Page 97 of The Billionaire's Virgin

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Taylor

Reed had been in a good mood ever since he’d come back home. He had gotten home unexpectedly early, and Jenna had been thrilled to get some time with her father. They were in the living room playing with Jenna’s building blocks on the carpet, and I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready.

I felt very much like a part of their family, but sometimes I wished that it were more official… legal even. I had been thinking a lot about what it would be like to marry Reed. Then he would be my husband, not my boss, and Jenna would be my daughter. I couldn’t imagine a happier thought than that.

I knew I was probably a little overly emotional these days because I had packed up all my stuff and I had moved back to my apartment with Megan. The only problem was that it didn’t feel like my apartment anymore. It didn’t feel like home. It felt like I was padding around someone else’s place. Everything felt strange and alien, and I’d only spent the night there before getting up early and heading over here as soon as I possibly could.

Jenna had been a little distant with me the whole day because of the move back. I knew she was a little upset that I was no longer living in the guestroom. I had tried my best to explain it all to her, but she had remained quiet up until Reed had shown up.

“Hey, you,” Reed whispered, kissing me gently on the cheek as he walked into the kitchen.

“Where’s Jenna?” I asked.

“Working on the second story of the house we’re building,” Reed replied.

I smiled and nodded, but Reed caught on to my mood. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

“Sure.” I nodded. “Well, I think Jenna’s a little upset with me.”

“She’s not upset with you,” Reed assured me. “She’s just sad that you’re not living here anymore.”

“So the reason’s obvious then, huh?”

“Of course it is.” Reed nodded. “Hell, I’m sad about that too.”

“But you agree it’s the best thing for her right now?”

“Who’s to say what’s the best thing for Jenna now,” Reed said, with a non-committal shrug.

“What… we discussed this?”

“But we made the decision too soon,” Reed pointed out. “And the next day you moved out.”

“What are you—”

“Daddy?” Jenna called from the living room. “Come on… you’re missing all the building.”

Reed turned back to me apologetically.

“Go,” I said. “We’ll talk later.”

He kissed me on the forehead and then on the lips. Then he headed back out to Jenna, and I turned to the chicken salad I was in the process of making. I was so thankful that Sofia had been caught and there was no longer a threat towards me, and especially Jenna. But the flip side of that was the move back to my old place. It felt strangely wrong to be living separately from Reed and Jenna.

I told myself I had no right to feel that way. I was still just the girlfriend, and I was hesitant to use even that title considering how nobody really knew about our relationship to begin with. I thought about what Jenna had said to me about wanting me to be her mother, and I realized I wanted that too. It was odd to even think of myself as a mother. I had never assumed I would have kids. Nor had I ever dreamed of that at any point in my life.

My only goal in life had been to get through it with as little trouble as possible, and kids never factored into my plans. It’s not as though I had ruled them out or anything, but I had never put having children on my bucket list. It had just never been part of my plan.

I finished making the chicken salad, and then I moved on to the seafood lasagna. When it was baking in the oven, I set the table to give Reed and Jenna a little more time together, and then I headed out into the living room. They were clearing up all Jenna’s building blocks. I watched them for a moment, and I smiled at the sight. Suddenly, an image began to form in my mind’s eye, and I couldn’t seem to stop it.

I saw Reed just as he was now, but Jenna was a few years older, and there were two new kids sitting beside her. One was a boy, and the other was a girl. The two younger children had Reed’s coloring and his dark hair, but they had my blue eyes and my mannerisms. Jenna was the typical big sister, instructing them on how to put away their blocks. She was patient and kind, and I saw a lot of Reed in her.

It was a beautiful dream, and I wondered if there was a possibility that it could become a reality. There were some moments when it honestly felt within my grasp.

“I’m hungry,” I heard Jenna say, and I snapped back to reality.

“The lasagna will be done in fifteen minutes,” I replied, walking over to them. “Twenty minutes tops.”