by Wood, Lauren
“You think that this is what all of this is about?” She asked and cocked her head to the side. “I would think that you would know me better and would have thought better of me, at this point.”
“I don’t know what to think, Quinn, you lied to me,” I pointed out.
“Hey, I never lied,” she argued. “I just withheld the truth.”
“That’s the same thing.”
“You made it obvious that you didn’t want me. Was I supposed to think that you would feel differently about the kid? If you didn’t want me, what reason would you want to have a kid with me?”
“Don’t you think that a child changes everything?”
“No, I don’t,” she answered simply. “If you didn’t love me before, a child isn’t going to change that. And I’m not going to bind you to me just because you got me knocked up when you weren’t able to hold yourself back.”
“You thought that was all that it meant to me?” I asked Quinn, surprised by her words. Had I really hurt her this much? “That you were available, and I’d just had urges and couldn’t hold myself back?”
“That’s exactly what it was. You wanted me, and you always get what you want. And now that you’re done with me, you’re pushing me aside because I don’t fit into the perfect little life that you’ve formed.”
“You weren’t just a one-night stand.”
“So, you had feelings for me?” she asked, placing her hands on her lips and tilting her head, to the side.
My hand ran through my hair. “I don’t know.”
“Because if you did, and this is your way of showing it, then you’re nothing but a child, an immature kid who can’t handle showing his feelings for others. You felt something for me, and you pushed me away because you like to keep your distance. Don’t you think that’s ridiculous? You’re going to end up by yourself.”
“Don’t you think that I know that?”
“Then why do you do it?”
“Quinn, don’t go looking for an answer that you can’t handle.”
“You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t handle.”
“Quinn,” I warned.
“Just tell me!” she snapped.
“I don’t want to be involved with anyone because I feel like it would be messing up the legacy that my wife left, being disrespectful to her memories. I had loved her with all of my life, and when she died I’d told myself that I was never going to fall in love with another woman. Paige deserved to know that her mother was one of the best instead of trying to have some fake new mom, attempting to get into her life.
“And let’s be honest, love isn’t exactly the easiest thing for me. Women want me because of my wallet or my looks, and trying to find someone that’s not shallow is a hard task. So, you wanted to know, and now I’ve told you.” But I wasn’t pleased that she now knew this information about me.
“I didn’t know,” she whispered. “I didn’t know.”
“And you didn’t need to know,” I snapped. “You’re wondering if I have feelings for you then my answer is yes. I’ve been fighting back the feelings that I started to develop for you because I didn’t want to fall in love, not again, not after having the woman that I’d thought was my soulmate taken away from me. It had nothing to do with you, Quinn. It was all me.”
“Ezra,” she started, but I was determined to finish what I had started to say.
“No, stop talking,” I put a hand up and stopped her. “Isn’t this what you wanted to know? Well, now, I’m telling you, and I’ll be damned if you interrupt me, so stand there and just listen. I know you’re good at that.”
She seemed shocked by my words, but she stayed quiet.
“I am so in love with you, Quinn. There’s no doubt about that, and I couldn’t hide it even if I wanted to. If that wasn’t obvious to you then I understand because I didn’t want for you to be able to tell, but the reason that I hadn’t told you was because I was trying to protect myself, not because I wanted to be an asshole or hurt you. But this baby, it changes everything because I’ll be damned if I’m not going to be involved in the life of my child. You’re not going to keep me away from him, and this entire situation is forcing me to face how I’ve felt for you. So, I’ll say it again and again and as many times as you want to hear it because it won’t stop being true. I’m in love with you.”
Quinn looked absolutely stunned by all of the words that I’d just spoken. She was quiet, biting into her bottom lip in an attempt to think about everything that had just been said. She was looking at me pensively with those big green eyes as she tried to take everything in. Once, she finally did, she reached out and put her palm against my cheek.
“I love you, too, Ezra,” she stated. “Can’t you see that?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.
“And there’s nothing that I want less than to hurt you, don’t you get that? I want to be there for you through thick and thin. I want to stand by your side through the good times and the bad because that’s what being in love means, not pushing someone away. So let me in and know that I’ll never hurt you.”
I nodded. “I understand.” And then I did what I knew best. I wrapped an arm behind her waist and pulled her towards me while pressing our lips together. This was safe; it made me feel like we were okay if she was with me. Sex between us had felt like we were two people connecting, rather than just fucking the brains out of each other.
Quinn was quick to reciprocate my kiss, her lips urgent against mine, just as they always were, just as I knew her to be. In that moment, I knew that I wanted her, and I knew that the feeling was mutual and she wanted me, as well. There was no more holding back, no more fighting the feelings that we had for each other.
She thrusted her hips against me before she paused. “Is it safe to do this while I’m pregnant?”
I laughed. “Yes, very.”
“At least we don’t need protection.”
She was full of jokes. But I didn’t want her talking when there were so many better things that her lips could be doing. I pulled her shirt over her head and picked her up before setting her on the counter. My hands made quick work of her bra, and I pushed it to the side.
We shouldn’t be doing this, not with her best friend just upstairs, probably about to return any moment. But I didn’t care about any of that. The only thing that mattered to me was the amazing woman in front of me.
Once the bra was gone, my lips wrapped around her nipple and tugged it the way that I knew she liked. She threw her head back and let out a little moan, as my fingers worked the buttons and zipper of her pants. I pulled them down her legs and let them hit the floor, not particularly caring where they ended up.
I pulled away, and she pulled my shirt off of me before I went down on her. My tongue was swirling around her clit, and she was moaning, writhing against me, begging me for more. What option did I have than to give it to her?
I backed away from her so that I could pull my pants down and kick them aside before I walked back to her. Our lips clashed together, as I thrust inside of her, hearing the fierce moan that she let out.
Nothing felt more right than this. This was home. She was my home.
Epilogue
Two Years Later
The smell of breakfast was absolutely lovely as it filled my nostrils. I still enjoyed getting up in the mornings and making a breakfast that everyone was happy with. Eggs with bacon and sausage, some blueberry muffins because I knew how much Paige liked them. I had debated against cinnamon rolls this morning since the muffins were probably enough.
I took them out of the oven and stole one from the tray to take a bite. I let out a little moan when I realized how good it was. I’d made it from scratch, and I was pretty happy with myself.
Out of nowhere, I felt some strong arms wrapping around me. I couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across my face. I knew exactly who it was without him having to say anything. Ezra. He pulled me close to his body, my backside against his f
ront, just the way that I liked it. I smirked before turning around in his arms and offering him a bit of the muffin I’d been munching on.
Ezra grinned and took a bite. “Hot,” he stated.
“Fresh from the oven,” I told him. “Do you like them?”
“They’re delicious.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
He leaned down and kissed me good morning like he did every single morning. I pressed my hips against him and wrapped an arm around his neck in an effort to pull him closer to me. Was it bad that I wanted this man at all points throughout the day? Because I did. I constantly wanted him, and it never stopped.
But thankfully Ezra didn’t have a problem with that.
“Good morning,” I whispered against his lips.
“Good morning, beautiful.” He gave me one more quick little peck, and I was quick to kiss him back.
He kept me caged in against the counter and looked over all of the food. “How many times do I have to tell you that it’s not your responsibility to cook anymore?” he asked. “We can hire a nanny, I keep telling you that. You shouldn’t be doing all of this when we’re expecting another child.”
My hand rubbed over my pregnant stomach, which had just begun to show. This would be Ezra’s third child, and the second one that I’d given birth to. Although as far as I was concerned, Paige was my daughter as well.
“Being pregnant doesn’t make me handicapped,” I reminded him.
“But you should still be getting plenty of rest.”
I waved him off. I’d come to notice that whenever I was pregnant, Ezra went out of his way to make sure that I was comfortable, which was cute in theory, until he went completely overboard like he always, somehow, managed to do. Monitoring my weight and telling me what I could and couldn’t eat. He’d done so much research that it was ridiculous and had even gone so far as to correct our doctor a few times, even though I’d told him to stop because of how embarrassing that was.
“And I got nine hours of sleep last night,” I reminded him. “I’m sure that’s plenty.” I tried to offer him a playful grin, but he wasn’t accepting it. I should have known that it wasn’t going to be enough to make him change his mind. He could be quite the stubborn thing, which was something that I’d come to notice.
“Not funny,” he said.
“I like making breakfast,” I argued. “Don’t take this away from me. Besides, my cooking is better than yours.”
He sighed and shook his head. “You’re too much, you know that, right?”
“Isn’t that the whole reason that you decided to marry me?”
“That’s part of the reason, yes,” he stroked his chin. “I really wish you wouldn’t.”
“I know,” I told him. “But I really do enjoy doing it.”
“Fine, then I give in.”
“Really?!” I exclaimed, astonished. “I beat you in an argument. It’s been a long time since that’s happened.”
“Oh shut up.”
Ezra leaned down and kissed me again, his arm hooking underneath my leg, as he moved his lips to my neck, kissing and nibbling the way that he knew I liked. “When is your maternity leave from the vet?”
I chuckled. “Another three months.”
“Damn.”
“Nice try.”
Ezra, surprisingly, had turned out to be one of the men who felt that they had to be around their partner constantly. Luckily for him, I felt the same way. But we didn’t have all day to just sit around, which was something that I’d had to constantly remind him.
Paige burst into the kitchen, clattering and making enough noise to wake the dead. She was still little Miss Sunshine. Her hair was braided in the messy pigtails that I’d done for her the night before. She was grinning. “Do you guys need any help making the table?” she asked, making me realize how much she’d grown the last couple of years. “Breakfast smells absolutely amazing, by the way.”
“That would be wonderful, Paige,” I told her before her father could say anything. Ezra was so against us doing things like this because he thought that we shouldn’t have to lift a finger. If it wasn’t for me, I was sure that he would have a nanny here faster than I could snap. But I wanted for our children to be able to learn basic life skills and not constantly be looking for whatever help they hired to do everything for them.
Ezra sent me a pointed look, slightly narrowing his eyes at me, although he didn’t say anything. I already knew what he was thinking and was perfectly fine ignoring him. He would get over himself, at some point. He snapped his teeth at me like a crocodile and I couldn’t help but to laugh and shake my head at him.
He really could be so immature at times.
The sound of a baby wailing shot through the air. The cries were loud and agitated, and I gave Ezra a look. He was already beginning to shake his head because he knew what time it was. “I took care of Barry last time, I think it’s your turn.”
“Oh, fine,” he said happily and walked out of the room.
He came back not too much later with my precious son in his arms. Bartholomew was only a year old, and he was the cutest thing that I’d ever seen, although he had a bigger attitude than someone twenty times his size.
“Oh, you should have smelled his diaper,” Ezra said with wide eyes, shaking his head before fake gagging. I laughed before reaching my arms out to hold my precious baby. Ezra gave him to me, and I couldn’t help but smile as I held him in my arms. Everything about him was so perfect, from his curly hair to the crystal blue eyes that he’d managed to get from his father.
This little baby was everything to me, and I wouldn’t stop until he had the world. Life, right about now, really was perfect. It seemed luck had worked out for me, in the end.
* * *
I hope you enjoyed “Billionaire and Nanny Secret”. If you did, I would love if you could leave a review HERE to help other readers find it.
Also, turn your page more sizzling fire breathing romance reads.
Small-Town Affair (Sneak Peak)
A Secret Baby Romance
Blurb
I’m the one that called it off.
The first woman I’ve loved in years, and now she hates me.
Time didn’t make it better, only worse.
Missing her became my occupation.
I don’t blame her for wanting to cut me out of her life.
I earned it.
We had something great going.
I got scared and callously broke her heart.
Her gorgeous body and seductive eyes
Make me jealous as everyone looks her way.
I know I can’t have her, and it kills me.
Mila is the woman every man wants by his side and in his bed.
Sexy, kind and she is going to be a great mother
To my child that she carries, as I tossed her aside.
I am no longer the idiot that called it all off.
I deserve a second chance with her.
I’ll make it right with her.
Then she will forgive me and truly be mine.
***
1
Orion
“Just remember to get all the rooms ready for two. I have twelve people coming in from the city and you know how they are. They want everything just so, like we’ve rolled out the red carpet for them, even though they are in a small town in the middle of nowhere.”
Jesse smiled at me and said that she knew exactly how the city folk were. No one in Shadow Valley liked all of the city tourists, but the small town survived on it, so none of us had a choice. We had to tolerate them as much as possible. I would have liked to have done something else, besides run the old B&B The Changeling, but it was passed onto me when my mother passed away. I could have left, but growing up in the old, sprawling three-story house, I didn’t want to leave. Hell, I’d never left Shadow Valley for more than a few days. I liked familiar and expectable things. They were easier to handle, even if tourists caused an uproar every once and a while.
“When are you going to take some time off? I thought you were taking time off in the spring?”
I shrugged and said that I wasn’t too worried about it. “Things need to be done.”
“And you are avoiding having any kind of real connection with anyone.”
I scoffed at Jessica. She’d worked with my mother and my late wife. She was more family than anyone else that was living, but the tall, German grandmother type, didn’t give me much room to commiserate, and she certainly wasn’t going to agree with me.
“We have a connection, Jess. Isn’t that enough?”
She smiled a little wickedly. “Now, Orion, if you were a bit older or I was a bit younger and I hadn’t watched you grow up, maybe. You turned out nice, but you need to meet up with women your own age. Find you a good one. Maybe even go to the city to get one.”
I didn’t want to hear about it. I went to the entry room and looked over all of the bookings for the next two weeks. It was a bit lean, especially with only two local bookings in that time frame. I may not like the city people, but they were the ones that kept the lights on in the Changeling. So, it meant that I had to have everything ready for when they got here.
Jess didn’t leave me be for long. She was asking questions about the clients and what they were there for.
“I don’t know. I guess they have to come all the way out here to talk about business. It’s some kind of company retreat. My contact is for Mila Glickman. She is the boss, I guess.”
Jesse raised her brows and I waved her off. Ever since my wife died three years ago from a long sickness, Jesse has been trying to push me out into the world. I don’t want to be out there, I’ve told her many times, but she doesn’t seem to listen, at all.