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“Three?” she repeats. She grins at me, her brow creasing. “Why three?”
“Well, you don’t know if the first two are going to get along or not, so always have a backup.”
“A backup?” She giggles like she can’t believe I just said that. “I’m sure number three would love to know that they’re the backup.”
“Oh, come on. Get off your high horse.” I love teasing her like this. “Don’t pretend you don’t think the same thing and it’s just as applicable for when we get old. Three is a good number in case we hate the first two…” I pause. “Or they hate us. We can guilt number three into caring for us. It’s either that or end up in a retirement home.”
“And what if three hates you too?”
“Good point. Four kids it is.”
She shakes her head and laughs. “Maybe you shouldn’t be having kids at all.”
“I love that we can talk about shit like this so easily.” I lean in and kiss her softly on the lips.“Me too,” she murmurs. Her face conveys her contentment, but I catch the flash of sadness hiding in her eyes. “And you know what else I love?” She smiles at me.
“What?” I smirk at her. I hope this is headed where I think it’s headed.
“Sleeping.” She giggles at my crestfallen expression.
Apparently not.
She leans up and kisses my lips, pressing her mouth to mine. Her hands cradle my face as she stares into my eyes.
“Thank you for today. It was fantastic. I think it was just what I needed.”
“Anytime,” I say.
I bring her to my lips again, my mouth exploring hers, while I gently stroke her cheek. The feel of her lips on mine is enough to make my already-hard cock harder. She bites the edge of her lip as she glances down.
“Well, good night then,” she says.
Her eyes sparkle as she gazes up at me. She walks toward her room, while I stand there, feeling both disappointed and extremely aroused. She turns back to me and smiles when she reaches her door.
“I kind of thought you might join me…”
I smile, already on my way to her.
“I thought you’d never ask.”Chapter TenLaura“I thought I heard you come in.”
I giggle as he wraps his arms around me and plants wet kisses all over my neck, while I try and struggle free from his grasp.
“At least let me put my things down first,” I beg. I lean over to the hall table and dump my bag and my keys down. “Now, where were we?” I ask, turning around so I’m facing him.
I frown, because he smells way too fresh to have finished his shift. Which meant…
“I’m running late,” he murmurs, kissing me. “They’re short staffed again tonight, so Lewin asked me to cover half a shift. On the plus side, it’s four hours, and then I’ll be home.” He gives me a devilish look. “The things I plan to do to you…”
“Okay, go already,” I grumble. “I guess I’ll take that cold shower alone, then.” I push him out the door, rolling my eyes as he laughs at me.
I walk over to the couch and flop down, exhausted. With everything I’ve got going on at work and applying for this research project, the extra pressure of being in a relationship isn’t helping with my focus. I’m worried that my feelings for Luke are taking the edge off my drive when it comes to getting where I want to be. Like making sure I get this research project.
Putting my career ahead of everything else used to be a no-brainer, but that was before my feelings started getting in the way. The thought of not putting work first is as scary as hell. I’ve put everything into getting where I am, because it was something that was mine. It was something that I wasn’t at risk of losing.
I lost so much, growing up. First, most of my childhood, and then my ability to have children. Losing my father was the final straw. I needed something that I could invest everything into and know it would still be there when I needed it. How do I know that Luke and I aren’t going to be over in six months? I guess that’s the thing. I can’t know that. All that time and effort is irrelevant if I mess things up because of Luke. But the thing about life is that nothing is ever really forever. It’s only forever until it’s not.
#
Just as I’m about to have that shower, my phone rings. Figuring I should answer it, I stomp out of my room, down to the hall table and rummage through my bag.
“How soon can you get over here?” Matt asks when I answer. He sounds panicked.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Annie is having contractions,” he says. He sounds stressed. I know my brother well enough to know he’d be driving Annie insane already.
