Page 111

“So do me.”

I laughed. “Again? No. Shoo. Let me finish this.”

He leaned into me, bracing one hand against the island as the other slid to the waistband of my pants. “Let me finish you instead.”

I groaned. “What is with you? I thought you supported me doing this.”

“Of course, I do.” He kissed the top of my head and immediately eased back. “All I’m saying is that there’s no rush. We’ve got the community center project to get off the ground, a baby to grow, and a house to decorate. We’re slammed right now.”

I smiled. “I’m proud of you for saying the word slammed without turning it into an innuendo.”

“Hey, I can be mature when I have to, but the rest of the time, I’m a newlywed. I’m told that means I can be a horndog and get away with it.”

“You’re really leaning into this whole newlywed thing, huh?”

He shrugged, those blue eyes twinkling with barely restrained laughter. “Yeah, well, I missed out on it right at the beginning. We’re playing catch up here, and besides, until now, I haven’t heard you complaining.”

“Oh, I’m not complaining,” I assured him. Very seriously. Because I, most definitely, was not complaining. It turned out that having a hot husband who was very much in love with you and not afraid to show it was an absolute pleasure, in all the ways, but right now, I had to get this done. “I’m just trying to submit this application before you distract me.”

He put his hands up in surrender and moved to the other side of the counter, shirtless despite the cold outside. As my gaze tracked across the hard planes of his chest and bulges of muscle at his biceps, he sighed.

“Seriously, that time wasn’t my fault.”

“You knocked me up. That’s where all these hormones are coming from,” I said. “That means it’s still your fault.”

He chuckled, but I didn’t miss the way his chest puffed out a little bit. “Fair enough. I did do that and I’m going to do it again. As often as you’ll let me.”

“You’ve gone from wanting no kids to wanting however many I’ll let you have?”

He shrugged. “A round dozen sounds good.”

My eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“I’m from a big family, but it could’ve been ever bigger.”

“There are six of you. A dozen is double as many.”

He smirked. “Yeah, that’s the math.”

I shook my head. “Let me submit this application before I accidentally turn into the mother of an entire nation.”

“That’s okay,” he joked. “I’ve got a few minutes today. I can wait.”

I laughed but turned back to the screen and the cursor blinking beside the final question. Holden watched as I typed out the answer, staying but not interrupting again as I attached the final documentation required.

After rereading the answer twice and double checking all the documents, I glanced up at him again, that blond hair all mussed after a morning spent in bed and carrying all the furniture out of Tasha’s old room.

“Are you ready?” I asked. “Once I press this button, it’s final.”

“Do it,” he said without hesitation, those eyes confident as they locked on mine. “This is what you want, Alicia. It’s your dream. If you’re sure you’re ready to go after it, then I’m right there with you.”

I squeezed my eyes shut as I clicked on Submit, and when I reopened them, the page had loaded to tell me that the submission had been successful. For a second, I just stared at those words, recognizing that this was another dream that could come true.

Holden grinned at me from across the counter. “How do you feel?”

“Good.” I drew in a deep breath and finally walked around the island, staring up into those blues and feeling like I could just drown in them. “Happy.”

He smiled, pressing a kiss to my forehead as he slid his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. “Congratulations in advance, baby. You’re going to get in.”