“It’s going to be so cool for them growing up as cousins so close in age.” I smiled as I thought about it. I always hoped I’d have children with someone who had siblings. Being an only child, my children wouldn’t get any cousins from my side of the family, and I was ecstatic that this baby would have a partner in crime.
“Yeah.” Colt smiled back at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I asked quickly. I was so in tune with this man, he couldn’t get anything by me anymore.
“Nothing.” He shook his head and smiled, and this time it was dazzling. “Absolutely nothing is wrong with my life right now, I’ve got everything I need right here.” He squeezed my hand and I knew he was being totally truthful.
“But?” I prompted. I knew him well enough by now to know that there was still something small bothering him.
He sighed. “It just sucks that I won’t be a present uncle, ya know? That our kids won’t actually grow up together... I guess I just imagined that Harrison, Mitch and me would always be around for each other and our kids, just like we were when we were growing up. We always had each other.”
For some reason that explanation made tears spring to my eyes. I could understand why that was important to him. Hell, in just the few seconds since he’d mentioned it, it had become important to me too.
“Do you think...” I asked hesitantly. “That maybe... we should talk about moving back to your home before the baby comes?”
His eyes shot up from where he’d started rubbing my feet again.
“You’d consider that?” he asked, his expression one of total awe.
I bit down on my bottom lip and nodded my head shyly. “Yeah, I would.”
His jaw fell lax.
“I think raising a baby surrounded by family and friends is the perfect way to do it.”
He smiled a smile that was so breathtaking, and I knew he couldn’t find the words to say what he wanted to say.
I knew right then that we would be moving. He looked so overjoyed at just the idea of it.
How could I say no?
Why would I want to?
He was here. He’d uprooted his entire life to come here for me, the least I could do was offer the same in return.
His eyes darkened and smoldered as he leaned over in almost slow motion and reached for his phone.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice husky from the look in his eyes.
“I’m checking Google to see if we can have sex while you’re pregnant.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “Of course we can, babe.”
“I want to make sure,” he insisted as he tapped away on his phone. It struck me right then and there that Colt was totally going to be one of those adorable fathers-to-be that read all of the pregnancy books, and one who was going to be there through every single stage of this thing with a smile on his face.
I can’t wait.
“It’s fine, babe, trust me.” I took the phone from his hand and sat it back down on the small table.
He tugged on my hand and I moved to sit in his lap.
“How do you know? I already feel like I’m so far behind,” he asked as he ran the tip of his nose up and down the side of my neck.
It would have been cool to say that I knew even one single thing about being pregnant, but I didn’t, other than the fact that it took nine months, I was totally clueless.
“I might have asked the doctor when you left the room.” I giggled.
“Fiend.” He chuckled as he placed a kiss on the skin just below my ear.
I shuddered. It had been far too long since we’d been together like this.
“I’ve missed you,” I moaned as he nibbled on the lobe of my ear.
***
I couldn’t remember ever feeling this sated. Colt had worshipped every single inch of my body from top to bottom. It had been the first time he’d touched me intimately since he’d arrived here and I didn’t know why we’d waited so long.
Probably all the spewing...
He had been so unbelievably cautious, but I wasn’t complaining. He’d handled me like I was made of precious glass, and I guess to him, I was. I was carrying his child and I knew exactly how much that meant to him.
My pulse sped up as I thought about how he’d just pleasured me with the magic skills of his tongue.
That man...
“That was incredible.” I sighed. “We could just stay here all day and do nothing but that and I’d be a happy woman.” I giggled.
Colt pushed up on his elbow to look at me. “That’s what I love the most about you,” he told me, pure adoration in his eyes.
“What?” I whispered, already blushing from the compliment that I knew was coming.
“You’re just so real, Lexie. You’re so present in every moment that we spend together and I know, just by looking at you, that someone could swoop in and offer you everything in the world, and you’d still rather be right here with me.”
“I would,” I promised. “I’ll always choose you.”
“I know,” he replied simply. “And I don’t know how on earth I managed to get you, but I’m keeping you forever. You’re kind and gentle, and you’ve got the most amazing blue eyes I’ve ever seen in my entire life. You’re funny and sassy, and you’re a little bit kooky sometimes... and I love that about you – I love everything about you.”
Tears welled in my eyes – my hormones were all over the place at the moment.
“I love you, Lexie, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you and our beautiful little munchkin.”
Colt was one hundred percent convinced we were having a girl. He ‘had a feeling’. I had no feeling either way, not yet anyway, so for now I was letting him have it.
“Do you wanna know what I love the most about you?” I asked him softly as I traced the curve of his bicep with my fingertips.
“Tell me,” he mumbled. His eyes were fixed on the path my fingers were travelling.
“I love that you’re not afraid to just be you, other people’s opinions be damned. I love that you don’t shy away from being vulnerable... you’re not scared to put yourself out there and risk getting hurt.”
I leaned forward and kissed his toned arm.
“You’re not one of those guys who puts on an act and hides behind some type of false bravado instead of just telling a person how they feel. I love that you’re the kind of man who stops in the street to pet a dog... the kind who spends time in a retirement village to brighten up the lives of a group of old people. I love that you’re just you. You don’t want to be anything other than yourself.”
I glanced back at him.
He was watching me closely and his eyes were blazing with a million unsaid feelings.
Love, possession, desire, need, respect...
There was no end to this... there was no end to us.
“I’ll never finish falling in love with you.”
- Nicole Williams
Epilogue
Three months later.
Colt
“Are you ready for this?” Lex asked me with a grin. She was so relaxed about this whole thing, and I was glad, hell, I was thrilled. It was the best feeling in the world to see that she was as happy about sharing this news as I was.
“They’re gonna judge us so hard, you know that right? This timing is not socially acceptable,” I joked.
“I never liked social constraints anyway,” she drawled.
“You like your friends,” I pointed out.
“And our friends will be happy for us,” she insisted.
I knew she was right, everyone here knew how much we loved each other – they were going to be thrilled for us, social standards be damned.
She pinched my ass as I opened the door to the restaurant where we were meeting my brothers with Quinn and Sophia, and Ellerslie and Lawson for dinner, and I laughed. Some women got put off having sex when they were pregnant, but not my Lexie. She wanted it twenty-four-seven, and I was more
than happy to oblige. I’d even joked about keeping her pregnant for the next ten years if she was always going to be this eager for a piece of me.
I was excited, but nervous to be meeting up with everyone tonight. They all thought we just wanted to catch up before we went back for our next cruise, but we had a much bigger announcement in mind for tonight. We’d flown in only earlier today and they were under the impression that we were heading back tomorrow.
We weren’t.
I glanced down at the oversized coat that Lexie was wearing. The minute she took that off, the cat would be out of the bag anyway.
I still had to pinch myself, every single day that I was here with her. I was so happy sometimes I thought it must have been a dream that I was going to wake up from at any second.
I knew it wasn’t everyone’s thing, but Lexie and I were both perfectly content spending every moment we could together. In a way, that trait had always been a part of me; I knew I’d always been a little clingy. I’d spent so much time trying to tone down that part of myself for the wrong women, rather than looking for the woman who wanted the same things I did.
Lexie was undoubtedly that woman.
The two of us were like thunder and lightning. One didn’t exist without the other.
She’d confessed to missing me when she had to leave me to go and sing for an hour, or take her music classes. When I worked, and she didn’t, she was always in her spot, down the end of the bar, either drinking an orange juice, reading a book, writing in the pregnancy planner I’d brought her, or making easy conversation with the staff or patrons.
Work had never felt so easy.
It was going to be strange, moving back here and not working together anymore, but I had a feeling that Lex would be taking up a permanent spot at the end of whatever bar I worked.
***
“We’re moving back here,” Lexie blurted out when she was finally able to get a moment of silence from the chattering of the group.
“What?”
“Oh my god, what?”
“That is so cool!”
“Seriously, bro?”
The replies fired rapidly at us.
Lexie beamed up at me. She was so excited to make this move. Obviously, from their responses, our friends and family were excited too, and we hadn’t even got to the biggest news of all yet.
Lexie grinned at Quinn and El before squeezing my hand under the table, and I knew she was about to drop the bombshell. “I’m so excited!” she squeaked. “We just decided that we’d rather raise a baby here than back home... and so here we are.”
I smirked into my glass, waiting for the penny to drop.
The girls were so excited about the fact that they’d be having Lex here with them; they still hadn’t stopped to think about what she’d just revealed.
Harrison was the first to realize. His jaw went slack and his eyes flashed over to meet mine.
“Are you... is she?” he stuttered, pointing at Lexie.
I nodded, a massive grin on my face. I slung my arm around Lex, pulling her close, at the same moment that Quinn figured it out.
“Holy shit, are you pregnant?” she yelled, causing half the restaurant to stop what they were doing and look our way.
Lexie giggled and nodded.
“You’re having a baby?” El shrieked, looking back and forth between the two of us.
“We’re having a baby!” I announced loudly, just in case anyone in the whole place had missed the memo.
I couldn’t make out many sentences or words from the few minutes that followed, but if the smiles, hugs, tears and bump-rubbing were anything to go by, everyone was incredibly happy for us.
Mitch sidled up next to me and bumped his shoulder into mine. “Who would have thought you and I would be contributing to the population, huh, little bro?”
“Another five or so months, man, I can’t wait.” I glanced sideways at him and grinned.
The fact that my baby would get to grow up alongside his or her cousin and eventually cousins here, had played a big part in us making the move back out here. I wasn’t close with my parents so I didn’t really factor them into the equation... Lexie’s Mom and her husband lived in a fair way away, and her Dad and his wife weren’t any closer, so it didn’t make a lot of difference to either of their travel time for visits.
“So you fell in love for real this time, huh?” he taunted me, his own love-filled eyes on his fiancée.
I chuckled. Mitch might have given me a hard time in the past for believing that I’d been in love so often, but he knew that this time was different for me.
I looked at Lex and knew that I’d fallen in love for the first and last time.
“I fell in crazy, stupid, life-changing love, man.”
“That’s the best way to do it.” He tipped his chin in Sophia’s direction. “I didn’t know what hit me when I met Soph... most days I still don’t know how I got so lucky.”
I knew exactly what he meant. I still woke up every day and had to check next to me to make sure she was there... that I hadn’t dreamed the whole thing up.
“You got room at that club for one more?” I nudged his arm with my elbow.
He looked at me out the corner of his eye, his brow raised. “You for real?”
I nodded.
“Thank god, the place is going to shit without you.”
I chuckled. I knew he was joking, but it was a nice feeling to be welcomed back with open arms.
It was so good to be back. I hadn’t realized how much I would miss the place once I was gone.
I’m so happy we’re moving.
I already knew that our decision to move here was the right choice. We’d gone back and forth, written pro and cons lists... we didn’t take the decision lightly. Penny had ended up being the real deciding factor. Lexie had been so nervous to tell her that we were considering making the move back. She was convinced that Penny would be disappointed, even hurt that we wanted to move away.
That couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Penny had been upset, sure, but only that she wouldn’t be able to squish the baby’s cheeks whenever she wanted – her words, not mine. There had been some tears, but she was so happy for us, and agreed that we were making the right decision, as long as we agreed to come back and visit at least once a year.
She’d even surprised us both by pulling some strings job wise. We had both been offered jobs upon a sister ship that departed from the local port. It was an incredible opportunity, like someone had just picked up our lives and transferred them to here.
Surprisingly though, Lexie had declined her offer, and in turn so had I. She didn’t want to be raising a baby on a ship, and she’d finally realized that her voice was worthy of being in a recording studio – she’d had numerous contract offers already and we were working through some of the terms, together. I intended to come back to the club and work alongside my brother to make ‘The L’ even better than ever.
There wasn’t anything more I could ask for.
I would have a job that I enjoyed, a beautiful woman that I intended to spend every minute of forever with, a baby that I already loved more than my own life growing in her belly, and family and friends surrounding me that I wouldn’t change for the world. Even the little cottage we’d bought on the outskirts of town was perfect for us.
Just like I imagined.
I wouldn’t change a damn thing.
I smiled as I watched Lexie, Quinn on one side of her, and El on the other, each of them with a hand on her cute little bump. She was the most precious thing in the world to me – she was everything, and she was mine.
God, she’s beautiful.
When I looked at her smile, her eyes, heard her giggle or watched her speak, I knew that I was going to spend the rest of my life doing exactly that.
Nobody had more in this moment than I did.
***
Another five or so months later
I was right... it was a girl – a
perfect little girl.
Just like her momma.
Acknowledgements
I was never too sure if I’d get as far as book four, I half expected book one to be a giant failure and that I’d slink away into the shadows with my tail between my legs.
I couldn’t be happier that that’s not the case.
I want to thank all of the friends I’ve made in the book world in the past year. All the tips and advice are so appreciated. There’s nothing quite like having people to bounce ideas off, and it’s pretty cool to have people to talk to when our characters decide to do all kinds of crazy stuff.
Thanks for not thinking I’m going crazy with all these voices in my head – or for at least accepting that you’re just as crazy as I am!
Thanks to everyone who has read my books, the support means so much to me and I hope you enjoyed Lexie and Colt’s story. A lot of readers had a soft spot for Colt after Hunted, and I hope that you’re all satisfied with the happily ever after he’s found with sweet little Lexie.
Thank you again!
Chased Playlist
Shape of You – Ed Sheeran
Collide (Acoustic Version) – Howie Day
A Drop In The Ocean – Ron Pope
Let Me Love You – DJ Snake & Justin Bieber
Never Forget You – Zara Larsson & MNEK
Tenerife Sea – Ed Sheeran
This Is What You Came For – Calvin Harris & Rihanna
Make You Miss Me – Sam Hunt
I Don’t Wanna Live Forever – ZAYN & Taylor Swift
What Now – Rihanna
Unconditionally – Katy Perry
Wherever You Will Go – Charlene Soraia
Titanium – Madilyn Bailey
Like I’m Gonna Lose You – Jasmine Thompson
Rockabye (Acoustic Version) – The Mayries
Fast Car – Boyce Avenue & Kina Grannis
Everglow – Coldplay
True Colours – Tom Odell
Love like Yours Series (Box Set #1-4) Page 85
