Under The Kilt: Kilted For Pleasure Part 17

He hadn't been an angel by any means, but she couldn't make him out to be the devil. "Dammit," she said.

Some of her fight and most of her self-righteous fury drained out of her as the rest of the puzzle fell into place. This time when her stomach piped up it was a flutter.

She pressed a hand to it. "Tristan, I know-"

He put up his hand. "Don't worry about it."

Relief bloomed in her chest. "Pregnant, though?" She laughed. "How often do you get confessions with that one?"

"Never," he admitted. "It's a little thing of mixing lies with the truth." He gestured to the bathroom. "You have been sick."

"Yes, I have" she said slowly as her mind caught onto that absent observation.

Every morning for the past week she'd been hit with a vicious nausea and the last two she'd been sick. She was on the pill and that made her menstrual cycle pretty predictable, but between work, Dougla.s.s and Callan she hadn't paid it much mind. It came and went without fanfare.

So when was the last time it had come and gone...Her frown deepened as she navigated a mental calendar and then was forced to remember life events. She counted back the weeks. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears as a roar filled her head when she pa.s.sed four weeks, and five and six and seven and eight. No. Wait. She had one at four weeks. It was light...spotting for three days. Blood was blood, right? "Oh."

Aunt Flo's last real visit was eight weeks ago, just before Callan met her on her daily run to ravish her on a hilltop. Her knees threatened to give out. "Noooo."

"What is it?" Tristan asked concern filling his voice.

Victoria heard him moving toward her and she shook her head. Sick. She just might be sick again. "It's impossible."

He stilled and pulled back a little, realization widening his eyes. "I was just saying that to get you to confess to an affair. Oldest trick in the book."

But those words had dropped a seed in the back of her mind. A seed that exploded. "I'm feeling sick because I've had Scottish breakfasts."

His shoulders pushed back as though on alert. "What have you been eating the whole time here?"

Scottish breakfast, lunch, dinner...whatever Callan made. She shook her head. "We're down to the last few pieces that need to be s.h.i.+pped. I'm stressed."

His expression said bulls.h.i.+t and then he smiled. "I'm going to have another little brother."

She straightened, staring at him in horror. "Oh, G.o.d, no. It's Callan's."

He grinned and she called him another b.a.s.t.a.r.d, because she'd just fallen for the oldest trick twice.

"You made this too easy." He murmured a soothing noise, directed her to a chair and knelt down so they would be eye to eye. His gaze was still filled with laughter, but his words were serious. "So, what's your worry? You don't seem happy."

Pregnant. That word bounced around her head. Victoria never imagined it. Her future had always involved career-goal accomplishments. A job in Europe, Africa, China and maybe even a stint on the Antique Roadshow.

Pregnant. She could be a mom in a few months. "Oh, my G.o.d," she said partly in horror and awe.

She pressed a hand to her stomach and fought back the tears that burned at her eyes. Callan's baby. Theirs. No. No. This couldn't be true. She was leaving. She lived in America. Callan making sure Victoria didn't lose her job didn't mean he somehow loved her now. And it couldn't be true because she was on the freaking pill. There had been blood.

Victoria shook her head, adamant. "I'm jumping to conclusions. It's stress."

Tristan frowned. "Even so, why don't you look happy at the possibility?"

Victoria couldn't believe she was sharing this roller-coaster of a moment with her employer. She'd managed all this time to be personable but private. If this wasn't proof her life had turned upside down she didn't know what would.

"I just can't be," she said with steel in her words.

She may have never dreamed of babies and a husband, but even on the outskirts of her mind, in very fleeting thoughts it was a husband and babies. It was never she lived in America while her child's father lived in Scotland. A father who imagined his kids with freckles and maybe his wife's eyes.

"But if you are?" Tristan pushed.

"Why do you care?" she shot back. Anger and frustration tightened her limbs. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to leave Scotland and him behind. Miss him like she was missing a G.o.dd.a.m.n limb and then buck the h.e.l.l up.

Victoria put her hands over her face. "I'm going to lose my job."

He ignored that like it didn't matter and asked, "Do you love my cousin?"

She swallowed the truth and lied her b.u.t.t off. "No."

Tristan snorted. "I know a lie when I hear it."

She held his gaze and could see he probably did. So she clamped her mouth shut and refused to dig herself into a deeper hole.

Tristan began to nod as though his mind was made up. "My cousin has been a miserable s.h.i.+te since we arrived. It wasn't the usual misery from him. It's kind of how I figured it out. Despite what he says and thinks, I care for the b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I know how it feels. I went through it with my Keri." He pinned her with a look. "Did you make him happy? Did he make you happy?"

Victoria may doubt Callan loved her or ever could, but she knew in her heart she'd made him happy. He'd said as much the day before, but what he hadn't said was that he loved her. How she felt about him was out there in the open. Callan knew, but Tristan didn't.

"No," she lied again.

He took her hands in his. "I'm going to help you, but you have to trust me."

If he'd spoken any other words she might have believed him. Maybe could have said yes emphatically without giving it thought. But trust him? Anyone? She'd fallen for Callan, but in the back of her mind she knew it wouldn't go anywhere. He'd never let go of his wife. A choice she'd been okay with because it left her heart safe. She covered her face with her hand.

If she was pregnant, would their child come second to the ones he could have had with his wife?

Fear grew tentacles and squeezed her heart. Trust Callan? He'd given her the perfect reason to walk away and she had taken it. She glanced down at her other hand, still cradling her stomach and then closed her eyes. "I don't need any help. I'm on edge. That's all."

"Okay," Tristan said softly. "I'll drop this. I won't mention it to Ian before you have the chance."

She opened her eyes and glared at him because he'd ignored every one of her lies. Finally, she sighed. "Just like that you'll drop this?"

A slow smile crept over his face. "No."

She surprised herself and laughed. "There are always strings attached when dealing with a Baird."

"Aye, but it's a simple bargain. You just have to go see Dougla.s.s. He's been chomping at the bit. I've actually lost my patience to deal with him and Ian never had any."

It was a simple bargain. Simple. That's what she needed right now. One foot in front of the other, because her life, her heart was teetering on an edge.

She exhaled. Stopping at the store would be simple too. She had to know one way or another just what lay beyond that edge. "I wanted to see Dougla.s.s before I left anyway."

"Good. That sounds real good." He grinned.

For some reason Victoria started to feel like she just got conned.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

It surprised Callan that Dougla.s.s had phoned to invite him over. Idle threats weren't Papa Baird's forte. If he said don't darken my door, he meant it. Callan quit work early, checked to see if Victoria had made it home yet-she hadn't-and then made his way to Baird's.

He knocked once and then used his key. The moment he stepped inside, he knew Victoria was there. He hadn't lost that preternatural sense. The air filled with a different energy and the world around him lit with color. Nothing but Victoria mattered as he sucked in vanilla scented air.

Papa Baird had been right to tear into him. Callan would be f.u.c.king daft if he didn't give her a reason to stay. He needed her to breathe easy. He wanted to do the same for her. It was just that simple, not complicated at all. And how lucky was he to find love again? To even be able to feel it so deeply it took his breath away.

Her back was to him as she set a kettle on the stove. She turned with a smile and it froze on her lips when her gaze clashed with his. She wore a plain blouse, navy blue slacks and he'd never seen a more beautiful woman in his life. A more kind and patient woman, because she had to be to have dealt with him.

What was the advice Papa Baird had given him? There were only two things he needed to say: I'm sorry and I love you.

He'd said the first, but hadn't the b.a.l.l.s to say the second, but the day before she'd kissed him goodbye and meant it. She was leaving so what did fear mean? Hadn't it held him back so long already?

And this moment wasn't about him. It was about letting her know she mattered more than anything in his world. She hadn't been some wet hole to make him feel better. He didn't just care for her, he loved her. She made him want to live again, and she should know that.

His heart kicked up from nerves, but he didn't let that stop him from saying, "I love you, Victoria."

Pain, that he had put there, filled her eyes. That crushed him, but he swallowed and said it again with more force, "I love you, Victoria."

"Tristan must have told you," she said and her voice broke. She turned back to the stove, but he still saw the tears. "You don't have to do this. It's okay."

He stood there dumbstruck. "Tristan?"

She slammed the kettle down. "He's no better than Dougla.s.s when it comes to setting me up. When you weren't here, I relaxed. I should have known better."

He moved away from the door and entered the kitchen but stopped near the table. He'd just spilled his heart out to her and she was talking about his cousin and Papa Baird. "What the f.u.c.k does Tristan have to do with anything?"

Finally she looked at him, confusion pulling at her brows. "You don't know."

"Know what?"

She blinked, the confusion deepening. "Then why are you saying you love me?"

"Because I do," he threw at her.

She stood there, her hand gripped on the kettle. She started to shake her head. "Don't say it if you don't mean it. Not today. Not right now. We need to talk and you might feel differently."

He hadn't expected open arms and tears, but how deeply had he hurt her? "No. I'm a stubborn b.a.s.t.a.r.d. If I love you today, I'm going to love you tomorrow. I'll probably always be grouchy and occasionally sad. I'm not a lighthearted man anymore. But know this, I love you."

She kept shaking her head, so he went on.

"If you will let me, I plan to wake up every morning and to love you like it's my last."

She bit into her bottom lip and tears started to fall. That did him in. He swept her up into his arms and kissed her until she melted into him. G.o.d. He'd missed her. Missed the way everything inside him fell away and nothing but her mattered. He cradled her face and pulled back. "I love you, Victoria. I'm going to say it until you believe me."

Her breath caught as the tears came down faster. "I'm pregnant."

His world stopped spinning. "What?" he whispered.

"I told you to wait, but then you did that whole speech and kissed me." She tried to step back but Callan refused to let her go. "I'm pregnant. I took a test before I came over here. And then I took two more. Blue lines, two lines and a digital voice confirmed it's a sure thing." She sucked in a breath and tried to hide all the emotions on her face. "I know this is a lot to take in. I'll give you time. h.e.l.l, I need time."

Callan glanced down and looked at her stomach. His child. Theirs. Apparently words had failed him, and clearly she didn't believe them anyway. He dragged her back up to his mouth and kissed her deeper. He kissed her in a way that left no doubt she was the one who held his heart now and always. He hoped it eased all her hurts, her fears and everything in between until all she could feel was joy, need and love. When she moaned and grabbed his s.h.i.+rt, he kept right on kissing her.

"Laddie," Dougla.s.s barked. "Let the woman breathe."

He listened to his uncle, but first brushed his lips over her cheeks, the tears. "Where did you come from?" Callan asked, annoyed.

"The pub. Just in time to save her too."

Victoria laughed, but she placed a hand on his jaw. "Callan-"

"I love you, Victoria."

Victoria pressed her face into his chest, because he kept saying those words and it didn't feel real. She'd been trying to hold it together since the first test came back positive. She was on the pill but they hadn't been careful. But still, she couldn't be. Not when the child's father didn't love her back. She refused to cry or break so she'd bossed Dougla.s.s around until he found some excuse to check on the pub. Unfortunately that left her alone with her thoughts.

It didn't take long for her to play out every moment since she'd stepped foot in Scotland. Callan's kisses, their s.e.x, his worry for her, the inner war playing over his face as he comforted her, cared for her. He hadn't wanted to fall for her any more than she wanted to fall for him and they had anyway. And now he'd stopped fighting the inevitable. Could she?

Callan tightened his arms around her as she began to tremble. When she looked up at him, his eyes had darkened with concern, love. The wall around her heart started to crumble.

"I love you," he said again.

She'd seen the words before he'd said them, but she had to know for sure. And then she could breathe again. "Are you sure, Callan? Me and a baby. I can't do this if you're just going to hurt me again. I won't."

"If I showed you would you believe me then?"

She frowned, not sure what he meant. "Show me?"

Callan turned to Dougla.s.s who sported a big grin. Callan said, "Go get the plaid."

"The plaid?" she asked before meeting his gaze again.

He caught the stray tears with his thumb and wiped them away. Her heart twisted at the gentle action. "Callan, the plaid?"

"There was a time in Scotland where you said to someone, I, Callan Jacob Baird, will take you to be my wife in one year and one day. But we both know I'm not that patient so let's settle for the first plane ride your mother and sister can make it out."

Victoria had to admit, she got a little dizzy. "Oh, you're serious."