Free Adored: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella (1001 Dark Nights) by Lexi Blake Page B

something to say. Laurel, I’ll marry you.”
    Will groaned again. “Buddy, we’re going to have to work on your delivery.”
    Laurel simply turned and walked away.
    He went after her because this time, she wasn’t getting away from him.
     
    * * * *
     
    I’ll marry you .
    Laurel walked toward the exit. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have a ride. She would catch a bus or walk to a train station. She was not going to stay there with Mitch “I’ll marry you because I have to” Bradford. He’d said the words with all the enthusiasm of a man on his way to an execution.
    Pregnant. She was pregnant and Mitch knew, and now he was ready to do right by the woman he’d apparently soiled. That’s how her brother had reacted. For a moment, she’d been transported back in time to where Will was going to fight a duel over her lost honor.
    She hadn’t lost a damn thing. No. She’d gained a whole other human being and all because she hadn’t been able to think straight when Mitch touched her.
    That was absolutely no reason to marry the man.
    “Laurel!”
    She settled her purse on her shoulder and ignored him. There was a train station two blocks over. She knew exactly where it was because she’d come out to this hospital many times to see Will and Lila, though she never would again because neither of those ungrateful wretches had offered her a ride. They were cut off.
    Actually, it served her right to have to hoof it. It proved that when a girl screwed up as totally as she had, she was on her own. Or she would be if Mitch would stop pursuing her.
    “Laurel!”
    She kept walking. Outside, it was a glorious day. It was spring and everything was in bloom. Even her damn womb.
    Mitch caught up with her. “Laurel, sweetheart, I’m going to give you a chance to save this. Stop now and come with me. We’ll get something to eat and talk about this.”
    She didn’t look his way. “I think I’ll take door number two.”
    “You won’t like door number two,” he warned.
    She was far too stubborn to care.
    “All right then. Door number two it is.”
    Laurel nearly screamed because one minute she’d been walking and the next she was up and in his arms, being cradled against that masculine chest of his. “Hey, you can’t do that. Put me down.”
    “Nope. This is door number two and unfortunately, I’m parked on the other side of the lot.” Mitch had turned and was walking right back toward where they’d just left. “What have you had to eat today?”
    She was oddly comfortable in his arms. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had picked her up and carried her around, her body protected by his. Probably not since she’d been a child and Will had carried her when she’d been hurt or sick. The sweetness of it pierced her. And then she remembered the only reason he was doing it was for the baby. “You should put me down. You’re going to throw out your back.”
    He stopped and stared down at her. “What did you say?”
    Oh, that was new. He was cold, arctic cold even as his arms tightened around her. “I said I’m too heavy and you should put me down.”
    “That’s what I thought you said.” He started moving again, his eyes back up. “All right. I’m going to give you that one because I’ve never set rules with you. Here’s rule number one. I hear you insult yourself again and there will be punishment. How do you expect to raise a girl who gives a damn about herself if her mother doesn’t? How do you expect to raise a boy who respects women if his mother doesn’t care about herself? So expect the punishment for those infractions to be harsh.”
    What was happening? And when the hell did Mitch become the voice of reason? She couldn’t come up with one logical argument. He was right. “What are you doing, Mitch?”
    “Setting the rules. Now answer my question. When was the last time you ate?”
    They were about to walk past the ER doors and toward the west lot. Naturally her siblings were now