Chapter 19

Brodie’s lips touch my forehead. “I’ve got to go, darling. The running group is waiting for me.”

I open my eyes and blink sleepily. “Gimme me a minute, and I’ll come with you.”

“You don’t have to, plus I’ve got to go home and change first.”

“I want to. I’ll see you in the car park in twenty minutes.” I love the way his smile slowly spreads over his face, making his eyes sparkle when I do something he likes.

“Okay, then. See you soon.” He pecks my lips and saunters out of the room, knowing full well I’ll be watching his arse.

The intensity of my feelings for him should be scaring the fuck out of me, but I was honest with him last night. I’m too far gone to deny that I love him. I hadn’t expected him to feel the same way. When I entered him last night, I saw the truth blazing in his eyes and felt it as he trembled under my touch.

I want to be with him when he talks to Merrick. It’s important to Brodie that Merrick understands and believes him. Honestly, I don’t care what Merrick thinks. My only concern is Brodie and making him happy.

I pull on some running shorts and a long-sleeved tee, pee, and brush my teeth, lace up my running shoes, and I’m out of the house. A jog over to the car park can be my warm-up. It’s a sunny day but still cold enough for my breath to plume as I run. The others from the group are stretching as they chat and joke with each other. Drew is there as well and waves at me.

“Brodie has finally persuaded you to join us.” He claps my shoulder.

“Nope, this is all my own doing. I haven’t done this for a while, so I’m just hoping I can keep up.”

A hand touches the small of my back. “You’ll do great. We don’t sprint all the time.” Brodie kisses my cheek. Next, he addresses the entire group, and we all do the stretches he demonstrates before we start. I thought he would take the coastal path up to the lighthouse, the one Drew and I have used for a long time and is a popular route. Instead, we head to the right towards the cottage that’s been Brodie’s home for the last three months.

The terrain past the cottage is smooth, but the incline is steep, and soon we’re all puffing and panting. Any traces of cold have disappeared.

“Jesus, Brodie, what did we deserve to do this?” Carl, one of the guys working for Drew, grumbles.

“You’re all capable of this.” Brodie laughs at him. He’s not even out of breath.

I knew how fit Brodie is purely on his stamina and flexibility when we’re in bed, but this is on another level. Like marathon running fitness.

“Have you ever run marathons?” I ask.

“I’ve done a few. The London one twice. I’ve done New York once, and one in Florida and Napa Valley. Plus a few other UK ones. Munro, my boss at Well Fit, would organise and pay for them. It was all promotion for the gym.”

“Bloody hell, you’re a masochist,” Drew groans. “You know that, right?”

“I sure do.” I waggle my eyebrows at Brodie, and bless him, he blushes.

“Okay, enough chit-chat. It’s a minute sprint time.” Brodie sets a timer on his watch and steps back to let us go first. He probably waits to pick up the slackers, or slacker a.k.a. me, but I prove him wrong and run fast. I don’t make it to the front runner, but I’m a close third. Even quicker than Drew. Grinning, I turn, my arms up high.

Brodie’s kiss surprises me, not because it’s pretty full on, like one hand in my hair and the other on my bum kind of full on, but because we’re in front of all the others. We part only when the wolf whistles start.

“Fine,” Brodie says. “He’s hot. Let’s go. We’ve got another mile before we make it back to the car park. And another sprint to fit in before we get there.”

“I’m not doing it if you put on another show.” Drew rolls his eyes at us.

We return to the car park without any more kisses but plenty more panting. I rest my hands on my knees, drawing much-needed air into my lungs.

Brodie walks over to Drew. “Is Merrick at home?

“Yeah, he’s in all day, I think. As soon as I’m done showering, I’ve got a job, so I won’t be home. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is great, really great.”

Brodie gives Drew a nod and wanders over to the other runners. He laughs at something one of them says but shakes his head. “Nope, never gonna happen. You like being pushed. It’s why you’re here and not running by yourself.”

When everyone leaves with shouts of goodbyes, it’s just Brodie and me. “When do you want to go to talk to Merrick? We both need showers before we go.”

Surprise flashes on his face. “I didn’t think you’d want to come. But I’d like to have you with me. I’m probably thinking way too much about how he’ll react. There’s no reason why he won’t be pleased for us. I know you had a rocky start. Even if I don’t know the whole situation, I know you meant your apology.”

“Things are fine, I like spending my time with you, and if you need a little backup, I’m there.” I snag his hand and tug him a little closer.“Will you stay with me tonight? There’s something I want to tell you,” I ask Brodie as we reach his car.

Kate Pierce is living rent-free in my head far too much. The more I think about it and the longer it’s been since I saw the photo, the more I think about the possibility the child is mine. The only thing I don’t get is her radio silence. I need to tell Brodie because the past has a horrible way of catching up with me. And I don’t want that to happen when I’m getting my life back together, happier than I’ve ever been, and falling in love with an amazing man.

“Um, yeah, sure. Is everything all right? Have I done something wrong?” A frown mars Brodie’s usually smooth forehead.

Guilt floods me, and I wrap my arms around him. “You’ve done nothing wrong. How could you? It’s just something that’s happened I want you to know about.”

“I want to know now, Ivan. You can’t say something like that and expect me to wait until this evening. I’ll come back with you now. Merrick can wait. It’s not like he knows we’re coming to see him.”

I let out a shaky breath. Brodie’s right. I can’t expect him to wait. I wouldn’t want to.

Brodie presses the key fob for his car and opens the door. “You walked here, didn’t you? Come on, we can drive.”

Brodie is quiet on the short trip back to my house, but the crease is still on his forehead, knitting his eyebrows together as he chews on his lip. In the driveway, he kills the engine but stays in his seat, squeezing the steering wheel.

With a sigh, he turns to me, his eyes tight and his posture rigid. “Is this about Kate?”