Reluctantly, I forced myself to leave the apartment and headed back to my hotel. On the way, I called my sister and asked to see her the next day. I would only tell her I had a surprise and laughed when she started grilling me like I knew she would. Jenna hated surprises and therefore, I loved surprising her. It was my duty as her older brother to drive her nuts. She finally accepted that I wouldn’t budge and grudgingly agreed.
She was always predictable, and so I knew I would gain back any lost brownie points when I asked for the name of a good realtor. I had to pull the phone from my ear when she shrieked.
A male voice rumbled in the background, “Jenna, you’ve gone ultrasonic again. You’re going to make your brother deaf.” I grinned, silently thanking Jenna’s fiancé for saving my ear drums, but not the least bit sorry when I heard the tell-tale thwack of Jenna smacking him on the arm like I’d seen her do so many times.
She took a deep breath and said calmly, “I’ll get you a few names. See you tomorrow!” Then she promptly hung up and I laughed. I had a feeling she and Aspen were going to get along great.
Back at my hotel, I grabbed my unpacked bag and went to the front desk to check out. The same woman was working and she looked at me oddly, but didn’t comment, and I didn’t bother answering her silent question. I signed the bill and walked towards the exit as I dug my cell phone out of a pocket.
I pulled up my contacts and scrolled through until I found Kat’s number. Reaching the car, I threw my stuff in the trunk and dropped into the driver’s seat before hitting send. She picked up after the second ring.
“Hello, Weston,” she greeted me in a low voice. I briefly wondered what she was doing that caused her to speak in that way, but I really didn’t care.
“Kat, I need you to look into something for me.”
“Anything you need, Wes. I’m always available for you.”
I almost pulled the phone away from my ear to look at it, as though it would have an answer as to why she was acting so strange. Instead, I skipped over the weirdness and got down to business.
“Someone must have tampered with the email account I set up for Aspen. She was sending messages all fucking year that weren’t getting to you.” Rage began to surge through me and my tone hardened. “You need to find out who the fuck was behind it and deal with it, because if I find them first, I’ll fucking kill the son of a bitch,” I snarled.
She gasped, and I immediately felt a little guilty for projecting my anger onto her. “I’m sorry, Kat. I didn’t mean to take it out on you but . . .” I paused, trying to decide how much I wanted to tell her. My situation with Aspen and Carter was private, but maybe if she understood my motivation, she’d work even harder to help me nail this person. “Aspen was pregnant and she couldn’t get a hold of me to let me know. She had our baby three months ago, without me. This fucker took something I’ll never get back, and I need your help to make them pay.”
She was silent for a long beat, and I checked my phone to make sure the call hadn’t dropped. Finally, she cleared her throat. “Um, I consider you a friend and I don’t want to overstep but, um, are you sure the baby is yours?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration, annoyed with the situation and now her. “You’re right, Kat. You’ve stepped way past the fucking line. Just dig into it and let me know what you find.” Thinking fast, I added a gruff, “Please.” After all, the situation wasn’t her fault.
6
Aspen
Waking up in the morning with Weston wrapped around my body was a heck of a lot better than when I’d woken up from my nap the day before to an empty bed. For a brief moment, I couldn’t help but think he’d up and disappeared again—until I’d found his note on the pillow next to me. The one he’d signed Love, W. Talk about sending my heart into overdrive. I still hadn’t figured how much I could read into his choice of wording. I’d had to repeatedly remind myself that I’d never heard him say the words aloud to me each time I’d wanted to moon over the note.
Gently disengaging from his hold and sliding from the bed, I paused before heading to the bathroom to stare down at him. His face was relaxed, his eyelashes resting against his cheeks, and he looked almost boyishly innocent. At least, until my gaze drifted downwards. With the sheet hanging low on his hips and his hair tousled from sleep and sex, he looked smoking hot. I wanted to crawl right back into bed and trace each of his tattoos with my tongue, but he was sleeping so peacefully. I didn’t want to wake him up.
I forced myself to pad away from him, taking the baby monitor with me, and went about my normal morning routine. Just as I set my toothbrush back in its holder, I heard the rustling of Carter’s sheets through the monitor and headed into his room. It wouldn’t be long before he started fussing, and I wanted to get to him before he woke Weston.
I found him rolling from side to side, not quite able to get all the way over yet, and staring up at his mobile. “Morning, my Carter-bear. Mommy’s got you.”
I lifted him from the crib and cuddled him against my chest, breathing in his baby scent. This was one of my favorite times of day, when he’d just woken up. Morning baby snuggles were some of the best, even if I only got to enjoy them for a few minutes before he complained about being wet and hungry.
I managed to keep him happily occupied while changing his diaper, and he barely made a peep while he was breastfeeding. But then he got cranky when I was burping him.
“Shhhh, sweetie. Daddy’s still sleeping.”
Wow. It felt darn good to refer to Weston as Carter’s daddy. I heard the clearing of a throat and found him standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with a huge smile on his face. A pair of hunter green pajama bottoms hung low on his hips, but it was the only thing he’d thrown on when he’d climbed out of bed.
“Or maybe not,” I mumbled, trying to ignore the slow burn seeing his naked chest ignited.
“I wasn’t about to miss my first morning with my beautiful family,” he rasped, prowling towards us. “What kind of Daddy would I be if I did?”
“The sleepy kind?” I yelped when he picked me up, took my spot on the rocking recliner, and settled me on his lap. Carter giggled happily, enjoying the ride from his position in my arms.
“I’ll have plenty of time to sleep when our kids are older.”
“Kids?”
His hand slid down, in between Carter and my stomach, to cup my lower belly. “I’m not gonna stop at just one, beautiful.”
Holy crap. He really was serious about trying to knock me up again. And if that was true, then it stood to reason maybe he meant how he’d signed his note. Right?
“How soon can you and Carter be ready to head out?”
“He’s already eaten and had a diaper change, so it wouldn’t take too long.” I shifted in his lap to twist around and peer up at him. “Are we going somewhere?”
“Out to breakfast.”
Not having to cook or clean up sounded pretty good to me. “I guess I could eat.”
“With my sister.”
“Your sister?” I squeaked, jumping off his lap and thrusting Carter into his arms. “Scratch that, it’s going to take a while. You get him dressed. His diaper bag is in the living room and probably needs a couple bottles from the kitchen, his favorite blankie from his crib, and some extra diapers.”
I raced into the bathroom and jumped into the shower. I washed up as quickly as I could, to make sure I had plenty of time to blow dry and straighten my hair. After an hour of primping, I finally felt like I was ready to face Weston’s sister. Maybe.
The look of masculine appreciation on his face when I walked out made all my preparations worthwhile. But it was the moment we walked into his sister’s home and I saw a drop-dead gorgeous brunette, dressed to the nines with a stunned look on her face, that I was truly appreciative of the effort I’d put into my look today.
“West!” she squealed. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing anyone with you.”
“Of course I didn’t,�
�� he drawled. “It would have spoiled the surprise.”
“You know how much I hate surprises,” she groaned.
Weston leaned down to peer into his son’s face. “Isn’t Auntie Jenna silly, Carter?” The sight of such a tatted up badass being sweet and silly with a little baby would have made me laugh if it wasn’t already busy making my ovaries go boom.
“Auntie Jenna?” she gasped, her eyes going wide as she stared at Carter and me. Then her gaze swiveled between the baby and her brother, going back and forth as understanding dawned on her face.
“What?” she squealed. “How?”
“The usual way,” Weston chuckled.
“Ugh,” Jenna groaned. “Thanks for the image. You know what I meant.”
“Jenna, this is Aspen,” he answered, as though it would explain everything. “Aspen, this is my baby sister Jenna.”
“Aspen? The reason you ditched me the whole weekend you were in town last year?” Her eyes swung to me and Carter before returning back to Weston again. “I can’t believe you didn’t have her call me while you were gone. I could have helped out with all the pregnancy and baby stuff! You’re such a jerk!”
She punched him in the shoulder and elbowed him out of the way before wrapping her arms around Carter and me.
“I’m so sorry my brother is such a dunce, Aspen, but it’s great to finally meet you.” She was a whirlwind of energy, lifting Carter from my arms and moving towards the kitchen. “Luckily, I made a big breakfast casserole so I’d have leftovers for my fiancé tomorrow for Sunday brunch. That means there’s plenty for the three of us, and I’m sure I’ll find a way to make it up to him in the morning.”
“Shit, Jenna,” Weston hissed. “You’re going to ruin my fucking appetite with talk like that.”
“It’s no less than you deserve for keeping Aspen from me for so long and showing up on my doorstep with a surprise baby,” she teased.
“It was kind of a surprise to him too,” I corrected. “There was some kind of mix-up with his email and he never got any of the messages I sent while he was gone.”
“Ohmigosh, seriously?”
Weston explained what had happened over breakfast, filling us in on how he’d asked his handler to look into it for him. The glint in his eyes and growl in his voice made it clear he was beyond pissed at whomever had kept us apart all this time. I would have been afraid of what he’d do to them if I didn’t want time alone in a room with them myself.
“I finally understand why you asked me to hook you up with a realtor,” she said, looking over her shoulder as she loaded the dishwasher. She nodded her head towards a stack of papers on the corner of the counter. “I found the perfect person to help and he’s already sent over some listings I thought you’d like.”
A realtor? Was he moving here?
Weston rifled through the papers and chuckled. “He’s going to have to start all over because none of these will work.”
“Then it’s a good thing I had him include one home I would kill for you to take a look at. Check out the one on the bottom,” Jenna told him with a smirk.
“Oh yes,” Weston murmured as he perused the listing. “This will do quite nicely.”
“Yippee!” Jenna cheered, looking at her watch. “That’s great because he’s going to be here any minute now and that’s the first place he’s going to show you.”
“I’m glad to see you’re still as crazy as ever.”
“Crazy smart, you mean,” she corrected.
“You’re going house hunting?” I asked, feeling a little left out of the loop.
“Yes,” he replied, pulling me into his arms. “And you’re coming with me.”
“Can Carter stay with Auntie Jenna? Pretty please?” his sister begged. “I’d love to spend some time with my nephew.”
“That’s up to his mommy,” Weston answered. “What do you say, Aspen? Can we go look at houses while our little man hangs out with my sister?”
“Sure, I guess so,” I agreed, my answer drowned out by the ringing of the doorbell.
Before I had the chance to rethink my decision, Weston bundled me into the realtor’s car for the short ride down the street and around the corner from his sister’s house. When he pulled up in front of a huge two-story home with a white picket fence surrounding the yard, my jaw just about dropped open.
“Are you sure this is the kind of house you want to look at?” I asked nervously, in a low voice so the realtor wouldn’t overhear me.
“Damn straight it is.” He hopped out of the car, pulling me along with him. “Looks like the perfect place to raise a family to me.”
The realtor started his pitch as we walked into an entryway with vaulted ceilings. I tuned him out as I took in the space. Crown moldings, hardwood floors, and open floor plan. It was gorgeous. The kitchen looked like it had been designed for a gourmet chef with gleaming stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. There were two master suites, one upstairs and one on the main level, plus three more bedrooms. Plenty of room for a growing family and guests. The back yard had a pool with a childproof cover. There wasn’t a single thing I’d change about the whole place.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered, feeling a little unsure of myself. It truly was the perfect home to raise a family. Carter would be happy here when he spent time with his daddy, but I couldn’t help feeling sad at the thought of being away from him and Weston. All alone in my apartment. It was hard to wrap my mind around it.
“We’ll take it,” Weston announced to the realtor, wrapping an arm around my waist.
“We?” I repeated.
“You didn’t think I was going to move into this place without you, did you?”
His shocked tone made me embarrassed to admit that’s exactly what I’d been thinking, but he realized it all on his own.
“Oh, beautiful. You’re not going to get rid of me that easily,” he growled. “Fuck that, you’re not getting rid of me at all.”
7
Weston
Aspen looked a little shell-shocked all the way back to Jenna’s house. It was probably a little overwhelming; the amount of things I’d thrown at her in one day. But, I was eager, chomping at the fucking bit, to start the rest of our lives.
When we arrived, Jenna reluctantly handed Carter back over to Aspen, exuberantly offering to babysit any time. I chuckled, used to her over the top energy and personality. I was relieved to see the smile hovering around Aspen’s lips and the amusement in her beautiful eyes as she took in Hurricane Jenna.
I’d had enough of sharing my family, so I bustled them out of my sister’s house and drove back to the apartment. By the time we pulled into the parking lot, Carter was fast asleep in his car seat. Aspen reached for her door handle and I laid a hand on her arm. “I’ll get it,” I murmured.
Her cheeks turned a little pink but she sat back, folding her hands in her lap. I quickly made my way to her door and opened it, taking her hand and helping her from the car. “Thanks,” she said and her eyes looked soft and dreamy as she stared up at me.
I smiled and kissed her briefly, then shut the door and moved to the back, detaching the carrier and hefting it out. Reaching behind it, I grabbed Carter’s circus animal diaper bag and threw it over my shoulder. Once the doors were shut and locked, I turned to see Aspen watching me with an unreadable expression on her face.
“Something wrong?” I asked as I neared her.
She shook her head and smiled. “You’re a natural, slipping pretty seamlessly into the role of Daddy.” Her eyes darted away and a blush stole across the apples of her cheeks. “It’s sexy,” she mumbled, her voice so low I almost didn’t catch it.
“Sexy, huh?” I smirked.
She made a huge production of rolling her eyes and flouncing around to head to the apartment. “Don’t let it go to your head, Weston,” she warned without a backward glance.
Choosing not to rock the boat, I followed behind her, my eyes glued to the sway of her curvaceous hips. I wanted to b
ite her cute little ass and grab onto those hips while I fucked her from behind. My dick sprung to life at the image of a bright red handprint on the creamy skin of her ass. At the steps, I shook away my lustful day dreams and walked up carefully, then down the hall, and through the front door.
“Should I put him in his crib?” I asked her softly. I tried not to think too much about the time I’d missed, but little things like this reminded me and I hated that I didn’t know. Does he sleep better in the carrier or the crib? Is he a light sleeper? Does he like to be rocked, sung to, snuggled? I wasn’t even sure if it was his actual nap time.
Aspen meandered over to where I was standing and gazed down at our little boy, adoration washing over her face. Fuck, she was gorgeous. She ran a finger down his chubby cheek and smiled when he scrunched up his little button nose before settling back down.
“You can leave him in the carrier, no sense waking him up to put him in the crib.” She raised her eyes and something in my expression must have clued her in to my internal struggle. “He’s not a light sleeper, but Carter has an uncanny ability to recognize he’s in my arms no matter how long.” She giggled and it was adorable. “Our boy is a major snuggler and even if I’m just moving him from one place to another, I swear, the second I put him down, he starts fussing.”
She sighed lightly and adopted a rueful smile. “I’m sure it will bite me in the ass when he gets older, but I just can’t resist it when he wants to cuddle. It won’t be long until he thinks I have girl cooties.”
I leaned over far enough to whisper my lips over hers. “I’ll always want your cooties all over me, beautiful,” I told her with a wink.
She laughed, her smile warm and inviting. I was still struggling with the idea that this was all a dream and eventually, I’d wake up and it would be gone in a poof. I was desperate to make sure I never lost this again. I needed a ring on her finger, for her and Carter to share my last name, and to put another baby in her belly. Everything and anything that would make it clear to the world that they were mine.
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