The Model: A Workplace Romance

by Layne, Harlow

“Lexie, talk to me. Are you in pain?”

  “One second,” I breathed out. After a few more seconds, the pain ebbed away, and I held the phone so that I could see Ryder again.

  “What was that?”

  “A contraction,” I answered. “I was right. I don’t want to do this without drugs. It already hurts like a bitch, and I haven’t even gotten to the hard part yet.”

  Ryder’s eyes glistened. “I’m so fucking sorry I’m not there for you. Will you ever forgive me?”

  “Hey, look at me. There’s nothing to forgive. There was no way to predict the events of today would happen.”

  “I feel like shit for not being there. I won’t be able to forgive myself as easily as you did.”

  “Should I pull up here and take you in?” Raine asked as she pulled to the front entrance of the hospital.

  “I don’t know. We can ask inside. That wasn’t part of anything they told us in our classes.”

  “I’ll text you when I get to the airport and right before I board. If you need anything during the time between…” He wiped his hand under his eye.

  “I’ll call or text. Whatever happens, I promise we’ll keep you updated. Thank you for letting me see your face. It helped calm me down…some.”

  “It’s the least I could do.” He closed his eyes and swallowed roughly. “I love you more than anything, Lexie.”

  Why did it sound like he was saying goodbye forever?

  “I love you too. Now hurry up and get your ass back here.”

  “Will do,” he waved. “Bye, baby.”

  “Bye,” I choked out.

  “Enough of the sappy.” Raine held out her hand to help me get out of the car.

  “Thank you for telling him what was going on. I’m not sure how I would have told him and made it coherent.”

  “You’re welcome. Now, let’s get you inside so you don’t have your baby in your car. I am so not driving your car ever again if that happens.”

  “Deal, now help me out.”

  Glancing down at my phone, I already missed seeing Ryder’s face, but I knew I needed to suck it up.

  Opening my messages, I sent him one last text.

  Lexie: I love you madly. More than I love hearing the waves crashing as I fall asleep or ice cream. <3 <3 <3

  Ryder: I love you more. :-*

  28

  Ryder

  Before I rounded the corner, I knew I was much too late. Raine had kept me updated throughout the process, and Lexie was being taken in to have an emergency c-section as I was boarding my plane. The last seven hours had been hell, knowing that I wasn’t there for my wife. Not only was I not there for the birth of my daughter, but I wasn’t there to protect Lexie from her crazy ass ex.

  Stopping outside the door, I ran my hand down my face and took in a deep breath. I didn’t want to upset Lexie. Raine had messaged me saying she was awake and in a lot of pain and hell if I didn’t want to add to that. As quietly as I could, I opened the door to her hospital room. I wasn’t prepared for what I saw when I walked inside. My gorgeous Lexie was propped up in bed with pillows, her blue hair was pulled back into a smooth ponytail, her eyes were shut with a serene smile on her face, and she had our daughter at her breast.

  There were already flowers and balloons in the room. Something I hadn’t thought of, but even if I had, I wanted to get up here as quickly as possible. Nothing was going to keep me from seeing my girls once I finally made it to the hospital.

  I watched silently as my daughter’s lips suckled at her mother’s breast. I was in awe that I had anything to do with making the precious being that was in front of me.

  “She’s perfect, isn’t she?” Lexie’s soft voice startled me. Without opening her eyes, she held her hand out for me to take. “Come closer and see our daughter.”

  Gently, I sat on the side of the bed with Lexie’s hand still in mine and held it to my chest. I never wanted to let her go or out of my sight after today. With my other hand, I brushed my finger across my daughter’s soft cheek.

  “She’s so soft, so perfect,” I whispered. I wasn’t sure if I said it so quietly because I didn’t want to disturb her or because of the emotion clogging in my throat. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you.”

  “Hey, we already talked about this. It wasn’t anything we could control.” Her other hand reached up and brushed the wetness from my cheek. “You’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”

  Leaning down, I pressed my lips to hers, showing her how much I loved her and how sorry I was. Then I moved to kiss the bruise on her cheek furthest from me. It was swollen and already a horrible dark purple. I only brushed my mouth across it, afraid to hurt her. It looked painful as hell, but I was sure she wasn’t feeling any pain with the meds they’d given her. Her eyes were glassy and tired.

  Resting my forehead against her temple, I wanted to stay connected to Lexie. I’d missed her like crazy while I was in New York, and I wanted to be able to look at our daughter. It was still unbelievable that we created such a perfect person. I couldn’t wait for my mom’s reaction when she saw her. I’d called her when I was waiting to board my plane and explained everything to her. If it wasn’t for her, I would have been an even bigger mess as I waited. She said all the right things to get me to calm down, but the second the plane landed, all her words went right out the window, and chaos took over my every thought as I traveled from the airport to the hospital. My mom was waiting for the all-clear, and then she was going to come for a visit to see her first grandbaby. I told her to pass the news on to my dad since we still weren’t talking.

  “Did you name her?”

  “You act like you were gone for months. Of course, I didn’t name her. I was waiting for you.” She looked at me like I was crazy, with her eyes squinted. “What was your favorite on our list?”

  I’d been MIA for so much of Lexie’s pregnancy, and then I wasn’t even there for the birth, I felt undeserving to name our baby. I already felt like the worst father in the world. “You should name her.”

  My finger swept over my daughter’s tiny hand, and when she grasped it, it nearly brought me to my knees.

  “She knows who you are, and she already loves you,” Lexie spoke quietly but assuredly as she brushed the hair from my forehead.

  “I already love her too. How can she already mean so much to me when I’ve only known her for a few short minutes?”

  “It’s a natural part of being a parent.”

  “It’s unbelievable. I promise I will never let you or our daughter down again.” And we needed to give her a name. Stat.

  “What can I say to make you believe you didn’t let us down?”

  Nothing.

  “Okay, going by your silence, that’s not an option right now. Do you want to hold and burp her?”

  I wanted nothing more in that moment as Lexie slipped our baby into my arms. She was so light. I didn’t even know how much she weighed since I hadn’t been there. Putting her up to my shoulder, I kissed her soft little cheek and lightly patted her back.

  “Let’s name her Kinsley.” The name popped into my head, and it felt right.

  “Kinsley Williams has a good ring to it,” she mused.

  “How much does she weigh? How long? I need to know everything.”

  Lexie rested her head on my arm, one hand on my leg. “She was six pounds and eleven ounces at twenty-one inches long.”

  “She’s going to be tall,” I stated as I continued to pat her.

  “Probably. Look who her daddy is. She was born at four twenty-eight and came out crying.” She let out a shuttered breath. “I was so scared when I realized Ben was there. All I could do was keep him talking and hoped the cops would get there before he did something to jeopardize the baby. Time was running out, and when the cops arrived, he…he punched me in the face, and I went down. I went into labor almost immediately, and all I wanted was to find my phone and talk to you.”

  “I should have been there.”

  “If
you had been there, I’m not sure what he would have done. He went crazy when he found out we were married. It doesn’t even make sense. We’d been broken up for over six months when I met you and at the end of our relationship…” She hugged my arm. “It wasn’t good. I don’t know why he was upset.”

  When Kinsley burped, I got up and put her in the plastic bassinet that was in the room. She was out cold and didn’t even stir. Maybe I could handle this parenting gig better than I thought.

  I started to sit in the chair by the bed, but Lexie wasn’t having any of that. She patted the bed beside her and lifted up the blanket. The bed was tiny, but I didn’t care. After the day she’d had, I’d half hang off of it to be by her side.

  Slipping off my shoes, I climbed in beside her and let her rest her head on my shoulder. She could barely move after the caesarian, but my wife was a trooper as she snuggled into me.

  Wrapping my arm around her, I held her tight. I could have lost her or Kinsley. The thought shot tremors through my body. I kissed the top of her head and rested my head against hers. “You asked why he was upset, and I think I know the answer. Even though your relationship wasn’t good in the end, I do believe Ben loved you. Then he got mixed up in drugs and couldn’t find his way out. You, Lexie Williams, are a hard woman to get over. I know I wasn’t going to give up on you when you all but threw my ass to the curb.”

  “I’d never do that to you,” she answered softly. I could tell from the tight slur in her words she was close to falling asleep. “How did I get so lucky?”

  “I ask myself that every day.” I breathed her in. I had missed everything about her while I was gone. “How do you smell like the beach while lying in a hospital bed?”

  She breathed in deep. “The same way you smell like the forest after a long plane ride.”

  Silently I laughed. We were quite the pair. I knew Lexie loved how I smelled. She frequently wore my shirts the day after I wore them and was constantly bringing them up to her nose or was sniffing me. I wasn’t any better. When I smelled her, it took me back to our time in Hawaii and how fate had brought us together.

  “Are you okay, now?” she mumbled. Almost half asleep, she was still worried about me.

  “I’m fine, baby. Get some sleep, and I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

  Lexie nuzzled my neck as her hand found mine. Bringing them up to my mouth, I kissed her knuckles before I rested them over my heart.

  I wasn’t sure how long I’d been going over the day in my head, but I was almost asleep when I heard some shuffling by the door. Opening one eye, I squinted at the bright light coming from out in the hall. I blinked, and a nurse was standing at the foot of the bed. I thought for sure she was going to kick me out, but she only smiled. After she came over and checked on Lexie, she left as quietly as she came in.

  “She only let you stay in bed with me because you’re so damn hot,” Lexie murmured.

  “I don’t care what the reason is as long as they don’t take me away from you.”

  Kissing my neck, I felt her hot breath seep into my skin as she spoke. “Don’t let them hear you say sweet things like that, or we’ll never get any privacy.”

  “My words are only for you.” I dropped a kiss into her hair, wanting to feel her lips but didn’t want to shuffle her. “Love you, baby.”

  “Love you, Dimples.”

  Closing my eyes, I let out a contented breath.

  Everything I ever needed was in that room with me.

  29

  Lexie

  EPILGOUE

  Three Years Later

  The setting was picture perfect. The sun was dripping low at the horizon as I wrapped myself around my husband while he kept us afloat in our infinity pool that looked out onto the Pacific Ocean. We were having a much-needed date night since Ryder’s mom was in town for Kinsley’s birthday. She had our daughter for the night, and we were taking advantage since she refused to stay at our house. I loved her for it and put her up in a nice hotel so she could pamper herself when she wasn’t with us.

  It’s not that I didn’t love my daughter because I did, but it was nice not to have to steal moments with the man I loved. We’d already gone out to dinner and walked along the beach hand in hand, and now we were doing what we loved. We were in the water, and Ryder’s tip was at my entrance.

  He paused, cupping my cheek. “Shouldn’t we use a condom?”

  I had a feeling Ryder knew what I wanted to tell him tonight, but he was forcing me to say it before I was ready. Tightening my arms around his neck, I caught his lips with mine. It was slow and deep, a kiss that told him how much I loved him. When I pulled back, our eyes locked, and I slowly sank down on his hard length.

  A slow smirk spread across his sun-kissed face. “When were you going to tell me?”

  “I was waiting for the perfect moment, and you ruined it, dimples.” With one hand on the back of his head, I slowly started to move up and down with a little grind on my clit at the end. Resting my forehead on his, our gazes locked.

  One hand slipped to my waist, helping me move, and the other cupped my breast. When Ryder was inside of me, I was all need. There was nothing else in the world but us, intoxicated with one another even after all this time together. It was frenzied, erotic, and exquisite pleasure that drove us each time. I lost myself in him, and he found me each time, bringing me back, and making me whole.

  Heat danced down my body as I rode him harder, bringing us closer to detonating together. Leaning down, I swept my tongue across his parted lips. Crushing his mouth to mine, Ryder consumed my every thought, my body, my breath, only stopping when we needed to breathe.

  Licking along my collarbone, his rough voice nearly did me in. “I need to feel your sweet pussy pulse around my cock.” He ground his pelvis into my bundle of nerves. Picking up his tempo, Ryder hit me in just the right spot until I shattered in orgasmic bliss. It wasn’t long until he followed me over the edge and was left panting in the crook of my neck.

  With his breath still heavy, Ryder’s arms tightened around me as he brought us out of the pool and walked us into our bedroom, leaving the door open so I could hear the waves crashing outside.

  Resting his head on my stomach, Ryder placed a kiss just below my bellybutton. “I promise you I’m not going to miss this one’s birth.” Ryder still felt guilty about not being at the hospital when Kinsley was born, and I knew he’d move heaven and earth to be there this time.

  Running my fingers through his sexily tousled hair, I smiled down at him. “I know you won’t, but how did you know I was pregnant? I only took the test after your mom picked up Kinsley.”

  He angled his head so he could look up at me with one brow quirked up. “I know every inch of this body, and when these started to swell,” he gently cupped one breast, knowing they were sore and sensitive, “I knew. It wasn’t like it was a surprise. How long did you think it would take after you stopped taking your birth control?”

  My hottie of a husband made a good point.

  “Are you happy?”

  Coming up on his hands and knees, Ryder’s head dipped down as he kissed his way up my body. Kissing my chin, my forehead, my eyes, and each cheek, his lips brushed across mine in a gentle sweep.

  “The happiest. We’re both at places in our lives where we can take a step back and enjoy what life has given us. I love you more with each passing day, and our daughter brings me happiness like I never imagined. The sun rises and sets each time Kinsley smiles at me or tells me she loves me. It’s unlike anything I could have ever asked for, and for us to bring someone else into our lives that I know I will love for the rest of my life is a treasure.”

  Cupping my cheeks, he kissed away the tears I hadn’t realized had started to fall.

  “Truer words have never been spoken. It’s like you read my soul and spoke its contents out loud.”

  Flashing me his dimples, Ryder pulled me on top of him and held me tight to his long, hard body.

  I couldn’t i
magine not having Ryder or Kinsley in my life now. They were the best things to ever happen to me, and true to his word, Ryder made sure I never once regretted marrying him by showing me each and every day how much he loved me. His presence grounded me in a way no one ever had. He brought out the best in me and I in him.

  After Kinsley was born, we made a pact that we’d never work at the same time. Someone was always home with her, and if one of us had to travel for a job, we all traveled together. If we needed some time alone, Ryder’s mom was always happy to spend time with her granddaughter, and Raine was totally gaga over little Kinsie as she liked to call her.

  Ryder’s career had skyrocketed in the last couple of years. While he was wildly sought after, he was pickier now about what jobs he chose to take. After watching many of my photo shoots, he’d even started to take pictures of his own. He knew he couldn’t be a model forever and wanted a career path when he was done.

  Running his hand up and down my back, Ryder spoke against the column of my neck. “I have a surprise for you. My mom isn’t here for only the weekend.”

  Sitting up, I straddled his waist with a wide smile stretched across my face. Was Catherine going to move here? We’d only been asking her since we found out Ryder’s dad, Mitch, had cheated on her and she kicked him to the curb.

  “And it’s not what you’re thinking, I’ve tried to convince her to move here so she can see Kinsley more, but no dice.” Ryder frowned.

  My own frown followed. If it wasn’t that, then what was it? “Is she staying for a week?”

  “Try two, but we won’t be here.” He grinned up at me with his hands resting on my hips. Without thought, his thumbs rubbed circles into my skin.

  “Are we all going on a trip?”

  His smile grew wider, and I grew wetter at seeing those dimples of his. “Concentrate,” he chided me.

  “Hey, you know the power you wield with those things,” I rotated my hips, letting him feel how wet I was.