Holding her while she let the tears for her cousin fall, he watched as the clock struck midnight, just letting her get her emotions out as he murmured in her ear about how special she was. When her tears finally were gone, she looked up at him. “Thank you for keeping my secrets.”
“I don’t even know this one, but I will never tell a soul.” He kissed her nose.
“Mandy is pregnant but won’t tell anyone because she thinks she’s going to lose it. She doesn’t plan to ever tell anyone,” she whispered into his chest.
Rafferty hid his shock. That was the last thing he thought it was going to be about. He didn’t know the woman well, but his heart broke for her just the same. Maybe it was because Mia’s heart was broken already for her.
“Does she have a good reason?”
She shook her head. “She thinks so, but she’s really, really depressed.”
“I would be, too.” If Mia was going to lose his baby, he would be barely hanging on.
“Do you even want kids?” she asked him.
“Of course, I do, one day.” Suddenly, with the new year ringing in, that day seemed closer than ever.
“You just don’t seem the type.”
“Are you going to have six like your mom?” Maybe one day, she would see him as father material.
“No, never. Maybe two. But with the way my life is going, it will probably be none.”
“What’s wrong with your life? You run a successful business and are married to an amazing guy who sells insurance. Seems like you have it all.” He ran his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping away the tears.
“Married,” she said with a grunt.
Rafferty rolled onto his back, taking her with him so that she was half laying on top of him. “Okay, back to Mandy. I think you have to respect her wishes. But keep a close eye on her. Maybe check in more often.”
“You’re right. I just needed to tell someone. I just can’t keep some secrets to myself. But you can’t tell anyone. Ever,” she said from above him, her hazel eyes boring into him.
Wrapping his arms around her, he whispered, “I’ll keep your secrets forever, Mia. Till death do us part.”
Sliding his hands down her body, he loved that he could touch her. It had taken him so long to get her here that he wasn’t going to miss a chance to just touch her gorgeous body. When she didn’t push him away but responded to his touch, he pulled her closer and rolled her over.
As he kissed her, he knew the New Year was going to be even better than the year he married her. Maybe this was the year she would became his wife.
CHAPTER23
BeingRafferty Brooks’s wife was amazing!
Mia had been playing the part for two weeks, since New Year’s Eve. She started the New Year in his arms and had woken up there each and every morning thereafter.
At 4:45 in the morning the alarm would go off, and she would rush back to her apartment, shower, and then go to work. After work, she would just head straight over to his place and make supper for him. He would get home, and they would eat and discuss their day. After they washed the dishes together, they would watch TV in the living room and then go to bed. And going to bed was her favorite part of the day.
The only break in the routine had been when she had Sunday off, and they had just stayed in bed until it was time for her to leave for book club. It had been the first time she had wanted to skip book club since it started nearly a year before. And she loved book club.
When she had left, she had been certain she would tell the girls about Rafferty. Not about the wedding thing of course but the fact that they were sleeping together. But after they had argued through whether Charles Manson should be considered a serial killer, the group quickly disbanded. Way faster than any other time. Mandy took off first, even before Mia could talk to her. Then Hazel and Natalie had left since Hazel’s son was sick, and they had ridden together. That left Mia and Ruth, and Mia wasn’t ready to tell Ruth alone without everyone else there. And anyway, Mia had wanted to get back to Rafferty, so she made her excuses as well.
Now she was happy she didn’t share last weekend. She had gotten another week of them just getting to be together without the outside world intruding. Mia knew the book club wouldn’t say anything since what happened at book club stayed at book club, but she decided to just give it two more weeks; until the next meeting. She could do two more glorious weeks of secrets.
So, as far as she knew, nobody knew about her relationship with Rafferty. She was lucky it was freezing out, and nobody was just wandering around the streets to see her walking to his place. Double lucky since she had to bundle up so much to fight off the freezing cold. Nobody could tell it was her, since she had to stop using her pink jacket and was wearing her older black one now.
Not that she was really trying to hide their relationship from people, because itwasn’ta relationship. Rafferty Brooks didn’t do relationships. He was a playboy who had sex with a woman until he grew tired of her and then dumped her. Mia was determined that nobody found out she was dumb enough to fall into bed with him and get dumped.
Which is what made their conversation that morning so bizarre. It was Sunday, and not just any Sunday—it was the Sunday of her cousin Math and book club member Tess’s baby’s baptism. Everybody in the Nordskov and Lawson families would be in attendance. Well, not all her sisters, as they were busy. Or so they told their mother.
As she was leaving to go get ready at her apartment, he had surprised her by asking, “Can I go with?”