AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re getting to be bossy.”
“Yes.” Keeping one hand under her frame, I use the other to pull down the covers.
“You going to be like this for the rest of our lives?”
I pause in the midst of pulling her bottoms off, take a deep, joyful breath, and then continue on, pretending she didn’t just rock my world. “Probably.”
“We’re going to fight,” she warns. Her arms come up so I can pull off her shirt. “I can be bossy myself.”
“You don’t say,” I reply deadpan. She delivers a weak swat across my chest. “It’s one of my favorite things about you.”
“Why’re we going to bed?” she asks. “It’s six o’clock.”
“I told you. I’m wrecked.” I’m not even joking. Arriving at the apartment, the first thing I laid eyes on was blood in the hallway. My heart was in my throat as I stepped over Chip’s body to get into Lainey’s bedroom. Finding her huddled against the nightstand, the gun between her legs, is going to haunt my nightmares for weeks.
I shuck all my clothes, keeping my boxer briefs on, and climb into bed with her. Her hand immediately drifts down to the elastic waistband. I catch her fingers and pull them up to my mouth.
“Not tonight,” I say.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m traumatized.”
She laughs softly but snuggles close. “Let’s not do a big wedding like Charlotte and your brother. Let’s get Cassidy and go to City Hall. We can have a big celebration when Nate gets back. Maybe in the summer.”
“That’s good for me.”
“Your parents might be upset,” she warns.
“So? This is our love story. We’re doing it our way. They can marry Nate and Charlie again if they need to have another wedding.”
“Did you really buy me a ring?”
I pull away slightly to look at her in surprise. “Did you hear me?”
“Nah, I read your lips,” she admits.
“Huh. I best be careful in the future,” I tease.
“You know it.”
“I figured we could pick one out together. We’re a team now,” I tell her. “Let’s get you something gaudy. I mean, if they’re going to talk about us, let’s give them something really worthwhile.”
Her laughter loosens up the remaining tightness in my chest. All’s well in our world. Chip’s gone. We’re in love. It doesn’t matter what happens in the upcoming season. I’ve already won.
She winds her arms around my neck. “How traumatized are you?”
“I can foresee needing a lot of comfort tonight.”
“Like down here?” Her fingers slip inside the loose cotton to find my ready cock.
“Go easy on me,” I croak out. “I already had one heart attack.”
She swings into a sitting position. “I promise I can bring you back to life.”
No lies were spoken.
Epilogue
Lainey
10 Years Later
“Don’t keep looking out the window,” I admonish, as Nick pulls aside the curtain for what seems like the hundredth time in the last ten minutes.
“It’s important to see how he drives. You can tell a lot about a guy based on that,” he replies, his face still glued to the glass. “Are you sure we should let Cassidy go on this date? Girl’s only fifteen. She should be in her room studying or something.”
I hide my smile by rubbing my cheek between Nick’s shoulder blades. He’s having a hard time letting Cassidy go.
“Daddeeeeee!” A high-pitched voice squeals through the speaker system. “I’m ready for the pictures! If you don’t come down soon, we’re going to be late.”
Nick sighs, his shoulders drooping. “Why couldn’t you have backed me up when I told her no?”
“Because, like you said, she’s fifteen. It’s time. Speaking of time, I wish your son would hurry up and arrive.” I press a hand to my aching back. “I think I threw a disc walking up the stairs.”
My dear husband spins from the window and drops to his haunches, low enough to press an ear against my protruding stomach. “Hey, champ, now would be a good time to come out. You’d be saving your old man a world of hurt. If you come out now, I’ll buy you a battery-operated Porsche. Top of the line. How about it?”
Son number three remains stubbornly silent. He’s already a week overdue and is showing no signs of wanting to leave the nest, much to my intense dismay.
With another sigh, Nick straightens and leans in to give me a hard kiss. It doesn’t last long, though, because the screeching begins anew. Cassidy might be on the cusp of womanhood, but she doesn’t have much more patience than a flea.
“You better get downstairs before Cassidy loses her kittens,” I murmur against his mouth. Reluctantly, he drags his lips from mine.
“Coming,” Nick bellows, not bothering to use the intercom system. Years of barking out orders on the football field make it easy for him to project his voice. The squawking immediately stops.
He gives my giant stomach another pat before striding out of the bathroom.
