at it, get Pastor Dean’s permission for us to get married. If my father was still alive, he would have already put a load of buckshots in your britches for messing with his baby girl.”
Ginny stared up at the sky trying not to burst into laughter at his poleaxed expression. She knew she was being ridiculous in her demands, but she didn’t care. She was fighting for her man, and she would use any weapon available to her, even if it was the child they had created.
She was a great believer in learning from observation. If Trudy could use being pregnant to get what she wanted out of Dalton, Ginny wasn’t above using the same method.
“It doesn’t work that way.” Reaper snorted in frustration. “We’ll see who lasts.”
“Yes, we will.”
“Aren’t you going to take a shower with me?”
Looking up from the magazine that she was reading as she lay on the bed, Ginny nearly changed her mind. Naked, Gavin was a work of art. Damn.
“No, I took a shower before we went out. I’m good.” Her lips pressed together to keep from smiling at his irritation when he went into the shower alone.
Big jerk.
She got up to undress, sliding on a nightgown, then went to the dresser and opened the top drawer that held his shirts. Taking out a leather jewelry case, she placed the rings that he had given her inside before closing the drawer.