With a slight smile on her face, she said, “Okay.” She stood and pushed down her jeans right there in front of him. This time, he couldn’t hold back a groan. He wanted her and seeing her in a tank top and panties was short-circuiting his brain.
As Katie stood and reached for yoga pants to pull them on, she said, “You know she’s six weeks now…” Her cheeks reddened and she held a shy smile.
He felt his body grow warm at the thought of making love to her. Their make out sessions were great, and he would be content to keep things as they were, but he would like not to have to say goodnight at her bedroom door. “When’s your doctor’s appointment?”
She bit her lip. “Tomorrow after work.” After letting that sink in, she blushed and said, “Alexis offered to babysit.”
Tyler’s mouth dried. “I’ll talk to Alexis.” His voice was rough, and he was surprised he was able to get the words out. Even though his love for her had nothing to do with sex, he was ready for it.
Chapter Thirty-Three
June 2016
Katie
Closing her eyes, she repeated, “Breathe. Just breathe.” She desperately missed her old body. Her stomach and hips, now riddled with stretch marks, were now a little rounder than before. She had always been a small, curvy girl, and her stomach was always slightly rounded, but it never used to bother her. It didn’t keep her from wearing bikinis or exposing her belly. She had grown up confident in herself and her body.
What she wouldn’t give to have a little confidence now.
No amount of ‘you just had a baby’ or ‘every woman feels like this after giving birth’ made her feel better. Now, more than ever, Katie wished she had worked a little harder to lose the baby weight.
She pinched her stomach roll and cringed. To make matters worse, when she turned around, she glimpsed dimples on her thighs and butt.
She pulled on her new outfit before looking in the full-length mirror. Fully clothed she thought she looked okay, but she was still feeling the disappointment of being two sizes larger than she was pre-pregnancy.
Yesterday, she started out their shopping trip feeling optimistic, but several hours later, she was on the verge of tears. She managed to buy a few outfits to get her by, but if she never saw a dressing room ever again, it would be too soon.
They ended their excursion with a chocolate shake. She was well aware that it was counter-productive, but she needed something to make her feel better.
This morning, she woke up feeling determined to exercise and eat better. After nursing Erica, she asked Tyler to go on a walk with her, and she genuinely felt better but as she stared at the lingering weight around her waist and butt, she realized it was going to take a lot more work than she realized.
With her six-week appointment hanging over her head and the fact that Tyler would be seeing her naked very soon, or at least she hoped so, she worried he would be completely turned off by her body. The stretch marks alone should make him run in the opposite direction.
“Hey. You’re going to be late.” Tyler walked into her bedroom, carrying Erica against his shoulder, one hand lovingly rubbing her back. Katie lifted one tiny hand, leaned in, and kissed her then breathed in her yummy baby smell.
“I don’t think I’m ready to leave her.” Her voice trembled as she tried not to cry…again. She’d been crying so much she was annoying herself. She couldn’t imagine how Tyler had managed to put up with her.
“Don’t worry. She’s in good hands.” She looked up into his grinning face and couldn’t help return his smile. He was gorgeous and with the two days of facial scruff and his hair in disarray, he was beyond sexy. She tried to shake off her constant desire for him that was becoming increasingly distracting. It didn’t help they had some really great make out sessions lately, leaving both of them unsatisfied.
Forcing herself to step away from him, she faced the mirror again to take one last look. Her flowy top managed to hide her stomach, and her short shorts emphasized the only part of her body she thought was still sexy. She hoped her legs would distract from her butt.
“You’re beautiful, and those legs…you’re killing me, Katie.” She felt giddy he reacted to her in that way, but…
“I feel fat, and I miss my old body,” she confessed.
“Trust me when I say this, You. Are. Sexy.”
The way he looked at her with need and desire, Katie knew he was sincere, and his throaty moan caused her to blush. She wanted to be attractive to him. She worried he would no longer find her sexy and desirable after seeing her everyday in very unsexy yoga pants and t-shirts that always had breast milk stains.
He laid Erica in her bassinet next to the bed and sat on the edge of the bed directly behind Katie. She turned to face him and placed her hands around his neck. He gripped her hips, pulling her so close she ended up falling on top of him.
Straddling him, her breath became heavy with desire. She leaned down and kissed him while he rolled them over. His lips were warm and soft. His hands threaded through her hair, and he tilted her head to get a deeper kiss. She opened up to him, wanting and needing more. He had been teasing her with delicious kisses for weeks, but this… Waiting any longer was going to take everything in her.
He braced himself on his elbows, keeping some of his weight off of her, but she desperately wanted to feel him. “I love you, beautiful girl, and I can’t wait to have you.”
“Me too,” she said more breathy than she expected.
“But…”
“No.” She shook her head. There could be no buts. They had waited long enough.
“I called Alexis, and she’s going to babysit Erica on Friday—overnight. We’ll have the whole evening to ourselves, and there’s someplace special I want to take you.”
“You want us to wait until Friday?” Her voice broke at the end. Not only did he not want to have sex tonight, but he wanted to wait three days? Unbelievable. “You don’t find me…”
“Stop.” His voice was firm and authoritative. “Don’t even think about going there. I know you can feel me.” She did indeed feel him against her stomach. It didn’t necessarily make her feel better. The growing warmth she felt in her lower belly was becoming an ache.
It was official. He was into torture. Her brain was too fried to push him away, and when her legs wrapped around him and he groaned, she thought she might manage to get him to change his mind.
He kissed her lips then left a trail of biting kisses down her neck as he spoke. “But I want it to be special and unhurried. As hard as it will be to keep waiting, I’ll make it worth it. I promise.” She closed her eyes and breathed in his smell and with each kiss she became more turned on.
She whimpered her agreement, but waiting wouldn’t relieve the ache.
An annoying beep came from his front pocket. He reached down between them and pulled his phone out and turned off his alarm. “It’s time for you to go,” he said reluctantly.
She blinked a few times, trying to push back the desire and then it hit her. “Did you set an alarm to get me off to work?”
“I didn’t want you to be late,” he said in all seriousness.
Her voice softened, and she stroked his cheek with the tips of her fingers. “You really do take care of me.”
“I always want to take care of you,” he said sweetly.
She wrapped a hand around his neck and pulled him down for another kiss. “I am head over heels in love with you, Tyler. But you are a mean, mean man for making me wait.”
The shaking from his laugh didn’t help matters any. Katie finally pushed him off before she was forced to strip down and demand he take he right then and there.
Just before she stepped out of her bedroom, she gave him one more kiss and kissed the top of Erica’s head. “Call me if there’s a problem or…I don’t know. I’m keeping my phone on.”
Katie had been at work for less than five minutes, and she already missed her two favorite people. She wondered how working mothers did it day after day
. It felt like her heart had been ripped in two, and the only way she would feel complete again was when she had Erica in her arms.
“I swear to God, if you had been gone one more day, I would’ve… I don’t even know, but Jason is…grrr! Jason is Jason,” Kami whispered under her breath.
“I heard that,” Jason said from the front counter, where he was taking an order. He didn’t bother looking at them and squinted at one of their regular customers, who was making Jason repeat back his order word for word even though the man drank the same thing every single day, and they usually had it made before he finished giving his order.
“How do you even have a job here,” she teasingly asked Kami, who was standing beside her making a mocha iced coffee for herself while Katie filled the two waiting orders.
She shrugged. “I think he secretly loves that I argue with him.” Her lips twitched as she leaned into Katie. “Oh and I know one of his secrets, and I’m blackmailing him so…”
Katie’s mouth dropped. “Are you serious?”
“Dead.” Kami looked over at Jason, who was scowling back at her, and she gave him a mischievous grin.
“Are you going to tell me what it is?” Katie’s voice raised, but Kami covered her mouth to keep Jason from hearing.
“Of course not. I wouldn’t actually spill someone’s secret. What kind of person do you think I am? I do like teasing him, though. Honestly, it’s not even bad, but he freaked out when I told him I knew about… well…his secret.” Her smiled turned devious, and she winked. “The big baby.” She laughed.
“Wow. I’ve been gone way to long,” Katie mumbled as she handed the drinks to the waiting patrons.
“Didn’t I just say that?” Kami asked. “It’s like he doesn’t know how to be a nice human being unless you’re here to remind him.” Kami pointed to Jason, who was barely controlling his temper as a cute teenager stood in front of him bouncing while debating, out loud, which drink to order. Katie watched as his hands clench beneath the counter and knew it was time to take over counter duty.
“Jason? It’s time to switch.” Her voice was chipper but firm. She wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“No,” he sighed. “I got this.”
He really didn’t, and he was now scaring the poor girl, who was beginning to stutter her order.
Katie decided to take things into her own hands. After pushing him out of the way, she put on her best smile and asked the girl to repeat her order. He grudgingly finished the orders Katie had started, mumbling incoherent words to himself. Kami lifted a brow and with just her eyes said, “I told you so.”
Three hours later, Kami was hauling her backpack over her shoulder, getting ready to leave when she picked up the tip jar and smiled. “Can I tell you once again how happy I am that you’re back? We always get twice the amount of tips when you’re working.” Katie wasn’t about to brag, but when she worked at the diner, she made more money from tips than any of the other waitresses. She learned from the best—her mother.
Just as Kami put the tip jar back, Tyler walked in carrying Erica in a baby carrier. Kami’s eyes widened and she leaned into Katie. “Does he know that a man carrying a baby around makes women’s ovaries have a party?” Katie laughed, but had to admit, she did feel a stirring down there. “Man oh man. I always thought he was kind of cute, but nothing to write home about, but seeing him like that…damn girl. He’s better than book porn.” A blush covered Katie’s cheeks, but Kami did have a point, even though Katie thought he was sexy with or without a baby attached to him.
He looked relaxed and casual, wearing a worn t-shirt, shorts that hung low on his hips, and sunglasses he had pushed up over his head. With Erica on his chest… Katie could barely keep herself from jumping him.
Tyler held open the door for Kami, and she winked at him as she passed. He turned to Katie for an explanation, but she could only give him a cheesy grin. She hurried around the counter and when she reached him, he pulled her to his side and kissed the top of her head. She leaned into him and kissed Erica, who was awake and staring up at Tyler.
He lifted up a sack. “I brought you lunch.”
“Tyler…” She gushed. “For once, I want to do something sweet and thoughtful for you.” He looked uncomfortable at her compliment and quickly took her hand and led them to a corner of the shop, where two comfy chairs sat with footrests and a table between them.
She looked over at Jason. He waved at her, giving her the okay to take her lunch break. While she ate, Tyler talked about what he and Erica did all morning. “After you left, we went for another walk to get some fresh air then she told me she wanted to see you during your break, so I called Jason.”
Erica started making noises, warning it was time to eat. Katie was grateful not to need to pump at work. It was the last thing she wanted to do in Jason’s office. Though, he didn’t seem the least bit bothered by the idea.
Katie lifted her brows as she adjusted Erica in her arms to feed her. “She did, did she? When you were talking to her, did you tell her she should start sleeping through the night?”
“I mentioned it, but she said she missed me at night and wanted me to keep getting up with her.”
Katie burst into laughter startling Erica, who pulled off her breast. Not a moment later, Jason was at the counter, giving a woman who stood on the opposite side of the counter the evil eye. His voice rose as the women became increasingly frustrated. “Are you seriously going to let her breastfeed in here and flash her boob?” The woman questioned.
“Are you seriously going to keep that stick up your ass?” he spit out.
“I can see her boob!” she huffed.
“Then stop staring at her breast, pervert.”
Katie and Tyler stifled a laugh as the woman shouted, “I’m never coming back!”
“Thanks and tell your friends,” Jason said in a sarcastically pleasant voice.
When Jason came by to drop off bottled water for her, Katie couldn’t help reprimand him. “Jason, I appreciate you sticking up for me, but you could have handled that a little better.”
“Katie, I don’t want assholes coming in here. And she…” He pointed to the woman standing outside the door with a phone to her ear. “…is an asshole.”
“I agree,” Tyler said.
Jason raised his brows and waved a hand at Tyler in a “See? He agrees with me” look and turned and went back to his position behind the counter.
“Well, that was the second most exciting thing to happen to me today,” Tyler stated.
Katie giggled. “What the was the first?”
“You straddling me on the bed,” he said completely serious.
Katie held back another giggle, hoping to keep from startling Erica again.
A half hour later, Katie and Erica were well fed, and she was saying goodbye to the loves of her life.
“I’ll see you at home.” Tyler gave her a quick kiss and readjusted Erica in the carrier.
When Katie returned to her spot behind the counter, Jason mumbled, “I like him.”
As much as Jason frustrated her, Katie also appreciated that beneath his gruff exterior, he was really a sweet man.
Chapter Thirty-Four
June 2016
Tyler
Tyler heard the key turn in the lock and Katie call out his name, but he didn’t dare move or say a word. Bubba went to the door to greet her. “Hey, Bubba, where’s Daddy and Erica?” Bubba replied with a shake of his body and the tap of his nails on the hardwood floor as he no doubt circled around her, hoping she would scratch him.
It took nearly an hour to get Erica to take a bottle, and she’d just fallen asleep, so he wasn’t about to risk waking her by calling out his location.
Katie stepped into the living and came to halt when she found him lying against one end of the couch with her daughter on his chest.
He brought his fingers to his lips. “Shhh. I just got her to sleep.” Her lips turned into a pout as she slipped off her shoes then knelt in front
of him. She leaned against the couch with her head next to his on the armrest and her hand making small circles on Erica’s back with the tips of her fingers.
She released a heavy sigh. “I missed her.” She gave him a watery smile and kissed his cheek. “I missed you too.”
“Why the tears?”
“I don’t know. Hormones? They’re wreaking havoc on my body and making me cry at the drop of a pin.”
“How was your doctor’s appointment?”
She bit her lip. “I’m back on birth control, and we’re good to go for Friday,” she said with flushed cheeks.
Tyler’s heart hammered in his chest as he thought about their upcoming date and the plans he’d made. He had a big surprise that he hoped and prayed Katie would love. It had been in the works for a few months, and it was all coming together this week.
“Come here.” He patted the spot next to him. She didn’t waste a second and climbed over them and lay down between him and the back of the couch. He put his arm around her as she swung a leg over his and laid her head on his chest next to Erica’s. Bubba settled in front of them, resting his head on his front paws.
Tyler wished he could bottle up these moments and take them out whenever he needed to remember what perfection felt like. He wanted each day to end like this. Him holding his girls.
A sighed escaped her lips at the same time Erica made a snuffling noise. He looked down and realized they were both asleep.
Settling into the corner of the couch, he ran his fingers through her hair. It still amazed him that a girl like her fell in love with a guy like him. A man who suffered his whole life from the ‘good guy syndrome’. Having her in his arms was worth every rejection and ever broken heart. Katie was better than what he could have ever imagined for himself.
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