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“Are you okay?” Bailey whispered frantically. I heard the rustling of fabric and realized I’d probably pulled her out of bed.
“Crap! I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I didn’t stop to think you might still be in bed.”
“Don’t worry about it. My sleep schedule is all messed up. I was just taking a little nap while a miracle was happening in the nursery. Jack and Julia are both down for an early morning nap.”
“This can wait while you catch up on your sleep.” It really couldn’t wait long, but I felt like I should offer since she was a sleep-deprived mom with two three-month-olds.
“Shut up,” she practically growled. “Well, not really. You know what I mean. You would never have sent me our emergency code unless it was urgent. So spill the beans. Now.”
Spill them I did. I let her know about everything that had happened since we last spoke a week and a half ago. About Lucas being my step-brother, the pregnancy, and my feelings for him. I didn’t spare a single detail, well except for a few about our sex life.
“Whoa!” She whistled once I was finally done. “It sounds like you found yourself in one hell of a situation, Jade.”
“That’s the understatement of the year,” I groaned.
“How about I give you the same advice you gave me back when I came home to pack up my mom’s house?”
I thought back to our dinner that night and laughed softly. “This is entirely different, Bailey. I told you to give him a chance, because from everything you’d told me about him, I knew he wanted you forever. You assumed Wyatt didn’t want a relationship with you when he really did, but Lucas was the one to walk away from me after he accused me of horrible things. And even after we moved past all of that, he still said he wanted to keep our relationship a secret.”
“But not forever,” she pointed out gently. “Just until he figured out a way to protect his company, his father’s legacy. Your child’s future.”
“Well, crap,” I mumbled. “When you put it that way, I guess I can understand it a little better.”
“And from everything you told me, it sounds like he’s crazy about you.”
“Do you really think so?” I cried.
“Yeah, Jade. I really do.”
The night had been a rousing success. Almost all of my paintings had a sold sign underneath them. The prices listed by the gallery owner had been astronomical, and I couldn’t believe how much I’d earned with my art. All in one night. I should have been over the moon happy, but all I could think about was the conversation I was about to have with Lucas. He’d hired a limousine for us again, but the ride home from the gallery was so different from the one back from L’étang. The only contact between the two of us was his hand clenched around mine as we rode in silence.
The last five days had passed much as our first few living together had, except I wasn’t home as much because I was busy working on the final touches for my show. Lucas woke me up every morning with a cup of my tea and a couple slices of dry toast. He had lunch delivered to me each day, and dinner waiting at home at night. Not a single night had passed without us making love, and I’d slept soundly in his arms afterward. It was all perfect—except for my ultimatum hanging over us like a dark cloud.
Lucas took me at my word, and we hadn’t spoken of it. I hadn’t told him I loved him again, and he hadn’t shared with me how he felt. I had no idea what he had decided, and the suspense was killing me. By the time the limo pulled into the drive, my stomach was twisted in knots. I didn’t notice the driver had parked in front of the garage instead of the front door until Lucas helped me from the car. Lights flickered in the windows of the second story apartment. Lucas helped me up the stairs and I gasped when he swung the door open and I realized it was candles causing the glow.
Rose petals were scattered on the floor, and when I glanced up at the skylights, I saw twinkling stars in the night sky. The stage had definitely been set for romance, but I couldn’t figure out why we were here instead of in the main house. As though Lucas had read my mind, he flipped the light switch on the wall and my question was answered.
“A studio?” I gasped, twirling around the room and gawking at all the equipment he’d had brought in. “You turned the apartment into a studio for me?”
“I did,” he confirmed, dropping down to one knee in front of me. “My wife is an artist. She needed a studio so she can share her incredible talent with the world. It’s why I had my assistant working on it since the morning after I found out about the pregnancy.”
The morning after… he’d been working on this since before my ultimatum. I didn’t realize how important it was to me until this very moment.
“I’m not your wife yet.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a flawless diamond ring. “In my heart you are, Jade. I haven’t been able to forget about you since the moment we met. If I hadn’t allowed past experiences to cloud my better judgment, I never would have let you go and you’d already have my ring on your finger. I love you,” he paused to look down at the ring, moving it to the tip of my finger. “And I want the world to know you’re mine. Will you marry me?”
The studio, gorgeous diamond ring, and proposal, it was more than I’d ever dreamt about how this conversation would go. It looked like Lucas had used every minute I’d given him to set out to prove how he felt about me. There was only one possible answer I could give. “Yes.”
Epilogue
Lucas
“Well, Mr. and Mrs. St. James, it looks like a girl this time,” the doctor informed us with a smile before wiping Jade’s stomach and lowering the hem of her maternity top. “Do you have a name picked out?”
“Ruby!”
Shit. My hand wasn’t fast enough to cover the mouth of my three-year-old son before he shouted the name. He twisted in my arms and beamed at me before his face fell and his own two chubby, little hands slapped over his mouth.
“I forgot, Daddy,” he muffled through his fingers.
I winked at him and kissed the tip of his nose, “It’s okay budd
y. You did great.” It was my own fault for trusting a toddler with a secret.
“Her name is what?” Jade asked, raising a quizzical brow in my direction. Her tone clearly indicated she wasn’t happy.
I cleared my throat and shifted uncomfortably, weighing my options on how to handle this situation. I wasn’t budging on my baby girl’s name, so I decided to go with standing firm.
“You picked out Jonathan’s name and we agreed I’d get to pick our next baby’s name. I choose Ruby.”
Jade’s eyes narrowed as she glared at me, but any response was cut off by the doctor.
“What a lovely name.”
I grinned triumphantly at Jade, who rolled her eyes.
“Everything looks great,” the doctor continued, “so I’ll see you back here for your next appointment on schedule.”
She stood, shook our hands, and waved at Jonathan before leaving the room.
He returned the gesture enthusiastically. “Thanks for the Ruby!” he called after her, making me chuckle. Then he turned to me and took my breath away with one of his giant, baby boy smiles. “I’m hungry. So Ruby must be hungry. Let’s feed Ruby!”
Apparently, now that the cat was out of the bag, my son was unintentionally determined to get me in trouble by calling the baby Ruby as many times as possible.
Jade patted her rounded belly and then his little one. “Yep, both my little babies want some dinner.” Then she grabbed my ass and whispered to me, “We’ll discuss this after peanut is in bed.”
Bed. Perfect idea. I smiled my most charming, panty-melting grin, and agreed. The heat in her eyes shifted a little from anger to lust and I mentally gave myself a pat on the back for the plan I’d suddenly concocted.
I brushed a kiss across the soft skin of Jonathan’s forehead and pulled his giraffe covered blanket up to his chin. Padding out into the hall, I shut the door silently, before making my way to our bedroom.
