“I can’t seem to catch a break,” I mumbled, dropping my head onto the cool granite of the countertop.
“Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad, sweetheart,” Lucas murmured in my ear, wrapping his body around me and pressing mine against the cabinets. “Not when my morning is starting off with the sight of you bent over like this.”
My fist clenched and the crinkling of the newspaper caught his attention. He took a step backwards and slid the paper away from me, smoothing the wrinkles out as he read the article. I swiveled around, picking up my tea and sipping it while I watched him, wanting to see his reaction. His eyes were grave when they met mine once he was done. “Looks like the cat might be out of the bag. I better contact the company’s head of public relations, fill her in on the situation and see how she thinks we should handle it.”
He didn’t look too upset, which surprised me considering what he’d told me about keeping our relationship quiet just the other day. It gave me hope for our future as a couple, but I didn’t like being called a situation. I sure as heck didn’t appreciate someone else getting to decide how, if, and when we talked about our relationship.
“I’ll give you five days, Lucas.”
“For what, sweetheart?” he asked distractedly, staring down at his cell phone while he typed out a message.
“Five days to figure out how you’re going to handle the situation.” I practically spit the words out. “I’m giving you five days to decide exactly how important I am to you.”
My explanation certainly captured his attention, and his anger too, judging by the hint of fury in his eyes. “And what exactly happens after then?”
“I refuse to be your dirty secret. My mom was married to your dad one day before they died. We weren’t raised together. Heck, we didn’t even know each other when we first met, when we created a life together.” My hand curled around my stomach protectively. “I’m not ashamed of what happened between us, of my feelings for you. For six weeks, I knew what it felt like to miss you. I like having you back in my life. More than like it, even.”
I took a step closer to him, resting my hand on his chest while I stared up into his eyes. “I’m falling for you, Lucas. So hard and fast that I’m already half-in-love with you. Maybe even all the way.”
His eyes lit with male satisfaction at my admission. “You have to know I l—“
I pressed my finger to his lips, stopping the flow of words. “Not like this.” I shook my head emphatically, tears welling in my eyes. Stupid hormones. “Not right now. I want you to take these five days and really think about what you want. It can’t be a knee-jerk reaction to the thought of losing me or the baby. And while you’re thinking, you have to know I’d never keep you from him or her. Your decision needs to be about where you see our relationship going. Just the two of us, as a couple.”
“Dammit, Jade, you’re not being fair.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmured softly. “But I don’t have time to worry about fair. I’m carrying your baby and I have my debut show to get ready for in five days. Once it’s over, I’ll be ready to hear what you have to say. Until then, I’ll keep my lips shut to the press if anyone happens to call me. I won’t be easy to find, though, since I’ll be busy at the gallery.”
“Too busy to spend time with me?” Disappointment was clear in his tone, and there might even have been a hint of hurt there too.
“I’ll be home each night,” I sighed. “In your bed, if that’s where you want me.”
“Then I guess we have a deal. Five days from today, the minute your art show is over, you’ll have an answer,” he gritted out, swooping down to claim my mouth in a brutal kiss. “In the meantime, your ass better be in my bed each night. Or else.”
My knees buckled when he strode out of the room, and I moved over to the padded seat in front of the picture window and dropped down onto it. I’d snagged my phone off the counter on my way across the room and typed out a 911 text to my best friend. We’d been playing phone tag ever since I’d found out Lucas was my step-brother and I was pregnant with his baby. I’d had too much going on to worry about not connecting with her, but now it was urgent I spoke with her. I needed my bestie, she was the only person in the world who could possibly understand what I was going through. Lucky for me it only took about a minute before my phone rang with her call.
“Are you okay?” Bailey whispered frantically. I heard the rustling of fabric and realized I’d probably pulled her out of bed.
“Crap! I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I didn’t stop to think you might still be in bed.”
“Don’t worry about it. My sleep schedule is all messed up. I was just taking a little nap while a miracle was happening in the nursery. Jack and Julia are both down for an early morning nap.”
“This can wait while you catch up on your sleep.” It really couldn’t wait long, but I felt like I should offer since she was a sleep-deprived mom with two three-month-olds.
“Shut up,” she practically growled. “Well, not really. You know what I mean. You would never have sent me our emergency code unless it was urgent. So spill the beans. Now.”
Spill them I did. I let her know about everything that had happened since we last spoke a week and a half ago. About Lucas being my step-brother, the pregnancy, and my feelings for him. I didn’t spare a single detail, well except for a few about our sex life.
“Whoa!” She whistled once I was finally done. “It sounds like you found yourself in one hell of a situation, Jade.”
“That’s the understatement of the year,” I groaned.
“How about I give you the same advice you gave me back when I came home to pack up my mom’s house?”
I thought back to our dinner that night and laughed softly. “This is entirely different, Bailey. I told you to give him a chance, because from everything you’d told me about him, I knew he wanted you forever. You assumed Wyatt didn’t want a relationship with you when he really did, but Lucas was the one to walk away from me after he accused me of horrible things. And even after we moved past all of that, he still said he wanted to keep our relationship a secret.”
“But not forever,” she pointed out gently. “Just until he figured out a way to protect his company, his father’s legacy. Your child’s future.”
“Well, crap,” I mumbled. “When you put it that way, I guess I can understand it a little better.”
“And from everything you told me, it sounds like he’s crazy about you.”
“Do you really think so?” I cried.
“Yeah, Jade. I really do.”
***
The night had been a rousing success. Almost all of my paintings had a sold sign underneath them. The prices listed by the gallery owner had been astronomical, and I couldn’t believe how much I’d earned with my art. All in one night. I should have been over the moon happy, but all I could think about was the conversation I was about to have with Lucas. He’d hired a limousine for us again, but the ride home from the gallery was so different from the one back from L’étang. The only contact between the two of us was his hand clenched around mine as we rode in silence.
The last five days had passed much as our first few living together had, except I wasn’t home as much because I was busy working on the final touches for my show. Lucas woke me up every morning with a cup of my tea and a couple slices of dry toast. He had lunch delivered to me each day, and dinner waiting at home at night. Not a single night had passed without us making love, and I’d slept soundly in his arms afterward. It was all perfect—except for my ultimatum hanging over us like a dark cloud.
Lucas took me at my word, and we hadn’t spoken of it. I hadn’t told him I loved him again, and he hadn’t shared with me how he felt. I had no idea what he had decided, and the suspense was killing me. By the time the limo pulled into the drive, my stomach was twisted in knots. I didn’t notice the driver had parked in front of the garage instead of the front door until Lucas helped me from the car. Lights flickered in the windows
of the second story apartment. Lucas helped me up the stairs and I gasped when he swung the door open and I realized it was candles causing the glow.
Rose petals were scattered on the floor, and when I glanced up at the skylights, I saw twinkling stars in the night sky. The stage had definitely been set for romance, but I couldn’t figure out why we were here instead of in the main house. As though Lucas had read my mind, he flipped the light switch on the wall and my question was answered.
“A studio?” I gasped, twirling around the room and gawking at all the equipment he’d had brought in. “You turned the apartment into a studio for me?”
“I did,” he confirmed, dropping down to one knee in front of me. “My wife is an artist. She needed a studio so she can share her incredible talent with the world. It’s why I had my assistant working on it since the morning after I found out about the pregnancy.”
The morning after... he’d been working on this since before my ultimatum. I didn’t realize how important it was to me until this very moment.
“I’m not your wife yet.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a flawless diamond ring. “In my heart you are, Jade. I haven’t been able to forget about you since the moment we met. If I hadn’t allowed past experiences to cloud my better judgment, I never would have let you go and you’d already have my ring on your finger. I love you,” he paused to look down at the ring, moving it to the tip of my finger. “And I want the world to know you’re mine. Will you marry me?”
The studio, gorgeous diamond ring, and proposal, it was more than I’d ever dreamt about how this conversation would go. It looked like Lucas had used every minute I’d given him to set out to prove how he felt about me. There was only one possible answer I could give. “Yes.”
Epilogue
Lucas
“Well, Mr. and Mrs. St. James, it looks like a girl this time,” the doctor informed us with a smile before wiping Jade’s stomach and lowering the hem of her maternity top. “Do you have a name picked out?”
“Ruby!”
Shit. My hand wasn’t fast enough to cover the mouth of my three-year-old son before he shouted the name. He twisted in my arms and beamed at me before his face fell and his own two chubby, little hands slapped over his mouth.
“I forgot, Daddy,” he muffled through his fingers.
I winked at him and kissed the tip of his nose, “It’s okay buddy. You did great.” It was my own fault for trusting a toddler with a secret.
“Her name is what?” Jade asked, raising a quizzical brow in my direction. Her tone clearly indicated she wasn’t happy.
I cleared my throat and shifted uncomfortably, weighing my options on how to handle this situation. I wasn’t budging on my baby girl’s name, so I decided to go with standing firm.
“You picked out Jonathan’s name and we agreed I’d get to pick our next baby’s name. I choose Ruby.”
Jade’s eyes narrowed as she glared at me, but any response was cut off by the doctor.
“What a lovely name.”
I grinned triumphantly at Jade, who rolled her eyes.
“Everything looks great,” the doctor continued, “so I’ll see you back here for your next appointment on schedule.”
She stood, shook our hands, and waved at Jonathan before leaving the room.
He returned the gesture enthusiastically. “Thanks for the Ruby!” he called after her, making me chuckle. Then he turned to me and took my breath away with one of his giant, baby boy smiles. “I’m hungry. So Ruby must be hungry. Let’s feed Ruby!”
Apparently, now that the cat was out of the bag, my son was unintentionally determined to get me in trouble by calling the baby Ruby as many times as possible.
Jade patted her rounded belly and then his little one. “Yep, both my little babies want some dinner.” Then she grabbed my ass and whispered to me, “We’ll discuss this after peanut is in bed.”
Bed. Perfect idea. I smiled my most charming, panty-melting grin, and agreed. The heat in her eyes shifted a little from anger to lust and I mentally gave myself a pat on the back for the plan I’d suddenly concocted.
***
I brushed a kiss across the soft skin of Jonathan’s forehead and pulled his giraffe covered blanket up to his chin. Padding out into the hall, I shut the door silently, before making my way to our bedroom.
I’d received a work call during dinner and had to excuse myself. Our company had taken a pretty direct hit when the picture of us had been splashed across the papers. Then, someone inside my organization leaked my plans for the restructure to the board and they went apeshit. Most of them had walked, taking all of our bigger clients with them.
My first instinct had been to scramble and save the crumbling empire, but during a conversation with Jade, she asked me what it was my father and I loved about the company. Mulling over my answer, I realized it was because he and I had built and developed the product together.
My father had left all of the patents to me in his will. So, I dissolved the company and started a research facility instead. I returned to where I belonged, in the lab, improving the technology instead of peddling it. After two years, we had a break through and we were approached with a government contract. I hired a CEO, to run the business side of things, and continued to keep being “the mad scientist,” as Jade liked to call me. I liked to think my dad would be happy with where my career had taken me, and even more so with the state of my personal life.
When I finished my call, Jade had already put our son to bed and I knew she’d planned to take a bath. Our room was still and empty when I entered it, but there was light coming from under the bathroom door. Assuming she was still soaking in the tub, I hurried to set everything as I wanted it in order to seduce my wife into agreeing to whatever I wanted. I had a decent track record of making her scream yes when something was important to me.
I set the baby monitor on the dresser, put out candles and soft music, turned down the bed, and retrieved my secret weapon from the kitchen, setting it on the table next to the bed. After everything was just right, I changed into a pair of pajama pants and knocked on the bathroom door.
“Sweetheart?”
“I’m about done in here, Lucas. I’ll be out in a minute.”
She sounded relaxed instead of angry. Excellent.
I walked back to the bed and was about to open my package when I heard the door creak. Turning around, I stumbled back at the overwhelming sight in front of me.
Jade was wearing a white, lacy thong, glittery white pasties, thigh highs, and silver “fuck me” heels. She placed a hand high up on either side of the door jam, her hip popped out, and her head cocked to the side so her long, platinum hear cascaded down the side of her body. The rounded bump of her stomach only added to the appeal of her look. She smiled seductively and my balls tightened. Relax boys.
“You look amazing, sweetheart,” I rasped as I wandered toward her.
Her green eyes swept down over her outfit pensively. “You don’t think I look like a stripper?”
I choked out a laugh at her comment, remembering how I’d assumed she was an exotic dancer the first time we met because of her looks and her name.
“Was that the look you were going for?” I asked as I stopped right in front of her.
She shimmied a little as she brushed past me, the heavy globes of her tits bouncing. Stopping, she looked back over her shoulder, gazing at me through lowered lashes.
“Would you like a private dance, Mr. St. James?”
I smiled and made my way to a small couch in the sitting area, getting settled before gesturing for her to go ahead.
I knew her game, and I was determined to win, but I couldn’t help testing the limits of my control by letting her play her hand a little longer. She began to move with the music, slow and sensual, her body like liquid sex.
I was tempted to check for drool, but I managed to keep my cool, barely. “If this is a ploy to get me to change my mind about the name Ruby,
you can forget it, wife,” I growled. Her eyes widened innocently and it was so fucking sexy, I snapped.
I stalked toward her and carefully tossed her on the bed. After stripping us both, I wasted no time thrusting inside her. We moaned in unison as heat rushed between us, getting hotter with every drive of my cock into her tight pussy.
“This doesn’t mean you’ve won, sweetheart,” I whispered in her ear before nipping at the lobe, feeling her shiver.
My hands slid up her arms to her wrists, holding them above her head and my head dipped to taste her nipples. Jade’s tits were her downfall when she was pregnant. I’d finally completed my experiment and had discovered that I could, in fact, make her come just from playing with her nipples.
Her knees bent and she squeezed my hips between her thighs, the walls of her pussy attempting to milk my orgasm from me before I was ready. Leaving her wrists in one hand, I brought the other down to spank her ass as I bit lightly on one little peak. She gasped and arched, forcing me even deeper.
“Oh, fuck, yes!” I grunted, picking up speed. Damn it. I was losing every shred of control. But, I wouldn’t concede victory, not yet.
My hand slipped between us to pet her swollen little clit as my mouth descended on hers. After a thorough kiss, I inclined my head so my mouth brushed her ear when I spoke. “I love you,” I cooed as I pinched her clit and thrust hard.
Any thoughts of being the victor went flying when she exploded around me and it set off my own orgasm. I shouted her name and pumped into her with every shockwave as they washed over me.
Later, after we’d returned to earth, I leaned against the headboard with Jade on my lap, feeding her spoonfuls of the chocolate mousse I’d originally brought up to torture her with.
“I named Jonathan after you and your father, Lucas Jonathan St. James!” she argued as we continued our debate about names.
“And, I want to name my baby girl, Ruby, like her mother, Jade, because you are both my most precious gems,” I purred.
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