He sighs, clearly annoyed with all my questions. “Aubrey, you may not have realized this yet, but yours and the baby’s health are important to me. It seems that all this is causing you an extreme amount of stress. Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to take it out of your hands.” He finally lowers the manual in his hand and looks at me. “I have also contacted Mrs. Burkley. She will be here tomorrow morning to finalize the decor of this room.”
“Morgan? But she’s still on maternity leave.” I frown. I had thought of asking Morgan to do my nursery, but given as she already had her hands full, I didn’t want to add onto it.
“Yes, and she will be highly compensated for her work.” He then flaps the manual toward Shane and me. “Now, will someone please explain to me this trivial gibberish, before my intelligence is reduced to one of a five-year-old’s?”
“Sometimes I really question the words that leave your mouth.” Shane chuckles and shakes his head.
I want to laugh with him, but instead, I find my eyes welling with tears. Because Julian just admitted that he cared about me, and he even went as far as to beg Morgan to help finish the nursery.
I see the look of horror take over Julian’s face when he notices my tears quickly staining my cheeks. But that doesn’t stop me from speedwalking to him and throwing my arms around his head as I sob into his neck.
“Lord, why does this keep happening to me?” Julian mutters with displeasure, but a second later, his own arms wrap around my waist.
“Thank you,” I whisper to him.
I feel his rigid muscles loosen under my hands. “It is my very pleasure.”
I giggle wetly. “I highly doubt that.”
“You are right, it is not my pleasure. But I believed it would help you feel better, which is why I did it.”
“It is making me feel better,” I tell him, not letting go just yet.
Julian is a strange man, but the more I get to know him, the more important he’s becoming to me, too. He might seem cold, but that man clearly has a heart of gold underneath all those layers.
“Aubrey,” he finally says with a warning tone.
“What is it?”
“You know I do not do affection, and I am unsure as to what degree pushing a pregnant woman away would be considered unethical.”
I laugh, my cheeks quickly covering with a blush as I take a step back. He clears his throat and nods. “Thank you.”
“How did you know we were at the hospital?” I question, now realizing we still haven’t told anyone about our unexpected trip yesterday.
Julian gives me a bored look, then turns to Shane. “She is not very quick, is she?”
“Hey!” I smack him on the arm, earning me a death glare while Shane laughs behind us.
“It’s the pregnancy brain,” Shane says to him.
Julian narrows his eyes. “I do not believe that is a thing.”
“Oh, it is. Just last week, I went to the supermarket with two different shoes on. I didn’t even notice until we came back home.” I laugh, placing a hand over my belly.
Julian looks at me like I might be deranged, then back at Shane. “You should probably have her checked,” he says jokingly to Shane. At least, I think he’s joking. It’s hard to tell with his facial expressions sometimes.
“Dear, everything is ready for you.” Marianne pops up at the bedroom entrance.
Shane takes a step toward me, cupping the back of my head and tilting it back to make me look at him. “Go eat, Angel. I’ll help out here and join you when we’re done.” He presses his lips to mine and lets me go.
I smile as devotion blooms deep inside my heart, and as I walk out of the room, that smile still won’t leave my face. “Marianne, can you tell me how I got so lucky?” I ask her with a slight blush.
She chuckles and wipes the counters down as I take a seat at the island. “I’m not sure, but whatever you do, don’t let it go.”
“I don’t ever intend to.”
SHANE
