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“I’ll stop, then. I want you to be comfortable. And eating,” he added pointedly.
He was right. I needed to eat for both of our sakes. Mine and this baby I carried.Hisbaby I carried. The weight of that realization, my new reality, rose up in my chest, tightening my throat.
As if he’d sensed something, Brady’s hand lifted to press against the tense muscles at the base of my neck. Carefully, his fingers began to circle, plying the tense muscles until my shoulders dropped and relaxed. For the first time since we’d found out about the baby, I felt a rush of hope flood my system. I was still terrified, but now, instead of strangling me, the idea of this baby rested in my chest quietly, as if waiting for me to decide what to do.
Beside me, Brady took an enormous bite of his sandwich. Biting my lip, I let myself sag into him and his steady warmth. His eyes were trained on the movie, one hand still massaging the base of my neck as I allowed myself this moment of comfort.
My stomach growled loudly against the backdrop of the movie. Hungry for the first time in a while, I took another bite.
And so we passed the first hour or so. Brady finished his sandwich first, shifting slightly to open up more of his body for me to press into. And I’d immediately moved. The warmth he gave off, both physically and emotionally, satisfied the deepest craving for affection I’d had in years.
When a boring part of the movie flicked on, I let myself turn to stare up into his face. “Do you want to talk now?”
His steady gaze saw straight through me. “Doyouwant to talk now?”
I rolled my eyes at his emphasis. “You said some pretty big things out there. Especially considering…” My voice trailed off, hoping he would take the lead.
“Considering our baby? Yeah, I did. But I don’t regret any of it.”
“Really?”
He grinned at me, his smile beautiful and disarming. “Really. Remember…I’m full transparency.”
“God help me,” I teased gently, feeling ever so slightly like my usual self. “You really are here for this? For all of this?”
“I like you, Cici. I like you a lot. And I knew when I took you home last month that it was one of the best nights of my life.”
I shifted slightly on the couch. His palm dropped to my thigh, where I could feel the hot pulse of his skin even through the fabric. “And now, knowing what happened, what we did, makes it the absolute best night of my life.”
My heart leapt out my throat. “You can’t mean that. No one says that kind of stuff.”
“Why not? You know we’re good together.”
“We are. But Brady, this is serious. This is a real, live baby.Ourreal, live baby.”
“I know. And I’m here. I’m ready to be here for as long as you’ll let me. Because I want to be. No one is forcing me. No one is chasing me over here. Except maybe Liam.”
“Wait—what?”
“Never mind. Do you understand?”
“I think so.”
“So how do you feel? I’ve blurted out plenty. It’s your turn to start rambling.”
I curled up against him, letting his arm secure me. “I’m not sure what to feel. I always wanted to have kids. I just thought things would be different. That I’d know the company was safe. That I’d have Ashlyn married off. Hell, thatI’dbe married off.”
Brady raised a brow. I held up a hand and pressed it over his lips. Damning the heat of them against me. “Do not go there. Not right now.” I sighed. “I guess I’m just a traditionalist at heart. I wanted to date the cute boy, have amazing sex with him, get married to him, then produce the next female president with him. In that order.”
“Seems verylogical,” Brady said slowly.
“And by logical you mean crazy.”
“But in the best way.” Brady let his fingers sweep up and down my arm. “It’s not wrong that you wanted that. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the way this happened either. We are two consenting adults who got carried away in each other to end up in this situation.”
“I want to be excited about this,” I admitted quietly.
I can feel Brady’s chest deflate under me. But still, his voice remains solid, confident. “Good. I think that’s a great start. And whenever you want to be, I’ll celebrate with you. Until then, we can eat fried dairy products and watch old movies. Does that work for you?”
