by Mia Carson
He kept his hand on her arm anyway until he closed the door behind her and tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow. “You know you enjoy the pampering.”
She didn’t answer, just smiled and let him think he wasn’t pushing her closer to the edge of losing it. One day, he’d figure it out when she chucked a keyboard at his head for insisting he carry a stack of damn files across the office for her, or get her a better chair for her back, or double-check she took her vitamins that morning, or any of the other ungodly annoying habits he’d created. Her bear of a man had turned into a mother hen, and Belle worried in the back of her mind that this baby was going to change him for good.
Tim walked into Belle’s office, and Greyson glanced away from his monitor, attempting to watch without looking too irritated that it was the fourth time he’d walked in there that afternoon. The doctor might say that Belle was healthy and the baby, too, that he didn’t need to worry as much as he did, but the protectiveness sprouting to life in him couldn’t be stopped. He loved her, and now that they were having a baby together, nothing else mattered except keeping her safe. Keeping their future legacy together safe. He knew there were days he pushed too far, but there were also days she tried to do too much, even for a non-pregnant person. And the fact she hadn’t slept well in at least a week—and tried to lie about it—made Greyson anxious to find a way to keep her home and away from the upcoming chaos of the game launch.
He glanced at the messages on his phone and frowned. Brent Hall, the man who claimed to be Belle’s older brother. The night he’d called, Greyson wanted to tell Belle all about it, but seeing that she was really pregnant made him hesitate. A month later, he was still holding onto that secret. If he didn’t tell her soon, she’d kill him.
To be fair, he was still researching the guy to be sure he was actually who he said he was, and so far, Brent’s background checked out. Greyson’s worry was what this would do to Belle and the baby if for some reason it didn’t work out and the guy was a fraud. His hands curled into fists on his desk as he glared at his computer, imagining this man hurting his Belle. He’d never make it back to California, that was for certain.
“Whoa there, boss man, should I come back later?” Tim asked as he came through the door Belle and Greyson shared between their offices.
“No, why?” he grumbled.
“You have a murderous glint in your eye… Just don’t punch your monitor again.”
“That happened one time,” he muttered and leaned back in his chair. “You’re not stressing her out, are you?”
Tim shook his head, his lips curling in a smirk. “Nah, not this time. Running over some last-minute numbers since we moved the launch up.”
“No glitches cropping up?”
“Nope, we are good so far,” Tim told him.
“Good,” he said and pushed back from his desk. “Then I think I’m going to take the future missus home for the day. Call me if there’s a problem.”
Tim nodded and backed towards the door. “You’re enjoying these half-days a bit too much.”
“You come talk to me when you have a pregnant workaholic to deal with,” he growled and stalked into Belle’s office. Tim laughed and said something else, but Greyson didn’t catch it. He was too focused on the woman hunched over her desk, staring intently at her monitor, her fingers tapping away in a blur across the keyboard. “I think we’ll head home early today,” he announced.
Belle didn’t even glance up, but her face scrunched. “And why is that? Did I wear you out last night?”
His gut clenched along with something else in his pants, and he leaned over her desk, covering her with his shadow. “Don’t tease me, not here.”
She grinned wickedly as she whispered, “Why not? You know you love thinking of your hands on my swollen breasts and holding my hips as you grind against me.”
Greyson sucked in a harsh breath, his hands gripping the edge of her desk so tightly it creaked. “Belle,” he warned. “Keep it up and we won’t make it to the house before I have you screaming my name.”
She finally glanced his way and sighed. “Fine, I’ll stop. Why are we leaving, though, seriously?”
“You need rest,” he said simply. “Get your bag.”
“I have too much work to finish. You moved up the deadline of the game launch, remember? That means contract work, marketing work, legal papers, the works. I need to stay to get it done. Do you want this not to happen because of me?”
He walked around her desk and dragged her chair away from her desk, spun her around, and leaned down on the arms so his face was level with hers. “I have all the faith in the world that you’ll get it done, but not right now.”
“You really need to stop doing this crap,” she snapped, her eyes narrowed.
“Doing what?” he mumbled innocently. “I just want you to be well-rested, and those bags under your eyes say you’re not.”
“I'm not sleeping well,” she admitted, looking away.
“I know. You’ve woken up gasping for breath three times this week. You think I don’t notice?”
She tugged at her earring in her right ear and shrugged. “I hoped you wouldn’t, but I still can’t leave, alright? How about we just take Friday off instead? Let me get some more work done today, and Friday, we can play hooky… Wait, no we can’t,” she muttered and shoved him aside to tap her finger on the desk calendar. “Damn, I have a call with Bigsby, Inc. that day.”
“What do they want now?”
“Updates, as usual, and we’re running over the marketing that day,” she said absently, puffing out her cheeks. “We can leave early Friday, how does that sound?”
Greyson straightened and crossed his arms over his chest. “No, we’re leaving right now.” His eyes searched her office for her purse, snatched it up, and moved towards the door, but Belle didn’t get up to follow. She sat in her chair, firmly planted, and eyed him. “You coming or not?”
“Not,” she said. “You go on, though. I’ll take the bus.”
Heat shot through him as he dropped her purse to the floor. “The bus?”
“Yeah. It’s what I did before I met you, remember? Before I had some big bear bossing me around day and night,” she added with a bite to her words, rolling her chair back to her desk and going back to work. “I took care of myself just fine.”
“Sure you did, running yourself ragged working too many hours, taking on too many tasks—”
“And who’s fault was that?” she retorted. “You had me running around this office fetching your damn coffee!”
“Only for a week,” he growled.
“Yeah, a week until I yelled at you, and then what happened? I took over more responsibility, saved your ass at least three times—and your company’s,” she said angrily, pushing to her feet. “I’m the one who takes care of everything, and you still persist in bossing me around because I’m pregnant!”
Greyson scratched his beard, ready to correct her when her face paled, and she pushed hurriedly past him out the door. “Where are you going? We’re not finished here!”
Half the floor turned to watch him and Belle as she walked quickly towards the bathroom and disappeared inside a moment later. Kelly walked out a few seconds after, shaking her head with a wry smile on her face as she walked towards Greyson.
“Morning sickness. Wonderful thing,” she mused. “Oh, and Belle also said she’s not leaving early, so you can kiss her ass.”
“I thought she was busy being sick,” he said with a raised brow.
“Yes, but mad enough to relay said message in between heaves.” Kelly patted him on the back. “Nice to see you two still so much in love.”
“Love? Are we supposed to be at each other’s throats all the time?” he asked, his mind flooding with doubts over what he was getting into here. He loved Belle and knew she loved him back, but sometimes, he worried their fiery personalities would be too much for each other and they’d blow themselves apart, pushing too hard one too many times.
Kelly nodded. “Love is funny, but I see it in the way she looks at you. I see it in the way she works her ass off here for you,” she emphasized, poking him in the shoulder. “You really think she sits in that office all day for the joy of it?”
He sighed. “No, she’d rather be getting her hands dirty,” he murmured. He promised Belle after this game launch, she’d be one of the first designers to start working on the next one, but she was so damn good at keeping him on track, he feared losing her. She was gone a few days, and he fell apart. What would happen if she disappeared to the designing team for a year or several?
“Exactly, but she does it for you, so let the girl work a full day. What did her doctor say?”
“That she’s perfectly healthy,” he said grudgingly.
“Good, then all you have to do is keep her happy. Let her work, Greyson, and pamper her when you get home. All pregnant women love that.”
Kelly strolled away, whistling, and Greyson forced his feet to turn back towards his office. He worried about Belle for reasons she didn’t understand, yet because he hadn’t told her it ate away at him every hour he kept it from her. He slumped in his chair, swiveling it back and forth as he debated his next move. Belle needed to be protected from herself, but more so, she needed to know about this man who’d come forward, claiming to be family. What if he showed up at the office and announced himself? Or Greyson’s home? He swore he would wait until Greyson gave him the okay, but people lied all the time, and for all he knew, Brent could be after something—money, anything. Belle was technically a billionaire now, too.
He leaned his head back and glared at the ceiling. He heard Belle’s office door swoosh open, but she didn’t come to his office, didn’t call out his name, so he let her be. Deep down, he knew she would be fine, but there was something else going on she wouldn’t tell him. The dreams she’d been having were bad enough to wake her in the middle of the night, shaking and pale, but she’d never told him about them. Maybe tonight, he’d give a little if she agreed to tell him what was on her mind. The baby freaked him out more than he admitted, and he sensed it was the same with her. Worse, even. She was right. She had no mom, no parent to look back on to know how to raise a kid.
“Greyson?” Belle said gently from their shared doorway.
He spun around and met her ice-blue gaze. The second he saw the paleness of her cheeks and the tears stinging her eyes, he rushed to her side, holding her close. “What’s wrong?”
“I think… I think we should head home now,” she mumbled.
“The baby?” he asked, pulling away and glancing worriedly at her belly.
Belle smiled gently and held his arms. “Baby’s fine, but Mommy is feeling a little weak. This one was a doozy. Just one thing?”
“Anything,” he assured her, steering them for the door.
“Don’t you dare say I told you so,” she warned, and Greyson bit back a laugh.
“At least not tonight,” he said and called across the office to Kelly they were taking off for the day. “I have something else in mind for that.”
Belle laughed quietly as they waited for the elevator doors to open. His arm remained wrapped around her waist the whole ride down to the garage until she slid into the Mustang. He asked if she wanted anything to eat on the way home, but her face paled and she shook her head quickly. He waited for her to motion she was good to go and he took off—slower than normal—out of the garage and onto the road back to their home. A home Belle was gradually making more hers every day she lived there, and Greyson smiled every time when he walked in the door. Before, it was sparsely decorated with whatever artwork his mom picked up here and there or his sisters hung when he wasn’t home, but now, when he entered a room, he knew Belle had been there, made it her own. She framed stills of his artwork and her sketches, lining the halls and the entryway and even his office.
The idea of not feeling her presence in every inch of his house threatened to leave a gaping hole in his chest. Kelly was right. They would work out just fine. They had to, otherwise he would be alone forever.
He’d tell her about Brent and deal with the consequences.
Chapter 32
They’d been home for hours, and Belle had gone and laid down to rest. She passed out almost instantly, and Greyson left her to work in his office. He was tempted to call Dr. Higgins, but he knew the woman would tell him he was being paranoid—again—and that Belle just needed to sleep like most pregnant women did. He wondered why that woman tolerated him after all his phone calls behind Belle’s back. If she found out how much he talked to her doctor, she’d really lose it.
He focused on work, picking up where Belle left off for the day, but his mind wandered to what the next six months would bring. How he was going to be a good dad, he hadn’t the faintest idea. Richard had not been a great example, even if Sally claimed he had loved his children. Greyson never saw it, never felt it. Would he be the same to his kid? The idea of causing Belle pain made him sick, but hurting an innocent child with a careless word? Not showing up for a school play? Berating him for failing a test?
“You’re not that man,” he told himself firmly and glared at a picture of the family on the far wall. “You’ll never be that man.”
Deciding work could wait, he stood and meandered into the kitchen, debating what to fix for dinner. Chinese takeout was off the menu, and he opened the freezer, peering in to figure out what to cook, but he didn’t see anything and finally closed the door. He was about to pour a whiskey to settle his nerves and silence the fears when he heard a harsh intake of breath from the hall. Frowning, he quietly padded barefoot through the house, following the sound of crying to the guest room Belle had used when she’d first stayed with him. When he entered the room, he found her sitting on the floor, holding a pillow to her chest, staring around the space.
“What are you doing… What’s wrong?” he asked and rushed to her side.
“A nursery,” she gasped between her cries, tears streaming down her cheeks. “We don’t even have a nursery. Or a crib or diapers or blankets… We don’t have anything for this… this baby! We’re not ready—I’m not ready!”
Greyson stared around the room. “We have six months. Plenty of time.”
“No it’s not! It won’t be. This baby’s going to come, and we’re not going to be ready,” she cried, shaking her head frantically.
He watched her, worried he’d lost his fiery Belle, but she was in there somewhere. He reached down and pulled the pillow from her arms then took her hands in his. “Come on,” he said and pulled her gently to her feet.
“Where are we going?” she asked as he picked her up in his arms.
“We are getting you away from this room for a while,” he grumbled and carried her back into their bedroom, but he didn’t stop at the bed. “You need to relax. We both do.”
“You’re not freaking out,” she accused, tugging on his shirt.
“You wanna bet?” he asked as he reached the tub and set her on her feet. “I’ve been freaking out since Mom suggested it, and when you showed me the stick you peed on, my heart fell to the floor. I’m pretty sure I’m still dragging it around somewhere.” He lifted her chin and kissed her lips, a sweet caress he wanted to explore further as the storm grew within his chest from being so near her. “I have no idea how to be a dad. No idea what’s going to happen.”
He wiped away the tears on her cheeks. “You’re really not ready either?”
He laughed and nodded. “Not even close, pet. I never thought anyone could knock the wind out of me, but here you are, doing it twice in so little time.”
“Twice?” She watched him as he turned the water on in the tub and reached for a bottle of blue bubble bath. “Why twice?”
“First, when you appeared outside my office,” he told her, pouring the bubbles into the steaming hot water and swirling them around with his hand. “Seeing you there with your ice-blue eyes watching me, so filled with excitement and a fire burning inside you e
ven then, I knew you would be trouble. I just never realized how much trouble,” he added with a smirk.
She grinned, and he relaxed as the tension left her shoulders. “And the second?”
He set the bubbles down and stood in front of her, his fingers running down her bare arms until she shivered and her eyes slid closed. “The second when I realized I loved you, no matter how much of a pain-in-the-ass you are.” He pulled up her t-shirt, revealing her full breasts nearly spilling out of a bra she wouldn’t be able to wear for much longer. Below them was the delicate baby bump he couldn’t get enough of. Knowing his child was growing inside her did something to Greyson, ignited a primal instinct inside him he never thought he’d experience.
His hands cupped the baby bump, holding it as awe washed over him again. Part of him was still in a state of disbelief that he and Belle had created a human, a tiny little thing growing inside her. The other part swelled with pride at the idea that he would finally have a family he could love. Belle’s hands closed over his, and when his eyes met hers, he saw her smiling face glowing with her pregnancy and leaned in and kissed her. Their lips met and lightning shot through his body, stirring the storm inside his chest until his hands slipped around to bring her in closer. His tongue danced with hers, stroking it as he explored the depths of her mouth… never ending, it seemed, no matter how many times he kissed her. She moaned, and he swallowed the sound, letting it fill him as her hands gripped his arms before tugging at his shirt.
The sound of running water dragged him away only for a second to check the tub’s water level and quickly turn off the faucets before he flooded the bathroom. Belle dragged his mouth back to hers, kissing him hotly as her hands yanked his shirt up and over his head, tossing it aside. She ran her fingers over his muscles, outlining each one with perfect precision as his skin trembled at her touch. Last night, she’d driven him to ecstasy with her mouth, and just the subtle reminder of it as she sucked his tongue had him grinding his hips against hers and kissing her fiercely, wanting to devour his Belle.