That’s the last thing I remember before I pass out cold.
13
Aiden
“Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.” Natalie stands in the doorway of Stella’s apartment, her lips pressed tightly together as she stares at me.
“Hi, Natalie.” I hold up the bags I brought with me, the food overflowing from all sides. “I come in peace.”
She doesn’t say a word. Can’t really blame her.
“Can I come in and talk to Stella? Please? It’s important.”
Letting out a long breath, Natalie uncrosses her arms. “What I really want to do is kick your ass to the curb, but I have to go to my afternoon class, and I’d rather have someone here when Stella wakes up from her nap.”
“I’ll be on my best behavior, I swear.”
“You better be. I don’t ever want to watch my best friend cry herself to sleep again just because someone would rather take off than stick around and talk things through like a grown-up.”
Ouch. I deserved that, and really do feel like a total dick for making my girl cry. Now, I can only hope Stella’s going to forgive me.
Natalie grabs her things and nods toward the bags in my hands. “Are you going to cook for her?”
Since it took me a while to sleep off my drunken state, I decided this morning to buy everything I needed to make lunch. I thought cooking for her would be my best chance to soften her up before I get on my knees and beg her to forgive me—or do whatever else it takes.
“Good. She hasn’t eaten anything since yesterday, besides a few stale crackers. She even declined ice cream.” She glares before pointing her finger at me. “Fix it.”
Shit. She didn’t even want ice cream? That means I really messed things up. “I’ll try my best, I can guarantee you that.”
Natalie nods one more time before she steps past me and leaves for the elevator without another word.
Walking inside, I shut the door quietly behind me and make my way directly into the kitchen. I take out all the ingredients I brought to make chicken parmesan, a salad, and a peach crumble for dessert—all things Stella’s been craving and loving lately.
Just when I’m about to take the chicken out of the oven about an hour later, the door to her bedroom opens. She hasn’t spotted me yet, still rubbing her eyes and yawning widely.
“Wow. That smell…” Her eyes pop open, finding mine immediately.
Lifting up the baking dish in my hands like the idiot I am, I give her a small smile. “I thought you might be hungry.”
“Aiden?” She stares at me like she’s not sure I’m real.
“Hi, baby.”
I set the glass pan on the stove, pulling my hands out of the oven mitts as fast as I can. She’s still frozen in the same spot, but even though I want nothing more than to walk over and pull her into my arms, I refrain. Instead, I decide that taking things slowly is probably my best chance. No need to make her all skittish if I don’t have to. I have to play my cards right if I want her to forgive me.
Walking over to the dining table, I pull out a chair for her. “Do you want to sit down while I get everything ready on the plates?”
“Okay.”
I’m relieved to see she finally moves, shuffling across the living room to sit down in the chair without touching me. My fingers itch at the close proximity, but I try my best to keep them on the back of the chair as I move it forward when she sits down.
“Thank you.” Her voice is quiet, still full of sleep. She clears her throat before taking a sip of the water I already put on the table.
Her hair is a messy pile on top of her head, with a few tendrils sticking out on the sides—just the way I like it. It makes me want to grab a handful of it, so I can pull her head to the side and devour her beautiful skin all the way from her shoulder, up her neck, and over to her mouth.
“What are we having?”
I move around the table, so I can look at her. “Chicken parmesan, a salad, and peach crumble.”
Her eyes soften, and the saying “The way to someone’s heart is through their stomach” comes to mind, making me hope like nothing else that it’s true. I’ll vow to cook for this gorgeous woman every day for the rest of my life if it means she’ll be by my side.
After dishing up for both of us, we eat in silence—which means Stella makes little noises of appreciation while I stare at her, trying not to choke on my own food because seeing her like this is hot as hell.
Once we’re finished with the peach crumble, I put everything back in the kitchen and join her on the couch. I face her as she sits sideways with her head resting on the back of the couch.
It seems like the ball is in my court, which I guess is only fair after the shit I pulled. After clearing my throat a few times, I feel brave enough—at least I hope it’s bravery and not stupidity—to take her hand in mine. “I can’t apologize enough for disappearing on you like that. I obviously didn’t handle the news very well and freaked out a bit.” She blinks a few times, her beautiful brown eyes filled with sadness. The sight of it makes me lower my voice. “Okay, I freaked out a lot. It was selfish of me not to think about you in this whole situation, and for that, I’m incredibly sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She doesn’t look at me anymore, and the sudden tremor in her voice makes my heart break a little.
When she pulls the corner of her lip into her mouth, and the first tear rolls down her cheek, I can’t help myself, and pull her into my lap. Since she’s at the halfway point in her pregnancy—or past it now because she’s carrying twins—her belly is big enough to demand more room between us.
Drawing Stella in as close as I can, I put my arms around her like a cage, rubbing her back as she sobs into my shoulder. I can’t believe I did this to her. If I could, I’d kick myself in the ass—big-time. “I’m so sorry, baby. Please don’t cry.”
She hiccups and wipes at her face. “Is okay. I’m just really emotional right now.”
“It’s not okay, it was really stupid, but I’ll try my best to make it up to you, I promise.”
The sobs finally quiet down as she snuggles into my chest. “Next time, talk to me, all right? It was a shock for me too, believe me.”
Nodding into her hair, I give her forehead a kiss.
“Oh.” Stella pulls back, her hands flying to her stomach.
“Are they kicking?”
“Not really, just moving around a lot. It feels funny.”
I place my hands on her belly, feeling the movements. “I’ll never get tired of this. It’s so incredible that you have our baby boys in there. I still can’t believe there’s two of them.”
“Me too.” She places her hands over mine, and we stay silent for a moment while I feel our babies move around.
After tearing my gaze away from our joined hands, I look up at Stella, noticing for the first time the dark circles under her eyes, now joined by a fresh set of red-rimmed eyes. I feel a sharp pain in the center of my chest, knowing I’m the reason for it. “Have I already mentioned how sorry I am?”
“I know you are.” One of her hands comes up to my face, gently stroking over my cheek. “Let’s just move on, okay? Let’s focus on us for as long as we can, and celebrate that we have two healthy baby boys on the way.”
Even though I hate that she’s the one comforting me despite it being my fault, I cherish the fact she’s such a strong and kind woman. “It’s all I’ve been thinking about this morning. I know twins can be a lot of work, but they’re also so much fun. Regardless of Logan getting on my nerves sometimes, it’s been the best having a twin.”
“I know it’s going to be a lot of fun. We’ve got so much to plan and figure out.”
“We do.” I lean in hesitantly, pressing my lips to her slightly swollen ones. Exhaling against her mouth, I close my eyes and enjoy this moment. “But, let’s celebrate first. What do you feel like doing?”
Her cheeks flush as she lowers her gaze. “Well…”
“What is it? Tell me what you need f
rom me, and it’s yours.”
“I want you.” The color in her cheeks darkens further.
Putting my hand under her chin, I lift it up so she looks at me. “Do you want me to make love to you, baby?”
Love. There’s that word again.
She nods, and that’s all I need. Pulling her up and after me to the bedroom, I’m determined to show her exactly how I feel about her.
There’s still tomorrow for my love confession and marriage proposal.
14
Stella
I’m reaping the benefits of being reunited with Aiden as much as I can—right now, that means waking up next to him. More specifically, in his arms, one of my favorite places to be. Even though we were only separated for a night, it was enough for me to miss him when he left me.
Now, his toned body is pressed into me from behind, his body heat seeping through the shirt I’m sleeping in—one of his T-shirts.
With my eyes still closed, I gently wiggle back, curving my body further into his.
The hand wrapped around my belly starts moving, drawing slow circles over my stretched skin, and Aiden’s lips kiss my shoulder before he chuckles. “Still not enough after last night? You really have become insatiable.”
My face grows hot as I swallow. “I’m sorry, I just can’t help it. It’s like this pregnancy has turned me into a sex addict. It’s okay if you need a break, I totally get it.”
More chuckles sound from behind me, only now I feel Aiden’s body shaking too. “Are you kidding me? I’ll die a happy man being your personal sex slave, don’t doubt that for even a second.” As if to make his statement even clearer, he grinds his arousal into my butt, effectively showing me just how happy he is.
I can’t hold back the small whimper when he does it again, his hand wandering up to cup one of my breasts. They aren’t as hypersensitive anymore as they were at the beginning of the pregnancy, but thankfully, Aiden still treats them with tenderness.
“Turn around, baby. Let me properly say good morning to you.” His voice is still full of sleep, low and incredibly sexy. So sexy that a bolt of lust shoots straight to the sensitive spot between my legs, heating me up from the inside out.
While I slowly shuffle around—no need to give myself nerve pain from turning around too quickly—I hear him rummaging on his side, pretty sure he’s getting rid of his shorts. Such an eager beaver, not that I blame him. The second I face him, he grabs the hem of my T-shirt, lifting it up and over my head. All that leaves is my pair of underwear...no, never mind, they are off now too.
Seems like someone might be even more impatient than I am, and that makes me giggle. “What are you doing?”
Aiden has crawled on top of me, supporting himself on his arms, his face only two inches away from one of my nipples. The corners of his eyes crinkle when he looks up at me. “I just can’t help myself. You’re so incredibly sexy, I could eat you up. Which is actually exactly what I intend on doing right now.”
After kissing each nipple with the barest whisper of a touch, which is enough to make me squirm in my oversensitive skin, he makes his way down my body.
Stopping at my belly for a moment, he showers it with soft caresses and kisses—while also whispering to our boys to stay asleep while Mommy and Daddy are busy—before he reaches the soft skin on the inside of my thigh, making me wiggle against him.
I lose all track of time and space as he devours me in the best way possible.
When he’s finally inside of me, my body is ready all over again, making me catch my breath at every thrust because everything just feels so dang good.
Due to belly issues, I end up on top of Aiden, riding out the last waves of my second orgasm as he falls over the edge too. I collapse onto him as he rolls us to the side, so we’re facing each other.
His melted chocolate-colored eyes are trained on mine with such an intensity I feel like he can see inside of me.
I’m about to tell him how much I love this new way of starting my day when he opens his mouth to say something first.
“I love you.”
My heart stops right then and there, and I feel hot tears burn the back of my eyes. They collect at record speed, slowly overflowing and rolling down my face.
“Hey. Don’t cry, baby.” Aiden reaches up to wipe away my tears with his thumbs before leaning in to give my swollen lips a soft kiss. “I hope those are happy tears.”
I nod, chuckle, and sniffle at the same time before saying the three words back that have been imprinted in my heart for quite some time now. “I love you.”
His mouth is back on mine, peppering my lips with what feels like hundreds of little kisses before he pulls back enough to look at me. His hand brushes through my hair and down the side of my body before it settles on my hip. “How do you feel about doing a little shopping today?”
I lift my eyebrows. “Really?”
“Yeah. I thought since we know what we’re having, we can finally get everything we need. We obviously don’t have to get it all today, but I thought we could look around and see what we like? If you want to, of course. If not, we can do something else, or just stay home.” His face shows that he definitely wants to go, so I nod, because I want to go too.
“I’d love that. It sounds like an awesome idea.” Lifting up my hand, I caress his cheek, scraping over the dark scruff on his face that is so long, the hair has already turned soft. “Thank you.”
“There’s nothing to thank me for.” He rolls onto his back, which means pulling out of me as well, and reaches for my hand to get me out of bed. “Shall we shower, eat, and then head out?”
Nodding at him, I grin. “Sounds perfect.”
Sadly, my shower isn’t half as big as Aiden’s, and not nearly comfortable or safe enough to have sex in either. Even making out is practically impossible without bumping elbows and knees somewhere, and we both decide it might be wiser to wait. Besides, there will be more possibilities later on, for sure.
When I’m dried off, I stay in the bathroom, wrapped up in my big, fluffy bathrobe to get ready while Aiden heads to the kitchen. I’m putting my makeup back into my bag when he comes back sometime later. Pulling me close to him by the collar of my robe, he presses a soft kiss to my forehead.
We stay like this for a moment, the only sound our combined breathing in the otherwise silent room.
“Baby?” Taking a step back, he snatches my hands into his.
“Hm?”
There’s something in his eyes I don’t see very often. At first, I’m not sure if my assumption is correct, but when his eyes keep flickering away from me, and he exhales a big breath, I’m pretty sure I was right.
He’s nervous.
And from the looks of it, more than just a little bit.
I squeeze his hands. “What is it? Is everything okay? You’re starting to make me all anxious.”
He clears his throat, swallowing a few times, before nodding. “Yes, everything’s all right.”
I sigh in relief. “What is it then?”
After closing his eyes for a moment, he focuses on me, his stare intense. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you, but now I’m not sure. I didn’t think things through and didn’t prepare well either, so now I feel kind of stupid.”
My voice is soft and reassuring; at least, I hope it is. “That’s okay. Just ask.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, of course.” I smile at him.
“Okay.” Another deep breath. “Stella, baby, you caught my eye from the very moment I laid eyes on you, and you’ve been on my mind ever since. After you came back into my life, it didn’t take long for you to find a way into my heart. You’ve nestled yourself deeply into it, and there’s nothing I want more than to spend the rest of my life with you and our kids.”
He gives me a soft kiss before lowering himself to kiss my belly through the robe. When he looks up at me, I know what’s coming next before he says it, and my hands immediately break out in a sweat.
And just like that, there is the question I somehow didn’t expect to hear for a long time. The one I didn’t want to hear for a long time.
Tears are back in my eyes as I stare down at him, unable to believe what I’m about to do. “I’m so sorry, but I can’t.”
His hands drop from mine, and I run into my bedroom, closing the door behind me.
15
Aiden
Staring after Stella, and the now empty doorway, I’m pretty sure this is what your heart feels like when it breaks. Or maybe I’m having a heart attack? I wouldn’t be surprised by anything at this moment.
The painful tightness in my chest is constricting my lungs, making it hard to breathe. Grabbing on to the bathroom sink, I steady myself, not wanting to give into my weakening muscles and trembling limbs.
I shake my head, melting away the spots flashing in my vision when my brain kicks back in.
What the hell just happened?
The last few minutes replay in my head, and I know deep down in my gut that something doesn’t seem right. Everything was great, perfect even. We just confessed our love to each other, for goodness’ sake. Stella was beside herself when I pulled my shit, she wouldn’t just dump my ass a day later.
Resolve hits me, fueled by determination, to find out what’s going on. After splashing some cold water on my face, I make my way to the bedroom, unable to accept her answer—at least not without an explanation. With every step I take, the certainty grows that I must have missed something along the way, or that something is going on I’m unaware of.
The door to the bedroom is slightly ajar, my eyes immediately zooming in on Stella on the bed. She’s lying on her side, back to the door, and her whole body is shaking with what I assume are silent cries. Even though my heart is aching for myself, I feel another stab at seeing her hurting.
I walk in, the moving door announcing my arrival, and Stella’s whole body stills. Just when I make it to the other side of the bed so I can see her, a sob escapes her mouth. Despite what just happened, I sit down on the corner of the bed, deciding to let her make the first move. Regardless though, I need to know she’s all right. “You okay?”
THE BEST KIND OF SURPRISE Page 7