Abbi Glines - Never Too Far

Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears and she shook her head. I hated that she couldn’t believe me.

“I love you. When you walked into my life I didn’t know you. Nan was my first priority. But you changed that. You changed everything. I was going to tell you but my mom came home too soon. I was so scared to death of losing you that I lost you anyway. Nothing is going to take you away from me again. I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to you that I love you. You and this baby,” I touched her flat stomach and she trembled, “come first.”

“I want to believe you,” she said through a sob.

“Let me prove it to you. Leaving me doesn’t let me prove anything. You have to stay with me, Blaire. You have to give me a chance.”

A tear slipped free and rolled down her face. “I’m gonna get big and fat. Babies cry all night and they cost money. I won’t be the same. We won’t be the same. You’ll regret it.”

She really didn’t have a clue. No matter how many times I told her, she didn’t believe me. She’d lost everyone in her life she’d loved and trusted. Why should she believe me? The only men in her life had left her. Betrayed her. She expected nothing else.

“This baby brought you back to me. It’s a part of us. I will never regret it. And you can get as big as a whale and I’ll love you anyway.”

A small smile tugged on her lips. “I better not get as big as a whale.”

I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

Her small smile quickly left. “Your sister. She’s going to hate this. Me. The baby.”

I would deal with Nan. If she couldn’t cope then I’d take Blaire and we’d go somewhere far away from my sister. Blaire had been upset enough. I wasn’t letting anyone else hurt her. “Trust me to protect you and put you first.”

Blaire closed her eyes and then nodded.

My chest swelled and I wanted to shout to the world that this woman was mine. But instead I picked her up. “Where’s your bedroom?” I asked.

“The last room on the left.”

I walked back there. I wouldn’t make love to her right now but I needed to hold her for awhile. I pushed the door open and I froze. The bedroom was a nice size for a condo but the blanket on the floor with a single pillow was just one more strike against me. When I’d moved them I had known Blaire didn’t have a bed. She’d been sleeping on the couch. But I had been so wrapped up in getting her back I hadn’t thought about her needing a bed.

“I haven’t got a bed yet. I could’ve just slept on the couch but I wanted to sleep in my own room.” Blaire mumbled, trying to get down out of my arms. I wasn’t letting her go. I held her tighter against me. She’d slept on the hard ground last night while I’d been sleeping in my big king size bed. Fuck .

“You’re shaking, Rush. Put me down,” Blaire said, tugging on my arm.

Without putting her down, I spun around and stalked back to the living room, then out the door. Slamming the door behind me I locked it and stuck the key in my pocket. I wasn’t sticking it back under that damn mat.

“What are you doing?” Blaire asked.

My car wasn’t here. Then I’d carry her back down the hill and to my Rover. “I’m taking you to get a bed. A big ass bed. One that costs a fucking fortune,” I growled. I was furious that I’d missed that one major issue. It was no wonder Woods had been taking care of her. I’d failed. I wasn’t going to fail her again. I’d make sure she had it all.

“I don’t need an expensive bed. I’m going to get a bed soon.”

“Yeah, real soon. Tonight,” I replied then bent my head and kissed her nose. “Let me do this. I need to do this. I need you tucked into the best bed money can buy. Okay?”

A small smile tugged at her lips. “Okay.

Blaire

I didn’t require more than a full size bed. However, Rush refused to get anything less than a king size bed, two bedside tables and a matching dresser with a gorgeous mirror. I made the mistake of looking too long at a pretty lavender quilt and matching shams. Before I knew what was happening he was buying the entire bed set complete with sheets and new pillows. I argued with him the entire time but he acted like I wasn’t talking. He just winked at me and kept placing his orders and giving the salesman directions.

By the time we got back from eating dinner, which he also was determined to feed me, the furniture was already being delivered. Bethy was standing at the door smiling when we drove up. She was loving this.

“Thank you for letting me do that today. I needed it. You may not understand but I needed to do that,” Rush said before I opened the car door.

I glanced back at him. “You needed to buy me an entire bedroom suite and expensive bedding?” I asked, confused.

“Yeah, I did.”

I didn’t understand but I nodded. If he needed to do it then I was going to appreciate it. I still couldn’t believe it was all mine. I was going to feel like a princess in my room. “Well, thank you for all of it. I wasn’t expecting anything more than a mattress. I wasn’t prepared to be spoiled.”

Rush leaned forward and pressed a kiss beside my ear. “That’s not even close to spoiling you. But I intend to show you exactly what spoiling is.”

I shivered and squeezed the door handle. I wasn’t going to let him buy me anything else. I had to stop this but the kisses around my ear made it hard to focus.

“Let’s go see how it looks,” he said as he leaned back.

Space. Had to get some space. I was ready to jump on him right now. Not a good thing. Control. The pregnancy hormones wanted to take over.

Rush was running around the front of the Rover when I opened my door and started to get out. He was in front of me taking my hands and helping me down like I was helpless before I could make a move to get down on my own.

“I can get out myself you know,” I told him.

He smirked. “Yeah but what’s the fun in that?”

Laughing, I pushed past him and made my way toward Bethy who was watching us like we were one of her favorite television dramas.

“Looks like the Pottery Barn decided to unload their latest shipment in your bedroom,” Bethy said, grinning like a kid in a candy store. “Can I sleep with you in that big ass bed tonight? The mattress is unbelievable!”

“No. She needs her rest. No bed buddies,” Rush said, walking up behind me and wrapping a protective arm around my waist.

Bethy’s eyes dropped to my waist and then back up at Rush. “You know,” she said, looking very pleased.

“Yes I do,” he replied. He tensed up behind me.

I felt horrible. One more person that I had told about my pregnancy before I told him. He had every right to be hurt. I was a liar. Would he figure this out and leave me now?

“Good,” Bethy said and stepped out of the way so we could walk inside.

“Why don’t you go make sure they’re putting everything where you want it,” Rush said to me when we got inside.

“Good idea.” I left him there to go check on the furniture. If he was mad at me he would have time to cool off.

The delivery guys were doing a good job with placement so I didn’t bother them. I was happy with where they were putting things. Walking back to the living room I heard Bethy whispering and I stopped.

“She’s better. She’s been sick a good bit but the past two mornings she’s hasn’t thrown up.”

“You call me the second she even looks like she might get sick.” Rush even managed to make his whisper sound like a demand.

“Yeah, I’ll call you. I wasn’t for the whole ‘don’t tell Rush’ idea. You did this to her. You need to be there for her.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he replied.