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“That’s not true,” I tell her.
“It is true. It is, and I don’t want to make you miserable, Angelo. I love you.” She laughs. “And in the six days I have known about this child...” Her voice quivers as she lays her hands on her flat abdomen. “Regardless of how damn sick I feel, I cannot imagine ending something we created. I know that.”
I don’t let her finish. I grab the back of her head and pull her close enough to kiss those lips I have been starving for. She opens her mouth to me immediately, and I thrust my tongue into it. She moans as I pull her closer. Then she tries to pull away, but I hold her head still.
“I’m not fucking done with you, Tatum.”
“Muttley,” she says breathlessly.
“Shit,” I mutter as I regretfully release her and turn to grab the leash I dropped.
He’s trotting down the road, wagging his fucking tail. I whistle, but he doesn’t stop.
“Muttley, you fool, get back here,” I call out, jogging after him.
“Muttley.” Tatum laughs as the son of a bitch stops.
I turn back and watch her laugh. It’s beautiful.
“Get the dog,” she says, still laughing as she runs toward me.
She is so fucking beautiful. Her voice is my favorite sound. This woman owns my heart, and with the way she looks at me, I know damn well I own hers, too.
I turn and step on the leash, securing the mutt. Then I turn back around and grab her as she almost runs by me. Lifting her up so we are eye to eye, she links her hands behind my neck.
“I want this so bad with you, Tatum, but I am fucking terrified.”
“I’m going to be fine.” She smiles, pushing her forehead against mine.
“You damn well better make sure of it,” I demand, to which she laughs. “I’m not joking.”
“I will be.” She continues to smile as she kisses my nose. “But if you don’t put me down, I may throw up on you.”
I very gently set her down, mentally beating myself up for not being more fucking careful.
She grabs both sides of my face. “I’m fine.”
“You’re fine,” I repeat.
“So are you.” She smiles that same bright beautiful smile she did minutes ago. A smile for me, for us.
“I am,” I say, but I’m not feeling it, not yet.
“What is it, then?” she asks, rubbing the scruff of my beard with her fingertips.
“I love you, Tatum. I need to be more fucking careful. You need to be more careful.”
Again, she laughs. “I’ve been in bed for five days. I’m exhausted, but that’s normal.”
“How do you know?” I ask, taking her hands and holding both of them in one of mine while I grab the leash.
“I’ve read everything I can about the first trimester.”
I can’t help smiling at that. “Of course you have. I want you to show me. I want to know everything.”
“Of course.”
Chapter Thirty - Five
I hear my phone ring on the nightstand and cover my head with a pillow. Angelo took the day off because he needs to do some research. Jagger and his wife looked at him like he was crazy, but only for a moment, because then he blurted out that his girlfriend was pregnant and he needed to find out how to keep me healthy and alive.
I was just as shocked as they were, and also a little embarrassed. At thirty-one years old, I feel like the word girlfriend is a little—no, make that a lot—odd.
Jagger laughed and smacked him on the back. Angelo tensed, but let it go.
Once upstairs, I showed him how Google works, and then we laid in bed while he read on my iPad. He also took notes in a journal, just like the one he bought at the bookstore.
I fell asleep watching his eyes widen and his facial expressions change with each word he read. It was exhausting seeing all the emotions in him. I also listened to his heartbeat speed up and slow down, speed up and slow down. The man was stressed, and I let him know it.
The phone stops ringing, and I start to fall back to sleep, when it starts again almost immediately.
I am determined to ignore it until I hear his voice and realize he answered my phone.
“Hello... Yes, this is Angelo, and Tatum is asleep... No, I’m not going to wake her up, Melanie. She needs her rest.” There is a long pause, and then, “She what...? Okay, well, I will tell her when she wakes up... I heard you and said I would tell her.”
“Listen to me,” I hear Melanie scream through the line. “Wake her up!”
“Listen to me,” he hisses. “No!”
I move the pillow off my head and roll onto my back.
He looks over at me and scowls. “You can’t lie on your back; it could cause issues with the pregnancy, Tatum.”
