“Yes!” I shout. I’m crying and laughing as he puts the ring on my finger.
“You’re getting married!” Mia screams.
She twirls in a circle, and I catch her in my arms. “Did you know about this?”
She flashes me a grin. “Daddy asked me yesterday. Now you’ll really be my mom!”
I kiss the top of her head.
“I love you, Mia bug.” Over her head, I catch Benjamin’s eye. “And I love you.”
He squeezes my hand.
“And I have some news,” I continue, letting Mia go. “I was going to wait until tomorrow, when our friends come over, but now, this seems like a perfect time.” I pause for dramatic effect. “In about seven months’ time, give or take a few weeks…Mia is going to have a little brother or sister.”
There’s a long silence. Benjamin and Mia both stare at me, then look at each other.
“What?” they ask at the same time.
“Yeah.” I nod and laugh.
“Jayne,” Benjamin gasps, pulling me close. “Wow,” he breathes against my neck. “Wow.”
“I’m going to have a little sister!” Mia sings out. “Or a brother!”
Hours later, once all the wrapping has been cleaned up, once Christmas dinner has been had and the dishes piled in the dishwasher, once Mia has played with every new toy and fallen asleep while watching a Christmas movie, Benjamin and I lay cuddled together on the couch. Eddie is at his brother’s for the holidays, Benjamin having given him the whole week off, and the house is peacefully silent.
“So, this is why you were so cautious on the trip,” Benjamin says, referring to the Aspen trip we returned from a couple days before.
“Guilty as charged.” He’s laying stretched out on the couch, and I’m snuggled up with my back against his chest and his arms around me.
“I can’t believe it.” He runs his palm over my belly. “This time next year, we’ll have a five-month-old.”
“I know.” I sigh in happiness. “And I can’t believe this.” I hold my hand up so I can look at my new ring for only the thousandth time.
Benjamin kisses the top of my head. “Believe it. There’s nowhere else I want to be than right here with you.”
I sit up and look into his eyes. “The same goes for me.”
Benjamin tucks some hair behind my ear. “Hey, Mrs. Glen,” he whispers.
A delightful shiver runs up my back. “I’m not Mrs. Glen yet.”
“You’ve been that to me for a while, now.”
I start to smile, but Benjamin’s lips against my own makes it hard to. He kisses me slowly, his sweet taste coating my tongue.
He pulls back and gives me a heated gaze. “Come with me?”
“Anywhere,” I respond, letting him take my hand and guide me up the stairs and to our bedroom.
Sometime this evening while I was playing with Mia, he must have snuck upstairs and set the room. Candles burn on the wardrobe and bedside table, and jazz plays softly from the stereo.
“Ooh, romantic,” I comment.
Benjamin doesn’t answer. He’s behind me, too busy kissing a line up my neck. I close my eyes in pleasure and sink against him. His arms wrap around my waist, and I feel my whole body break into goosebumps all at once.
We’ve been together for over a year, and every time he touches me, he takes me to another plane. If that never changes, I’ll be the luckiest person in the world.
After reaching my ear, Benjamin kisses his way down my neck. He works my shirt over my head and my jeans down my hips, leaving me standing there in my panties and bra. Coming to stand in front of me, he kisses my lips before charting another path down my body.
His lips land on my cleavage, my stomach, my hips, always taking their time and savoring me. With a feather-light touch, he drags my panties down my thighs. His tongue darts out, running across my swollen nub.
I groan, and dig my fingers in his hair. Soft licks make pleasure rocket through me. My breathing increases, till there’s hardly any space between the inhales and exhales. The pleasure is all-consuming, filling my body and heart till I think I might burst.
When I do explode, I come with a shake, clinging to Benjamin’s shoulders and calling out his name. He smiles up at me and gives each of my inner thighs a kiss before standing up and leading me to the bed.
There, he lays me in the middle of the mattress. I watch as he stands up and strips, his clothes falling away to reveal the body that I worship on a daily basis. His dick is engorged with need, and it gives me an extra bit of satisfaction to know that I’m the one he so badly wants.
Crawling onto the bed, he lowers his weight partially, so that his weight is barely on me.
“You don’t have to be this careful,” I quietly tell him.
Benjamin runs his thumb down the length of my arm. “You can never be too careful.”
“Okay,” I laugh, not willing to argue. It’s sweet how cautious he’s being, and I already know that the next seven months are going to be amazing.
“Oh, hey.” He looks at my bra as if he’s only just noticed it. “You still have that on.”
“I do,” I agree with a grin.
“We can’t have that.” Deftly reaching under me, he unhooks my bra and tosses it away from the bed.
I snuggle closer to him, inching my hips right under his and wrapping my arms around his back. Every curve and line of his body molds to mine. It’s been this way from our very first time together, but over the last twelve months, it seems like our bodies have grown to accommodate each other in a new way.
Now, when we come together, we’re two puzzle pieces snapping into place.
Benjamin’s lips brush across mine, bringing the sweet taste that makes my head spin. I tilt my head back and push my lips against his. Eagerness grows in my belly as we kiss, swirling around like a maelstrom before stretching into the rest of my body. Pressed against Benjamin’s back, my hands shake.
I send them lower, and my palms grasp at everything they can reach. Benjamin’s hips. His tight ass. His smooth, firm back. All of it belongs to me.
“We’re engaged,” I find myself murmuring against his mouth.
“And pregnant,” he adds.
It’s almost too much to comprehend. Ever since he asked me to be his girlfriend a year ago, Benjamin and I have grown closer every day. I always knew our relationship was likely headed in this direction, but now that our family is growing and becoming stronger, I’m close to exploding from joy.
“I love you,” he murmurs.
“I love—”
He doesn’t let me finish my sentence. His mouth is on mine again, the new kiss soaked in a heady passion.
I push my hands up into his hair as his hard length slides along my inner thigh. I can feel the heat coming off of it, just as I feel the love seeping from Benjamin’s hands, mouth, and heart.
He slides up a little more, settling his length’s tip against my folds. As we kiss, he gently rocks against me. I roll my hips back, opening myself to him, and with the next rock, he smoothly glides all the way in.
My muscles clench around him, welcoming him back. He keeps it slow, grinding in and out of me. He still holds himself off of me a bit, and I’m not having it.
Looping my arms under his, I pull him firmly down onto me, planting his hips and weight against my own. Benjamin smiles against my mouth, and I can tell he’s finally relaxing a bit.
“We have a while to go before you have to be careful of the baby,” I whisper.
“If you say so,” he breathes, driving into me faster, now.
I cry out, arching my back and curling my toes. Benjamin leans back a little bit, just enough so we can look into each other’s eyes. As he pushes down into me, I rock up toward him. Our rhythm is as smooth and steady as waves.
The pressure deep inside me hardens, strong as a diamond. Benjamin keeps everything slow, though, dragging my ecstasy out and making me twist underneath him. Finally, I come, his name leaving my lips with eve
ry exhale.
Our eyes still locked, Benjamin pushes into me once more. I feel his release, and my body hungrily sucks it up.
With a heavy breath, Benjamin grins down at me. Sweat has stuck tendrils of hair to his forehead, and his face is flushed. He’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life.
“Come here,” he softly says, drawing out of me and laying down. He pulls me into his chest and cradles me there, arm wrapped around my shoulders.
I breathe in deep, absorbing the happiness of my life, then exhale, letting out a lifetime’s worth of gratitude.
“We have everything,” I find myself saying.
“Yeah.” Benjamin strokes my hair. “We do.”
Over the last year, nothing has gotten in the way of our happiness. As it turned out, Benjamin’s kidnapping led to a major breakup in San Bravado’s mob network. The men responsible for abducting Benjamin are in jail, and plenty of other arrests were made as well.
Beyond that, we have an amazing little girl and a baby on the way. I get to spend every day with Mia and every night with the man of my dreams. We have friends. We have a home—and it doesn’t hurt that it’s a lavish one, at that.
But, for all the luxuries, I wake up every morning knowing what matters the most, and I never forget what that is. We’ve found a little slice of heaven in this big and crazy universe.
That little slice is in our hearts. It’s the love that we share, the love we give to each other and to everyone else we care for. No matter what happens, no matter where we go from here on out, we’ll always have that love to bask in and share.
And that’s how I know, without a doubt, that I’ve found my happily ever after.
The End
Second Chance Twins
Layla Valentine & Holly Rayner
Time for a tease!
Up next are the first few chapters of the previous book in our San Bravado Billionaires’ Club series, Second Chance Twins
Happy reading!
Copyright 2018 by Layla Valentine and Holly Rayner
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part by any means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the explicit written permission of the author.
All characters depicted in this fictional work are consenting adults, of at least eighteen years of age. Any resemblance to persons living or deceased, particular businesses, events, or exact locations are entirely coincidental.
Chapter 1
Shelley
August at Finnegan’s
“Shelley! Another round for me ’n the boys!”
“Coming right up, Steve.”
“Shelley! Baby! When you gonna let me take you out?”
“When your wife gives her blessing, Angus.”
Hearty laughter followed me back to the bar, and I shot a cheeky wink over my shoulder. I never would have imagined myself being comfortable working in a place like this back when I first started college. Confidence had discovered me hiding in a book, and I had embraced it out of necessity.
I filled the glasses for the table of five, leaving the perfect amount of foam on top.
“Damn, you’re good at that. You should work in a bar or something.” Miles flicked his bar rag over his shoulder and flashed his movie-star smile at me. Butterflies swirled through my belly, heating my cheeks. If only my confidence extended into the area of men.
“Oh, should I? Maybe I’ll go put in an application at Finnegan’s. Oh, wait! Here I am!” I rolled my eyes at him, and he stuck his tongue out at me.
If only that tongue were a little closer, I thought. Words like that would never make it past my lips, but that didn’t keep me from thinking them. That boy made me distracted every shift, and tonight was no different.
“Shelley! Come on, girl, watch what you’re doing, would ya?”
“Oh, gosh, Billy, I’m sorry. I’ll get you a fresh one and a towel—one second.”
“Yeah, but leave this one here. No point wasting half a beer.” Billy winked at me and tipped the dripping glass into his mouth.
“You ever gonna ask that pretty boy out?” Angus asked with a twinkle in his eye.
“Of course not! You know I’m just waiting for your wife’s permission, and then I’m all yours.”
“Yeah, yeah, flirting with old men pays your bills. But who’s gonna keep your bed warm at night, huh?”
I glanced across the bar at Miles, who was staring off into space and absently flicking his towel on the counter.
“Doesn’t look too bright, though. Might want to get that IQ tested before you start making babies.”
“Oh hush, Angus,” I said, but I felt heat rise on my neck.
“Um, darlin’?”
“Oh! Sorry Billy, I’ll be right back.”
A fresh beer and a towel later and I was back on Billy’s good side. Miles seemed to be fumbling tonight, worse than he had since his training week ended three months ago.
After his third botched drink, I took him aside. His close proximity in the darkened corner of the loud, dim bar made me want to touch him in all kinds of inappropriate ways. I settled for a platonic hand on his shoulder.
“Hey. You all right?”
“Hm? Why do you ask?” he replied absently.
The spark of flirtation which was usually present in his tone was nowhere to be found. He was still off somewhere else in his head. I could see the wheels turning behind his bright blue eyes, hear the calculations hiding in his tone.
“Look at me,” I told him, putting a hand on his face. “Are you high or something?”
He grinned at me, then, his eyes coming into sharp focus.
“Just high on life, Shelley. I’ll focus, cross my heart.”
“You’re working on that app in your head. I can tell.”
“I am shocked and offended at your accurate accusation!” He swept a dramatic hand to his chest as his eyes twinkled at me.
“Back-burner it before you get fired,” I said, suppressing a grin.
“That’s the problem with the world today—everybody’s so busy surviving in it that they’re putting off changing it.” He had gone suddenly somber, but quickly shook it off.
“Change the world on your own time,” I admonished gently. “Junior is around here somewhere, and you’re still the newbie. He’s watching you.”
Angus called for another round, and I shot Miles one last warning look as I scurried back through the crowded tables. Miles didn’t react; he wasn’t even looking at me. It bothered me more than it should have.
“Finally pinned the boy down for some on-the-clock necking?” Angus asked with a friendly leer.
“Oh yeah, you know we like to give you guys a show,” I answered sarcastically.
“Better get to it, girl. That boy has big dreams.”
“Never shuts up about them,” Steve agreed. “Gonna drive me nuts with that techno-babble one of these days.”
“You know he only talks to you guys because he knows you won’t understand a word he’s saying,” I teased. “Another round?”
“Yes ma’am.”
He waved me off and I hurried back to the bar for the round of lager, picking up orders for tequila shots and long islands on the way.
I took pride in my efficiency, and filled my tray with all the drinks before heading back out. I expected Miles to make a comment about me trying to climb the corporate step stool, but he was busy shaking a mixer and staring off into space. His customers were gazing at him with a mixture of boredom and annoyance.
“Miles! Focus!”
I didn’t stick around to see if the words reached him.
Shots here, talls there, and finally the round of lager, I flirted and complimented my way across the room. I had really grown to love my job in ways I had never thought possible, but it did exhaust me. Not just the physically taxing parts, but the
constant interplay between myself and the customers as well. It wasn’t something I was naturally good at, and even though I enjoyed it, it still took a lot out of me.
Miles was still half a step behind his work, and seemed to be completely oblivious of the intentions of the two women he was serving. They were taking turns aggressively hitting on him, and he was answering their double entendres as if he were interpreting them literally.
It wasn’t unlike Miles to miss a cue; he’d been missing mine for months. But wordplay was his favorite past time, and he was bypassing so many opportunities for humor that I was beginning to wonder if he’d had some kind of stroke.
The doors opened, then, letting in everyone who had just ended the workday. It would be hours before I would have another chance to talk to him, and I was having no luck at all trying to catch his eye.
Resigning myself to worrying from afar, I focused all of my energy on working the floor while Miles shakily held down the bar. He definitely had the easier half of the job, but he couldn’t seem to keep up with it.
“Back burner,” I said as I passed behind him to grab the whiskey.
“Man, if you knew—”
“Two more shots down here!”
“Tell me later,” I said quickly. “And for the love of God, Miles, focus!”
I hurried back out to the floor, and was called over by a familiar face.
“Shelley! I didn’t know you worked here.”
“Hi, professor! I didn’t know you drank here,” I shot back.
Professor Zain chuckled, stroking his grey beard, which was flecked with bright spots of paint. He never could seem to keep it clean.
“Only occasionally, my dear. Celebrating the end of this interminable summer. Will you be coming back this semester?”
“Yes, sir! I’m hoping to get into your senior class.”
“Senior already! How time flies. And then off to take the world by storm, I hope. A traveling artist, perhaps? Yes, I can see your work in galleries from New York to France. Or perhaps a clothing designer, yeah? You do have quite the talent for screen printing.”
Nanny For Hire - A Steamy Single-Dad Billionaire Romance (San Bravado Billionaires' Club Book 2) Page 15
