“Come, now, love. Yer breaking me heart.” He kept running his hands up and down my back, soothingly. “What can I do to help?”

I leaned back and looked up at him with tears streaming down my face. No words were necessary. He lowered his head to mine until our lips touched. It was tender and sweet and comforting. I needed him.

Anything to stop the thoughts that were tormenting me.

He seemed to sense what I needed as he gently scooped me into his arms as if I weighed nothing and carried me down the hall to my bedroom. He laid me carefully on the bed, kissing my face and neck as he undressed me with ease.

I opened my eyes and hesitated, feeling insecure for the first time in my life. But then I saw the look in his sizzling blue eyes as he worshipped every inch of me.

“You’re absolutely breathtaking,” he said with a deep, husky rumble as he laid both palms on the sides of my belly.

I covered his hands with my own, suddenly not embarrassed anymore. He made me feel like a goddess. “Matt, please…”

Suddenly, his hands and mouth and tongue were everywhere at once, leaving me with no thoughts but pleasure. I tipped my head back, my eyelids fluttered closed as I orgasmed, my body seizing with delicious aftershocks. I felt him roll me onto my side, then slide into bed behind me. Spooning me, he ran his hands over my breasts, lightly pinching my sensitive nipples, and I felt myself stirring once more.

Running his palm over my stomach in a gentle caress, he kept going until he reached the apex of my thighs. He lifted my leg up over his and slid deep inside me from behind while his fingers rounded my hip and parted my folds until he found the nub of my desire. He tweaked, pressed, and made circular motions to the rhythm of his thrusts until I was squirming and moaning and crying out his name in ecstasy.

We stayed connected as he pulled the covers up over us then wrapped his arm around me with his hand cradling my belly. Maybe Bitsy was right. Maybe things could be different. Maybe I really could have it all. That was the last thought that drifted through my mind as I fell into a deep, calm, blissful, restorative sleep….

Until it wasn’t.

Chapter Twenty

Igasped and sat straight up in bed naked, cold…alone.

Pain sliced through my belly, stealing my breath. It felt like I was being sliced in two. “Matt!” I screamed when I could finally breathe again.

Silence.

I began to cry. Where was he?

I scooted toward the edge of the bed when my leg brushed something wet. Oh, God, did my water break? No, no, no…it was too soon. With shaking hands, I lifted the sheet and cried out over what I saw.

Blood.

Another pain tore through me. I screamed Matt’s name again as loud as I could. Still nothing. He’d left me, just like I knew he would. I needed him, and he was gone. The moment I’d let down my walls and welcomed him into my arms, he didn’t want me anymore. I had dared to believe that for once, I was enough.

This rejection hurt the worst.

If I lost my babies, it was all my fault.

I never should have broken my own rule. No romance. I would never forgive myself…or him. I managed to get to the edge of the bed. The sun wasn’t even up yet. Where was my phone? I tried to stand and fell to the floor, still naked and terrified. I was going to lose my babies and bleed to death.

Once more, pain ripped through me, this one the hardest. I screamed for all I was worth until it passed. Then I heard a noise from the living room. A door opening. Footsteps. I didn’t care who it was. I needed help.

“Help me, please,” I managed to say.

“Tiffany? Oh, you poor dear,” Mrs. Cartright appeared in my bedroom. She hurried over to me and grabbed a blanket from the bed, draping it over my shivering body. “Matt gave me the security code to get inside in case he was gone, and you ever needed anything.” She stood and headed to my door.

“Don’t leave me like he did.” I cried harder. “Please, I’m afraid.”

Her kind faded brown eyes filled with compassion. “I’m not going anywhere, honey. I’m calling 911.”

The next couple of hours were a blur.

Officer Pickles, Fire Chief Monroe, and Dr. Joy arrived at the same time as the ambulance. It was a small town, after all. When an emergency happened, everyone banded together to help.

Dr. Joy insisted on riding in the ambulance with me, monitoring my vitals and assessing the situation. I didn’t understand half of what she said. All I knew was that I was on pain meds and half out of it, but finally pain free and resting in a private room.

Dr. Joy walked into my room and smiled. “How’s my favorite patient?”

“Afraid.” I pressed my lips together, waiting for her news.

“Don’t be.” She squeezed my hand. “Where’s Matt?”

“I have no clue,” was all I said, and she nodded once, no judgement or prying as usual.

I was thankful for that right now.

“Well, I can put your mind at ease.” She scanned her charts. “Your big, beautiful boys are stable.”

“Y-You mean I didn’t lose them?” Tears leaked from my eyes and trickled down my cheeks as my heart ached with love for them.

“I’ll admit, things were touch-and-go for a while there. You were in early labor and lost a lot of blood, but we managed to stop the labor and the bleeding.”

“We?”

“Dr. Anderson is one of the best physicians I’ve ever met.”

I nodded. Chaz. I owed him everything. “What caused this to happen?”

“Pregnancies are tricky with twins to begin with. I’m guessing the fall you took when the fire broke out in your spa caused trauma. Did anything happen last night that might have affected that trauma?”

I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. “Matt and I had sex.” I wanted to say made love, but he didn’t love me. He couldn’t have because he left me.

She looked pensive. “Normally, sex is very safe for a pregnant woman, but in your case with the recent trauma, it might have triggered early labor. I would suggest abstaining from intercourse or anything remotely stimulating until the babies are born.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that.” I raised my chin a notch and forced the tears to stay at bay.

Of course, Bud was at the root of this incident. I wanted to blame Matt for his part, but it wasn’t all his fault. I’d needed him after Grammy’s letter. He’d complied, no questions asked, but then he left me alone to deal with the consequences....

That hurt more than I could say.

Steeling my resolve to never let someone hurt me again, I asked. “So, what does this mean going forward? Bedrest?”

“Not necessarily total bedrest, but I don’t want you doing anything that might trigger labor again. That includes extremely emotional situations. Try to stay calm and still as much as possible, okay?”

“Okay.”