It was hard to be in this position and not think about the fact I’d rather be naked, but I knew that would come in time. Sex with my man was always a given when he spent the night at my place or I spent the night at his when my mom had Chris for a sleepover.
“It’s just…” He grimaced. “It’s not fucking fair.”
I grinned, thinking how adorable he looked when he sulked.
“Don’t smile,” he warned. “I’m serious. I don’t see why he should get another chance. He had more than ten years to get his head out of his ass, and he didn’t. So why now? When you and I finally get our shot. When we’re getting a chance to give Chris a real family, maybe with a little brother or sister someday.”
“You sure you still want that?” I asked, fighting back emotion. God, I wanted that so much, a baby with this man. Someone who knew how to be a real father, even though he had no experience, who would enjoy every single second of my pregnancy and every day that followed, when he got to hold his baby in his arms.
“More than anything.” He rested his forehead against mine. “It may seem weird, but I think about it a lot.”
“You do?” I wanted to hear more. I wanted to know I wasn’t the only one peeking in strollers as I passed and playing the “what if” game.
“Yeah, I do. These parents on my U6 team just had a baby. God, she’s so cute. I hold her, and I fucking melt, babe.”
“I melt when you say stuff like that,” I murmured, holding his gorgeous face in my hands. He had so much scruff it was verging on a beard, but I loved it.
He drew me close, whispering in my ear, “Sometimes when we make love, I imagine I’m trying to get you pregnant.”
Oh God, he was getting hard, and I was getting wet just talking about it. “Tell me more,” I said, locking eyes as I grinded on him.
I was wearing a strapless, cotton maxi dress, sans panties since I didn’t want the lines. But with it hiked up around my thighs the way it was now, it made access so easy I wondered why I didn’t go commando all the time.
He traced the shell of my ear with his tongue, making me whimper. “I can hear you begging me to give you a baby, asking me to fill you, to give you everything you need.”
My breathing was shallow as I tugged his pants and boxers down, fisting his hard length in my hand before climbing back into his lap. He did fill me… first with two fingers, until I was panting and throwing my head back while I braced my hands on his broad shoulders.
He grabbed my hips and eased me down, mesmerized by my reaction as I tried to stifle my cries. We’d never made love with Chris in the house before, and I was painfully aware of the fact we weren’t behind closed doors, but my long dress coupled with the throw would shield us long enough to right our clothes if we heard his bedroom door creak open.
He closed his mouth around my nipple, pulling deep as I tried hard not to moan. It was torture, feeling so good and not being able to release it. I thought of Spencer’s huge house with the master at one end and the other four bedrooms at the opposite end of the hall, obviously designed to maximize privacy.
“Maybe we should have slept at your house tonight,” I said, moaning softly into his mouth when he kissed me.
“Or maybe you should sleep at my house every night from now on.”
I didn’t have time to react before my body clenched and I started riding my release, kissing him hard to smother my pleasure.
“I mean it,” he said, kissing a path from my jaw to my ear. “I want you guys to move in with me.” His pace was slow and controlled, but I wasn’t fooled. I could feel the tension in every taut, rippling muscle. He was putting himself out there, terrified of rejection.
“But you made it sound like…” Oh, he made it so hard to think when he gripped my hips like that, moving me back and forth, the delicious ache building once more. “You weren’t ready when Chris… suggested it.”
I closed my eyes, lost in the sensation. I didn’t know how I’d gone years without sex or without this man. My memories of it and him must have dimmed for the sake of self-preservation. Otherwise I would have been camped out on his doorstep when I’d heard he moved back to town. Begging for this.
“You like the way I make you feel, baby?” His eyes were glazed, and he was obviously as lost in the moment as I was as he kissed my neck when I gripped him tighter.
“I love it.” When he circled my tits with his big hands, licking them, I whispered, “I love you, Spence. So much.” I told him that all the time, but I loved that hearing it made him smile every time.
“Then move in with me.”
“You really want that?”
“You have no idea how much.”
I couldn’t believe we were having this conversation during sex. We never talked during unless it was to whisper naughty things in each other’s ear.
“Say yes.”
I could tell he was struggling to hold back by the way he clenched his jaw and dug his fingers into my hips. I could also see in his eyes that split second when he lost the battle and frustration morphed into gratification.
“Yes,” I whispered when, through his own release, he reached between us to make sure I got mine.
His fingers were strumming my tender flesh as he flooded me, growling deep in his throat when he lost the bid to silence.
It took a few seconds for my answer to sink in before my eruption was overshadowed by the sight before me. The love of my life, the toughest guy I’d ever met, with tears in his eyes.
He pulled me close, holding tight. “You mean it? You guys will move in with me?”
“We’d love to.” I knew I didn’t even have to ask my son. He’d be all over that.
“I love you so much,” he whispered. “Both of you.”
Epilogue
Spencer
One Year Later
I couldn’t believe just six short months after making the most beautiful woman in the world my wife, we were celebrating my adoption of her son. Our son. Turned out I’d been right about her ex. As soon as he’d found out Hallie and Chris were moving in with me and he didn’t have a shot with her, he stopped calling. I hated that Chris seemed disappointed by yet another rejection, but I knew he was better off without that deadbeat in his life.
It had taken some persuasion to convince him to sign over his parental rights so I could adopt his son. Not that being a sperm donor should have given him any rights in my book. But his loss was my gain, and now I was sitting across the table from the two most important people in my life, wondering how the hell I got so lucky.
“I’m so glad you’re my dad now,” Chris said quietly. “Officially.”
Hallie’s eyes filled with tears as she put her arm around Chris, bringing him into her side as she kissed the top of his head. “I am too, honey. I’d say we both got pretty lucky.”
“You’re not as lucky as me.” I reached for her hand, bringing it to my lips. “I love you,” I mouthed, though Chris was used to hearing it and saying it. We couldn’t go one hour without expressing it in our house, it seemed.
She winked, bringing the water glass to her lips.
God, she was beautiful. Tonight she was wearing a blue-and-green shift dress, she’d called it, with her hair pulled back off her face. She was a more refined version of the girl who’d stolen my heart all those years ago, and I still couldn’t believe she’d agreed to be mine for the rest of our lives.
“So I have a little gift to commemorate this occasion,” Hallie said, reaching into the oversized purse at her feet. “One for each of you.”
She handed each of us a small, square box wrapped in white with a yellow ribbon.
Chris and I smiled at each other before we tore into them, each trying to be the first to reveal the surprise. His gasp matched mine as we each pulled out the tiniest pair of soccer cleats I’d ever seen in my life.
Chris gaped at his mother before his gaze drifted to her stomach. “You’re… I’m… you mean…?”
She laughed, pulling him in for a hug as she n
odded, the tears slipping down her cheeks when she looked at me. “Yup, I’m gonna have a baby.”
“Oh my God!” I jumped up, rounding the table to haul my wife out of her seat. “Is this for real?” Just when I thought our lives couldn’t get any better, she found a way to prove me wrong. Another child. One we could raise together from infancy.
“It is.” She laughed when I peppered her face and neck with kisses.
I didn’t give a shit we were drawing the attention of every person in the restaurant. She’d just given me the best news of my life, and I wanted the whole fucking world to know!
“I see I got here just in time,” Linda said, rounding the corner.
“You knew about this?” I asked my mother-in-law, pointing at her. “How could you keep it a secret?”
“It wasn’t easy,” she said, hugging her grandson when he jumped up to greet her. “Believe me, I think I was as excited as you all are when Hallie told me she was gonna make me a nana again.”
“Can you believe it, Nan?” Chris asked, looking up at her. “I’m finally gonna be a big brother!”
“I know, sweetie.” Her eyes filled with tears as she brushed his hair back so she could kiss his forehead. “I’m so happy for you. For all of you.”
“You’re just in time to help us celebrate,” I said to Linda, pulling out a chair. “Sit.” Now I knew why she’d begged off when we invited her to join us for dinner. She wanted us to share this special moment in private. I’d grown to love her like my own mother, and her selflessness just gave me another reason to appreciate her.
“No, thanks, I just came to take this guy home with me.” She curled her hands around Chris’s shoulders as she stood behind him. “I thought it would be nice to give your mom and dad some time alone to celebrate. What do you think? You want to spend the night with me tonight?”
He turned around, grinning at her. “Sure.”
“Thanks, Linda,” I said, leaning in to hug her. “You’re the best.”
“My pleasure, honey,” she said, patting my back. “You two enjoy the rest of your evening.”
“Oh, we will,” I said, winking at my wife.
Chris hugged me, whispering in my ear, “Love you, Dad.”
Fuck. It was the first time he’d ever called me that, and I was so emotional I could have bawled like a baby. “Love you too, kid.” I cleared my throat, blinking back the tears. “You be good for your nan, okay? We’ll see you in the morning.”
I waited for Hallie to say her good-byes to her mom and our son before she claimed the bench seat next to me, grinning when I picked up the shoe. “Where the hell did you get one this small?”
She laughed. “I had it made. Imagine my surprise when I tried to buy one online and couldn’t. Turns out infant cleats aren’t a thing since they can’t play soccer!” She palmed her forehead. “Imagine that.”
I laughed, wrapping my arm around her. “I figure we’ll get this one started as soon as he starts walking. What do you think?”
“What if it’s a girl?”
“Have you seen some of the girls in my academy, babe? They’re kick-ass soccer players.”
“True.”
“When are you due?” The sooner, the better as far as I was concerned. I couldn’t wait.
“I’m about seven weeks,” she said, biting her lip. “I had my first doctor’s appointment last Friday.”
“I can’t believe you’ve known about this for almost a week.”
The waiter stopped by to refresh my coffee before discreetly leaving the bill on the table and smiling when he spotted the tiny shoes.
“Hardest secret I’ve ever had to keep, believe me. I almost let it slip so many times. But I wanted to wait until today to tell you. I figured what better time than the day we officially became a family?”
“I feel so lucky,” I whispered in her ear. “That Chris wanted me to adopt him and you let me.”
“We’re the lucky ones,” she said, not even trying to hold back her tears. “I still can’t believe the way you’ve stepped up for him, babe. I mean, picking him up from school, taking him to soccer practice, making him breakfast or packing his lunch when I’m running late. How did we survive without you?”
I chuckled. “What I want to know is how he passed math without me.”
“Hey!” She slapped my chest, grinning. “So math isn’t my strong suit. It’s that right brain / left brain thing. I’m the artistic one in the family.”
“Yes, you are.”
My gorgeous wife was an amazing artist, and I’d redesigned the sun-filled loft so she’d have a studio of her own. She’d cried when she saw it for the first time, and I vowed then and there I’d do whatever I could to make her cry like that again. Only happy tears. I never wanted to make her cry sad tears. Though I knew it was probably inevitable. We were only human, and we would make mistakes, but once thing was for sure… we’d never stop loving each other.
“I have to admit I’m kind of scared though.”
My heart clenched. “Of what?” If she told me her pregnancy was at risk, I’d lose it.
“Chris is really good, isn’t he? At soccer, I mean. Jake told me the other day that he reminds him of you at that age.”
“Oh yeah, he kind of does.” It had become obvious in the past year that Chris had a gift. He saw the game the way most players never would, and he had an innate understanding. Soccer intelligence, we called it.
“I don’t want to think about him having to leave home in a few years,” she whispered. “Like you did.”
Unfortunately, that was part of the sport we loved. The best kids were recruited young, and they lived in soccer complexes in Europe where they were educated and trained by their teams, living with other kids who shared their dream and passion for the sport.
“It’s not easy,” I conceded. I didn’t know how the hell I’d be able to let him go either, if it came to that, but I never would have forgiven my parents if they’d tried to hold me back when I got my shot. “But you know we have to if a team comes calling.” It was still a big if, a lot could happen over the next few years, but if he kept progressing at the rate he was, it would be a very real possibility for him.
“I know how much he wants it,” she said, biting her lip. “But how could I let my baby go and live in some foreign country all by himself?”
“We could move with him.”
She stared at me, wide-eyed. “You’re serious?”
“Why not?” My parents hadn’t had that luxury. They’d had to stay in the States and work their asses off to support my other two brothers. My career had afforded me the privilege of living anywhere in the world without ever having to consider the expense.
“But your academy.”
I shrugged. “My brother could run it for me for a few years.”
“But you love your academy,” she said, sniffling.
“I love my family more.”
More tears spilled down her cheeks. “You would really do that for us? So we wouldn’t have to be separated?”
“Baby,” I said, wiping away her tears. “Don’t you know by now that I’d do anything for you guys?”
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