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I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. Pregnancy hormones, or just too many emotions I couldn’t bottle up. I’d never been good at it. “Dare.”
Instead of saying anything more, he swung me up into his arms.
I wasn’t prepared for that kind of action. Namely because I was too tall for any guy to do that, but he didn’t even grunt. He stalked through the arch leading to his dining room, but went right for the stairs.
“I’m too—”
“Kel?”
; I blinked at him. “Yes?”
“Shut up. I’m making a grand gesture here. How about you just enjoy it?”
I pressed my lips together and hung on. When we got to the top, he stopped by a cracked open door. My heart melted when he peeked in to make sure Wes was settled.
Maybe settled wasn’t exactly the right word. He was sprawled on his back, a league of stuffed dinosaurs lined up around the perimeter of his bed, with the T-Rex tucked under his arm. I brushed my fingers over the softness of Dare’s beard. There was love there. A softness around his eyes and mouth, but then his gaze returned to me.
It was different. Maybe not as huge as I felt for him, but it wasn’t just lust. Someday, it could be more. I was selfish enough to want it, to reach for it because having this baby was terrifying and exciting and I didn’t want to do it alone.
He leaned forward until our noses brushed. Then that purposeful stride was back as he traveled toward the back of the house where the master bedroom was. It was bigger than I expected in a townhouse. Huge and nearly empty save for a bed, dressers, and a chair. A small light was on in the corner of the room. The room was stark white except for one wall.
Normally, I wouldn’t have noticed because of the intent firing in Dare’s eyes. But the wall was orange. “Wow.”
“What?”
“That’s very orange.”
“Oh.” He laughed. It was a rusty sound. I rarely heard him actually laugh. A chuckle sometimes, but more often it was a grunt or a growl. “Wes picked it. Think you can handle it?”
I swung my feet as I peered around his shoulders. “I think I can make it work.”
“Is that so?” He placed me gently on the bed and peeled his sport jacket off.
I struggled out of my jacket, pushing it to the floor.
He tsked and bent to pick it up and folded it over the back of a rocking chair. “Is this something I need to get to know about you, Kel?”
I propped myself up on my elbows. “That I’m impatient to get you naked? This isn’t news.”
He slowly unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt, then proceeded to make his way down the front placket. “No, that you’re a slob. I wouldn’t have thought so with you being a teacher and all.”
I swallowed, trying to follow the conversation. But there was a lot of flesh being shown. The rippling kind that revealed muscles in places that had definitely not been in my purview. I’d caught pieces of him, but I’d never really been able to take in the full effect the few times we’d been together. In fact, he’d seen more of me than I had of him.
He left the shirt on, the tails floating around his hips as he dug his wallet out of his pants, setting it on the bedside table with his keys. There was a ritual to each motion. Like this was his nightly occurrence. Why that ratcheted up the tension in my belly, I had no idea.
Then he slowly unbuckled his belt, dragging the leather through the loops before tossing it on the chair with my jacket. He backed up to the door, snicking it shut softly. He dragged a laundry basket full of Legos in front of the door.
I nibbled on my lower lip. Had he done this before? A warning signal if there was a sudden disruption from a certain little boy?
Who was I to say anything about it considering my current situation, but the fact that he worried left me warm and slightly uneasy at the same time. These were things I’d have to get used to now.
My future included a new family, and a pre-existing one at the same time.
He thumbed open the button of his jeans and all thoughts of Wes, other women, and Tommy floated away. This was about us right now. And the bulge behind his zipper told me his focus was on me. That was what mattered.
I hissed out a breath when he lifted my foot to his chest. He dragged his fingers up over the soft leather to behind my knee to the zipper of my boot. His gaze never left mine as he slid one, then the other boot off. Then those strong fingers slipped under my skirt for my tights.
