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I smile, spreading my hands over my belly, as though I can already feel the life growing there. “I just can’t believe we’re having this conversation.”
“Well, believe it,” he says.
“What about Sebastian?” I ask.
“Why Sebastian?”
“He was the name of our first dog, the kindest, most loving Golden Retriever you’d ever have the good fortune of meeting. He died when I was eleven and I missed him so badly. When I used to imagine having a family, I’d often think about naming my son Sebastian, or Seb for short. Or is it weird to name a child after a dog? It is, isn’t it?”
“You never have to question your feelings with me,” he says. “I don’t think it’s weird. I think it’s you. I think it’s what you want, and you shouldn’t be ashamed of it. So we have it, Lori. Sebastian and Charlotte. I think we’re off to a good start, don’t you?”
I reach over and grab onto his shoulder, feeling his powerful muscles, the strength he’ll use to always keep our family safe, to protect us, to guide us.
“Yeah, a great start,” I say. “So, what movie do you want to watch when we get home?”
“I like the sound of that.”
“What?”
He glances at me, lips twitching softly. “Home.”
“It does sound good, doesn’t it?” I say as a warm glow captures my heart, feeling a stirring in my belly.
I try to tell myself not to get carried away here.
There’s still so much we have to deal with. Even if telling Jamie isn’t an absolute bomb of an experience – with a bigger explosion, probably – we still have to tell my mom and dad. And his parents. And the world.
Although I don’t really care about that last one. If the world decides to judge us for the age gap or the fact that he’s my best friend’s dad, fine, let them. It won’t change how I feel about this man. Even if people whisper that Lukas is actually getting with his son’s ex, following that old rumor, I won’t care.
But if Jamie says he hates me, he doesn’t approve, he needs us to stop…
“Hey,” Lukas says softly. “Where are you, Lori?”
“I’m right here,” I murmur.
He laughs lightly, or as lightly as a man with his husky voice can. “Do you really think you can lie to me, beautiful?”
I glance at him, at his strong jaw and his penetrating eyes. “I was thinking about telling Jamie.”
“I think we should.” He nods. “But I know you want to wait.”
“But if we wait…”
He sighs, a note of resignation in his breath. “I know, you don’t want to cross a certain line until we’ve told him.”
“Don’t you agree?” I say sharply.
“Yes, I do. Intellectually. I know you’re right. But I’ve already told you. You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on. You’re irresistible. Every inch of you belongs to me, and I need to claim it, every goddamn inch.”
I place my hand on his arm. I mean to tell him to relax, but then I feel how his muscles practically throb, as though he’s getting ready to pull the car over with a screech and kiss me hard against the glass of the window.
“You drive me crazy,” I say instead, forgetting about my desire to make him stop.
If it was ever a desire, to begin with. If I ever truly wanted it.
“Maybe we should talk about the movie we’re going to watch,” I say.
He grunts out a laugh. “If we’re going to really try and keep our hands off each other, Lori, I think we should pick something with lots of action. Something with no romance in it at all. A big dumb Hollywood blockbuster that will make us both forget how badly we want each other.”
He pauses, smirking as he shakes his head wryly. “The only problem is, there’s nothing that could make me forget that.”
“But we could try,” I say quickly.
“Sure, we can. We have to. Unless…”
“Soon,” I say. “We’ll tell him soon.”
We ride the rest of the way in a warm silence, not feeling the need to fill every moment with conversation. I love how it feels as though we’ve been together forever – meaning we don’t always have to talk – and yet also achingly new. It’s a combination I can’t imagine experiencing with anyone else.
“Fancy,” I joke when Lukas leads me across his underground garage lot to his private penthouse elevator.
He grins as he slips the key inside and then gestures for me to enter first.
“Such a gentleman,” I say playfully.
The way he looks at me tells me he wants to behave as anything other than gentlemanly, his eyes narrowed and stark. He stands close as we ride the elevator up, his hand on the small of my back, inches away from my ass. My sex grows sensitive as I imagine him dragging his hand down over my body, gripping my legs…
