“Yeah?”
“Thanks. I owe you one.”
“Yeah you do,” she says breezily. “And don’t worry. I’ll collect soon.”
I pull up to Kelsey’s apartment building forty minutes later, glancing around once I park my car into an open slot. The complex has seen better days. The paint is peeling off the building, and it looks a little rundown. All I can think about is how fast can I get Kelsey out of here, and when I get out of my car and slam the door, a dog starts barking incessantly somewhere in the distance.
Great.
She doesn’t live in the best part of town either. Realizing her apartment is on the second floor at least gives me some comfort as I run up the stairs and stop at her door, taking a deep breath for courage before I knock.
No answer. Not even a sound from within.
I knock again, a little louder this time, but still no answer.
Huh.
The door across from Kelsey’s creaks open, and I turn around to find a little old lady standing there, leaning heavily on a cane. Her hair is stark white, and her face is lined with wrinkles. Her brown eyes twinkle when they meet mine, though, and she smiles. I can’t help but smile back.
“Are you Kelsey’s young man?” she asks.
I stand up a little straighter, liking the way that sounds. She reminds me of my own grandmother. “I am. Do you know if she’s home?”
If I’m Kelsey’s boyfriend, you’d think I’d know this, but the woman doesn’t even bat an eyelash.
“I see her car out in the parking lot, so I’d say yes. She avoids people knocking on her door as much as possible.” The woman lowers her voice. “She’s a very private person.”
I glance toward the parking lot and spot Kelsey’s car sitting under the carport. Huh. So why won’t she answer the door?
“Did you tell her you were coming over?” the woman asks when I still haven’t said anything.
“No. I was hoping it would be a surprise.” I flash her a weak smile and offer up a little shrug.
“Ah.” The woman shakes her head, making a tsking noise. “You should probably pull your fancy phone out of your pocket and send her a message. Let her know you’re here. Maybe she’s taking a shower.”
“Maybe she is,” I say as I do exactly as the woman suggests and pull out my phone from the back pocket of my jeans. I send Kelsey a quick text.
I’m at your front door. I need to see you.
Then I wait.
“She answer you yet?” the woman asks.
This woman is giving me a complex with her questions.
“No.” I stare at the screen, willing it to receive a reply from Kelsey. “But like you said, maybe she’s in the shower.”
I hear a lock being undone, and I turn back toward Kelsey’s apartment just in time to see her door swing open, and she’s standing in the doorway. She’s wearing a pair of black cotton shorts and a cropped white T-shirt, and her hair is damp, as if she did just recently take a shower. Her face is scrubbed clean of makeup, and her cheeks are rosy. Her eyes are a little puffy, like maybe she’s been crying, and I don’t doubt that.
It makes me feel like shit, knowing I’m the reason she shed tears.
“What are you doing here?” she asks me, her gaze going to the older woman standing just behind me. Kelsey smiles gently. “Are you flirting with my boyfriend, Mrs. Fillmore?”
I like that Kelsey still calls me her boyfriend.
“Perhaps,” Mrs. Fillmore says, a lilt in her voice. “He’s a fine-looking man, Miss K. You better hold onto him tight, or I might snag him up!”
The woman cackles and slowly closes the door, turning the lock with a loud snap.
“You want to come inside?” Kelsey asks, sounding worried.
“Yeah, sure.”
I follow her into the apartment, the scent of her fragrance trailing after her and slowly driving me out of my mind. I can’t just jump on her, though. I need to talk to her first. We need to work things out, I need to tell her I’m sorry, figure out where we’re at, and then maybe…
I can jump her.
“I didn’t know you were coming or I would’ve cleaned up.” She waves a hand around the dark apartment. The furniture is old and a little shabby. The carpet is shit brown and the windows are small. It’s kind of awful. “Not that cleaning up would improve this place.”
“I don’t care if you cleaned up or not, Kels. I just wanted to see you.” I go to her, taking her hands in mine. They’re ice cold and I cover them completely with my own, wanting to warm her up. I decide to cut to the chase. “I’m an asshole.”
“No, you’re really not.” She shakes her head, the faintest smile curling her beautiful mouth. “You’re the farthest thing from an asshole, Theo. You are literally the nicest guy I know, and to be honest, I always believed I had a thing for bad boys. I figured nice guys were boring, and that’s why I never bothered. Until you. You’re not boring. Not at all. You’re sweet and kind and smart. You make me laugh. You make me smile, even when I’m just thinking about you. You also give me multiple orgasms in one go, and if that doesn’t mean you’re a keeper, then I don’t know what else does.”
Even though I feel like my very future is on the line right now, I can’t help but laugh. “You’ll keep me because I give you multiple orgasms?”
“It’s one of the many reasons I want to keep you as my own,” she says, that little smile still on her face, though her eyes are sad. “I just hope you want to be with me after I kept such a big secret from you.”
“I overreacted,” I tell her, bringing our linked hands up and dropping a quick kiss on her knuckles. “After everything that happened with Jessica, and then finding out from Alex that you had job offers and you interviewed for them and everything, I felt—betrayed.”
“It was wrong of me to not to say anything. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I should’ve mentioned it from the start, but when Alex first told me about it, we weren’t even that serious. We were really just friends, and honestly, I didn’t think I had a chance to even qualify for those positions, you know? Plus…” Her voice drifts and she glances down. “It’s hard for me to open up to people sometimes.”
I slip my fingers beneath her chin and tilt her face up so her gaze meets mine. “I know you do. I’m glad you open up to me, though. I’m sorry I hurt you. That’s the last thing I ever want to do to someone I love.”
Her eyes widen the slightest bit, and some of the shadows disappear thanks to my declaration.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t open enough.” She smiles tremulously. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m telling Alex first thing Monday morning that I’m declining both job offers. I’d rather stay here. With you.”
“You’re not giving up on those opportunities only because of me, are you?” I never want to be the reason she turns something down. What if she regrets it later on?
“There are—other factors coming into play, but neither job feels right to me right now. I don’t want to leave. Not yet. I still have a lot to learn from Alex anyway,” she says.
Lowering my head, I hover my mouth just above hers. Her words make me so fucking happy, I can hardly think straight. So I say the first thing that comes to mind. “I’m really sorry I made you leave the reception early. I was being a complete jerk.”
“It’s okay. I heard your family drove you crazy for the rest of the night, constantly asking about me.” She sounds a little smug about that fact.
“I assume Ali told you all about it?” I ask, brushing my mouth against hers.
She exhales sharply. “Yes, she did.”
I drop another kiss on her lips. “I love you, Kelsey.”
“I love you too, Theo.”
I kiss her yet again, loving how responsive she is. How she releases her hold on my hands and winds her arms around my neck, shifting closer. I wrap my arms around her waist, and realize she fits perfectly in my arms.
As if she were made for me.
Twenty-Seven
Everything’s good again. Theo’s holding me in his arms, we’ve apologized to each other, we’ve declared our love for each other. I’m not going anywhere.
But there’s one more thing I need to tell him…
“Theo.” I rest my hands on his chest, pressing a little, and he withdraws, his eyes blinking open to watch me carefully. “I have something else I need to say.”
“What is it?” he asks warily.
Swallowing hard, I curl my fingers into his T-shirt, holding onto it tight. This is huge. Like, the biggest thing I’m ever going to say someone in my life. And I thought confessing I’m in love with him was hard. “I’m…”
How do I tell him this?
“Kelsey.” His voice is firm, and I know I’ve remained quiet for too long. “You’re kind of freaking me out.”
“I’m pregnant,” I blurt.
There. I said it.
He blinks once. Twice. His lips curve upward. Very, very faintly. “Are you serious right now?”
His voice is hoarse. His expression is one of complete surprise. But he also looks…
Excited?
“No, I’m lying.” I roll my eyes. “Yes, I’m serious. I’m pregnant. I took a pregnancy test. It came up positive.” I actually took two, and they were both positive.
Looks like we’re having a baby.
“But…but…how?” He’s sputtering. He also appears to be in shock.
“It has a little something to do with that orgasm thing we discussed earlier,” I tell him solemnly.
“I know that, but…” He gazes into the distance, as if he’s thinking, and I wonder if he’s trying to put together exactly when it happened. Because I kind of know.
Actually, I do know.
“Was it the first night you came back to my apartment?” he asks.
Ah, he figured it out.
“We didn’t use a condom,” he continues.
“I know. And yes, I think it was that night.”
“Well, holy shit. I guess all that talk about using protection is correct.” He chuckles, then immediately sobers up, his gaze searching mine. “Are you—happy about it?”
A few hours ago, I didn’t know how to feel about it. Having a baby is a big deal. It’s a huge deal.
But now…knowing Theo and I are okay and we love each other…
“I’m happy,” I tell him, grabbing his hand and resting it on my bare stomach, just beneath my T-shirt. “Hey, guess what? There’s a baby somewhere in there.”
His big, warm hand caresses my skin, reminding me how much I like it when Theo and I practice making babies. “A baby. Our baby.”
His voice is full of wonder, and vaguely possessive.
I really like possessive Theo. A lot.
“I know this happened sort of quickly,” I say.
His gaze meets mine. “I’m all right with it if you are.”
I raise my brows. “So we’re going to do this?”
Theo nods slowly. “Oh yeah. We are so going to do this, Kels. First things first, you need to move out of here and into my place.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Your place is small.”
“Better than this,” he retorts, glancing around.
I laugh. “True. But don’t forget. We’re going to be a…family soon.”
“As if I could forget,” he practically scoffs. “So in about eight months? You’re barely a month along, right?”
“I guess. I don’t know. I need to go see a doctor.”
“That should be plenty of time for us to find a house,” he muses.
My mouth drops open. “You want to buy a house together?”
“Well, yeah. We’ll need to get married too.” His voice is light, like he didn’t just ask me to be his wife.
But he so freakin’ did.
“You want to marry me?”
He drops down to one knee, and I cover my mouth with my right hand as he takes the other and holds it lightly in his. “Kelsey Phillips, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
I nod, fighting the tears that want to fall. “Oh my God.”
“Is that a yes?” He quirks a brow.
“Yes, yes.” I yank on his hand and he stands once more, sweeping me into his arms and kissing me so thoroughly my knees are wobbly when he finally breaks away from my lips. “I love you.”
He kisses the tip of my nose, his hand returning to my belly. “I love you too. Both of you.”
“Oh my God. I’m going to have your baby, Theo.” I start blubbering all over again and he holds me close, running his hand up and down my back, offering up soothing words of love.
“We’re going to be just fine,” he tells me at one point.
And I believe him.
Epilogue
Seven months later
“Oh my God, this is so cute!” I’m squealing as I hold the frilly white dress up to show everyone. The crowd around me oohs and ahhs, and I beam at all of them before dropping the dress back into the box it came in.
I’m at my baby shower at my brand-new home, surrounded by people I love and who love me, and I’ve turned into one of those obnoxious mothers-to-be who has to show off every single one of my gifts and carry on like a ridiculous person.
I’m having the time of my life.
“Who got you that?” Eleanor asks. She’s sitting beside me, writing down each item and who gave it to me in a little notebook so I can write thank-you notes to them later. She’s a good friend. One of my favorite people, besides Theo and the little bun in my oven. That’s what we’ve taken to calling our future baby.
We’re having a girl. We started calling her Bun Bun months ago. It’s awful, but it cracks us up and makes us smile and annoys everyone else who hears us say it, so we keep it up. Even though we have her name already picked out and everything. Not that we’re telling anyone.
We’re keeping it a secret until the day she’s born, and it’s driving everyone out of their minds guessing what it could be.
“I gave it to her,” calls my sister-in-law, Ali, raising her hand. She’s sitting next to Stella, no surprise—both of them have become closer over the last few months, though I’m not sure if there’s necessarily anything going on between Ali and Michael Ricci. If there is? Her parents probably won’t like it. He’s much older. But he’s definitely charismatic. Charming. Attractive. Successful. I get the appeal.
“You’re spoiled rotten,” Eleanor mutters a few minutes later as she writes down yet another gift from Stella. All my friends have spoiled our baby completely—including the very woman sitting next to me—and I’ve never felt so loved.
“No, my baby is spoiled rotten,” I correct as I carefully set the gift bag on the floor, groaning with the movement. This baby makes my lower back ache, and she’s sitting on my sciatica nerve too, which makes my butt cheek and right thigh hurt as well.
It’s not much fun. But my aches and pains result in nightly backrubs from my husband, which tends to lead to sex. Once I hit the second trimester, I turned into a total sex monster. As in, I wanted it. All. The. Time. But now that we’re getting closer and closer to the due date, I’m becoming more and more miserable.
Our little girl needs to make her way out and soon. Her daddy and I are impatient to meet her.
Eventually the rest of the gifts are opened and then a few of the guests leave, mostly Theo’s family, who I’m so glad came. His grandmother attended the shower, as well as Mrs. Fillmore, and they became fast friends. They made arrangements to meet for lunch this next week.
So cute.
My friends and I go outside to enjoy the sunny afternoon, all of us sitting around the giant teak table on my new back patio. We moved into our house a couple of months ago, but this is the first social event we’ve had here.
“Can I make a confession?” Candice asks at one point.
We all nod encouragingly.
“You were the last person of our friend group I expected to have a baby first,” she admits,
her cheeks turning the faintest pink. “I thought it would be me.”
They all chime in with their agreement of how I was the last person they believed would be pregnant, most of them saying it would be themself.
“Mitch and I practice all the time,” Eleanor admits, her cheeks turning flaming bright red. There’s more laughter, and Eleanor giggles too. “But yeah. No babies yet. We’re not even married.”
“That didn’t stop us,” I say.
Eleanor inclines her head toward me with a grin. “True.”
“Jared wants a baby right away. He wants to start trying right after the wedding,” Sarah admits. “And I think I want to try too. But I don’t know. It’s kind of scary.”
“It’s very scary. I know I’m not ready, and I don’t think Carter is either,” Stella says. “I feel like I can barely take care of myself.”
“Isaac is too young. I can’t imagine him as a father yet,” Amelia says. Her boyfriend is a few years younger than her. “Which is perfect because I’m not ready either. We haven’t even talked marriage, so I don’t to get too ahead of myself.”
Ha, I know how that is. Sometimes I feel like Theo and I did everything backwards. But that’s okay, because it totally worked out in the end.
“I can’t even fathom having a baby,” Ali says. “That is the last thing I want right now.”
She’s young too, and busy living in the moment. Good for her.
“This is all perfect because guess what, guys?” Candice hesitates for only a moment before she announces, “I’m pregnant!”
We all cry out in happiness, then take turns hugging her. I’m last, because I move the slowest, and when Candice rests her hand on my giant belly, the baby kicks.
“Was that her?” she asks, her eyes full of wonder.
I nod and grin, resting my hand over hers. “She kicks really hard.”
The baby kicks again, and then everyone’s got their hands on my belly, all taking turns to feel her move and shift. Candice is crying, she’s so overcome with emotion and hormones, and soon we’re all crying, because I’m also full of emotions and hormones, and the rest of them are sympathy criers.
Wedding Date (Dating Series Book 6) Page 22