“Say something, babe…”
I give Ram a pointed look that says, Get everyone the fuck out of here. Thankfully my brother can read me and gives me a clipped nod. Soon, the door slams shut and we’re alone.
I walk around to face Andie and cup her soaked cheeks with my palms. I tilt her red face up to look at mine. Devastation. Embarrassment. Relief. Her eyes are a stormy sea of emotion. I just want to fix her. To never see that look of utter despair in her eyes again.
“Please forgive me,” I try, my voice hoarse. I can’t bear to see her looking so broken. It fucking guts me. “Please.”
“T-There’s nothing to forgive,” she chatters out. “I f-flew off the handle again.”
“I lied to you. I’m an asshole,” I argue. “I just wanted to give you something beautiful. I wanted to start a life with you.”
Tears roll down her cheeks like a steady stream through a forest. I don’t dare stop them. She’s beautiful and perfect—even when she’s messy and destroyed. I’ll love her any way I can get her. Even like this. Even worse than this.
“I just thought…” she trails off and chokes on a sob.
“Shhh,” I murmur and press a kiss to her red nose. Then, I kiss her soaked cheeks. Kiss after kiss, I try to soothe her pain. Pain I caused by being a secretive dick. “Shhh.”
When my lips brush against hers, she lets out a sigh. It’s a cross between happy and relieved. I devour her sweet lips and make promises with my tongue. Andie is a teary, snotty mess, and all I want to do is kiss away every bit of it. I want to kiss her until she laughs. Kiss her until her blue eyes sparkle with delight. I crave to kiss her until she’s tearing off her clothes and begging me to make love to her.
It takes a good fifteen minutes of kissing and hugging and touching in silence before she seems to calm down. When her hiccups subside and her tears are swiped away, I pull away to regard this gorgeous woman. My woman.
“Do you want a tour of our house now?” I question with a small smile.
Her lips quirk. “I feel so stupid.”
“I’m the stupid one,” I tell her with a sigh. “Trust me. You’re anything but stupid. I just want you to be happy. Dani has all but moved into the loft, and we spend all of our time together in your apartment. Our daughter didn’t really have a home. I want the three of us to be a family. To plant some roots. So I bought a house.”
She stands on her toes and kisses me. “Thank you.”
I stroke her hair and give her a lopsided grin. “Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t seen the shower.”
With our fingers threaded together, I guide her away from the piles of shattered glass and through the kitchen. She is amazed at the brand-spanking-new appliances and lets out a squeal upon discovering the fridge is already filled. I’d spent last night doing some last-minute shopping and decorating. I had planned to show her the house this weekend, but she found out a little earlier than planned.
“Roman,” she murmurs as her fingers run along the chair molding in the hallway. “This is too much.”
I chuckle. “I will never be able to give you everything I want to. But I sure as hell won’t stop trying.”
She squeezes my hand as we step into the laundry room. “Oh my God! No more trips to the building laundromat!”
Her giggles are sexy as fuck as she pretends to hump the cherry red dryer. “I think I just came!”
I hook my arm around her waist and haul her to me. “Not yet, baby. But soon.” Our mouths meet for a heated kiss, and then we’re back on our tour. I save the nursery and our room for last. When she walks into the newly painted nursery, she lets out a choked sound before rushing over to the crib. She picks up the soft chenille blanket and hugs it to her chest.
“I’m such a bitch,” she whispers, regarding me with tears in her eyes.
I frown and stalk over to her. My arms wrap around her from behind, and I kiss the top of her head. “You didn’t know. I was an asshole. Especially over the bedding. Apparently my surprise came as a detriment to our relationship. I’m sorry, Andie.”
She shrugs it off. “Forget about it. We’re both stupid. That’s why we make a perfect match. Now show me to the bedroom.”
Her naked body looks good in my bed. Well, our bed. After our tour, I brought her in here and spent hours making love to her. I think after the third orgasm, all sadness and despondency were chased away for good. I’ll be damned if I ever let them come back. Her eyes are closed and lips parted. She’s so fucking pretty when she sleeps. Those fiery emotions she wears on her face so well are dormant when she’s passed out. I can stare at all of her soft features without fear of a playful punch to the gut. I can take my time with her.
My eyes fall to her chest. Goddamn those tits. I don’t know what I did to deserve them, but God apparently really fucking likes me because he makes them better and better each day as she grows with our child. My mouth waters to suck on her nipples until she cries out, but instead, I slide my palm over her stomach, which has really started to expand lately. I fucking love her belly being swollen with my daughter. I’m just stroking her stomach when I feel a weird sensation. Like maybe I bumped an organ or something. My back stiffens and I freeze my hand.
A nudge.
So tiny that if she were awake and talking, I’d have missed it.
My heart threatens to beat right out of my chest.
“Is that you, baby girl?” I murmur and lean closer to Andie’s stomach. “Is that my—holy fuck it is!”
The nudge disappears when Andie’s entire body shudders with laughter. “You scared her,” she tells me, her voice soft and sleepy.
I press my lips to the last place I felt our daughter. “You’re not scared, are you? Daddy’s here. I’ll protect you.” It feels really damn weird to talk to a baby inside a stomach, but when I feel another tiny nudge against my fingers, I turn into a goddamned chatterbox. “I’m going to buy you a pony and a Barbie car and a million toys. We’ll go to Disney World and Branson because your soon-to-be auntie loves that place. Mommy and Daddy are going to give you whatever you want. You’re going to be spoiled as fuck, princess.”
Andie slaps my head. “Roman!”
“Sorry, baby girl,” I coo against her skin. “Daddy didn’t mean to say the F-word.” I kiss Andie’s stomach. “I love you.” Then, I look up at Andie’s shimmering blue eyes. “And I love you too.”
She ruffles my hair and beams at me. “I know.”
“I can’t believe we missed a whole day at work,” Andie says as she flips her grilled cheese sandwich in the pan over her new stove. I’d been proud as fucking punch when she gushed over every single item in the kitchen. I worked hard to give her cool shit, so it makes me happy that she notices it all.
“Benefits of owning the company,” I tell her before biting into the sandwich she made me. When I’d said to her, “Go make me a sandwich, woman,” earlier, I’d been joking. But, she seemed excited to want to cook in her new home. I didn’t even get to show her the double-headed shower because she had food on the brain.
“I’m going to need to get my clothes from the apartment after we eat lunch. There’s no way I’m spending another night there. Not when we have this. I can’t wait to show Dani,” she chirps as she transfers her sandwich to a plate.
“I’ll stay here and clean up this mess, but once you get back, maybe we’ll invite everyone over to celebrate or go someplace nice for dinner,” I suggest.
“I kind of want to cook some more in our new house. I love it here,” she tells me in a breathless voice that reminds me of a little girl who just got the best present ever.
She joins me at the table and her feet tangle with mine underneath. I love when Andie is all smiles. I’ve never seen her look so fucking happy and serene in our entire relationship.
“You’re beautiful,” I blurt out.
She looks up at me from under her dark eyelashes and her cheeks redden. “So are you. Even if your head is a little big.” Her eyes twinkle with mischief.
I suddenly have the overwhelming hope that our daughter looks exactly like her. Every single feature.
“I hope Madonna doesn’t have a big head like me,” I tell her and chomp into my sandwich. “For your sake, of course.”
She snorts and almost chokes on her bite. “What the hell, Roman?!”
I frown at her. “What? I do have a big head, and I don’t even want to imagine what my own mother went through during childbirth—”
“MADONNA?!”
“Kind of has a ring to it and—”
“No.”
“Taylor?”
“As in Swift? No.”
“Cookie?”
“WHAT THE FUCK?! COOKIE IS NOT A NAME!”
“My grandma’s name was Cookie.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“Ask Mom!”
“Oh. My. God. I’m texting Dani this shit.”
“Cookie is cute—”
“Cookies are delicious! Not something you name your baby!”
“Fran?”
“The Nanny?!”
“Well, she was pretty. Ram and I used to have a crush on her and—”
“NO!”
“Latifah?”
“What?”
“She’ll be a little princess and then grow up to be a queen—”
“You’re just fucking with me now.”
Our eyes meet and we both start laughing.
“What names do you like?” I question and reach for her hand.
She bites on her lip and looks away. “I don’t know.”
“Don’t lie to me. I can see right through them. I told you all my awful suggestions. Anything in comparison would be a step up,” I joke.
“I like a name, but if you don’t like it—”
“Tell me.”
“Molly.”
A beat of silence.
“But Roman, if you don’t like it—”
“I love it. I’d be honored if our daughter had your mom’s name,” I tell her, my voice serious.
The tears begin to flow down her beautiful cheeks, so I tug at her arm until she’s sitting in my lap. I wrap my arm around her so that I can rub her stomach.
“Molly? You hungry in there?”
I get another little nudge that makes me fucking delighted as hell.
“So that’s that, huh?” she questions with a sniffle.
“That’s that.”
Her fingers thread with mine over her stomach. “Sometimes I really, really, really don’t hate you.”
I chuckle. “I know.”
I’m Sorry, Molly
I CAN’T STOP KISSING HIM.
Each time I tell him that I’m really leaving this time, I go back for more.
“Screw your clothes. I love you naked and all to myself.”
I giggle again, going in for one last kiss. I swear. “No, I would prefer our friends and family not see me pregnant and naked.”
He grabs my hips, bringing me up against his hard body. “Heck with them. Let’s reschedule. I want you all to myself.”
More giggling when I use my palms to push off his chest. “No. I want everyone over to celebrate. Plus, I want to cook every single thing in that fridge. I want to grab my mom’s cookbook, too.” He allows me the distance, even though I can see the large strain in his pants.
“That is just going to have to wait till later,” I tell him with a smirk, pointing at his hard-on. “You can give me the private tour of the shower. Promise.”
Roman growls and comes at me but I squeal and avoid his arms as I go running to my car.
“I’ll be back in no time! Thirty minutes. Start counting now.” I wave and jump in my car.
Who would have thought this is how my day would have ended? I pull out of my driveway and head to my apartment. I wave and smile like an idiot to a couple walking down the street. “Hey Bill, Cindy, great evening,” I joke to my closed window. I laugh at myself, thinking that I now live in an episode of Leave it to Beaver with my handsome baby daddy. And I cannot be any more thrilled.
I turn up the radio, and my favorite Taylor Swift song blares through my speakers. I’m singing at the top of my lungs, the biggest smile on my face, while I think about today. There’s no doubt that Roman’s friend Diane thinks I’m a lunatic. My cheeks burn crimson with how I acted in front of her. She didn’t stick around to allow me to apologize, so an I’m sorry for trying to take your head off with my brand new lamp care package is definitely in order.
My mind is racing, going back and forth over everything that just quickly transpired. All my thoughts are trying to settle, but it all still seems too surreal. The baby’s room. The pink bedding I wanted so bad is now laid out beautifully in the chestnut wood crib we picked out together. Even when I looked around, I noticed some of the stuffed animals that had been stored in my apartment were now lying around the baby’s room. I wonder when he was able to smuggle those out without me noticing. But then again, a lot of the baby stuff that was laying around my apartment was in the new house.
Roman thankfully explained and squashed every single worry I had the past couple of months. The secret lunch meetings early on were showings. His late nights were him working hard to get the house ready for us.
The paint makes sense now since our daughter’s room is the same color as the paint speckles in question.
The times where he looked disheveled were when he was building the crib and dresser. He eased my main worry which was when he didn’t come over last night. He’d wanted to work on filling up the kitchen with food and new gadgets, as well as, making sure some last minute decorating was done on our house.
Our house.
We have a home where we are going to start our family.
The rush of pure happiness fills my entire being. I have never felt so filled with love, joy, hope. Roman gives me all of that. He loves me something fierce, and I vow that I am never going to doubt that again.
That is one thing I swear to myself. If I have doubts, about anything, we’re going to talk it out. Because what we have is real. I know that now, and I will never ever again take what I have for granted.
Because I am, without a doubt, in love with Roman James Holloway.
I lower my head to talk to our daughter. “Do you hear that, little Molly? I love your daddy. So, so much.” I cradle my belly, holding a confident smile on my face. She must agree, because she takes the perfect moment to move.
I still cannot get used to that. Being able to feel her inside me. It’s a feeling that I may never know how to explain.
The books say it will get even more intense. I cannot wait.
My cheeks begin to burn more with the thought of how we just christened the house. I will never grow tired of the way Roman brings me to the most powerful orgasms. His words, the way he knows my body better than I do… And whatever we don’t know about each other, we have the rest of our lives to figure it out.
I gasp at the thought.
I just said the rest of our lives.
I want to get married.
I want to get married!
A single tear drops from my lids. “I’m not broken anymore,” I whisper to Molly, knowing that I want to be Mrs. Roman Holloway one day.
I take a left on Conrad Street and see my building in view. I swear the sunset has never looked so beautiful before. The bluest clouds mixing with rays of orange and red.
“Isn’t that a lovely sunset, Mrs. Holloway? Why yes it is.” I laugh to myself. “Mrs. Holloway, would you and your family like to join us neighbors for a barbecue? Why sure, Bill and Cindy, we would love that!” I am in a fit of giggles now, pulling into my apartment complex.
“Mrs. Holloway, since you’re the boss’s wife, can we fire Suzy, that whore-mouthed skank? Why yes…yes, you can.”
I think I’m going to love being married, I think to myself as I pat my belly. “What do you think, Molly Holloway? Should we tell Daddy the great news?” I climb out of my car, grab for my purse, and head up the stairs.
I am bouncing up the stairs to my apartment. I see Mrs. Pitts, the cat lady who lives across from me, and this time, instead of giving her the get-a-deodorizer-or-stop-adopting-so-many-fucking-cats look, I smile and wave.
Wow, the new me is really a new me.
I push my key into the lock and skip into my place. I toss my purse on the entryway table and head straight to my room. Just gonna grab a few things and—
“What in the hell are you so happy about?”
I jump three feet in the air at the intruding voice. When I turn, I almost trip over my own feet when I see Frank standing inside my door.
“How the fuck did you get in here? Get out!” I snap, hoping the instant terror doesn’t show in my voice.
“Ahh,” he grumbles. “Not such a tough girl now, are you?” He takes a few menacing steps toward me, and I retreat just as many backward. My entire body is beginning to shake, and I stumble over the carpet.
“Seriously get out, Frank, or I’m calling the cops.” I bring my hands to my back pockets to realize I don’t have a way to call anyone. My phone is in my purse. Shit! Stupid leggings.
“With what? The phone that’s over here in your purse? Doubtful.” He steps closer, and I look to my left and then to my right for something to grab.
“Well…my boyfriend is waiting for me downstairs, and he’ll be on his way up if I take too long. He’s going to kick your fucking ass, so you better run.” God, why didn’t I let Roman drive me home, when he insisted on doing so?
“I know you’re alone, Andie. Don’t try and bullshit me. It’s just you and me.”
“Wh—what do you want, Frank?”
“I want my job back,” he snarls, his nostrils flaring with anger. “But that’s not going to happen. I want the two harassment charges to be dropped, but that’s not going to happen. I want you to pay for what you did. And the way I see it, that’s the only one that is going to happen.” He comes at me, and I dive to the right. I attempt to jump over my couch, but he grabs my hair and tugs me back. I scream at the pain of my hair being ripped from my scalp. He doesn’t ease up as he pulls harder before he tosses me to the ground.
Hate 2 Lovers Page 17
