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I frown. “You get some input, too. It’s your wedding.”
Carter shrugs and flips onto his back. He places a hand behind his head and stares up at the ceiling. “I honestly don’t give a shit where we get married, as long as we do.”
“Oh.”
“I don’t want you to worry about the expenses or anything like that,” Carter continues, not hearing the disappointment in my voice. “But don’t expect me to be a hands-on type of groom. Tristan will get me there in one piece.”
“Were you expecting to get there in several pieces?”
Carter twists his head to look at me and gives me a blank look. “Your humor needs some work, dove.”
“I know, but you’re not allowed to get blown up or cut up into pieces or whatever, okay? You make sure you come back to me, Carter.”
Otherwise, I’m going to have to hunt down his enemies myself. And I don’t know the first thing about revenge or making people play.
But I’m all too sure that if anything happens to Carter, his family will be more than happy to help me.
“You and I are going to get married soon,” I add in a lighter voice. “And who knows, maybe we’ll even start our own family.”
I watch his face carefully, but his expression doesn’t change when I say the words.
“I know we’ve never talked about it before, but I do want to have kids someday,” I continue, my voice rising a little toward the end. Pausing, I clear my throat and ignore the nervous fluttering in the center of my stomach. “I think you’d make a great dad, for what it’s worth.”
Carter snorts and doesn’t look over at me. “Your sense of humor isn’t going to improve if you make jokes like that, dove.”
I swallow. “What if I’m not kidding? What if I do want us to become parents?”
Carter flips onto his side to face me, a furrow between his brows. “I honestly can’t tell if you’re serious or trying to keep my mind off things.”
“A little of both?”
“You’d make a fucking amazing mother, dove,” Carter tells me with a half-smile. “I don’t doubt that, but I don’t know the first thing about being a father, and at this point, I think it’s too late for me. I’m set in my ways.”
“You could learn.”
Carter places his hands on my waist and draws me closer. “I could, but why in the fuck would I want to? I enjoy having you all to myself. It’s not like we can raise a baby in this environment anyway.”
My heart drops at his words, but I try not to let it show on my face. Carter has no idea why I’m asking. As far as he’s concerned, I’m just making small talk in an effort to keep his mind off things.
And I’m not even succeeding.
I’m overcome with the urge to tell him the truth and let the chips fall where they may. Until he opens his mouth and speaks again.
“Besides, you’ve got the implant, so there’s no chance you’re getting pregnant. We’ve got bigger things to focus on, dove.”
My eyes flick down to my arm, and sweat forms on the back of my neck. “What if the implant wasn’t there anymore? Not on purpose, obviously, but what if it was removed because of some kind of accident?”
Carter’s hands move to my back, and he helps me out of the towel. When I’m naked in front of him, he runs his fingers over my skin, tracing something I can’t see. “I don’t deal in hypotheticals, dove. Neither should you.”
I study his face and fall silent. It’s too late for me to tell him now anyway. The moment has passed.
But I can’t help but mourn it as it passes.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Isabella
“Speaking of bigger things to focus on, tomorrow you and Tristan are going to the mansion in the woods,” Carter states, clearly changing the subject away from children.
