“I was protecting myself.” My voice comes out smaller than I intend. “Because I thought you didn’t want me.”
“I have wanted you since the first time I saw you, querida. Vegas was me finally having the woman I’d been thinking about for eight years. I woke up next to you, and you were so beautiful, and I wanted to do something nice. Give you something to smile about when you woke up.”
Eight years. He wanted me for eight years.
“And I left before you came back,” I say.
“We’re both idiots.”
A breathless laugh escapes me. “Speak for yourself.”
“I’m speaking for both of us.” His thumb traces my cheekbone. “If you hadn’t gotten pregnant, we might have gone the rest of our lives believing the wrong thing.”
“We would’ve figured it out, eventually.” I don’t believe it, even as I say it. “Right?”
“I want to say yes, but honestly? I don’t know if I would’ve had the courage without our baby.”
“I don’t know if I would’ve either.”
“But you’re here now.” His voice is soft. “We both are.”
He’s right. I settle back against his chest, letting his heartbeat steady mine. My hand finds its place over his heart, and hiscovers it, holding it there. I let myself enjoy this feeling of being exactly where I’m supposed to be.
Then I lift my head, fixing him with a serious expression. “Speaking of Vegas, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“You kissed better in Vegas.”
His face shifts through confusion, disbelief and outrage before landing on indignation. “Excuse me?”
“I’m just saying.” I shrug, fighting to keep my face neutral. “There was a certain... energy. I don’t know what happened to it.”
“Jasmine, fifteen minutes ago you were...”
“I know what I was doing fifteen minutes ago.” I pat his chest consolingly. “I’m just giving you feedback for improvement purposes.”
Antonio moves fast. Before I can even register it, I’m on my back with him hovering over me, his hand braced beside my head and his eyes dark with playful menace.
“You want Vegas energy, querida?” His voice is low. “I’ll give you Vegas energy.”
I’m laughing when his mouth finds mine, and he swallows the sound with a kiss that absolutely, definitively snatches my breath away.
When he pulls back, my thoughts scattered.
“Better?” he asks.
I take a moment to collect myself. “Adequate.”
“Meu Deus.” He laughs. “You’re playing me.”
“And yet here you are.” My smile widens. “Playing along.”
“Against my better judgment.”
“Your judgment was never that good to begin with. You got me pregnant.”
“You were there too. You put on the condom.”
