I swept the hair off her face and looked into her eyes. “I owe you an apology.”
She shook her head quickly in disagreement. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“I do.” I insisted. “I never should have let you get on that plane alone. I should have come with you, or made you stay with me. We should have figured something better out. I shouldn’t have let you go, Lexie.”
She opened her mouth to argue but I silenced her with a look. I still had more to say.
“You and I are meant to be together.” I looked into her deep blue eyes, hoping that I was showing her exactly how I felt. “Everything is better when I’m with you, Lexie, and I’m sorry it took me so long, and god, I’m so sorry that you felt alone with this news, but I’m here now, and I swear to whatever kind of god you might believe in, I’m not going anywhere.”
“You’ve only known me less than a month.” She argued.
“I feel like I’ve known you a hell of a lot longer than that.” I ran my thumb over her bottom lip and her eyes closed at the contact. “And I promise, it took me a hell of a lot less time than that to fall in love with you.”
Her eyes flicked open. “You’re in love with me?” She asked quietly.
I chuckled lightly. Of course I was in love with her. I fell in love with her a lifetime ago.
“Are you not in love with me?” I asked her instead.
She blushed, her cheeks going a beautiful pink color. “I love you more than anything in the world.” She confirmed.
I knew she loved me, she may not have said the words aloud, but she told me with her actions, the words she didn’t say and the way she looked at me.
I just knew.
Lexie Chase had been head over heels in love with me before she even got on that plane to go home, as I had been with her. But there was nothing quite like hearing those precious words flowing from her mouth.
“I should have told you I loved you.” I told her, regret in my voice.
“I should have told you too.”
“I’ll make it up to you.” I promised. “How about I tell you every single day for the rest of forever?”
“Promise?” She smiled.
“Swear on my life.”
I’d never made a promise that would be so easy to keep.
I held her tight, breathing in the scent that was home to me now. It didn’t matter if we lived in Boston, or some shitty L.A. apartment, or even on a cruise ship, if Lex was there, I was home.
I tentatively reached a hand out for her belly. It felt stupid, there was nothing showing there yet, but knowing my baby was snuggled up safe in there was a feeling I couldn’t even describe.
Lexie smiled at me, so sweetly as I gently caressed her stomach. I could tell she was close to tears.
“When will be we meeting this little peanut?” I asked fondly.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “All I’ve done is pee on a stick.”
“Well at least we’ll be able to give the doc a definite date.” I chuckled.
“I can’t believe we made a baby the first time we had sex.” She replied in disbelief. “Who does that?”
“It’s my superhuman sperm.” I told her with a grin.
She rolled her eyes, and snuggled in closer to me. I could feel her placing soft kisses to my chest.
“Are you okay, babe? I know we didn’t plan for this… if you don’t want this yet, we can… we can talk about other options.” I offered.
Those words burned coming out of my mouth. I didn’t want to discuss other options. I wanted this baby. I wanted it with Lexie. We might have been a few of years ahead of planning for a child, but we were here now and I wouldn’t change it for anything.
She looked up into my eyes. “There is nothing I want more in my life than you and our baby.”
Well thank god for that.
***
“I can’t believe your brother just turned up like that, what are the chances?” She mused. “And then Penny offering you a job…”
It was meant to be.
“You asked me if I believed in fate, you remember that?”
She nodded and smiled.
“Well you bet your sweet little ass, if I didn’t entirely believe in it before, I do now.”
She giggled softly.
“But job or not, I was getting on this ship, I even paid for a room as a guarantee.”
“How nice of a room?” She asked quickly with an eyebrow raised.
I chuckled deep in my belly, already knowing where this was going. “A damn nice room.” I replied. “They only had the most expensive kind left and I was out of options.”
“Does it have a balcony?” She asked, her eyes getting more excited by the minute. “And its own bathroom?” She bounced up and down on the spot.
I laughed again; she was just so damn cute. “You bet, baby.”
“Holy shit, what are we still doing down here? I love this job, but the sleeping arrangements suck, big time.”
I had to agree. No doubt Lexie had one of the better rooms, being the star performer on the ship, but still, it was a dark, five meter by five meter box with not much more than a bed in it.
I picked her bag up and dropped it onto the bed with a thud. “Get your crap together, the high life is waiting, my princess.”
“That’s when you know for sure somebody loves you. They figure out what you need and they give it to you – without you asking.”
- Adriana Trigian
33. Lexie
He came for me.
I couldn’t believe Colt had come all the way to Los Angeles.
For me…
I was still in a complete state of shock, and I wasn’t even the one who’d just had the news of impending parenthood dropped on them.
He’d joked, calling me his princess, but that was exactly how I felt when he was around. He treated me like I was his entire world.
Because I am.
It was a surreal feeling, knowing that you were loved. Knowing without a doubt that the person you loved, loved you back. I couldn’t explain it. I just found myself looking at him and thinking… that of all of the millions of people in this world, he chose me. And the best bit was that he looked back at me like he was thinking the same about me.
Colt hadn’t been kidding when he said he’d paid for a nice room. The room we’d been living in for the past three days was possibly the nicest room I’d ever seen on this ship. It must have cost him an absolute fortune.
Besides the obvious luxury of a suite, I was incredibly grateful for the privacy of the bathroom. Morning sickness had made itself known to me and I’d been puking my guts out ever since.
I still had no idea why it was referred to as ‘morning sickness’, because that shit seemed to hit me at any time of the day, much to the concern of my very doting boyfriend.
Colt had dragged me to the on ship doctor yesterday, albeit kicking and screaming. The doctor had managed to get me some anti nausea medication that was safe for the baby, and I begrudgingly had to admit that it had helped a little. Now I was only throwing up first thing in the morning or if I went too long without food.
Colt was fussing over me like some kind of mother hen, deciding for me that I wasn’t fit to perform. I’d tried to argue, but ended up throwing up again. Needless to say, he won that argument. He had Penny on his side anyway, and there was no arguing with her.
“I’m so glad you’re here.” I told him for the hundredth time as he rubbed my feet for me. We had the door open onto our balcony and the warm Hawaiian air was breezing through the room.
This was seriously the life. I found myself wishing that I was just here for a holiday and not for my job. That feeling was an entirely foreign one to me. I loved my job. I’d worked damn hand to land it, and I had no intentions of leaving.
Or did I?
“I forgot to tell you.” Colt suddenly flicked his eyes up to mine. “Mitch is having a baby with his new fiancée.” His eyes were glowing and I could tell
he was incredibly excited about this news.
“You’re going to be a daddy and an uncle.” I beamed at him.
“God I love it when you say that.” He told me, a huge smile gracing his perfect face.
“How’d you manage to forget to tell me that?” I frowned at him, going from thinking he was cute, to a tad annoying… all in a matter of seconds.
Damn hormones.
He laughed at me and shrugged sheepishly. “I think I got a bit distracted by the ‘we’re having a baby’ news and then the puking started and it’s been a bit crazy ever since.”
“Touché… tell me now.” I encouraged.
So he did. I leant all about what had brought his brother home from the military and how he’d managed to score himself a beautiful wife-to-be.
“We’ll be having our babies only a few months apart.” I mused.
We’d gotten out a calendar and attempted to figure out when this baby was going to be entering to world – all going to plan. We’d worked it out that we’d be having a July baby, since we were only a few weeks along right now. Sophia and Mitch were due in late March.
“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 to Boston 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 to Boston. 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 to L.A. 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.
Chased (Love like Yours Series Book 4) Page 18
