Scandal: The Reckless Series, Book #3 (The Reckless Crew) (15 page)

C
harlie has been
the best distraction while I wait on Kip to get his ass back home. Darby and Rhett are still in Ohio. Everything is wrapped up with their adoption and they should be home in a couple of days.

Ava’s phone and mine ding at the same exact time. We exchange a curious look before picking it up. It’s Darby holding her brand new boy in her arms. They found out more about him when arriving in Ohio. He’s actually eleven months old and has been abandoned by his birth mother. He was basically raised by his car seat and only fed to maintain a steady life.

He was found when a neighbor reported abuse. I guess it wasn’t the first time either, but rather the fifteenth time. My eyes are being opened to how corrupt our system is, but then with sleaze bags like Zack running Congress, it’s no wonder. I know there are good guys, but seems the handful of bad ones and red tape corrupts everything.

Dane Westburn is one blessed little boy to be in the arms of Darby. Her smile is contagious. I can’t wait to meet him.

“I’m so happy for her.” Ava wipes a stray tear away.

I pat her back and agree.

“Actually.” She looks up to me with tears streaming down her face. “I’m so fucking happy for all of us.”

I smile and refuse to let our pasts cause us anymore tears.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Charlie waves her hands above her head, letting the sand from her sandbox trickle in her hair.

Zane clears his throat and holds back his laughter. They’ve fought over Charlie picking up his foul language, so the fact she drops her F bomb courtesy of Ava hasn’t gone unnoticed. Ava sends him the bird.

My phone beeps again and I swipe open the Google alert I have set on my phone.

“What is it?”

My brow furrows reading the headline. “Congressman Blackwell Attacked Outside His Office: Breaking News.”

I read a few lines of the article and then hand my phone to Ava to read it.

“Holy shit.” She covers her mouth.

“What?” Zane asks.

Ava begins reading the article out loud to Zane. I take a long pull from the beer in front of me. The subtle sound of an engine roaring in the distance makes my stomach flip. As it nears, my hormones roar with need for my man. The familiar cloud of dust rolls down the lane with the sexiest man on Earth settled on his sleek black bike.

He kills the engine, tosses his glasses down on the gas tank, and flips his hat backwards. Kip takes his time lazily waltzing up to the deck. He stands in front of me with his hands on hips. My eyes go to his scabbed over knuckles and I know without a question why he stayed an extra day in Tennessee.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“For?”

“Loving me.”

He pulls me up to my feet and kisses me. He then steals my seat and settles down in it with me in his lap. The thief also steals my beer, but I figure he’s earned it and I’d share anything with this man.

Zane stares at Kip’s knuckles and shakes his head.

“I’ve always said. Never fuck with the silent one,” Zane finally says.

“
T
hey’re going
to kill us.”

Kip just shrugs, undoing one of the buttons on his sexy robin’s egg blue dress shirt. “It’s our day and the way we want it.”

Kip’s dad comes bustling out the front door with Boozer on his leash. “Ready kids?”

His smile couldn’t be any wider and contagious. I’ve never seen the resemblance so strong between Kip and his dad until now. They’re both dressed in the same color dress shirt. Kip’s sleeves are rolled up exposing his sexy ink and now only half the buttons are fastened. His dad, on the other hand, has all but the top button fastened and his sleeves rolled down. They’re in matching khaki pants and black Converse.

Over the last two months since my divorce was finalized, I’ve really bonded with his dad. Even though he’s an educated and well-known surgeon, he’s also one of the most laid back men I’ve ever met. He enjoys his days off on the back patio sipping on wine and entertaining his lady friend, Kathy. He’s the ying to Kip’s yang.

“Ready to join this family?” he asks, wrapping an arm around me.

Bernie, Kip’s dad, is about the only man on this green Earth that can touch me without Kip going ballistic. Kip Parker has turned out to be the most gentle and loving man I could ever imagine and also in the same sense a protective lover. He’s always by my side and has no problem taking down anyone who is disrespectful to me. I only giggle when his signature growl pops up when another man checks me out a bit too long.

“I’m so ready to be Mrs. Chloe Parker for the rest of my days.” I lean into his dad’s shoulder and let him guide me to Kip’s new truck.

The men roll their eyes when I make them play “Going To The Chapel” on the drive to the courthouse, yet they indulge me. Boozer’s wet nose tickles my neck and I lean into Kip, belting out parts of the song. I even sneak in a few kisses on his cheek.

We’d discussed a weekend getaway to Vegas with our friends and his dad. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be united forever with an Elvis impersonator in a chapel filled with velvet heart pillows. The reality is all of our lives are far too busy to even begin to coordinate the venture. And if I’ve discovered one thing its life is far too short with a limited number of hours and days to not cherish what you love.

Our relationship has never been typical, starting out with lust, dating, and all the other things in between. It’s been our love story and up until now it’s been unorthodox and perfect at best. So when he slipped a diamond ring on my finger while making love to me, I could only smile and nod.

Kip kills the engine of his truck, slides out, and offers me his hand with a smile I’ll never tire of. The man’s smile has the power to entrap me in his never-ending cyclone of love. Every time he smiles it causes the flicker of happiness to shine in his eyes. Those eyes that are now my home.

I smooth out the bottom of my short white dress and then take his hand. We walk as a complete family into the courthouse and wait our turn to become man and wife. It’s nothing special in front of the Justice of the Peace, but it’s our moment. Boozer on my side and Bernie on Kip’s side as we say our vows and finish with the “I dos” and a kiss. It’s sweet and tender.

“Okay, I’m pretty sure Darby is going to stab me,” I say, sliding into the truck.

“I’ll handle her,” Kip says, reaching over, kissing me again before driving back home.

We invited everyone over for a barbecue tonight, but the surprise is on them since it will be our official wedding reception.

“Kathy is there getting everything set out.” Bernie leans forward and places his palm on the top of my leg. “I have something I want to talk to you kids about.”

“What’s up, old man?”

“I’m in the process of phasing out of my practice and selling it to a young whipper snapper.”

“Bernie.” I turn towards him. The words escape me. I want to tell him no because so many deserve his kind and caring hands.

He reaches down in his pocket and pulls out a set of keys. “Here’s your wedding gift. I’m going to move to the beach house with Kathy and have a weekend home in your cottage off the house Kip.”

I swear Kip swerves while driving and then clears his throat. “Dad.”

Bernie stops him before he has a chance to say a word. “I know you’ve never been good with change, son. But this is happening and you deserve it.”

I squeeze the top of Kip’s thigh and then turn to Bernie, wrapping him up in a hug. I whisper in his ear.

“Thank you. Thank you for giving me Kip and thank you for operating on a stranger you didn’t even know. I love you.”

He hugs me right back. “Thank you for loving Kip the way he is.”

I dry my eyes and then blare the “Going to the Chapel” song again. All of our friends are already at the house. Kathy texted Bernie, letting him know they’re all out on the back patio enjoying appetizers. She also politely added hurry your asses up because the blonde is getting chippy.

“She’s going to kick me in the crotch.”

Bernie laughs and hops out of the truck. “I’ll go in first.”

He disappears into the house while Kip and I climb from the truck. The diamond on my left hand shines in the sun and I feel whole again. It’s been a long time coming.

“You’re gorgeous, baby.” Kip pulls me into his chest.

My arms go on automatic as they wrap around his neck. He palms my ass while nibbling on my bottom lip.

“I’m so proud of you, Kip. Are you excited to start your new job on the force tomorrow?”

“Not as excited as I am to start our life as Mister and Misses.”

“Mmmmmm.” I take his lips in mine and let my tongue wander around in his mouth until his phone dings with a text alert. We don’t bother looking and know it’s time to enter our reception.

Hand in hand we enter the house. Kip stops in the kitchen and grabs a beer, he takes a long pull from it before we walk the rest of the way through the house, making our way to the back patio. Butterflies flutter around in my stomach. I’m a giddy little girl who just scored her Prince Charming.

With Kip’s hand in mine and my bouquet in the other we waltz out onto the patio. Our friends are busy in conversation, but Charlie spots me.

“Ko-Ko.”

Everyone turns to us. I raise my bouquet over my head and Kip raises his beer. There’s a few gasps.

“Surprise!” I squeal. “Thanks for coming to our wedding reception.”

Kip lowers his arm and takes another long pull from his beer before turning to me. He lowers his face, dips me backwards, and lip locks me. It’s his taste mingled with the beer and forever type love.

“You assholes,” Darby shouts.

Kip giggles down onto my mouth and I can’t help but smile. In a matter of seconds, my two best friends attack me. They stare at the ring and hug the hell out of me.

“I knew it. I just knew you two would do this after you got engaged.” Ava wraps me in a tight hug. Well, as tight as they get with her belly in the way.

“I should really kick you or pull your hair. Good thing I love you, Chloe.” Darby is next to hug me.

Over her shoulder, I see Kip getting the bro shakes and brotherly one hugs. My heart fully beats for the first time in a very long time. I’m whole.

T
hree Months Later

Playing Car Shuffle 101 is not fun. Especially not fun when you’re experiencing extreme morning sickness. That’s right, I have a growing pair of peanuts inside me that love making me sick. It doesn’t matter what time of the day it is, I can be found sprinting to the toilet.

Being pregnant never really came as a huge shock considering Kip and I never used protection. Looking back, we never even discussed it. Everything just happened so naturally. Life couldn’t be better. Oh, and the biggest surprise of all is that we’re expecting twins.

Kip’s dad has taken the proud grandparent part filling the shoes of the missing grandmas. I’m pretty sure he nearly passed out the day we shared the news with him. He’s in the process of phasing out of his practice and selling it off. He moved into the beach house and transitioned a weekend home into Kip’s little cottage out back. We never spent any time out there since we were always in the guest room where I stayed and remained there after.

We now have the whole house to us and Boozer, of course. I’m not sure how’ll he handle being a big brother. He’s a pretty fat and happy red dog who owns us. Kip’s dad has lined me up with the best doctors and spends the weekends with us. Watching the happiness pour off of him with his son is priceless.

Zack even made the headlines shortly after. It seems he beat up the wrong girl who had a family who backed her. It was all over the news along with several money-laundering topics from his campaign. He’s no longer an esteemed congressman from Tennessee. The last I read he’s facing quite a few years in prison after the long trial is over.

I send a quick text to Kip letting him know I’m driving Darby’s car to the service station for an oil change while she runs Dane to an appointment. Dane’s been another joy in all of our lives. He’s made huge milestones in his new home. Darby and Rhett are still jackasses, but loving parents none the less.

Waiting a few moments on Kip’s reply, I notice he hasn’t even read it. He has a terrible habit of letting his phone battery die on a daily basis. He’s trying to make the transition from his bike to a truck and it’s been a struggle, even though he’s owned the truck for months now. He’s taking the role of daddy to be quite seriously.

I tuck my phone in my purse and smile down at the baggie of Saltine crackers and bottle of Sprite nestled in there for me. I guess some things never change. He’s still feeding me crackers to keep my stomach calm.

I crank the radio and open the sunroof while jamming out to a new Justin Timberlake song on the radio. Life couldn’t be simpler or any more amazing than in this moment. I buckle up at a red light realizing my thoughts escaped me when I started driving. Ava’s warned me it’s called pregnancy brain and to expect being double air-headed since I’m carrying twins.
Oh, poor Kip.

I take the back roads and enjoy the sun. It’s a faster route with no stoplights or four way stops. Just a lonely less taken road that has less traffic. I think about Kip and my argument last night. I want to be surprised with the gender of the babies and he insists on knowing. He swears he can keep it a secret until the babies are delivered and I call bullshit. Kip finally settled the argument with a long love making session where he did most of the work. The sly smile on his face when were finished and wrapped up in each other was cute and heart-warming at best, but he’s still not getting his way.

I notice a red pick-up truck hauling ass up a cross road. He’s so close to the intersection and not slowing down. It’s split-second decision to either slow down or accelerate.

“He has to be stopping,” I say to myself.

I look up just in time to see Zack’s beady eyes staring at me as the red truck slams into my side of the car. Crunching metal deafens me. I clutch to my belly to protect the babies. Smoke is so thick in the cab of the car I have idea what’s going. My head buzzes and something liquid runs down the side of my face. I panic. Try to scream but nothing comes out, confusing me even more.