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“Sounds to me like you dodged a bullet,” she murmured. “What a piece of work.”
“You have no idea. After Gigi, I changed. I was no longer going to be that naïve, idealistic good guy that everyone secretly pitied. I didn't want to be that weak, soft loser anymore. And so I started to cultivate some of the less than desirable traits that I'd seen some of my friends exhibit and before I knew it I'd slipped right into the role as if I were born to play it. Then I met you. You challenged everything that I thought I knew and made me realize that I was living a lie but I couldn't handle it. I was so terrified of letting another woman have that kind of power over me that I was determined to do anything to protect myself from being used again.”
“Wait a minute…are you saying you thought I was like Gigi?” she asked, insulted. “Are you kidding me? I didn't come after you, you came after me, remember? You dragged me into a relationship, practically twisted my arm to get me into your bed, and damn near pressured me into being your beck-and-call girl. How can you possibly think I was like her?”
“I don't know. All I can say is I wasn't thinking clearly and honestly, I’ve never been able to think clearly when you're involved. I've never wanted a woman like I want you and the thought of living my life without you seems like no life at all. It doesn't matter how much money I have, it doesn't matter how many homes I own, all that matters is if you're not there beside me with our child, I might as well be dead in the ground. You hold the key to all of my happiness and by the time I realized that I'd pushed away the woman I love, it killed me.”
“You said you love me,” she whispered, still reeling from his admission. “How could you say that you love me when you purposefully did something so awful?”
He hung his head in shame. “Because I was afraid. I was afraid that you would reject me if I admitted to you how I really felt. And I couldn't handle the thought of you rejecting me so I took matters into my own hands with a preemptive strike. It was cowardly and stupid and I would gladly spend the rest of my life making it up to you because you deserve better than what I gave you. If my father were alive today I doubt I’d be able to look him in the eye. He did not raise me this way and for all my success in the business world it means nothing if I can’t hold my head high in front of the people I love.” Boston took a chance to kneel beside her, grasping her hand gently. “Julianna Holly, you and our baby are all that matters to me. You can take all the money and flush it down the toilet if it meant that I can have you back as my equal, as my partner, as my wife.”
Julianna sucked in a tight breath. Had he just asked her to marry him? She started to shake. “What are you asking? What are you saying?” she asked, afraid to misunderstand. “I don't…” Tears sprang to her eyes and she didn't bother wiping them away. This was too big, too sudden, and she was deathly afraid that she was dreaming. “Please tell me that you're being serious.”
He said, in a voice choked with tears, “I've never been more serious in my life. And yes, I am asking you — no, I am begging you — please, marry me. Make an honest man out of me, save me from this despicable person that I've turned into. I want to be the man who is worthy of your love. I want to be the kind of man you’re proud to say is yours. I want to be one of the good guys again. And I don't think I can do it without your help. Without you, I’m so lost.”
Julianna covered her mouth with her hands, afraid of what might come out. “I don't know what to say.”
“Say yes.”
It was all moving too quickly. Was she being a fool? What if Miles was right and once a cheater always a cheater? Was she willing to put it all on the line for him? Was she willing to take that risk with her baby? “I kissed Miles,” she blurted out. “And I almost slept with him but I didn't.” She waited for his reaction. Either he would flip out and show his true colors or he would remain humble.
Boston swallowed but didn't start shouting. Instead, he accepted her admission almost as if accepting his penance. “If you had it would’ve been within your right. But I am so grateful that you made a different choice,” he said quietly. Her heart sang with unmitigated joy and she didn’t care about anything else. She pulled him toward her so that he had to position himself between her knees and then she laid a deep, satisfying kiss on his mouth, with tongues tangling and teeth accidentally scraping until they were ripping at each other’s clothing in an ungainly, desperate rush to feel skin on skin. Within seconds her top was off and his mouth was latched onto her breast, sucking and laving, eager to taste every inch of her sun-kissed flesh, and she was lost to the pleasure of being in Boston’s arms. He hoisted her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. She was delirious, not quite sure how everything had changed but she was so grateful. “Tell me you love me again,” she said as he laid her gently on the bed. “I need to hear it again and again and again.”
“I love you desperately – ridiculously — unfathomably. And I promise I always will. From this moment forward, we start fresh. You are my equal in every way. I will never keep secrets from you and I will always stand by your side. I’ve waited my whole life for you and now that I’ve got you…I’m never letting you go.”
And that was all she needed to hear. She was willing to wipe the slate clean and forget the ugly parts of their former relationship and with it, the pain of betrayal and loss because she saw a new man — a better version of Boston — and she was giddy with excitement to start her life with him.
Together. A team.
And in seven months, there’d be a new Kincaid to add to the roster.
She gasped as Boston pressed fervent kisses down the smooth skin of her belly, closing her eyes as he paused ever so slightly at the subtle rounding, knowing that he was honoring their creation, their baby. “You’re my everything,” he murmured against stomach and she knew that he was talking to both her and the baby. But then he moved lower and she knew where he was going. Sliding her bikini bottoms free from her hips, he took his time to lovingly open her legs and then bury his face between her folds, nuzzling and teasing with torturously slow attention to her most sensitive spots. She inhaled a sharp breath as pleasure sprang to life inside her, spiraling out with fingers of pure sensation as he worked her clit as only Boston could. Oh yes, she lifted her hips to meet his marauding mouth and when he slowly pushed his finger inside her while he sucked and teased that rigid nub until she was shaking and thrashing, desperate to shatter. And then she did. “Boston!” she cried out, breathing hard with great rasping heaves as she tried to slow her pulse but Boston was too hungry to go slowly. She clutched him to her as he rose to cover her with his big, solid body. His murmured, “you wreck me in the most perfect way” sent a wild, elated thrill through her body that sang of love and completion and she knew this was right. She opened to him, anchoring her legs around his hips and he drove into her, sliding with exquisite precision into her willing heat, filling her completely until she didn’t know where he stopped and she began. This was how it was supposed to be — two lovers exchanging breath and energy — binding their souls together in a cosmic convergence of ultimate pleasure. Sometimes it wasn’t just sex, it was making love and she only just realized that Boston had been making love to her from the start, even when it’d been shockingly dirty. “God, I love you,” she cried, arching, offering herself more fully to him as he pistoned his shaft into her shuddering body, accepting each hard thrust and drinking in each guttural moan as she greedily took everything he had. “Say my name,” she cried, breathing hard as her body rocked with the orgasm barreling down her nerve endings, milking his cock with each rhythmic contraction.
“My Julianna,” he gasped, his hips jerking as he poured his load into her, bathing her insides with his sweet, hot fluids. He shuddered as he collapsed against her with one final, “Julianna!” and she died a little, overwhelmed by pure bliss. She was his Julianna and he was her Boston. How had she ever imagined that it wouldn’t end like this? They were epic together. If only they’d both realized sooner. Imagine all the
earth-shattering sex they would’ve had. A sigh, so replete with satisfaction and contentment escaped her lips and Boston rose up to peer at her with a grin that was adorably smug because she knew his heart. “I love you, Boston Kincaid,” she said, smoothing his damp hair and staring into his beautiful eyes.
His gaze softened as he countered with raw honesty, “I love you more.” And in that moment she knew that life with Boston would be as epic as their lovemaking — and she couldn’t wait to start living it.
-Epilogue-
Boston’s eyesight was blurred, but he didn’t need eyes to see that he held the world’s most precious bundle in his arms. He trembled and tightened his hold around the tiny infant, trying to not to openly bawl. From the moment Julianna gave birth, all Boston could do was stare as the baby was whisked from doctor to nurse for his newborn checks. It wasn’t until the nurse wrapped him up and placed him in Boston’s arms that he realized he’d been holding his breath.
“Is he okay?” Julianna asked in a tired, strained voice that’d gone hoarse from screaming through a brutal fourteen-hour labor. Thankfully, Boston had taken a page from the celebrity birthing playbook and had arranged for an ultra private room at the California hospital. “Ten fingers and ten toes?”
“He’s a fine boy,” the female doctor answered as she finished up doing whatever it was she was doing to Julianna — and frankly, Boston didn’t want to know. “Good job, Mom and Dad,” she added with a professional smile.
“Perfect,” he answered smiling briefly at the doctor, though he hadn’t even paid attention, he was so rapt with attention to the baby’s little, scrunched up face, marveling at the sheer wonder of the tiny person. “He’s absolutely perfect.”
“Thank God,” Julianna breathed and closed her eyes, exhausted. “I’m think I’m going to rest for a minute…”
“What a handsome prince,” the nurse murmured with a smile as she turned to leave now that the baby had passed all his newborn tests. “Do you have a name?”
“John Thomas Avery Kincaid,” he answered, his voice wobbling a little. I have a son. He looked to Julianna. Covered in sweat, pale, and hair plastered to her skull — she’d never looked more beautiful in his eyes. “We have a son.”
Julianna opened her eyes and smiled, nodding, but she was a little punch-drunk delirious from exhaustion and within seconds she was out like a light. But that was okay. She deserved her rest for creating a miracle. “You are one special little boy,” he said softly, rocking on his heels, knowing he’d do anything for this child. Tears wet his cheeks and he realized he was suffering the loss of his father’s death all over again. His father would never know this boy. But the baby carried his name. “You are named John after the island where I finally came to my senses and married your mama. Thomas after your mama’s brother whom she loves very much and you will meet very soon and Avery after a very special man who would’ve loved to know you.” He settled the baby more securely, loving the feel of the slight seven pounds in his arms, knowing he’d never tire of holding him. “Let me tell you about your grandfather Avery. He would’ve taught you all about how to be a good man in a bad world and how to stand tall and bear your responsibilities without caving to outside pressure. I guess now that’s my job, right?” He leaned down and inhaled the soft, baby scent that was instantly intoxicating and he whispered to the bright-eyed infant, “I’m kinda new at this job so go easy on me, okay?” The infant opened his mouth and scrunched up his face to let out a lusty squall and immediately Julianna’s groggy eyes opened. “I think he wants to eat,” Boston guessed, carrying the baby to Julianna and reluctantly placing him in her arms. “Can you feed him right away?”
“I think so?” she answered, placing the baby to her breast. John immediately latched on like a champ and Boston swelled with pride.
“That’s my boy,” he said, grinning.
Julianna rolled her eyes with fatigued laughter. “I suspect I will hear that phrase a lot in his lifetime.”
“Every day,” he promised. He leaned in and placed the sweetest of kisses against her damp brow, so thankful for this woman in his life. He stared into her eyes, loving her more than he ever thought he could love another human being and said, “Thank you for this beautiful gift. I will treasure this moment for the rest of my life.”
She blinked back tears and kissed him back with a watery, but oh, so cheeky, “You’re welcome” and Boston grinned.
God, he loved that woman! Together they were building an amazing life, one filled with happiness, love and generosity and sometimes it almost felt unfair to the rest of the world because he’d cornered the market on bliss. For the rest of his life, he would always strive to be worthy of those two people, he thought as he watched Julianna nurse their son, curling her fingers around his hand and smiling at their miracle. His pulse nearly stuttered to a stop as he seared a silent promise onto his soul to them both.
You will own my heart — always and forever.
