Pierced Hearts (Southern Charmers Book 1) Read online

  “Well, seeing as the damage is done, no need to stop now.”

  Just like that, my Darby was back. The weight of the situation wasn’t lost, but in true Darby fashion, she was ready to deal. I shifted out from under her, and when I was steady on my feet, I slid one hand under her knees, the other behind her back, and lifted her.

  “How much time do we have until Miller gets home?” She skimmed her lips along the underside of my jaw.

  “Don’t fucking care.”

  “You know, I have heard that pregnant women want sex all the time. You better start working on your stamina.”

  My eyes fly open, and I realize my hand is wrapped around my dick, stroking lightly. Dreams of Darby stopped years ago, but this morning, the memory of what happened next has my cock aching. The scene plays out vividly.

  Her body naked, her thighs trembled against my cheeks as I ate her like a starving man. She writhed against my mouth, begging for more, and the sweet taste of her coming apart on my tongue was made even sweeter by the fact she was pregnant.

  Crawling up her body, I knelt above her, sinking my cock into her soaking wet heat. Her muscles clamped down hard, tightening around me until I felt my balls ready to constrict.

  Her eyes were locked with mine, bright with satisfaction and challenge. She was testing me, knowing from experience that I could barely hold out when she locked her ankles around my waist and squeezed my dick with her pussy, angling so I was deep inside her.

  My strokes turn furious as I remember everything about that morning. Her moans, gasps, and screams so loud they shook the windows. Forgetting about the baby, I’d pummeled into her so hard I knew she would have bruises. It was wild, frantic, and crazy, with Darby demanding I give her everything I had.

  A deep growl rumbles from my throat as I come, knifing up and feeling the streams hit my stomach.

  “What the fuck, Pierce?” I bark into the dark room, unsure what the hell is happening.

  Am I losing my damn mind? Jerking off in the dark to the memory of my pregnant girlfriend from over a decade ago? The same girlfriend that I’ve spent all this time trying to forget.

  When my breathing returns to normal, I haul myself out of bed and go straight to the shower. There’s no way I’m going back to sleep. I go through the motions of my morning routine on autopilot, my mind replaying the conversation with Evin over and over.

  I’m on my second cup of coffee, staring aimlessly at my fridge when the card catches my eye. It’s a handmade gift from Cole for Father’s Day three years ago. There’s a similar one from Maya when she was his age. I scan over all the keepsakes the kids made through the years that are plastered over the surface.

  Going to Evin was a mistake. Instead of getting answers, I’m even more confused. He kept referring to his family taking care of Darby, never mentioning a husband or kids. I always assumed she moved on at some point. It hurt like hell to think of her with someone else, but I had no right to judge, considering the situation I got myself in with Connie.

  No one outside our families knew Darby was pregnant. We hadn’t shared the news with our circle of friends. When she lost the baby, she decided not to tell anyone, saying it made it easier to move past the loss. That made our split even messier. Friends were forced to choose sides, and most of them chose mine, thinking she had turned into a fucking bitch. As much as I wanted to explain that she was going through a tough time, I kept my mouth shut.

  She took off, and people tried to convince me it was for the best. Since I didn’t know why she left and had no explanation, it was easier to let them believe whatever they wanted. Nothing changed the fact that I was a wreck.

  “Any favors I may have owed you disappeared the minute you knocked my sister up and then blamed her when she lost the baby.”

  Twelve years have passed, yet it’s like time is standing still.

  “Fuck me.” I drop my coffee mug in the sink and grab my keys. There’s only one person in the world who can answer my questions, and I should have started with her in the first place.

  My guess is she’s staying at the farm, so that’s where I’m heading.

  Chapter 4

  Darby

  “You knew this could happen, sweetie. Don’t act so shocked,” Mom says breezily like she didn’t just drop the bomb that Pierce showed up at the house this morning looking for me.

  “I was prepared to run into him in public, not have him stroll casually up to my house like a welcome visitor.”

  “Don’t know how you could run into him in public when you live like a recluse.”

  I disregard her remark and chew nervously on the inside of my cheek. “First, he shows up at Evin’s work, and now, he comes there? Why, why, why???”

  “My guess is he wants to talk to you.”

  “But why? How does he even know I’m back in Charleston?”

  “That is a good question. I didn’t ask him that. Our visit was cut short when Jessie showed up.”

  I swallow the groan at the thought of Jessie meeting Pierce. Jessie is Mom’s twenty-something occupational therapist. She’s tall, voluptuous, and not one part of her body has been touched by gravity. I’ve seen the way she looks at Evin and can only imagine what went through her mind when she got a glimpse of Pierce.

  I have no right to jealousy, but old habits die hard. Even if I haven’t laid eyes on him in… Wait! What did my mom say? “Did you say your visit was cut short, meaning you invited him in for a chat?”

  “Oh, look at the time! I need to go… um… need to finish making these boxes. Don’t forget to check your email. I sent you a few notes. See you tonight!” She hangs up before I can question her more.

  “UGGGGGGHHHH!” I scream into the dead air.

  Runner lets out a weak ‘woof’ and rolls to his side, clearly irritated with being woken. There’s a loud banging on the door that causes us both to jump, and this time he spurts up, clearly excited about having visitors.

  I press the app on my phone that allows me to view the front parking area and the door. When I see the black truck parked in the first spot, I roll my eyes. There’s no telling why Evin would come to the bakery in the middle of the day, but whatever the reason, it’s most likely going to annoy me. Mom probably called him first, scared I was going to crumble apart, and he hightailed it over here.

  The banging starts again, and I flip the deadbolt, speaking as I open the door. “No need to worry. I’m not curled on the floor in the fetal position, rocking back and forth. Just because I shed a few tears the other night doesn’t mean—”

  The words die on my lips, and my heart lodges in my throat. It’s not Evin standing at my door.

  Pierce Cole Kendrick.

  His iridescent blue eyes pierce into me, and I’m motionless.

  The image of the twenty-three-year-old I’ve held on to for all these years is nothing compared to the man standing in front of me.

  It should be impossible, but he’s even more gorgeous than ever. Time has been good to him. His dark, thick hair is messy and unruly like he doesn’t care. The Kendrick Construction shirt stretches against his broad chest and shoulders, straining over his biceps. His cheeks, chin, and lips are covered with a light stubble that I know from experience is soft to the touch. He’s tanned from working in the sun, and the color of his complexion sets off his mesmerizing blue eyes. My gaze rakes up and down, taking in every inch of him.

  He’s always towered over me. I loved the feeling of standing next to him and having that sense of protection. Today is different.

  I feel the burn as he glowers down at me.

  “Darby.” Harsh, bitter, flat… not an ounce of emotion when he says my name.

  A chill dances over my skin as time stands still, and I stare at the man I’ve loved for almost half my life. Pain stabs in my chest, and I clasp the door handle with all my might, hoping it will give me the support if my knees give out.

  I open my mouth to respond, but it’s hard to talk over the rock stuck in my throat.r />
  “Darby, can I come in?” This time, there’s a slice of warmth to his tone.

  I step back, opening the door wider. He breezes by, the scent of his cologne lingering, and my grip on the door handle turns into a death clutch.

  Runner picks up on the tension and nudges his body through the space, sniffing the area around Pierce. It doesn’t take more than a few seconds for him to decide there’s no threat, and he starts butting along Pierce’s calves.

  So much for a guard dog.

  “Run, sit,” I croak out, finding my voice.

  Runner plops on his butt, swishing his tail and panting at Pierce expectantly.

  “He friendly?” he asks right as Runner’s paw jets out for attention.

  “He’s more of a hugger, but since you’re a new face, he’s trying to shake.” Slowly, my senses are returning, and this time when I speak, it doesn’t sound shaky.

  Pierce crouches down and takes Runner’s paw, pumps it up and down, then pats his head as he stands back up.

  “What are you doing here, Pierce?”

  His hands go to his hips, and his eyes sweep the room, passing over me and taking in the space. This was always a professional habit of his, looking around, sizing up the area, probably doing a mental calculation of the dimensions. To some people, this place may look small, but it’s the perfect size for me. His eyes land on the massive cookie sheets packed with chocolate-covered fruit.

  The silence grates on my already frazzled nerves. “It’s National Nurses Day on Wednesday,” I explain unnecessarily.

  “That’s why your mom was assembling all those little boxes.”

  I nod and blurt out, “Help yourself if you’d like one.”

  The heat flames back in his eyes. “I don’t want your fucking fruit, Darby.”

  His words hit like a punch to the gut, but they also spark something inside my soul. I close the door, turn to face him, and square my shoulders, glaring. “Then what do you want, Pierce?”

  “I want to know why you’re back in town.”

  “You should have figured it out, seeing as you visited Mom this morning. She had a nasty accident, and I wanted to be close to her.”

  “She told me about the accident, and I’m sorry to hear it. But she also told me how well she’s doing in her recovery. Doesn’t explain your urgency to uproot your life and hightail it back to Charleston.”

  “I love my family, Pierce. Who are you to question what is urgent and what isn’t?”

  “Didn’t you love your family twelve years ago when you hauled ass?”

  Oh no, he’s crazy if he thinks I’m going down this road with him right now. I’ve been preparing for years how to explain to him why I left, and today is not the day. It’s going to be on my terms and not when he shows up to out of the blue. “How’d you find me?” I ask instead.

  He reaches in his back pocket and flings one of my cards onto the steel prep table. “Saw your calling card.”

  “How’d you know it was mine? My name is nowhere on that.”

  “Yeah, it always seemed crazy to me that you branded your business without your name. But the design was a dead giveaway.”

  I suck in a deep breath and briefly close my eyes. How could I forget that he’d seen the rough draft? “You remembered.”

  “Of course, I fucking remembered.”

  “That doesn’t explain how you found me.”

  “Your mom and Evin didn’t give you away, if that’s what you’re thinking. They’re locked up tight. I had to get creative. Tracked down your delivery service.”

  Dammit! I should never have changed my pick-up to this address.

  “What I want to know is why you’re being so secretive. Why not blast it to the masses that you’re back and the name behind DG Creations? From what I can tell, only a select few know it’s you.”

  “That’s none of your business.” There is no way I’m telling him the reasons behind my anonymity.

  “Does it have anything to do with me? Because if so, you don’t have to worry about me trashing your name. I left that shit behind a long time ago and moved on.”

  “Oh, trust me, I know you moved on,” I spit out, not able to hold back the venom in my voice.

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing, Pierce. Did you have anything you needed? Any other reason for stopping by than to let me know you’ve discovered I’m back in town?”

  “Don’t ‘nothing, Pierce’ me. You don’t get to dismiss me again. Tell me, Darby. Are you keeping your return under wraps because of me, because of us?”

  I was right earlier. The image of the man I’ve held on to all these years is nothing like the man before me. This man is cold and brash, no sign of the lover who once was. The surprise of his arrival vanishes, and my defenses slide into place.

  “No, Pierce, nothing I do anymore is because of you. You gave up that privilege a long time ago. I’ve been quiet about my return because I’m not sure I’m staying in Charleston,” I yell.

  “I didn’t give up anything. You took it away. You stripped it from me, leaving my ass in the dust when you skipped town.”

  “You bounced back pretty quick, don’t you think?”

  “Bounced back? You think I bounced back? You don’t know a goddamned thing about what happened to me.”

  “Maya Elise Kendrick is what happened to you!” I scream so loud Runner is at my side in a second. Heat sears my skin, fueling the fire of betrayal I’ve carried around. I can’t stop the words that pour out of my mouth. “Maya Elise Kendrick, born September twenty-seventh, seven pounds, nineteen inches. Born to proud parents Pierce Kendrick and Constance Webber. Please join us welcoming this beautiful angel to the world.” I quote the birth announcement verbatim.

  The color drains from his face, and he drops his hands from his hips, opening his mouth, but I beat him to it. “Cole Matthew Kendrick, born January twenty-eighth, eight pounds, six ounces, twenty inches long. This handsome little guy joins proud parents Pierce and Constance and big sister Maya.”

  “What the FUCK!?!” He roars. “How do you know this shit?”

  “I left here in tatters, Pierce. Broken, ashamed, hollow, and I went away for a reason. My brother drove up to Charlotte to break the news of her pregnancy. I found myself back in shambles. Then our dear, darling friend, Connie, followed the southern etiquette protocol and sent me a personal birth announcement—to my parents’ house. She was kind enough to repeat the action a mere sixteen months later,” I hiss, sarcasm dripping in my words.

  “You have got to be shitting me.”

  “No. So you don’t get to play the pity card because I do know a goddamned thing that happened to you. You got together with the one bitch in our group of friends that openly disrespected our relationship. I wasn’t gone fourteen weeks before she was having your baby.”

  “I’m gonna kill her,” he spews, slamming his hand down on the table with such force my pans clatter.

  “Why? Why be mad now? You have the children you always wanted, and from what I hear, they are perfect kids.”

  “Leave my kids out of this.”

  “Fine. I didn’t leave your ass in the dust and skip the town that I love easily. I was coming back—and I was prepared to beg, explain what happened. There was a sliver of hope that you’d understand.”

  “Understand what, Darby? What you did to me was unforgivable.”

  I flinch, wrapping my arms around my stomach to try to ease the pain slashing through me. He catches my actions, and for a brief second, there’s a flicker of concern. I have to shut this down. “You’re right; it was unforgivable. I was selfish and focused only on myself. But believe me when I tell you that I paid the price. There was no way for me to come back here and watch the man I thought I was going to marry live out his dream with a woman I could no longer stand. And that also tells you why I didn’t make a big deal about being back. I’m still not sure I can live in the same town. You came in here wanting some answers, and you
’ve got them.”

  He tears his hands through his hair, pacing a few times before pivoting and heading to the door. When he faces me, the color has returned to his face, and pure, unfiltered rage is pouring from his features.

  “We’re not done, Darby. Not by a long shot.”

  I try to tell him that we are very much done, but he’s gone, the door slamming so hard the vibration shakes me.

  What the hell did I do?

  •—•—•—•—•

  “And that is that.” I toast my glass into the air in mock salute. “Five minutes alone with him, and I lose my cool, rip into him, insult the mother of his children, and let him know I was too weak to come back. I’m a real winner.”

  “What are you going to do?” Stephanie asks the million-dollar question everyone seems to want answered. She’s patiently listened to me ramble on the phone for the last hour.

  “I’m going to lament over my supremely bad choices and inability to control my emotions, and then I’m going to bed. Tomorrow, I’m going to show my face in public and hope like hell I don’t embarrass myself.”

  “I’m going to re-arrange my calendar and be there sometime Thursday afternoon. You think you can be low key until then?”

  For the first time in weeks, a surge of excitement shoots through me. Leaving my life in Charlotte was hard, but leaving Stephanie was devastating. She and her assistant, Scottie, were my lifelines. She is much more than my business lawyer and best friend. She is family.

  “Low key is my middle name.”

  “Good, save your crazy for when I get there. We’ve got some things to discuss.”

  “Yeah,” I pause, “about that…” I draw out dramatically.

  “You still haven’t told your family?”

  “Nope, and I think they’re going to put up a strong fight. Mom’s doing everything she can to pull me into the community. Dad is remaining quiet, but he’s shooting me looks that scream he’s up to something, and you know about Evin.”

  “You left Charlotte hellbent on following through with this deal. Are you saying after a few weeks home, you’re swaying?”