Accidentally in Love Read online

  I walked Gemma and Declan to the front door and locked it behind them. When I walked back into the living room, Avery had her head tipped back against the couch, and her eyes were closed.

  “You want me to walk you home?” I asked.

  Drakesville was such a small town that the walk to her apartment on the other side of town wasn’t that far. I never timed it, but it was maybe ten minutes, probably a little less. Sometimes it was just easier to drive over there, but I didn’t like to drink and drive. I might have only had two beers since Avs got here, but that was enough.

  A drunk driver killed my parents. I didn’t fuck around with that shit.

  She shook her head. “I’m not tired.”

  “You look tired,” I said while I stalked over to her. I lifted her chin, and she gave me a sly smile. Then she reached a hand up and rubbed it across my crotch. “Oh, I see.”

  “Do you?” she asked and looked up at me with those big blue eyes. The kind of eyes a man could get lost in.

  “C’mere you,” I growled and lifted her into my arms. She giggled while she wrapped her legs around my waist. I slid my hands under her dress and stumbled up the stairs into my bedroom. It shocked me when I came across bare flesh.

  “Naughty girl, not wearing any panties.”

  I put her down when we got into my bedroom.

  “I had to take them off,” she said.

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m so ready for you, they were already soaked.”

  I bent my head down to capture her lips, and I grabbed onto the luscious flesh of her ass—her perfectly round ass. Fuck that guy who said she needed to lose weight. I wanted all that delicious weight on top of me, underneath me, and on display while I took her from behind. My big hand hovered on her mound while we kissed.

  “Please, Nolan…” she begged.

  Fuck, I loved when she begged for it. I kissed her neck. “Are you sure you want to have sex tonight?”

  She groaned in annoyance and pushed my hand against her pussy. I felt her slick arousal on my finger as I lightly grazed across her slit. “Does that answer your question?”

  “No. We’ve been drinking. I want to make sure you won’t regret it.”

  She cupped my bearded face in her smaller hands. “Baby, I never regret it. I always love it.”

  I knew it was just casual sex between us, but when she looked deep into my eyes and called me baby, I pretended she was mine. Pretended that I could be enough for her. I had already disappointed my ex-wife, and I couldn’t bear to disappoint Avery, too.

  “You sure, Avs?”

  “Nol, I had two beers. I’m not drunk. Now gimme that big dick.”

  I slid my middle finger through her slickness. “That’s my girl. You like it when I touch you like this?”

  “Mmmhmm,” she moaned. “I’m aching for you, Nol. Please.”

  “Greedy girl. I want you out of these clothes and naked on my bed.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said and gave me a sarcastic little salute.

  “Brat,” I teased, giving her a light tap on her ass.

  I loved when she called me ‘Sir,’ even if she was a cheeky brat. I removed my hand from her dress, turned her around, and slid the zipper of her dress down until the material fell to the floor. With a quick flick of my wrists, I had her bra off, too. She stepped out of her clothes and got onto the bed, lying back, ready and waiting for me.

  I got rid of my clothes and crawled into bed next to her. I devoured her mouth, and she let me. She allowed me to dominate her until I rolled onto my back and she straddled my thick thighs.

  “Get up here and sit on my face,” I growled.

  She grinned and scooted up the bed. She put her knees against my ears, and settled her pussy level with my mouth. I loved face-sitting, and she loved when I let her ride my beard until she coated it with her cum.

  I flicked my tongue out, sliding up her slit until I zeroed in on her clit. She ground her hips against me, begging me with her body to bring her over the edge, to give her the one thing she needed more than anything.

  “That’s a good girl,” I cooed. “Fuck my face.”

  “I love beard rides,” she moaned and gripped the headboard above me.

  There were permanent nail marks etched into the wood from all the times we had been in this position. My inner caveman loved when I made her lose herself like this. I loved the feeling of her delicious curves on top of me while I drowned in the sweet taste of her pussy.

  She ground herself on my face and screamed above me as she tumbled down into the depths of her orgasm. I held her in place while I gave her one last lick as she came down from it.

  “Good girl,” I cooed from below.

  “I want to ride your cock,” she panted.

  “Do it.”

  She scooted down my body until she had my cock lined up with her entrance. In the back of my mind, I knew we were forgetting something, something really important. I forgot about everything else when Avery was riding me while I sucked on her tits, though. I loved her tits, her ass, and everything else. I loved her curves, especially when they were on top of me.

  Man, the guy she went out with today was a douchebag. He didn’t know what he was missing out on. My inner caveman beat his chest again at the fact that she ended up in my bed tonight and not his.

  “Yes…” she moaned as she rode me faster, her fantastic tits bouncing up and down with her every movement.

  I gripped her ass and thrust up into her hard and fast.

  “Nolan,” she sighed in ecstasy as she arched her back and let the pleasure take control of her.

  It was in these moments, when she unraveled to pieces, that she was the most beautiful. She looked like a queen when she was bouncing on my dick and coming apart at the seams. There was nothing sexier than a woman in the throes of passion. Especially when it was this woman.

  She yelped in surprise when I pulled out and rolled her onto her back. “I want to be in charge,” I growled.

  She could only nod in response.

  I kissed my way down her body until I tasted her on my tongue again. She gripped my hair while I licked and sucked her to another orgasm.

  “Oh my god,” she cried out.

  “You don’t have to call me god,” I teased.

  She cradled my face in her hands and gave me a loving look. “C’mere, big guy, and give me what I want.”

  I made my way back up her body and gave her a long, lingering kiss. I pressed inside her, and she wrapped her legs around my waist, pulling me in deeper. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to hold off from blowing my load right then and there. I was glad I gave her a couple orgasms already because I wouldn’t last much longer.

  “Nolan, please,” she begged while I slow-stroked her, and she arched her hips to meet my every move.

  I pumped inside her slowly, my large body moving above her petite frame. I cradled her face in my hands and kissed her while I got lost in her. Lost in the feeling of becoming one with this woman.

  I slid my hand down and stroked her clit softly while we unraveled together. “I’m gonna come,” I whispered in her ear while my thrusts got more erratic.

  “Please, baby, take what you need from me. I’m yours,” she moaned.

  I wished that were true.

  She dug her nails into my back while my orgasm wracked through my body. I came in long, hot spurts until it dripped down her thighs. Warning bells went off at the sight, but in the aftermath of my orgasm, I wasn’t thinking about the consequences.

  I groaned against her chest and laid my head there for a moment while I caught my breath. She ran her fingers through my short-cropped black hair and sighed in contentment.

  I pulled out of her and didn’t register something was missing—something super important that we never forgot, especially since Avery wasn’t on the pill. I pulled her onto my chest, and we passed out naked in my bed.

  In the morning, she was gone, but that wasn’t unusual. I didn’t recognize it as a sign that anything was wrong. I didn’t know then that our lives were about to be turned upside down.

  Chapter Three

  AVERY

  * * *

  NOVEMBER

  * * *

  2 MONTHS LATER

  My period was two whole months late. I was never late. Ever.

  When I started waking up and getting sick last month, I knew something was wrong. I was old enough to recognize the signs of pregnancy, but I didn’t want to admit it. When my period didn’t come again this month, I convinced myself it was because Thanksgiving was a couple of weeks away, and I was already feeling stressed about the holidays.

  I didn’t want to admit I was pregnant with Nolan’s baby.

  “Are you sure you don’t have the flu or something?” Gemma asked from across the kitchen table, stirring her burrito bowl in thought.

  Gemma lived in South Philly but commuted to the brewery in Drakesville. When we could, we’d have dinner together before her shift. I tried to cancel tonight, but she insisted. My sister could be needy.

  I shrugged and pushed my untouched bowl of food out of the way. I had zero appetite tonight.

  “PMS?” she asked.

  I stared back at her in silence.

  “Avs, when did you last get your period?”

  “Not since before the Arts Fest,” I admitted in a low whisper.

  Her eyes turned to saucers. “That was two months ago!”

  I cringed. “Maybe it’s stress?”

  Gemma looked horrified.

  When Gemma was in college, she had a pregnancy scare, and I drove all the way up to State College to be with her. She didn’t want kids, and an unplanned pregnancy hadn’t been in the cards. She ended up not being pregnant and got her period the next day, but to this day, she was always stressed if it was late. If Gemma had been in my shoes, she wouldn’t have ignored the signs. She would have taken a pregnancy test the day her period was late.

  She stood up and put on her coat.

  I furrowed my brow at her. “Where are you going?”

  She glared at me. “Going to the pharmacy to get a pregnancy test.”

  Before I could argue, she ran down the steps and out of my apartment. I cringed at my door slamming shut behind her.

  Gemma was gone for maybe fifteen minutes before she clomped back up the steps and waved a bag of pregnancy tests in my face.

  “Come on, let’s take these,” she said and led me into my bathroom.

  Ten minutes later, we stared down at the third and final pregnancy test and waited for the results. The first two tests were positive, so I didn’t have a good feeling about this one. I knew I was pregnant before those pink lines showed up on the first test, but I didn’t want to accept it. I ignored what my body told me and tried to will the pregnancy away. I had even been avoiding Nolan because if I had seen him, I would have burst into tears and told him everything.

  My timer chimed, and I handed the testing stick to my sister. “Please look. I can’t.”

  She gave me a sympathetic smile. “Oh, Avs,” she cooed and squeezed my hand in comfort.

  “I’m pregnant, aren’t I?” I sobbed.

  She reached out and grabbed my hand. “What do you want to do?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Avery, do you want to keep the baby? Or do you want to, you know…”

  “Get an abortion?” I snarled at her. I pulled my hand out of her grasp and put it protectively over my stomach.

  I had no problem with women who wanted to choose that route, but I didn’t think I could do that. I had always wanted to be a mother, just not like this.

  Gemma blew out a breath. “Okay. Does the father know?”

  I shook my head.

  “Do you… know who the father is?”

  My mouth hung open at her question.

  “What the fuck?” I snapped.

  She held up her hands in surrender. “You go on a lot of dates. I’m not slut-shaming you, sis. But…”

  “There’s only been one guy in the last two years,” I admitted but couldn’t look at her.

  Nolan and I had kept our affair quiet. That was the point when you had a secret friend with benefits. No one was supposed to know.

  “Okay, how about we talk to him?”

  I shook my head. “He’s gonna hate me.”

  Gemma glared at me. “This is his fault too.”

  “We usually remember to use a condom.”

  My sister held up her hand. “Wait, a second. You sleep with this guy on the reg? Not a one-night stand?”

  I nodded.

  “Who?”

  I stared blankly at her.

  Gemma’s eyes widened as realization dawned on her. “Oh my god!”

  “He’s gonna hate me. He doesn’t want to be tied down. He’s always made that perfectly clear.”

  “You and Nolan have been fucking this whole time?”

  “Off and on, not all the time.”

  “Avs, you gotta tell him.”

  I cried into my hands.

  She came over and wrapped her arms around me. “Nolan’s a good man. He’ll stand by whatever you want to do.”

  “Gem?”

  “What?”

  “I don’t want to baby trap him.”

  Gemma wiped my tears away. “Oh, Avs, you have feelings for him, don’t you?”

  I nodded. “Gem, I’ve been in unrequited love with Nolan freaking MacGregor for over a year.”

  She squeezed me tighter. “Oh, sis. I had no idea. I thought you were just friends. I hoped you'd both realize you were meant to be eventually, but I had no clue you were sleeping together.”

  I shook my head and let the tears fall to the floor. “That was the whole point. It was supposed to stay a secret. He’s never gonna feel the same way, and now we’re gonna have a baby, and he’s gonna hate me.”

  “He won’t hate you, but you have to tell him how you feel.”

  “Why?”

  No way Nolan felt the same way. He made it perfectly clear he had zero feelings. He said his divorce had been amicable, but I got the feeling his ex-wife ripped his heart out of his chest and never gave it back.

  I shook my head. “I can’t.”

  “You have to tell him about the baby at least,” she urged.

  “Gem… what if he doesn’t believe me? What if he wants nothing to do with us?”

  She raised an eyebrow at me. “Are we talking about the same Nolan MacGregor? He may have that whole stoic lumberjack thing going on, but he’s a good man. He’ll want to provide for you and the baby.”

  I wasn’t convinced.

  “He raised Declan when their parents died. He knows how to take care of people.”

  I shook my head. “That’s not the same thing. Declan was twelve, and this is a baby. A baby we didn’t plan for.”

  My sister put a hand on my belly. “If he doesn’t want to be involved with you and the baby, I’ve got you. We can do this. You want to be a mom, right?”

  I nodded. “I thought I would have a husband first.”

  She shrugged. “Sometimes the universe is an asshole, and you have to roll with the punches.”

  “Gem, we haven’t talked since that night. I’ve been avoiding him.”

  “Why?”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. “Because I knew I was pregnant weeks ago, but I was in denial. I could stay blissfully ignorant if I didn’t have to face him.”

  She shoved my phone at me. “Call him. You need to speak to him.”

  My hand shook as I took my phone from my sister and dialed Nolan’s number. It rang until it went to voicemail, and I hung up.

  Gemma gave me a sad smile. “He might be in the hops room or doing inventory. It’s almost time for my shift. I better get going. You want me to say something to him?”

  I shook my head. “Please don’t.”

  She hugged me one last time. “I love you, big sis. You’re gonna be a great mom, and I highly doubt Nolan will abandon you and the baby. He’s not that kind of guy.”

  “I wish mom were here.”

  Gemma frowned.

  Our mom died of cancer when Gemma was eight and I was eighteen. I had been away at college when she died, but Gemma had been so young that I didn’t think mom’s death affected her as much as it had me. It was moments like this that I wished my mom were here. She would have put a comforting arm around me and told me everything would be okay. Even if I was sure nothing would ever be okay again.

  Gemma straightened her spine. “Mom would say that everything’s gonna work out in the end. No matter what, I’m here for you.”

  I hugged her tightly. “Thank you.”

  “But not right now. I need to go to work.”

  I waved her off. “Go, don’t be late.”

  I watched my sister walk out of my bathroom and heard the front door slam as she left.

  Sighing, I stared down at the positive pregnancy test. I couldn’t believe how irresponsible I had been.

  I went back into my kitchen and tried to eat the rest of my dinner, but I felt too sick to my stomach to keep anything down. Instead, I crawled into bed early and cried myself to sleep.

  Around midnight, I woke to my phone buzzing on my bedside table. “Hello?” I said into the phone groggily.

  “Did I wake you?” Nolan’s voice asked.

  “S’okay,” I said sleepily.

  “Sorry, I’ve been buried in inventory spreadsheets, but Gem said you needed to talk to me.”

  I sighed. Of course Gemma would go against my wishes.

  “Can you come over?”

  There was a beat of pause.

  “Now?”

  “Now, Nolan. It’s really important,” I cried.

  “Avs, are you okay?” he asked. I heard the worry in his voice.

  Nolan hated when women cried. I think it was why we became friends. We met after a man left me with the check at the brewery and I cried into my beer over another unsuccessful date. Nolan had the bartender send me another beer on the house, and that’s how this whole affair started. I knew one day it would end. I just didn’t think it would be because I got pregnant.