AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His expression softens. “Of course I mean it. I’m just sorry it’s taken me so long to say it.”
I can’t brush the tears away because I’m holding Leia, so he picks up a muslin square and wipes my cheeks gently.
“Alex said we need to be open and honest,” he says, “and I know he’s right. I’m not used to being like that. My father brought me up to believe a man should deal with his emotions himself, and not air his dirty laundry in public. But I don’t believe that anymore. And I want to learn how to talk about things with you. If that’s what you’d like, too.”
I press my lips together and nod hastily. “I’d like that.”
He looks relieved. Then he glances at Leia. “So, do you think you’d like to be Leia’s mum? To help me bring her up?”
“Very much,” I squeak.
His brows draw together. “You’re sure?”
I nod, trying to hold my tears in.
He looks emotional too. “Can I kiss you?” he asks, his voice husky.
I nod again.
He moves a little closer to me, putting his arm around my shoulders. Leia continues to suck and look up at us as he slides his other hand into my hair. He holds my head, then lowers his lips to mine.
It’s an innocent kiss, gentle and caring, but it lights a spark inside me that flares and warms me all the way through, as if I’ve swallowed a piece of summer. It feels like the start of something wonderful, and I can’t believe my luck.
He lifts his head and studies me. “You have the softest mouth.”
I feel as if I’ve looked at the sun bouncing off metal, and all I can see is bright light. “Kiss me again,” I murmur, sliding down a little on the sofa, nestling in his arms.
So he does. While Leia drinks her milk, and the fantails jump across the deck, he kisses me leisurely, his lips moving across mine, until eventually I feel his tongue brush my bottom lip. I open my mouth and allow him access, and his tongue slides against mine, teasing, gentle, firing all my nerve endings, and leaving me full of tingles and sighs.
*
The doctor arrives just after five. A little shy to strip off in the living room, I take him into the bedroom and remove my robe. He takes his time inspecting my elbow and ribs.
“I don’t think anything’s broken,” he tells me. “Just bruised. Continue to use the ice packs for a few days, take regular painkillers, and you should see some improvement by next week. If you have any trouble breathing, though, or the pain gets worse, you need to go to the hospital straight away.”
He repeats the instruction to James when we return to the living room. “Will do,” James says firmly. He sees him to the door, and they exchange a few words quietly before the doctor finally leaves.
“What did he say?” I ask when James comes back in.
“That you have to do everything I say.”
I give him a wry look. He smirks. “I’m going to cook dinner now,” he says. “Go and make yourself comfortable.”
With a fresh ice pack, I retreat to the living room, and I sit and play with Leia while James cooks pasta with a tomato sauce. It’s delicious, and he gives a delightful, bashful smile when I compliment him.
Afterward, he helps me bathe, dry, and dress Leia, and then he gives her the last feed before placing her in her bassinet.
She doesn’t even bother grizzling tonight when we leave—she’s asleep in seconds.
“What would you like to do?” James asks. “Watch a movie?”
“Actually, I’m nearly dead on my feet. I might go to bed now, too. Would you mind?”
“Of course not.” He pulls me into his arms and hugs me. I bury my face in his tee. Part of me had hoped he’d invite me into his bed, but he doesn’t. He does kiss me, though. He cups my face and searches my eyes, then lowers his lips to mine in a gentle kiss with a touch of heat in it, like the dash of chili he put in the pasta sauce.
Eventually, though, he wishes me goodnight and disappears into the east wing.
I go back to my half of the house. It’s dark and quiet, and a ripple of nervousness runs down my spine. Blue won’t come here, I scoff, he wouldn’t dare, but even so, I catch myself glancing in the dark corners, and jumping at the slightest sounds.
