“Fuck,” I bit out as a sheen of tears filled her eyes. I finally noticed how pale her skin was, and the dark smudges underneath them that were a clear indicator of a lack of sleep. She’d been as miserable as me, maybe even more so if she thought I’d bailed on her. I crossed the floor and fell to my knees in front of her, taking her trembling hands in mine. “I swear I left a note. It was brief since I was in a rush, and I shoved it under your door because it locked behind me when I went next door to grab supplies out of my fridge. I wanted to make you breakfast when you woke up, but then I got a call from my mom. My dad had a heart attack, and it didn’t look good. I needed to get back to Chicago as quickly as possible because the doctors were worried he wouldn’t make it through the night.”
“Your dad had a heart attack?” she gasped, tugging on my hands until I moved and sat next to her on the couch. “Did he survive? Is he okay now? Is that why they told me you weren’t available when I called your office?”
“You called me at work?” The knot that had been strangling my heart loosened a bit at knowing she’d tried to reach out to me even though she must have thought I’d disappeared on purpose.
“Yeah, but we can talk about that after you tell me about your dad.”
I brushed my thumb across her knuckles, soaking up the feel of her soft skin. “It was a tough road, but he’s doing okay. He was in the ICU for the first two weeks, but they transferred him to a rehab facility yesterday after he stayed another week in the hospital.”
Her head jerked back in surprise. “It’s only been a day, and you’re already back in California?”
“Of course I am. You’re here.” For me, it was as simple as that—even when I’d thought she was ignoring me. My mom had been right when she’d said I’d been hit by Cupid’s arrow. I was madly in love with this woman.
The tears she’d been holding back spilled down her cheeks, and she sniffled. “I thought you’d gotten what you wanted and ghosted me.”
“That was just one taste.” I pulled her on my lap. “I want a hell of a lot more than that.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.” I dropped a kiss against her lips. “And you would’ve known that if my note hadn’t disappeared.”
It really pissed me off that she’d spent the past three weeks thinking I’d abandoned her after she’d had sex with me. Setting her aside, I stalked over to the door. My shoes were still there, and I looked inside them. There was no sign of my note, and I couldn’t figure out what might have happened to it. “I slipped a note under the door. It should’ve been right here when you woke up. The door was locked, so it’s not like anybody could have taken it.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, but it wasn’t there. Trust me, if it had been I would’ve found it since I searched this place from top to bottom. Finding it would’ve saved me a lot of heartache.”
I hated the idea of her hurting over me, even though it’d stung a fuck of a lot when she hadn’t called. Bending low, I scratched Fluffy behind the ears as she rubbed against my leg.
She took a shuddering sigh. “You really did leave a note, didn’t you?”
I didn’t have any proof, but I took her hands in mine and infused my voice with sincerity when I answered, “I did.”
She nodded once, and the tips of her lips curved up in a half-smile. “I believe you.”
I crushed her against me and whispered into her hair, “Thank you, angel face.”
I wasn’t sure how long we stayed like that, holding onto each other like neither of us wanted to let go. Eventually, Fluffy meowed in protest from the top of her carpeted tower in the corner of the room. It was six-feet tall, and easy for me to pet her when she was up there since it was eye level for me. “It sounds like Fluffy missed me, too.”
“She definitely did,” Melody laughed. “You’d better go give her some scratches or else she’ll never leave us alone.”
I claimed Melody’s lips in a deep kiss before getting up and crossing over to Fluffy’s tower. When she moved to the edge of the top platform, I spotted a white square tucked into the far corner. “Naughty kitty,” I muttered as I gave her a quick rub and grabbed the missing note. Walking back over to Melody, I unfolded the paper and handed it to her. “The mystery of the missing note has been solved. Fluffy was the culprit. Searching the apartment high and low didn’t do you much good because it was on the top of her tower, where you couldn’t see it.”
“I guess my damn cat wanted a souvenir to remember you by.” She traced my handwriting on the note. “I’m glad you found it. Seeing this makes what I need to tell you a little bit easier.”
My heart dropped as I wondered what might’ve happened while I was gone that would’ve put the fear blazing out of her pretty blue eyes right now.
Chapter Eleven
Melody
The last few hours had been like a roller coaster of emotions. I started out feeling sad because I was still missing Trace. Then I was happy for my friends when I found out that Madison was pregnant. My joy was quickly replaced with fear when I realized my period was late and I might be pregnant. Fear turned to anger when I saw Trace waiting outside my door. And eventually there was the joy of knowing he hadn’t abandoned me…only to be replaced by a new kind of fear. My gaze darted towards the bag on my coffee table. Thinking about what was inside, I blurted out, “I think I might be pregnant.”
Trace’s green eyes widened in surprise, and he looked down at my stomach as he echoed, “Pregnant?”
“I haven’t taken a test yet, but my period is a week late.” I gestured at the bag. “I was out with everyone, celebrating Ethan and Madison’s engagement and bought one on my way home.”
His brow wrinkled and his green eyes lit with a familiar fire. “Who all did that ‘everyone’ include?”
“It wasn’t a big group. Just Madison, Ethan, Aubrey, Nash, and me.”
“Nash?”
“He’s Ethan’s best friend and Aubrey’s boss. Remember? I told you about how they were crazy about each other, but she was trying to resist him because she didn’t want to get involved with her boss?”
“Oh, yeah. That’s right.” His shoulders relaxed, and his jaw unclenched. “So you didn’t bring anyone with you to dinner?”
“Of course I didn’t.” I placed a hand over my stomach. “I’ve been too busy missing you to even notice my period was late, let alone look at another guy.”
“Good.” He flashed me a grin as he sat down next to me. “I’d hate to have to kick someone’s ass for trying to make a move on the mother of my child.”
“First of all, there will be no kicking of anyone’s ass.” He just shook his head while he chuckled. “And secondly, we don’t even know if I’m pregnant or not yet.”
“Hopefully you’re right about the ass-kicking part, but I can’t guarantee it because I’ll always do whatever it takes to protect you.” He leaned forward and stretched out one, long arm to snag the bag off the table. He shook out the contents into the palm of his other hand, and handed me the small, pink box. “And you’ve got the answer to the pregnancy question right here. You just need to pee on a stick and wait a few minutes for us to find out if we already made a baby. If not, we can try as often as you’d like until one of them turns up positive.”
“Um, yeah. So...” I trailed off, staring down at my hands as I twisted them in my lap and basically crushed the pregnancy test box. “Does that mean it wasn’t a heat of the moment thing? You know, because we were drinking that night?”
He cradled my face in his hands and brushed his lips against mine. “Not for me, it wasn’t. I’ve wanted you under me since the second I set eyes on you in the grocery store.”
“Yeah, that was kind of obvious.” I smiled up at him and rolled my eyes. “But I wasn’t talking about the sex. I meant the part where we skipped the condom and you did your best to try and knock me up.”
“In vino veritas.” It was the famous saying I’d used during our night together. “It didn’t just
hold true for you.”
“And you aren’t just saying that because I might be pregnant and you don’t want to freak me out?”
“I’m getting the feeling that the not knowing is weighing on your mind. Go take the test,” he urged. “We can talk after it’s done.”
“Okay,” I whispered. Taking a deep breath, I got up and went into the bathroom. It didn’t take long for me to pee on the stick and set it on the counter while I waited for the results. When I was done washing my hands, Trace knocked on the door. “Come in,” I called.
He turned me in his arms and pulled me close. “How long does it take?”
“Only a few minutes.” I looked over my shoulder at the white stick. “But it’s already been a couple of minutes, so probably any second now.”
“You ready for whatever it says?”
I wasn’t sure, but I nodded my head anyway. Trace brushed his lips over mine before reaching around me to pick up the test. A huge grin split across his face and he let out a whoop of joy. “We did it, angel face! You’re pregnant!”
“I am?” I shrieked. He showed me the display on the test, and sure enough there were two pink lines there. “Oh my God, I am! I’m pregnant.”
He dropped to his knees and pressed a kiss to my belly. “My baby is in there.” He looked up at me with wet eyes. “I can’t wait to see my ring on your finger and for your belly to grow big.”
“Ring?” I echoed. “What ring?”
“The one you’re going to wear for the rest of your life, letting every guy you meet know you’re my wife.”
“Wife? I’m not marrying you just because I’m pregnant.” I shook my head in disbelief, feeling like I was going to cry because what I really wanted to do was throw myself into his arms and tell him how desperately I wanted to spend the rest of my life with his ring on my finger.
“No, you’re going to marry me because you were meant to be mine. Always.”
“But how will I ever know if you’re pushing for marriage because you want to be with me and not for the baby?”
“That’s easy.” I squealed in surprise as he lifted me in his arms and carried me to the elevator. No matter how often I asked what he meant, he just kept saying he had the perfect proof to show me. Eventually, we pulled up in front of a big, beachfront house. He jumped out of the truck, rushed around to my side, and hefted me out of my seat. Then he carried me into the house and walked to a wall of windows in the back before setting me on my feet.
Pointing outside, he asked, “See that pool? It isn’t on the original plans for the house. I had them add it for you.” He gestured to the rows of trees on either side of the property. “I even made sure they put in enough trees to keep it private back here so it’d be hard for anyone to see you while you laid out in your bikini.”
I pressed my hands against the window and peered outside. “You did all of that for me?”
“And that’s not all.” He tugged on my arm and led me upstairs through the master bedroom and into the bathroom. He pointed to a gorgeous, claw-foot tub. “There wasn’t even supposed to be a tub in here, just a huge walk-in shower. But when my foreman guessed that I was having the pool done because of a woman, he suggested I redo the layout in here so a tub could be added.”
I ran my finger along the rim of the tub. “It really is gorgeous. I love claw-foot tubs.”
He placed his hands on my shoulders and ran his palms down my arms. “Not only is it pretty, but it has a bunch of Jacuzzi jets and it’s big enough for the both of us.”
“You’ve clearly put a lot of thought into it.”
“Of course I did. I want you to be comfortable here.” He brushed his mouth against mine. “With me.” Another caress of his lips. “In our home.”
It was such an incredibly thoughtful gesture. And one that said a lot about his feelings for me. I flashed him a big smile and yanked my phone out of my pocket, along with the note Fluffy had hidden from me for weeks. I plugged his number into my cell and sent him a one-word text message. It said, “Yes.”
Chapter Twelve
Trace
Trace’s brow wrinkled when his cell beeped. After he pulled it out and peered down at it, he asked, “Yes, what?”
“You didn’t really ask, but”—this time it was me giving him a kiss—“yes, I’ll marry you.”
“You will?”
She nodded. With her dark hair spilling over her shoulders, her eyes shining up at me, and her lips curled up in a smile, she’d never looked more beautiful. “That calls for a celebration.”
Escrow had closed while I was out of town, and I’d had my assistant handle the final walk through since I wasn’t available. Some of my new furniture had been delivered a week ago, including the king-sized bed in the master bedroom. The cleaning service had washed the new bed linens and put them on so it would be made when I returned. And thank fuck for that because I was able to carry her over to it and lay her down on the comforter.
“You look so perfect here, in my bed, right where you belong.” A rush of possessiveness washed over me, a feeling I was growing used to since she’d come into my life. Crawling over her, I kissed my way down to the collar of her shirt and tugged it down to reveal her lacy bra. “Look at that, you’re even wearing white today. It’s very bridal.”
She pulled her shirt off and tossed it on the floor. “It’s almost like this was meant to be.”
“Damn straight it was,” I growled. My heated gaze swept down her body, taking in her full tits that were spilling out of her bra. I caressed her belly before sliding my hands up to her chest. Her bra clasped in the front, and I flicked it open with my thumb, uncovering the creamy swells of her tits. Her nipples were puckered, practically begging for my attention. I tugged her bra off her shoulders and bent low to lick around one of her luscious tits before sucking the nipple into my mouth.
Melody moaned and dug her fingers into my hair. Her back arched off the mattress, pressing her tit further into my mouth. I nipped and sucked until she was writhing beneath me, and I switched my attention to the other side to give that tit the same treatment. Then I moved lower, tugging her shorts and panties off her legs. After I dropped them on the floor, I slid one hand lower and cupped her pussy.
When I dipped my middle finger inside her wet heat, she moaned. I took my time, enjoying the suction of her pussy around my finger. Her breath caught with each stroke, and her hips moved in time with me. “I’ll never get used to how beautiful you are, spread out for me like this.”
I let my gaze drift down her body, taking my time to admire every delicious inch of the woman who’d agreed to become my wife. Her dark cloud of hair across my pillows. Her round tits, with red marks from where I’d nipped at her sensitive skin. The swell of her hips that fit perfectly in my hands when I held tight and thrust into her wet, tight pussy. I dragged a finger through her wet folds, and brought it up to my lips to lick it clean, groaning as her taste filled my mouth. “I only had you for one night, but I missed this pussy so much while I was gone.”
“It missed you, too,” she purred, reaching for my crotch through my jeans. “And I think my first pregnancy craving has been for your cock.”
“I don’t think that’s how pregnancy cravings work, angel face.”
She puffed out her bottom lip in an exaggerated pout. “Which one of us is the nurse who works with pregnant women?”
“You,” I answered with another thrust of my fingers into her wet heat.
“And which one of us is carrying a baby right now?”
“Still you.” A twist of my wrist made her moan.
“Then I’m the one who gets to decide if my pregnancy cravings can include your cock.”
“Whatever you say, angel face.” I pulled my fingers from her pussy and lowered my head. “It’s not like I’m going to complain about it, especially since I’ve been dying for another taste of you.”
Her legs widened, and I buried my face in her pussy. I took a long, slow lick, lapping at the juices
my fingers had drawn from her body. Gripping her thighs, I hoisted them wider and wedged my wide shoulders between her legs. Once I was satisfied she couldn’t close them, I used my thumbs to part her pussy lips. Then I devoured her, licking all around before thrusting my tongue inside.
“Trace! Oh, fuck, that feels so good.” Her nails dug into my scalp and within minutes, her body tensed up. I looked up and watched her face as I continued to eat her. After a few minutes, she threw her head back and whimpered. Knowing she needed to come, I sucked her clit hard and sunk two of my fingers inside her tight core.
Her body began to shudder, and her pussy clenched hard around my fingers. She screamed as her orgasm hit her, and I licked her through the whole thing. As soon as it was over, I rose up on my knees and stripped out of my clothes. Once I was naked, I settled myself between her legs again, this time with my cock at her core instead of my face.
I nudged her wet pussy with the head of my cock, making her whimper with need. “You ready for me?”
She rocked her hips forward as she said, “Yes.”
I surged down into her soaked pussy and crashed my mouth against hers. Moving in and out of her, we swallowed each other’s cries as we steadily built our orgasms.
“Ohmigod,” she panted after tearing her lips from mine. “I can’t believe how good it feels to have you inside of me again.”
“It’s fucking perfect,” I grunted, picking up speed as I thrust harder. The heels of her feet dug into my ass as I pounded her into the mattress. Over and over again, angling my cock so I hit her sweet spot every time.
“Yes, please! I’m so close.”
“You need it harder, angel face?” I murmured.
“Uh huh.”
I gave her what she needed, slamming into her pussy until she flew apart in my arms. Only then did I give in to the tingling in my spine and let my balls empty, my hot come splashing her tight walls and filling her up. When my cock was finally done twitching, I rolled off her body and collapsed against the mattress.
Baby Daddies: A Me, Myself & I Collection Page 11