by Levine, Nina
Two hours after I’d come home, I slid into place behind Harlow on our bed. I pulled her close against me, resting one hand on her belly and pressing my lips to her neck. Her scent consumed me like it always did, but I fought against waking her. As much as I wanted to fuck her, I wanted her to sleep more.
“Is Aurora down?” she asked softly, her voice husky.
I tightened my hold on her and said, “Yeah. Go back to sleep, baby.”
She wiggled her ass against me. “I don’t wanna sleep now.”
I groaned, my dick hardening. “You need to sleep. You’re exhausted.”
Turning to face me, she brushed her lips over mine. “That is true, but I want time with you more than sleep.” She paused briefly before adding quietly, “Soon, we won’t have much time for just the two of us.”
Something in her voice caused me to pay closer attention to what she was saying. “Are you worried about this?” I knew having two children under the age of two wasn’t gonna be a walk in the park, but I wasn’t concerned we couldn’t handle it. Harlow’s tone led me to believe she wasn’t as convinced.
Her eyes searched mine for a beat before she exhaled and nodded, “Yeah, I am. Between how busy you are with the club and how busy we’ll be with two kids, I don’t think there will be a lot of time left for us. And…. Well, there are just a lot of things to think about, that’s all.”
I frowned. “What things?”
She let the question hang between us for a few moments before shaking her head. “No, nothing. Just ignore me. I’m mainly worried about—”
“Harlow,” I pushed her, my tone bossy, “Don’t tell me to ignore you when there’s clearly something on your mind. I want to know what it is.”
Her hands came to my chest and she attempted to push out of my embrace. When I refused to allow that, she said, “Scott, it’s nothing. I’m being stupid.”
“You’re never being stupid, sweetheart. Talk to me.” My mind worked hard trying to figure it out but for the life of me, I came up empty. I had no clue what she was referring to.
She drew in a long breath and dropped her gaze before finally saying, “It really is just me being silly.” Finding my eyes again, she continued, “I feel fat and frumpy and useless at the moment. I barely lost all the weight I put on from Aurora’s pregnancy before I got pregnant again, and this time I’ve put on a lot more weight. I know it’s my hormones and my tiredness causing this mess of emotions and feelings, but I can’t shake it. And I’m worried I’ll let you down when the baby is born. Will I have enough energy to do everything I need to do? Will you come home every night to chaos and screaming children I can’t control? Will you start coming home later because of that? God, I hate dumping all of this on you. I’m being neurotic and—”
I pressed a finger to her lips. “You never apologise for dumping stuff on me. That’s what I’m here for. Now, as for your weight—I don’t see it. Plain and fucking simple. All I see are curves for miles and tits I wanna get lost in. And I know that’s not what you wanna hear, but fuck it, that’s what you need to hear. You are by far the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on and having babies is only making your body more beautiful to me.” I lifted my brows questioningly as I asked, “Are you hearing me?”
She swallowed like she was fighting tears, but she nodded. “Yes.”
“Good,” I said with some force, “because I don’t want this negative shit filling your head. And if it continues to do that, you come to me and talk it out again. Now, as for everything else you said, you need to know only one thing going forward: I am one hundred fucking percent committed to our family. What that means is if you don’t have enough energy to do shit, I will do it. If I come home to chaos and screaming kids, I’ll deal with it. And as for coming home later, there’s no fucking way in hell that will ever happen.” I put my finger under her chin and angled her face up to ensure she looked me dead in the eye as I added, “You need to know I spend half my days trying to figure out how to get home sooner to you and the other half of them trying to figure out how to stop thinking about fucking you. You’re always on my mind, Harlow.”
She blinked through the tears that were now streaming down her cheeks. Taking hold of my face, she kissed me. Long and hard. I felt every bit of her need and worry and hope in this kiss, and I gave it all back to her.
When she ended the kiss, she said, “Thank you.”
I shook my head. “Don’t thank me. Fuck, it’s what a husband does, and if he doesn’t, he’s not fucking worth having.”
She drew closer to me, sliding her leg over mine and gripping my bicep. “I love that you put up with my lapses in confidence and reassure me that everything will be okay. You need to know, though, that this’ll probably happen again before the baby is born. Like, it’s highly probable it will happen a few more times. Just warning you now.”
I held onto her eyes, not letting them go. “Yeah.” I fucking hated that she had to deal with this hormonal shit and would do anything to take it away for her. The least I could do was listen and try to ease her mind. “We agree right now to not handle shit on our own. You come to me whenever you need to vent or cry or whatever the fuck you need to do. Okay?”
A smile spread out slowly across her face, giving me what I needed. It was all I needed from Harlow any day—a smile to let me know she was okay. “Okay.”
Shifting her leg off mine so I could reach for her panties, I said, “Is there anything else you need to talk about before I lose the ability to comprehend anything you say?”
At the shake of her head, I slid my hand into her panties and growled, “Thank fuck because I’m not sure I can last much longer without getting my mouth on this pussy.”
8
Scott & Harlow
Scott
This scene takes place just after Gunnar & Chelsea’s book.
“Don’t worry about things here,” Griff says over the phone, “I’ve got everything handled. Stay with Harlow as long as she needs you.”
I exhale a breath. “Appreciate it, brother.”
We end the call and I look at Harlow asleep in our bed. She gave birth to our son, Keaton, five days ago and has been struggling with exhaustion. She wasn’t well the week before she gave birth and never recovered her strength. I’ve stayed home with her and the kids while Griff keeps the club running. Thank fuck we don’t have much going on right now.
Keaton starts crying in his cradle next to our bed, waking Harlow. He needs a change of nappy, so I take care of that before bringing him to her. She’s sitting in bed waiting for us, her face lined with exhaustion.
Reaching her arms out to me to take Keaton, she says, “You shouldn’t have let me sleep so long.”
“You need to sleep, sweetheart.” I sit next to her on the bed as she brings our son to her breast.
“I know, but you’re just as tired as me. I want you to get some rest now.”
“We can both sleep for a while once he’s down. Aurora’s asleep.” It’s just after 9:00 p.m.
Harlow nods. “I’d like that. I miss you next to me.”
I’ve been up and down for the last two days while Aurora’s been fussing. I fucking miss being next to her too.
“Thank fuck he’s got that figured out,” I say as I watch her breastfeed. Aurora struggled with this, so I wasn’t sure how Keaton would go, but he hasn’t had any issues.
Harlow smiles before glancing down at her son. “He’s just like his daddy.”
I cross my feet and rest my head against the bedhead. “Griff’s got shit handled at the club. I don’t need to go in until you’re back on your feet.”
“I should be good tomorrow. I slept a lot today.”
“I’m not going back tomorrow. I want you to have a few days of rest to really recover.”
“Scott,” she starts, but I cut her off.
“I’m not getting into a discussion about this, Harlow. We’ve got a one year old and a newborn. You need to gather enough strength for them both.�
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“Madison offered to come and help.”
“Yeah, and she can when I go back.”
“My God, you are so freaking stubborn.”
I look at her, my brows arched. “And you’re not?”
Her smile reaches deep into my veins. I could survive off those smiles alone. “I do love you, Scott Cole, but seriously, your bossiness is reaching new levels.”
I lean across and brush a kiss over her lips. “And it’s only gonna get worse if you don’t listen to me. I want you better, so stop arguing with me.”
She watches me silently for a few moments before saying, “What do you think he’ll be when he grows up?”
Harlow loves to talk about our kids’ futures. Not in the kind of way a controlling mother would, but rather in a curious way. She likes to imagine the possibilities for them.
“He’ll join the club.”
She nods. “Yes, that’s what I think too.” She smiles again. “And he’ll have your crinkles.”
She fucking loves my eye crinkles.
“I fuckin’ hope so for his sake. They keep the women around.”
“The women?” She teases. “I thought I was your only one.”
“Baby, I couldn’t fuckin’ handle more than one woman. Trust me when I say I’m at my limit.”
“I’ll be sure to keep you on your toes so you stay at that limit.”
“I think these kids will help with that.”
Worry fills her features. “Do you think we were dumb to have two so close together?”
I frown. “No. Are you concerned?”
“I’d be lying if I told you I think we’ll be fine. I think it’s going to be hard. Like, really hard some days.”
“I’m not gonna let us fail, Harlow.”
She reaches out and takes my hand. “I know you won’t, Scott, but sometimes there’s only so much we can do. Sometimes it’ll all still fall to shit even when we do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t. Sometimes it’ll take a whole heap of faith on top of everything else just to get by. I need you to be prepared for that.”
She’s right, and this is why I fucking love her. I’ve always forced my way through life to make shit happen. Harlow’s taught me that isn’t always enough to get what we want. She’s taught me that it’s okay for it to not be enough, so long as we stick together. Love keeps a couple together when giving our all isn’t enough. It might be fucking hard, and it might be nights of silence in the dark, but we just have to fucking stick it out with love.
I squeeze her hand. “I’m prepared.”
Her eyes meet mine. “I wouldn’t want to do this with anyone but you.”
“I wouldn’t fuckin’ let you do it with anyone but me.”
We fall into an easy silence while Keaton finishes feeding and once he’s done, I take him from her and burp him before rocking him to sleep and placing him in his cradle.
Stripping out of my jeans and shirt, I slide into bed next to Harlow and pull her into my arms. She rests her head on my chest and hooks a leg over mine. It’s not going to take either of us long to fall asleep tonight.
She surprises me, though, when she says, “Do you remember how we were back having sex four weeks after Aurora was born?”
I tighten my hold on her. “Yeah.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that quick this time.”
The way she says this makes me chuckle. She sounds pained about it. “What’s running through that mind of yours?”
She lifts her head and looks at me. “Honestly, don’t you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck and it’s going to take a year to recover?”
“I didn’t just give birth to a baby.”
“No, but you’ve been doing all the hard yards for days while I’ve been sleeping. I mean, I’ve had a lot of sleep and I still feel like I could have another straight year of it.”
“And you want me to go back to work tomorrow.”
She pulls a face. “Right. Totally shot myself in the foot there, didn’t I?”
I press a kiss to her forehead. “Go to sleep.”
She doesn’t put her head back down. Instead, she reaches out and traces the lines around my eye. “I love you so much that sometimes it feels overwhelming. Thank you for loving me like you do.”
I move so I can kiss her. When I’m finished with her lips, I say, “Fuck, I’ve missed that.”
She presses her hand to my face. “Me too. Promise me you’ll do that every day, more than once. Even if I take a year to have sex with you because I’m sleeping.”
“You worry too fuckin’ much about this shit. If you take a year to have sex, you take a fuckin’ year. I’ll be here waiting.”
“And that is why I love you so much. I’m actually not worried, though. You’ve told me this enough, so now I believe you. I just need you to know you might be in for a dry spell.”
“I can handle a dry spell.” I kiss her again. “Now stop fuckin’ talking and go to sleep. We’re running out of time here.”
She finally puts her head down on my shoulder and snuggles in close. The last thing I think about before sleep claims me is how much I love her. I’d stick out a long fucking dry spell for her, so long as she kept loving me through it, because Harlow’s love is all I need in life to get me through.
9
Gunnar & Chelsea
Gunnar
This is a bonus scene that takes place a year after their book.
“Stop looking at me like that or we’re not going to make it through this game,” Chelsea says. We’re in the middle of a game of Monopoly and she’s right; we’re not gonna fucking make it through.
“If you’d stop fucking wearing dresses that barely cover your ass, we’d have half a fucking chance at finishing a game.”
“I can go change.”
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
“Well I’m going to if you don’t drag your eyes to the board and have your go.”
I give her what she wants. For now. In ten minutes it might be another fucking story.
I land on Fleet Street, and since Chelsea owns it, I hand over what I owe.
“Stop looking like you’ve already fucking won,” I say.
She grins. “We both know I’m gonna win.”
She’s sitting on the couch next to me, and I can’t fucking help myself; I twist and move over her, taking her down onto her back as I go. Grinding my dick against her, I growl, “If we both fucking know that, we may as well fucking stop playing now.”
Her hands come to my neck as heat flares in her eyes. “What would we do all night, though?”
My lips graze hers. “Innocence doesn’t fucking suit you, Mayfair.”
She wraps her legs around me and presses herself against me, driving my dick fucking wild. “It really doesn’t. Not when I have a husband who’s so fucking filthy.”
“Fuck,” I rasp, kissing her. “We need to ban that word from your mouth. It gets me hard.”
“What? Fucking?”
“No. Husband.”
“We’ve been married for a year, Mason,” she says, like she doesn’t believe me.
“It wouldn’t matter if it’s a year or if it’s ten. It’ll still turn me the fuck on.”
She smiles and then unwraps her legs from me and lets go of my neck. “We need to finish this game.”
“We need to do a lot of things. Finishing this game isn’t one of them.”
Pushing me away as I try to kiss her, she says, “We’re finishing it.”
Fuck. When Chelsea wants to play Monopoly, nothing stops her. We’ve been playing it since we were kids and she loves it. Me? I like it, but I know now that while I thought I loved playing it when we were growing up, I just loved being with her. These days, I’d rather get my hands on her body instead.
I move off her and lift my chin. “We need to hurry this the fuck up.”
She rolls the dice. “You’re so grumbly today.”
I move her dog to Pall Mall, which she owns, an
d then I roll the dice. We play for another fifteen minutes, until I land on Chance. I pick up the card from the Chance stack and read it.
You’ve just learned you’re having a baby.
Collect $200.
You’re going to need it. Kids are expensive.
Congratulations, baby, you’re going to be a father.
And I’m going to add another favourite favourite to my list.
Seeing you with our child.
My head jerks up and I find Chelsea’s eyes. My fucking heart is thumping in my chest while I madly process what she’s just told me. When she smiles and reaches for my hand, I say, “We’re having a baby.”
“Yeah, we’re having a baby,” she says, her voice soft and full of so much fucking love it slams into me.
“Come the fuck here,” I say, pulling her into my lap. “When?”
Straddling me, she places her hands to my chest. “We’re almost four weeks along, so late November.”
I place my hands on her hips. “Fuck me.” My lips brush over hers. “You are going to make the best mother.”
Her smile grows. “And you are going to make the best father.”
“I’m gonna do my fucking best.”
Pressing her body to mine, she says, “You don’t even have to try, Mason. Loving and protecting your family are two things you were born to do, and no one does them as well as you. I’m the luckiest girl in the world because I get to be a parent with you.”
“When you say shit like that, there’s no fucking chance of us finishing a Monopoly game.” I take hold of her ass and say, “Hold the fuck on” while I stand, taking her with me.
She clings to me as I carry her into our bedroom. “I was going to win that game anyway.”
I grin. “One of these days I’m gonna stop letting you win.”
“You don’t let me win.” She gives me that look of hers that screams disbelief.