Protecting His Pregnant Lover - Leslie North Page 0,40

was glad, since it would give him more time to figure out how to tell her about Franklin. “Listen, I need to go. I’ll call you later when I know more about what the Reapers are planning here. Stay safe.”

“You, too. Stay safe, dude,” Clint said, hanging up after their usual SSoF sign-off.

For a long moment, Levon just stood there, hoping the breezy sunshine might wash away the growing dread within him, but unfortunately life wasn’t that simple.

Wasn’t as simple as lying in bed at night with Olive either, though he wished it were.

When he was with her, he felt like a different man. Not a SEAL or a stupid kid with dyslexia or even a Southern Soldier of Fortune. When he was with Olive, he felt like the superhero she always teased him about being. Like he could scale any mountain, conquer any foe.

Except right now, he was battling his own past and his own demons.

He’d never expected to feel this way about anyone, and damn if it didn’t have him twisted seven ways from Sunday. He loved Olive Owen. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but didn’t see a way to do that. Not with his job in Arlington and her life here in Harper’s Forge. He’d never ask her to give up what she loved any more than she would him.

And probably, she didn’t even love him anyway. Why should she?

She was a star, like the ones he’d projected up on the ceiling last night. She could have anyone, do anything. She was the smartest, funniest, most beautiful woman he’d ever known. She deserved so much better than him. So did their baby. If their kid was lucky, they’d take after Olive.

He kicked a rock across the dirt with the toe of his black boot. Who was he kidding? He didn’t know how to be a dad. His own parents had been pretty great, but that didn’t mean it transferred to him. Man, he wished they were still around so he could talk to them about this, but they were gone, killed in a fire at the farm shortly after he’d joined the Navy.

Another scar from his past. Another failure to add to a long line of them.

Maybe if he’d been here, he could’ve saved them. Maybe…

Aw shit.

He strode off from behind the storage building and headed for his truck across the parking lot. Work had ended an hour ago and he needed to get out of here, needed some time and space to sort through his feelings as well as figure out how he was going to handle the whole situation with Olive.

He loved her, yes. But sometimes love wasn’t enough, even though he wished with all his heart it was.

13

There was one school invasion worse than any organized criminal ring: and that was parent-teacher conferences.

Usually. Today, Olive found she didn’t mind them so much. She was still on cloud nine after her night spent with Levon. For the first time since their reunion seven months ago, she felt like she really understood him, had really connected with him, and it had changed everything for her. Olive had never been a one-night stand kind of girl, but she had said everything she thought Levon wanted to hear: no feelings, no attachment, no strings. Just good, filthy fun. And in her defense, she had really thought she could pull it off. It was the whole reason she’d come to the reunion: to prove that she’d grown past her shy, nerdy teenage self and was now a woman capable of catching Levon Asher’s attention…at least for a night. It hadn’t occurred to her that “more” was even an option, and she certainly hadn’t thought about possible consequences.

But now here they were. Reunited. Having a baby. And…together? Maybe?

As she met with her students’ parents, Olive couldn’t resist letting her thoughts drift. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about these conversations, or about updating the families on the progress of their kids. It was seeing the family dynamic in a new light that kept distracting her with flights of fancy.

Was it possible? Could this be her and Levon? Last night had shed a new light on their relationship, both figuratively and literally, and Olive wouldn’t be Olive if she didn’t examine what had happened from every angle. Could she have made herself ignorant of the possibilities before on purpose? Maybe she was more afraid of making herself vulnerable, of getting hurt, than she could comfortably