Monroe, Marla - The Bikers and the Socialite [The Dirty Dozen 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (15 page)

What would Sarah Beth think about her living with Allen and Shane? Would she still want to be friends with her, or shun her? When did what anyone else thought really become an issue with her? She had never cared before. In fact, she’d done everything she could to alienate herself from the elite crowd her stepmother was a part of.

Her head was beginning to pound, and she felt ill again. She noticed Tina stand up and walk out of the kitchen into the living room. The next thing she knew, Allen and Shane were kneeling by her chair asking her what was wrong.

She managed to get out
headache
, but that was all. Her head swam as Shane picked her up and carried her upstairs. She could hear Allen talking to Tina but couldn’t make out what she said.

“Baby, are you going to throw up? Do you need the bathroom or just to lie down?”

“Bed.”

Shane gently laid her on the bed and pulled off her shoes. Then he knelt by the bed and began massaging her scalp. It felt good, but her headache was getting worse. She felt tears running down her face.

“Shane? Tina thinks that if it’s bad enough, she should go to the hospital and be sure her blood pressure isn’t up.” Allen stood over her with his hand on Shane’s shoulder.

“Baby, do you have headaches like this very often?” Shane asked.

“No. I’ll be okay. Sleep.”

“Let’s give her an hour and see how she is. If it doesn’t get better, we’ll take her,” Shane said.

“I’m okay, Shane. Just a headache.”

“Tina is worried it’s your blood pressure, baby. She’s a nurse.”

She knew that her blood pressure was probably up, because she was so worried about everything going on. She would have to stop worrying so much or she would end up in trouble. Ever since her father had died and she’d been on the warpath with her stepmother, she’d had minor problems with her blood pressure. Being pregnant had doubled her trouble. She closed her eyes again and willed herself to relax and go to sleep. She’d be fine when she woke up again.

She hoped the guys would be okay. They had never been around her when she had a sick headache. She didn’t want them to make her go to the hospital. This wasn’t going to help her fight to continue living on her own, either.

Chapter Twelve

Allen and Shane lay in the bed on either side of Parker, listening to her breathe and talking about the meeting. Allen still couldn’t believe that everyone had agreed to keep them in the gang. He had expected them to want to keep their lives private, but they had surprised him to say the least. It made him even more proud to be a part of them.

Now if they could only convince Parker to live with them, everything would work out. He glanced over at her pale face once again and hoped they’d made the right decision not to take her to the hospital. She had said she just needed sleep. He glanced over at the clock on the bedside table. It was closing in on midnight.

“She’s still breathing easy, Allen.”

“I’d feel better if she woke up and was fine again.”

“Yeah, me, too.”

They were quite again for several minutes when Parker rolled over and wrapped her arm around Shane’s chest. He grinned. It was the first time she had moved since they had put her to bed.

“That makes me feel better, even if it is you she turned to.”

“I think she must normally sleep on her left side,” Shane said.

“Can’t you guys keep it down? It’s late.”

“Sorry, baby. Did we wake you up?” Allen asked.

“I think I need to get up and pee.”

Shane chuckled, earning him a jerk of chest hair. He rubbed the offended area and sat up to get out of bed and help Parker.

“Need help?” Allen asked.

“No. I’m fine. I just need the bathroom.” They watched as she slowly got out of bed and made her way toward there.

When she had closed the door, Allen looked over at Shane.

“She seems okay, just drowsy.”

“Yeah, I think she’s over it. I want her checked out, though.”

“I agree. I don’t know who her doctor is, but we need to find out and get some information on pregnancy. Tina said she shouldn’t be drinking coffee with caffeine in it.”

“Uh, I sure don’t want to have to take that away from her.” Shane shivered.

“If it’s bad for her and the baby, she can’t have it.” Allen was adamant about it.

The door opened, and Parker emerged from the bathroom with a smile on her face. She looked much more awake now.

“I’m hungry, do you mind if I go fix something to eat?”

“I’ll go down with you.” Allen quickly got out of the bed and pulled on jeans. He didn’t bother buttoning the top button.

“I’ll hold the bed for you until you get back,” Shane teased her.

She surprised him and bent down and kissed him softly on the lips, then turned and headed for the door. Allen winked at Shane. Things were looking better.

Allen followed Parker downstairs and into the kitchen. She stopped and looked forlornly at the coffeemaker. Allen held his breath. He didn’t want to have to tell her no, but he would. To his relief, she turned to the fridge and rummaged around inside of it before pulling out the makings of a sandwich.

“Want me to fix that for you, baby?”

“No thanks. Making it is half the fun.”

“Are you craving anything in particular?”

She laughed. “No cravings for pickles or pistachio ice cream.”

“Good, I didn’t really want to finish dressing and run to the store.”

“I need to get my baby book to see what I’m supposed to be doing. I hadn’t really let it all sink in until now. It’s a little overwhelming.”

“I’m sure it is, baby. But you’re not alone. You’ve got me and Shane and the entire gang behind you. There’s no need to worry or be scared.”

“Try telling my brain that. It has a mind of its own.”

“Yeah, Shane and I already figured that one out.”

Parker scowled at him. He just grinned.

She finished making her sandwich and sat down to eat while Allen put everything away for her. She finished the entire thing and a glass of milk as well. Allen was glad to see her eating. She had lost some weight since that night eight weeks ago. It was hard to believe that it had been that long since they had met her.

“I’m ready to go back to bed now. Are you coming?” she asked.

“Right behind you.”

They managed to get in bed without waking Shane up. Parker seemed to be especially proud of that. Allen settled her against him with her head on his shoulder. She was quiet for so long that he thought she had gone straight to sleep. When she spoke several minutes later, it startled him.

“Are you really happy about the baby, Allen?”

“Yeah, I am. I wish it would have happened when we were already together, but if this is what it took to get you back in our lives, I’m more than happy about it.”

“What about Shane?”

“You’ll have to ask him, but I know he’s happy about it.”

“I’m scared you’re going to feel trapped after a while. You’re not the kind of guys to settle down, Allen.”

“Whoa, wait a minute. How do you know what kind of guys we are?”

“You have more than one box of condoms in each drawer on either side of the bed. You have a box in the bathroom downstairs. You were perfectly happy to have a one-night stand with me. You’re players, Allen. There’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve been that way most of my adult life. I’m just saying that you’re not going to settle down and be happy with one woman.”

“Baby, you have no idea. We’ve been hoping to find a woman to marry us and live with us for over five years now. We never had until we met you. That one night was all it took to convince us that you were the one. We fought it, though. I’ll admit we did because we couldn’t believe that someone like you would ever think about settling down with two men like us.”

“Someone like me? You mean a spoiled, rich brat?”

“Rich and beautiful brat. We’re not worried about the spoiled part, baby. We aim to do some spoiling of our own.”

“I don’t know what to think, Allen. Part of me wants to believe it could work, but part of me believes that we’re all too wild and independent to live together. Plus, there would be three of us.”

“Nope, baby. There will be four of us.” Allen sighed and decided to lay all his cards on the line. “Is it because of the conditions of the will, Parker?”

Parker jerked then relaxed. “No. I would marry you regardless of the will if I thought it was the right thing for us to do. I don’t care about the stupid will. She can have the fucking money if that’s what she so desperately wants. I told you that.”

“I just don’t see what else there is holding you back.”

“Allen, I want what my parents had. They were so desperately in love that they couldn’t stand to be apart for long. They were so happy. Then mom died and dad just sort of drifted. He wasn’t even paying much attention to business. It nearly killed him to lose her.”

Parker sighed and ran her fingers through his chest hair.

“When he married the bitch, I was appalled. I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking. He didn’t love her or even really care about her. He just did it for me. To make sure there was someone to watch out for me because he wasn’t able to do it anymore. “

“And you don’t believe that we could have that?” Allen felt his heart turn over in his chest.

“I’m scared that you will never feel that way about me. I’ve been wild in my life, Allen. I’m not a virgin, and now I’ve put you in a bad predicament with being pregnant and bringing down all sorts of media hell on you and your gang.”

“Baby, I love you just like you are. I’ve loved you since you took my heart eight weeks ago. I’ve spent the last seven weeks miserable, thinking I would never see you again.”

“Don’t say that, Allen. Not unless you mean it.”

“Parker, I mean it with all my heart and all my soul. I’ve never told another person that I loved them before. Well, except for Shane in a drunken moment when we got back stateside.”

Parker giggled at that. She had tears in her eyes. He used his thumb to wipe them away.

“Don’t cry, baby. I don’t love him like I love you.”

“I fucking hope not.” Shane’s sleepy voice reached them from the other side of the bed.

“Turn over here and convince our woman that we love her.”

Shane rolled over and ran his hand up Parker’s back to the nape of her neck. He squeezed looking over at Allen. Allen could see the fear in his friend’s face. He didn’t want to confess he loved her for fear she’d throw it back in his face. Allen wanted to be able to assure him that it would be okay, but the fact was, he didn’t know if it would or not. He wasn’t convinced that she loved them as much as they loved her.

“Parker, you are the most important person in my life. I will do anything to make you happy and convince you that we love you and want you to be a permanent part of our lives.”

Allen winced. It wasn’t a profession of his undying love like he had hoped. He waited to see what Parker would say.

“Do
you
love me, Shane?”

“Yes, I do, Parker. I love you enough that this scares the hell out of me telling you.”