The sound of his voice, thick with need and something else, was my undoing.
I came hard and fast, every part of me unraveling like the quick tug on a loose thread.
The sound I released wasn’t a scream. It was the sound angels made when they came and the heavens rejoiced.
Didn’t think angels had sex? Well, that was where you’d be wrong.
Still a little dazed, I lay next to Josh. He rested his hand on my belly and smiled at the baby bump—love, pride, and a touch of smugness on his face. “So, any ideas what you want to call him?”
“Maybe Aidan, Oliver, Nathan, or Lucas. And I like the name Theo.”
“Do any of them have special significance, or are they just names you like?”
“If you’re asking me if any of them belong to a male in my life, the answer is no.” I shrugged. “I just like them. What about you? Do you have any suggestions?”
“I was thinking maybe Noah. After my grandfather. He was the one who helped me get where I am now.”
“Noah,” I said. “I like it. It’s perfect. What about the middle name?”
“How about Trent?”
I pondered it for a second. Despite my feelings for Trent in the past, the name sounded perfect for Josh’s and my son. “Noah Trent Whittaker. I like it.”
A frown appeared on Josh’s face. “Whittaker? Not Hoffer?”
“Since I’m single, doesn’t the baby usually take the mother’s last name?” Not that I was an expert on the topic.
“Hell if I know. This is all new to me. Maybe it’s talked about in What To Expect.”
Yes—our new bible. Now they just needed to write the sequel—What To Expect When Your Baby’s Father is an NHL Player.
It was bound to be another bestseller.
“Or I could ask HDF what they think,” Josh said.
Good luck with that, Kari’s words from earlier mocked me. Why did I have a feeling their opinion wouldn’t be in my favor?
I tenderly kissed the corner of his mouth. “We don’t have to decide yet. We still have four months. The main thing is we agree on Noah’s name.”
The more I said it—the more I loved it.
And so did our son. He leveled a well-aimed kick at where Josh’s hand still rested on my belly.
“He just kicked you,” I told Josh, smiling again. “Or gave you a high five.”
Josh kissed me…and dinner was momentarily forgotten.
Eventually my stomach rumbled after another part of me was thoroughly satiated.
Josh laughed. “Guess it’s time I feed you two.”
We climbed out of bed and had a quick shower, with Josh taking special care with washing my belly. Afterward, he tenderly kissed it. I didn’t know how much more I could take before I fell completely, irrefutably in love with him—something I couldn’t afford to do.
Why? Because there was so much at stake when it came to Noah and when it came Josh’s hockey career. Plus there was still a little thing called my U.S. immigration status.
Nothing was guaranteed.
By the time we’d finished eating dinner, I could barely keep my eyes open. I yawned. “I guess spending the day with two-year-old twins and all that sex afterward wore me out.”
Josh brushed his thumb against my lower lip. “Why don’t you stay the night?”
“You mean like a sleepover?” I asked, shock at what he was asking sideswiping me. Shock and a good dose of hormone-induced happiness.
“Definitely like a sleepover.”
We returned to his room, stripped, and climbed under the covers. Josh pulled me against him, my back against his chest and abs. His thumb stroked just below my belly button—as if saying goodnight to his son.
I should have let his sweet actions lull me to sleep, but there was one thing I needed to know first.
“What will happen once you’re back on the road?” I asked softly.
“What do you mean?” He kissed my shoulder.
“I know you haven’t been sleeping with anyone else since I got pregnant. It’s not like you’ve had a chance based on my demanding hormones, and we agreed to be exclusive. But what about when you’re on the road and you don’t have me around to wear you out in bed? Does the exclusivity clause still apply?”
I turned my head in time to see his frown.
“I don’t know about you, Holly, but I’m trying to make a go at what we have here.”
I twisted around fully in his arms to face him. “But I thought you don’t do commitments.”
“I don’t.” His hand shifted back to my belly. “But I am committed to making what you and I have here work. You’re my baby’s mama, which puts you light years ahead of any other woman. Like I said before, I’m not going to sleep around on you—here or on the road. What about you?”
“I’m not going to either,” I whispered. “Not that I’d be able to even if I wanted to. I’m not exactly considered desirable now that I have a baby onboard.”
Josh ran his lips against my jaw, his day-old stubble delicious against my skin. If I wasn’t so tired, I’d jump his bones. As it was, I barely had enough energy for this conversation.
“I can’t speak on behalf of other men—and I’d prefer not to think about them—but I find you extremely desirable like this. You can’t even imagine how much of a turn-on this is.” He caressed my belly.
“So you find pregnant women a turn on?”
He shook his head. “No, only you.”
Somehow, I found the energy to kiss him—kiss him long and hard and with all my heart.
20
Holly
“You ready for this?” Josh asked as we walked along the sidewalk to his head coach’s house. His sports car was parked on the street of the upscale neighborhood. In his arms was the container of baby quiches he and I had made last night.
In case you’re wondering…ever since last Sunday when I spent the night at his place, he had made sleeping over at my apartment his new regular thing.
With the exception of last night—when I spent the night at his apartment.
What did I learn this week?
I loved spending the night with Josh. I loved falling asleep with him singing to Noah and waking up with his hand on my belly…and his morning wood pressed against my back.
I could spend the rest of my life sleeping with Josh and I would die a happy woman.
“I might be a little nervous,” I said, trying to decide if the sensation in my belly was butterflies or Noah kicking, “but I’m looking forward to meeting your teammates.”
Was I nervous about meeting a group of men who liked to slam their bodies into their opponents while on ice? No—although that was kind of intimidating too.
I wasn’t Josh’s girlfriend or wife…yet I was having his baby. That was what was responsible for the butterflies playing Twister in my stomach.
But even though we hadn’t given this thing between us a label, everything in the past week had shifted. There was now a perceptible change between us—the intimacy, the way we were around each other. It didn’t feel like we were just friends.
It felt like something more.
Something incredible.
Something I didn’t wish to end.
A sign on the door invited us to join the party out back. I was wearing a short-sleeved, black-knit maternity dress that skimmed my growing curves. The stilettos? They were locked away in my closet…for now.
I’d long since realized that stilettos and being pregnant didn’t work well, at least not for me. Now, at twenty weeks, I was wearing black thigh-high suede boots.
What did Josh think of them? If the way he reacted when he saw them earlier was any indication, he was fantasizing about me wearing them while we had sex—the boots being the only thing I was wearing while he thrust inside me.
At the thought of screwing around with Josh, my horny hormones predictably perked up—ever ready to party.
I mentally rolled my eyes and did my best to corral the little bug
gers.
At the far end of the backyard, a dozen or so kids were running around and playing. Kari was with a tall blonde woman, watching the twins chase a ball around the lawn. She glanced in our direction and waved.
I waved back.
“Holly,” Josh said, bringing my attention to the man in front of him. He was in his late forties, wearing a “BBQ Boss” apron and holding a spatula. “This is Coach Fusco. Coach, this is my girlfriend, Holly.”
I slid a glance at Josh and my nervousness faded. The glow in his eyes wasn’t warning me that he had said it for the coach’s benefit. He really did see me as his girlfriend.
“You can call me Mike,” the coach said. “And I see congratulations are in order. When’s the baby due?”
Josh told him the date and Mike didn’t so much as flinch—although it wasn’t hard to know what he was thinking: “Good luck with that!”
A woman with blonde, chin-length hair approached us. “Sweetheart,” she said, “the burgers are ready for the grill.” She then smiled at us. “Hi y’all. I’m Molly, Mike’s wife. It’s so nice to meet ya.” Her gaze dropped to my belly—like the magnet that it was. “So when are y’all due?”
“February twenty-third,” I told her.
She didn’t do as good a job of keeping what she was thinking off her face. “That’s always a tough time of year. My advice is to make sure y’all have other people to help in case you go into labor while Josh is away.”
Except I didn’t have anyone who I could ask.
I didn’t have a sister.
My brothers? Not on your life—and they would no doubt agree with me there.
Mum? Yeah, that would go down well. Noah might hear her telling me that I’d ruined my life by making the same mistake she had, and change his mind about being born.
Erin had given birth to her baby girl a few weeks ago, so she was definitely out.
That left Kelsey.
I made a mental note to ask her and prayed to the pregnancy gods that she would say yes. Then I prayed even harder that Josh wasn’t away when I went into labor.
I would even throw in a sacrificial chocolate Easter bunny—the extra-large kind—if it would help.
Josh did the rounds and introduced me to everyone. Unlike with the puck bunny from a few months ago, none of the women were disappointed to see me with Josh.
“How’s it going?” Kari asked after Josh had introduced me to his teammates. Tomas was snoozing in her arms. It was hard to believe he was the same non-stop toddler from last weekend.
“Good. Just don’t quiz me on everyone’s names.”
She laughed. “I know what you mean. It took me forever to get everyone straight. It doesn’t help that it’s always changing. Just as you get the girlfriend’s name right, she’s history. Or you finally remember the wife’s name and her husband gets traded.”
Did her girlfriend comment hurt? There was a good possibility, but I did my best to keep the pain at bay. It wasn’t like NHL players held the monopoly on breaking up with girlfriends. Just because a guy referred to a girl as his girlfriend, it didn’t mean they’d ride off into the sunset and have a happily ever after.
And just because she became pregnant with his child, it didn’t mean they’d take the same carriage ride into the sunset either.
Two other women joined us: Bridget and Becca. And no, they didn’t look anything alike. All three were slim and could easily be models, but that was where the similarity ended. Kari was tall and blonde like a gorgeous Scandinavian goddess. Except I didn’t think most Scandinavian goddesses chased around two rambunctious two-year-old boys.
Bridget could’ve easily been my (slightly) younger sister. Only her red hair was practically down to her waist. Think Disney’s version of The Little Mermaid…minus the tail.
Then there was Becca. With her black hair and fair skin, she was a shoo-in if Hollywood ever made a remake of Snow White (okay, make that a remake of two remakes of Snow White). She was also the shortest and curviest of the trio and was rocking an adorable, sleeping six-month-old boy in her arms.
“Kari told us Josh is now a member of HDF,” Bridget said, giving me a pitying smile.
Becca snickered. “I still can’t believe they went with Hockey Dads Forever. I was only joking when I suggested it.”
“Why? Is it bad that he joined?” I asked. So far, it didn’t seem too awful, other than the initiation test he’d had to do. Correction. We’d had to do.
The three women cracked up. Was I the only one who didn’t find that very reassuring?
“If your boyfriend’s hoping to learn how to be a father, he’s hanging out with the wrong group,” Becca said.
“But they do try,” Kari piped in. “So we have to give them credit for that.”
The two other women nodded, fighting grins.
“It’s not a bad thing,” Bridget said. “At least they’re making an effort. It’s not easy for them when they’re away a lot. They miss so much when it comes to the developmental milestones of their kids.”
“That’s why you have to do everything you can to make sure Josh doesn’t miss too much while he’s away,” Becca said. “You’ll get used to Skyping daily, plus videotaping your child practically all the time, just so you can share the videos with Josh.”
“And definitely do that,” Kari added. “There are a lot of temptations on the road. Some players are great at ignoring them, remembering what’s waiting for them at home.”
“But other players aren’t so good at walking past the puck bunnies,” Bridget said. The three women turned to look at her husband, Josh, and another player. Henrik Karlsson, if I remembered correctly.
“His wife—or rather ex-wife—discovered a selfie a bunny had taken with him and then posted on the internet. Both he and the bunny were obviously naked in bed at the time. It had gone viral, so there was no missing it.”
That did sound familiar.
Was I nervous after everything they had told me? Not really. I trusted Josh. As long as I was his girlfriend, he wouldn’t stray. I could thank his father for that.
“Hey, Josh,” Becca said a little too brightly, looking over my shoulder.
I spun around. Josh, Jyri, Mark, and Sean, along with their teammate Travis Hamilton, approached us with beer bottles in hand.
Mark swooped down and kissed the forehead of his sleeping son.
Sean was carrying his giggling one-year-old daughter. He kissed Bridget’s cheek, then asked her, “You four keeping out of trouble?”
“We could say the same to you,” she said, grinning up at her husband as Josh pulled me back against him, his hand possessively on my belly.
I looked over my shoulder and was awarded with a tender kiss that melted every part of me. Chocolate left in the sun had nothing on me.
I was vaguely aware of Travis grunting a God-you-guys-are-so-pussy-whipped groan. Laughing to myself, I pulled away from Josh, winked at his teammate, and turned my attention to Sierra, Bridget’s daughter.
“Who’s that?” I asked her, pointing at the large yellow toy fish in her arms.
Sierra grinned, revealing a few baby teeth.
“Is this Flounder?” Sean asked her, and she giggled again.
“Why did you call it Flounder?” Josh asked. Maybe it was just my hormones, but was I the only person who thought he looked adorable when confused?
Okay, definitely my hormones.
Sean’s eyes widened. “How can you not know who Flounder is? And you’re going to be a father?” He sounded indignantly wounded but the mischief in his eyes said otherwise.
Josh glanced at me for help. Hell if I knew who Flounder was—but I was hardly admitting that. They’d probably burn me at the stake for committing such a parenting faux pas.
“Men, it looks like we’ll have to stage an intervention,” Sean said to his sidekicks. The smirk? Yeah, I’d be worried about it too.
“What kind of intervention?” Josh asked, looking between the guys.
�
�The Disney princess kind.”
“But…we’re having a son.” Josh gently rubbed my belly, as if looking for further confirmation that Noah was indeed a boy. “Why would I have to know anything about Disney princesses?”
Travis cracked up.
Jyri waved it off. “That’s irrelevant. It’s essential you know who they all are. Like for example, who is the mermaid in The Little Mermaid?”
“You mean the hot one?” Josh glanced at me and I shrugged. The character’s name was sitting on the tip of my tongue—or not.
“I guess if you’re into animated characters,” Mark replied, “yes, the hot one. Her name is Ariel. Does that ring a bell?”
Josh shrugged and I sympathetically patted his hand on my stomach.
“Again, you seriously expect me to care about the Disney princesses when I’m having a son?” Josh asked, the corner of his mouth curled up in a What-the-fuck-happened-to-your-balls? smirk. Pretty much the same one as Travis’s.
Sean turned to the two other men. “Quick, name the princess who lives with seven short men.”
“Christ, even I know that one,” Josh said. “Snow White.”
Judging from Travis’s expression, this was news to him.
“Okay…name the princess who falls in love with the Beast, who incidentally looks a lot better than in his true prince form in the animated version of the movie.”
Bridget, Kari, and Becca nodded in agreement. Josh rolled his eyes.
“That’s easy,” Mark said. “Belle.”
“Correct.” Sean threw Josh a look that said, “Even Mark—who has a son—knows the answer.”
Josh rolled his eyes again, and Travis burst out laughing once more.
Ignoring them, Sean said, “Next question. Name the two sisters who lived in the Scandinavian-like kingdom?”
“Princess Anna and Queen Elsa,” Jyri said, close to jumping on the spot like a kid who had to go to the loo, badly.
Sean beamed at him as if Jyri was his prized student. “Correct. And name Elsa’s magic powers.”
“She can turn things to ice with her hands.”
I snickered at Josh’s expression. The one that said he wanted to turn Sean to ice.
“And for the final question of the night, what is Sleeping Beauty’s real name?” Sean asked.
Decidedly With Baby (By the Bay Book 2) Page 13