Wilde For You (The Wilde Sisters Book 3) (10 page)

Luke debated on whether he should follow her and convince her to stay the night. Or at least for another round of dessert sex. Or hell, he’d settle for her company over a slice of pie. But the woman ran when he pushed too hard. He’d been holding back over the weeks. Not taking conversation beyond the basic weather, work, and current events. He slipped in snippets of his family life here and there, Sage never offering any personal information of her own. Obviously wanting to keep their relationship purely sexual.

He knew if he pushed he’d completely lose her. Something had to have happened to her to make her fear relationships. Growing up with brothers and sisters who came from difficult pasts, and spending half his adolescence in therapy, he could see past the hardened, serious façade Sage put on. Just like Lucy. Both women had layers and hidden deep were two sensitive, caring individuals crying out for attention.

Luke was a patient man and would wait for Sage to realize he was a good guy. And she was a good person. And how perfect they’d be for each other. He slid on a pair of basketball shorts and walked her to her car, kissing her briefly before waving goodbye.

The next day at the firehouse Luke walked into the lounge and saw Brian in an embrace with his wife. As Luke turned around to give the couple privacy, Brian called out, “Come in, Luke. You can be the first to hear the news.”

Luke walked back in and quirked an eyebrow. “Hey, Claire.”

“Hi, Luke.” Brian’s wife grinned from ear to ear, her cheeks flushed and her lips swollen. Luke had obviously walked in on something. “We’re pregnant. Again.”

“Congratulations. Wow. This makes three?”

“Yeah. In four years.”

“You guys are busy.”

“If my wife wasn’t so dammed sexy I’d be able to keep my hands to myself.” Brian pulled Claire in for another hug and kissed her head.

“As if. I still haven’t lost the baby weight from Faith and she’s three.”

Claire’s phone rang. She gave her husband a kiss and moved toward the windows to take her call.

“She’s great.”

“Yeah. She’s a keeper.” Brian pulled a water bottle from the fridge. “Want one?”

“Sure.”

Brian tossed one to Luke and dropped to the nearest chair. “I’m happy. Really, I am. We’d talked about having one more but I thought we’d wait a few more years.” He unscrewed his water bottle and chugged half of it down before coming up for air. “But our friends and family have turned into baby-making machines and she got the itch.”

Luke didn’t know too much about Brian and Claire. He liked the guy. They got along well but traveled in different circles. Luke’s brothers and sisters were all in their late twenties and early thirties and he knew his mother had hoped one of them would be settled down and married by now. Popping out a slew of grandkids.

“Claire’s brother and his wife are having another baby. And the wife’s sister is pregnant. With twins.” Brian shuddered and finished his water bottle, sinking down in one of the worn out recliners. “Don’t know what I’d do if we had twins.”

“Twins could be fun,” Claire teased as she ended her call and sat on the armrest to Brian’s chair.

“Do they run in your family?” Luke sipped his water and stretched his feet out in front of him.

“No. My sister-in-law’s sister who is pregnant is actually a surrogate for the other sister. Kinda cool. Definitely not what we expected from Sage. She’s not the…pregnant type.”

Luke spit out his water and sat up straighter. “Sage?”

“Do you know her?”

Know her? Hell, he knew every curve, every freckle, every sensitive spot on her body. “Yeah. You could say that.”

“Really?” Claire gave Luke a measured look before her mouth turned into a man-eating grin.

“Interesting one, huh? Never pegged her to do something like this for Thyme. Sage is your stereotypical independent woman. Total ballbuster. Take-no-prisoners kinda woman,” Brian said as he rubbed his wife’s leg.

Oh, Luke knew all too well.

“So how do you know Sage?” Claire asked.

“She organized my mother’s sixtieth birthday party a few weeks ago.”

“She’s good at that,” Claire said. “You should see our kids’ birthday parties. Sage goes a little nuts but we love it. The guys? They sit back, sip their beer, and usually offer to do cleanup. Not a bad deal.”

“Oh please. We slave over the grill and roll around in the dirt with the kids while you girls sip margaritas.”

“We’re all pregnant. There can’t be rolling, and no more sipping…for a while.”

Brian shook his head and apologized to Luke. “Single guy like you probably goes out every night with a different girl. Oh, I remember those days,” Brian teased and Claire swatted him. “We’re probably boring you.”

“No problem. I may be single, but I’m from a pretty big family. Someday I’ll settle down and hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to find what you two have.”

Claire flashed Luke a grin. “I should set you up with Sage. You’d fit right in with our crazy family.”

Luke opened his mouth to tell Claire that wasn’t necessary, but an idea started forming. “I’d like that.”

“The family is getting together next weekend at Trent’s. Birthday party for Sage. She hates that kind of thing but her sisters enjoy torturing her.”

“That sounds perfect.”

Chapter Nine

Sage

“Birthday parties are stupid.”

“Says the party planner.”

“Shut up. You know what I mean. I’m turning thirty-two. And I’m pregnant. I don’t need a party.”

“Pregnant ladies can’t have birthday parties? Shucks.” Rayne rubbed her belly and smirked at Sage. Olivia would be one next month and there was already a little baby growing in her sister’s belly. The pregnancy had come as a surprise to Rayne, expecting her third child around the same time as Thyme and Grayson’s twins were due.

“I like to plan the parties, not be the guest of honor. I’m going to criticize everything you’ve done, you know.”

“Don’t be such a bi—”

“Thyme. Just drop it. We knew she would be a grouch and we agreed to ignore her. It’s April. The trees are budding. It’s sixty degrees and sunny. A beautiful day to celebrate our big sister.”

“Whatever. Did you hire strippers?”

Rayne laughed, handed Sage a glass of ginger ale, and looped her arm through her sister’s. “Don’t be such a spoilsport.” Rayne looked out the kitchen slider doors where Trent, Grayson, and Brian played with the kids on the swing set. Claire stood back, taking pictures and laughing at the boys.

“I can’t believe you and Claire are pregnant again. You’re all crazy,” Sage grumbled.

“They’re perfect. I wish…” Thyme shrugged.

“Oh, honey.” Rayne hugged Thyme. “We’re being insensitive.”

Sage cringed and sat at the barstool. Thyme was the only woman in the family not pregnant and she desperately wanted to be. Sage had no idea why. Weight gain, stretch marks, water retention, and heartburn. Where was the fun in that? Although it was kind of cool feeling the little creatures move around in her belly. It wasn’t a sensation she could describe to someone who had never been pregnant. Those freaking pregnancy hormones were making her soft. And sensitive.

“Do me a favor, Thyme.”

“Anything.”

“Have a margarita for me today. Please.” It was the least she could do for her non-pregnant sister.

“Hey, Wilde sisters. What’s going on?” Claire strolled over to the group and rubbed Rayne’s and then Sage’s bellies. “You’re not going to make nine months. You know that, right?”

“God, I hope not. I’m ready now.”

“Has pregnancy cramped your dating life yet? It does wondrous things to your libido, if you know what I mean. ”

Oh, she knew. All too well.

“Sage doesn’t date. We’ve never met a boyfriend. Never even seen her out on a date. Maybe she’s gay?” Thyme teased.

“I’m not gay. I just don’t let men run my life.”

“Speaking of tall, dark, and handsome…I invited someone I thought you might be interested in. He should be here any minute.”

“For me? Why the hell would you do that?”

“A blind date? Oh, how fun!” Rayne clapped and literally danced on the balls of her feet.

“You’re pathetic. How can you be so perky all the time?”

“How can you be so bitchy?” Thyme retorted.

“Girls. Girls. No pressure,” Claire said to Sage. “I just thought this guy would be good for you. He likes kids and is totally hot.”

“So you invited him to my birthday party? No pressure there.”

There was a reason she never brought men around her sisters. They’d expect too much. Put too much pressure on her to settle down. And the guy would get the wrong impression.

Hell, Sage didn’t even bring girlfriends around. Not that she had any. Work consumed her. She wasn’t the friendly, social type anyway. Seeing her sisters once a week was enough. And Claire. Claire was cool, but not someone she’d call up in an emergency. Sage didn’t even call her sisters in an emergency. She handled everything herself.

“I’m not hooking up with your friend,” Sage said as she filled her glass of ginger ale. “Besides. I look like I swallowed a watermelon.”

“You don’t have to hook up. Just be nice,” Rayne said as she sliced cucumbers and carrots for the veggie tray.

“Sage doesn’t know how to be nice.” Thyme stuck her tongue out at her and sliced cheese to go along with the crackers. “Well, except for the pregnancy thing. You’re pretty kickass in the surrogate mom department.”

“Whatever.”

The women worked in tandem, filling up trays with food and hustling them outside on the tables. When the doorbell rang all the others looked at Sage and smiled.

“I’m outta here.” Sage got up and went outside to hang with the men. Let her sisters ogle the dupe Claire invited.

“How’s it going, Sage?” Brian asked as he pushed his three-year-old, Faith, on the swing.

“I don’t like your wife.”

“Oh. She must have told you about inviting your friend today.”

“Friend?”

Grayson and Trent smiled while Brian nodded toward the house. Sage didn’t turn around but could feel the fresh Maine air fill with more testosterone than a MMA match.

“Dude. Glad you could make it.” Brian shot out his hand and from the corner of her eye Sage could see a strong, familiar forearm reach out and grasp it.

Sage slowly turned and gasped as she looked into a pair of rich hazel eyes. Eyes that darkened to a deep amber when he made love. His black hair was cut shorter and spiked stylishly in the front. Nothing too drastic, just a little Channing Tatum action going on. And the smell of soap and man. Damn. Her hormones kicked into overdrive.

“Sage. You look beautiful as always.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Happy birthday.”

“Trent, Grayson. This is Luke Riley. He’s a firefighter. Iraq vet. Your typical badass,” Brian, the traitor, introduced her…friend? No, Sage didn’t have friends. Luke was…her lover? Ew, that sounded so romance-novelish. Her sex slave? Yes, that was an introduction she could live with.

“Nice to meet you,” Grayson said. “I’m Thyme’s husband. The father of those.” He pointed at Sage’s belly.

Luke’s laughter caused the twins to stir inside her womb. Or maybe it was her flattened bladder needing to pee. Something inside didn’t feel familiar.

“Daddy. Can you spin me around again?”

“And this is our daughter Maddie. Maddie, say hello to Sage’s friend Mr. Riley.”

“Hi, Mr. Riley. My brother and sister are inside Sage’s belly.”

“We don’t know if they’re boys or girls, sweetheart.” Grayson picked up his daughter and brought her to the other side of the lawn so he could give her a princess twirl.

“And Rayne is mine. We’re expecting another one a little after Sage pops these two out,” Trent teased.

“Nice to meet you. I can’t say I’ve heard too much about you. Sage is pretty closed up about her family.” Sage opened her mouth to spit fire at Luke but he stopped her with a kiss. On the lips. In front of everyone. “Didn’t even know it was her birthday.”

“Yeah, she’s like that. The only way we could get her here was to tempt her with my raspberry coconut cake.”

“Interesting. I made her a chocolate cream pie the other night but it didn’t seem to do much for her.”

“I’m right here, you know. No need to talk about me in the third person.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, dearest sister-in-law,” Trent said as he draped his arm around Luke’s massive shoulders. Luke had a good six inches on Trent, but they didn’t look awkward, just mischievous. “We boys have some serious bonding to do.” He turned Luke away from Sage and Luke turned his head and winked at her before walking off.

“Bastard.”

“Your boyfriend is seriously hot,” Thyme said after the boys left, fanning her face with her hand.

“Smoking,” Rayne chimed in.

“Totally smitten,” Claire added.

“He may be smoking hot but he’s not smitten. It’s just sex. He shouldn’t be here.”

“The boys like him.” Rayne rested her hands on her belly and smiled adoringly at the men.

Sickening.

“Of course they do. He’s a guy’s guy. But I’m not a guy’s guy’s girl.”

“I don’t even know what that means, but you’re wrong.” Rayne rubbed her barely showing baby bump.

“He’s not my type.”

“We don’t know what your type is because you’ve never introduced us to a guy before. Luke’s the first,” Thyme pointed out.

“I didn’t introduce him to you.”

“Good point.” Thyme grabbed Sage with one hand and Rayne with the other. “Let’s get properly introduced to the first guy to make our big sister blush.”

“I’m not blushing. I’m pregnant and hot and annoyed.”

“Hmph.” Thyme skipped over to the men. “Hi, Luke. I’m Thyme. The reason Sage’s hormones are out of whack. Normally she’s very irritable.”

Luke laughed and, ignoring Thyme’s outstretched hands, he kissed her cheek. “Congratulations. And thank you for making Sage much more approachable. I appreciate it.”

“And I’m Rayne. It’s
very
nice to meet you.” Luke kissed her cheek.

“And congratulations to you as well, I hear.”

“Yes. We’re very excited.” Rayne’s eyes turned soft as she looked at Trent.

“From the sounds of your husbands, you ladies walk on water. And I can see why they think so.”

“Aww.” Thyme leaned her head on Grayson and stroked his chest; Rayne bit her lip as Trent winked at her and Brian grabbed Claire’s butt in a playful squeeze.

“You guys are disgusting.” Sage turned and walked away from the overexposure of PDA. She went to the bathroom, for the thirtieth time today, did her business, and bumped into Luke on her way out. “What are you doing here?”

“I needed to use the bathroom.”

“Not what I mean.” She leaned against the wall and quirked her eyebrow at him. “How did you find out about this?”

“Most homes have bathrooms. Typically off the kitchen or mudroom.”

“Very funny. Not what I mean.”

“Claire invited me.”

“Yeah. I got that part.”

“Claire mentioned her pregnancy and said her sister-in-law’s sister was a surrogate. I put two and two together. Probably not too many of you floating around Maine.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“What did you tell them about…us?”

Luke stepped closer, his thighs brushing against her belly. “Did I tell them that you have a ticklish spot behind your knee?” He moved in, his breath mingling with hers. “Or that you moan when I kiss your neck?” He lowered his lips to her ear. “Or that you claw at my back when I—”

“Stop. Please,” she whispered.

Luke pulled back, still keeping their bodies connected, tilting his head down so he could look into her eyes. “I told them you organized my mom’s party. Claire decided to play matchmaker and I let her.”

“They don’t know…”

“No.” Luke shook his head. “But I think they figured it out by the way you were looking at me outside.”

“What?” She pushed his chest, not able to budge him even slightly, his dimple growing deeper. “I did not…I don’t look at you…I…”

“Sweetheart.”

“I’m
not
sweet.”

“You’re sure as hell not. You’re full of spit and vinegar.” He kissed her swiftly on the lips and backed away. “And spice. Hot, sexy spices.”

“You’re blind if you think—”

“Shh. You’re too serious. Too hard on yourself. Relax and enjoy the day, birthday girl.” Luke kissed her again, this time slowly and deeply. She brought her hands up and clasped them behind his neck, pulling him into her, swallowing him whole.

“Get a room, you two.”

Sage pulled back and licked her lips, ashamed at her uncharacteristic display of way over-the-top PDA. “We would, but you keep filling up your spares. Pretty soon you’ll need an addition.”

“I’m cool with that,” Trent said. “Ladies sent me in to make sure you weren’t chewing out Luke, but it seems like he enjoys…being chewed. Or licked. Or whatever you kids are calling it these days.” Trent chuckled as he turned and went back outside.

“We should join the rest of the gang.”

“I thought you had to use the bathroom.” Sage glared at him, crossing her arms across her basketball belly.

“Nah. I’m good now.” He winked at her before taking her hand and leading her down the hall. “I like your family, by the way. I’d like to introduce you to mine one day.”

Sage stilled and Luke tugged her forward. “I met them already.”

“That doesn’t count. That was at my mom’s party and you did nothing more than acknowledge their presence.”

“I’m not really into that.”

“What?” Luke stopped before they stepped outside. “The family scene? Seems like you’re doing it fine here.”

“These are my people. My sisters and brothers-in-law and Brian and Claire. They’re family too and still I’m…”
Socially awkward
she wanted to say. “Meeting your family would be too…”