“Oh sweet honey muffin, no. We are trying on clothes today. This is going to be an all-day event. You should have gotten an extra coffee for yourself.” She turns and gently taps the side of my cheek a couple of times.
Within seconds, I am slowly drowning under seven different shirts, a few pants, and I think there might have been a bra thrown in, but I can barely see over the stack slung across my arms.
“Do you think we maybe need a cart?”
“Why would I need a cart when I got a 6’6 baby daddy who gladly carries my clothes around because he feels bad for me?” she fires back with a wink.
She has me wrapped around her fucking finger, and I’m not even sad about it.
“Silly me to forget.”
“Let's try these on for now and then we can put some back. But I really like this shirt.” She holds one up. “It has such cute bell sleeves and look how cute these little embroidered flowers look. Ugh, adorbs.”
“Yes, totally adorbs,” I reply dryly.
“You’re a better shopping buddy than I thought. I might recruit you more often. Weston has made Willow too busy, and Ava doesn’t want to bring the baby out until summer because of germs.” She shrugs as if anything she said makes sense inside my male brain. It doesn’t.
I tightly smile, a little afraid that I might have just signed myself up for more shopping than I volunteered for, but she’s smiling and happy. “Happy to be of service.”
She walks us over to the dressing room made up of stalls with purple curtains hanging for privacy. Mirrors line the end of the hallway, I assume, so you can get a view from all angles. She plants me in a chair just outside her stall as she slips behind her curtain.
“Well, good news, first one is a no. This would be flattering on no one, much less a pregnant woman,” she mumbles.
My chest shakes with laughter at her narration of the event. Fuck, she’s so funny even when she doesn’t try. I usually keep to myself, mostly because I just enjoy watching people, seeing how they work and what makes them tick. But with her, I can’t help but join in. She makes me enjoy things on levels I didn’t think was possible.
“Oh yeah, this is good,” she announces. “This is more for at home, but look how cute it is.” She flings the curtain open and steps out, and the second I lay eyes on her, my mouth goes dry.
Cute is not how I would describe what she has on. It’s fucking mouthwatering. It shows off every single bit of her that I'm obsessed with. Her long legs are shown off by the shorts, and good lord, there’s little slits up the side all the way up to the waistband. I can already imagine how easy it would be to slip through and get my hands on her.
The tank top hugs her breasts in a way that makes my mouth water. Seeing how beautiful her body is while carrying my baby makes me feel alive. There’s electricity boiling through my veins seeing her packaged up like this.
I’ve already considered myself a man's man my whole life, but nothing makes me feel more masculine than watching that woman glow right now. Knowing that baby inside her is mine. God damn.
I want to sink my teeth into her, rip that little set off and devour her.
Her eyes sparkle as my eyes drift upward; she knows exactly what she is doing to me. I am so damn weak when it comes to her.
My phone rings and I silently thank God, because I have no clue how else I could get out of this without breaking down. Without crawling on my damn knees in the middle of this department store, and I’d do it. Without a single ounce of shame.
“Sorry, gotta take this.” I wave my phone in my hand for good measure. “Looks great, you should get it.” Andnever wear it in front of megoes unsaid.
I hide the bulge straining against my jeans as much as possible; I know I did a shit job of it when I hear her giggle behind me.
As I walk away, I wonder how the hell I am going to keep convincing myself not to give in.
Chapter 22
Aspen
When I wake up, I expect to feel a little run down. I just got done working two back-to-back shifts, and the ER was packed both days. Usually after that, I wake up feeling like ass. Add pregnancy into that equation, and it’s worse. Not today though, I feel energetic. Maybe it’s the hope blooming in my chest with Rhett, as dangerous as that is. But also, I get to spend the day with all my favorite girls today.
Willow, my mom, and I are meeting at Ava’s to help her get ready to go back to work. Trying to get her to accept our help is usually like pulling teeth, but I think she is so starved for adult interaction, she’ll accept it. We’ve all visited, but like me, she’s used to working three or four days a week. Being cooped up in a house is probably driving her bananas.
I sit up, stretching my hands above my head. The light streams in through the curtains, making everything feel bright. A day with my girls will be exactly what I need. I want to grab us a littlespread to snack on for the day, so I need to get up, shower, and be on my way.
When I pull up to Ava’s new house that Mav had built for them, I notice I’m the first one here. My mom had forewarned me that she wasn’t there yet. I one hundred percent thought my mom would have beat us all here and had half of the work done before we even showed up. I’m a hard worker and all, but that woman is on another level.
Knocking is a thing of the past in this family, so with my bag free hand, I turn the knob and push open the door.
