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“That’s right, little one,” Daisy murmured, rubbing her small baby bump with a smile. “I know I hurt your daddy horribly last night by pushing him away, but it’s time I listen to what’s in my heart, instead of allowing old fears to hold my emotions hostage for the rest of my life. And my heart tells me I love this man. That I want him, and we both need him.”
The tadpole agreed with another fluttering sensation that had Daisy laughing softly and anxious to talk to Aiden.
Chapter Fourteen
Aiden flipped through the channels on TV, trying to find something to distract him from thinking about Daisy and to keep him from returning to her apartment today to talk to her again. But he couldn’t and wouldn’t do it. He’d seen last night that pushing her only made her retreat further, and that’s the last thing he wanted to do.
Even though she’d let him walk out of her place, which killed him inside, he wasn’t giving up on her. Or them. For one thing, they had a baby together, and for another, he had to believe that Daisy would come to realize that he wasn’t going anywhere. Ever. The two of them were meant to be together. It might have all started because she’d gotten pregnant, but that unexpected surprise had led to him falling in love with her and wanting things with Daisy that he never thought he’d ever have in his life, with a woman who truly made him want to be a better man—for their child and for her.
The doorbell rang, and thinking it was probably Dylan, who he’d talked to last night after everything had happened with Daisy, he answered the door. Standing on his front porch was the sweet, vulnerable woman he’d fallen in love with. Hope welled up inside him, but he immediately tamped it back down, because even though she was here, that didn’t mean she’d changed her mind about them. Hell, for all he knew, she’d come by to establish a new set of rules between them that allowed him to be a part of the baby’s life but not hers.
Jesus. The thought made him nauseous.
“Hey,” she said softly as she shifted anxiously on her sandaled feet. “Can I come in and talk to you?”
“Of course.”
He opened the door wider and she walked inside. She was wearing an oversized top and leggings, and her hair was up in a ponytail. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, but her skin glowed, and she looked incredibly beautiful, and he ached to reach out and touch her.
Keeping his hands to himself, he followed her into the living room. She turned around and faced him, a combination of nerves and regret darkening her green eyes. “I’m so sorry about last night,” she blurted out.
She stared at him, clearly waiting for him to respond, but he wasn’t sure what to say to that except, “What, exactly, are you sorry for?” He wasn’t about to assume anything at this point.
She swallowed hard, making him realize how difficult this was for her. “I’m sorry for thinking for even one minute that you are anything less than an honorable man
who doesn’t do or say anything he doesn’t mean. I’m sorry for getting so caught up in my own fears and insecurities that I panicked when your mother made the comment about you wanting me to quit work to be a stay-at-home mom, instead of talking to you like a rational adult.”
The corner of his mouth quirked ever so slightly. “Go on,” he urged, because with every word she spoke, the hundred-pound weight on his chest gradually eased in pressure.
She smiled a little, too. “I’m sorry I let my mother mess with my head in a way that made me think I can’t trust a man, when you’ve shown me every reason I should trust you. I’m sorry I freaked out when you asked me to move in with you, because you weren’t trying to take anything away from me, you were offering me stability and a future for me and our child.”
He exhaled a long, low breath. “Yes, I was.”
She took a step toward him, close enough that she could brush her fingers along the stubble lining his cheek and jaw. In a trembling voice, she said, “But what I’m most sorry for is letting you walk out of my apartment last night without being brave enough to tell you that I love you, too. Because I really, really do love you, Aiden Stone. I think I have for months now.”
He groaned, beyond happy and grateful.
“So, with all that said, I’m going to ask that you please be patient with me,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “Because I know I’m far from perfect, and that I still have those issues that might crop up from time to time. I know they haven’t magically disappeared, but I’m ready to let what the two of us have together be a new and fresh start for me. Because you make me happy. You make me feel safe and special and loved.”
Then she smiled, radiant and confident and trusting. “You make me feel like I can have it all.”
Dying to touch her, Aiden captured her face between his hands and held her gaze. “You can have it all.” Then he revised those words. “We can have it all.”
“We,” she repeated on a sigh. “I like the sound of that.”
“I’d do anything for you, Daisy,” he said, and meant it. “I’d give you the moon and stars and anything else you wanted or asked for.”
She brought her hands up to his chest and curled her fingers into his T-shirt, a sexy grin on her lips. “Do you know what I really want right now?”
“Tell me.”
Lifting onto her tiptoes, she brushed her lips across his, soft and teasing. “I really, really want you to kiss me.”
Still framing her face in his hands, he sealed his mouth to hers, his lips parting hers to accept the sweep of his tongue inside. She shuddered and moaned and slid her arms around his neck to deepen the contact even more, and he was more than happy to oblige. The kiss seemed to go on and on, as if they were making up for lost time, as if she never wanted to let him go, and he was totally good with that.
But eventually, he did end the kiss, and now he was achingly hard with need. It had been four excruciatingly long months since he’d been inside of her, and it was the only place he was desperate to be right now, lost in the heat of her soft, willing body. Having her moan and writhe beneath him while he moved between her welcoming thighs.
He brought his mouth to her ear. “Know what I really want right now?” he asked, turning the question around on her.
