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“She’ll come back, Cane. She’ll realize she doesn’t belong there.”
“I don’t know…”
“You could always go there and see her.”
He shook his head. “No. I’m not going to do that. I’d be invading her space.”
“You could just say you were in town and ask her to dinner or something. No pressure.”
Cane stared at the picture frame in silence.
“I wish I could help you, Cane. I don’t like seeing you like this.”
His eyes turned back to me, and the affection emerged in his eyes. “I know. I don’t know what to do. I’m usually aggressive and just take what I want, but that won’t work for me now. Everything I’ve ever learned in my life doesn’t apply here.”
“Yeah, it seems that way.”
“A part of me wishes I’d never fallen for her. Another part wouldn’t have it any other way.”
I left my desk and opened the cabinet. I poured two glasses of scotch and handed one to him. “Our lives used to be so much easier before the women came.”
He chuckled then took a drink. “I’ll drink to that.”
“But I know what you mean. I wouldn’t want it any other way.” I drank from my glass and watched my brother on the other side of the desk. “I used to hate sharing my space, but now I hate it when Pearl isn’t sleeping beside me. I used to enjoy my solitude, but I hate it when we aren’t together, even for a few hours. Now I’m dependent on this woman for my happiness. It’s scary sometimes.”
He looked down into his glass with a sad expression. “I know that feeling…all too well.”
* * *
When I came home, Button was on the third floor, but she wasn’t in our bedroom. I found her in one of the guest bedrooms, one that hadn’t been used in a decade. It had a king-size bed, Italian furniture, and plenty of space for two people. She stood with her hands on her hips and surveyed the area.
I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist.
She didn’t flinch at my touch, like she’d been expecting me all along. Her hands glided over my arms until she reached my hands as they sat on her stomach. Her fingertips brushed against my black ring, and I could feel her metal band rub against me.
My face moved into her neck, and I kissed her, feeling her pulse right against my lips. My breath fell across her skin, entering her ear canal. “What are you doing in here?”
She turned her head and looked at me over her shoulder. “Seeing if this room is a good fit.”
“A good fit for what?”
“The baby.”
I hadn’t thought that far into the future. She wasn’t even truly starting to show yet, so I was still just grasping the fact that there was a little person growing inside her.
“I thought we could make this into the baby’s room. There’s no balcony or bathroom, so there’s no hazards. And it’s right down the hall from our room, so I can get in here quickly if I need to.”
“Excellent points.”
“I thought we could repaint, set up a crib right in the middle of the room, and decorate it depending on what the gender is.”
“When do we find that out?”
“Not for a few months.”
“Whatever you want to do, Button. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“I knew you’d say that.” She turned around, sliding through my arms until we were facing each other. She rose on her tiptoes and kissed me on the mouth, a subtle kiss packed with passion.
My hand slid into her hair, and I deepened the kiss, appreciating her in a way I never had before. Cane wasn’t the same man he used to be after he lost the woman he loved. Button and I could have easily had a different destiny. If we both hadn’t been at the right place at the right time, our paths might never have crossed. I wouldn’t love someone more than anything else in this world, and I wouldn’t be starting a family. Everything worked out for me. I wished it had worked out for Cane.
When Pearl pulled away, she ran her hands up my chest. “We’ve never had sex on this bed…”
“We haven’t had sex on a lot of these beds.”
“Well, you wanna start?” she asked, giving me a playful smile.
“You want to defile every bedroom in this house?”
“Why not?”
I grinned. “Even Lars’s bed?”
“Ew, no,” she said with a laugh. “Just the unclaimed ones.”
“Alright.” I lifted her up and carried her to the bed. “Let’s start now.”
* * *
A month came and went.
Button’s belly started to show. Now it was slightly distended and round, pressing through her shirt to give her a noticeable mound. I’d never been into pregnant women, but once she started to show, I found it distinctly arousing.
But it was probably because she was my wife—and that was my baby.
