Happily Ever All-Star: A Secret Baby Romance - Sosie Frost Page 0,72

you!”

“I’m sorry. I’ll do anything to make it up to you. Name it. Popsicles. Jewelry. A lifetime supply of diapers. Anything.”

Rory went still. Her eyes brightened as she glanced up at me.

“A girl?” she whispered.

“You were right.” I braved a step closer. She took my hand, placing it over the dull thudding.

“What’s it feel like?” I asked.

“At first it was like…someone was making popcorn inside me. Now it’s just like…someone using my bladder as a punching bag.”

“That doesn’t sound comfortable.”

“No…” Her voice softened. “It’s not very comfortable, but it’s the greatest feeling in the world.”

Rory quieted, but her lips still teased with a kissable grace. Her body had changed—quite a bit now—but her poise enthralled me. Her skin toasted, richly dark and more vibrant now. Her hair, even cast into a quick ponytail, was a thick tangle of ebony curls. Her breasts had swelled, her bump filled out, but she still retained the bookworm cuteness.

I shouldn’t have wanted her as much as I did.

Who would blame me though? She’d given herself to me, once, but that was all I’d needed. I lost myself in her, and every fear, regret, and complication faded away. For that night, we shared more than pleasure and passion.

We’d shared each other.

I’d never felt that way about any woman. I needed that connection again. I’d gone almost two weeks without her touch, and I craved more than a warm body sleeping in bed next to me.

I reached for her, pulling her close.

Was it wrong to touch her tummy and feel…proud?

It wasn’t my child, but she was my Rory. For the first time, I allowed myself to imagine that possibility.

I brushed her cheek. Rory’s eyes fluttered closed, but I knew that sigh, that tensing, that apprehension. She feared the same thing I did.

What would happen if I touched her again?

What the hell would happen to me if I didn’t?

“I’m sorry I forgot the popsicles,” I whispered.

“It’s okay.”

“I can make it up to you.”

Rory tried to pull away. I tangled my hand within hers, folding our fingers together. She met my gaze with wide, mocha eyes.

“Are you worried this will get too complicated?” Her voice softened. “After the last time…”

“I shouldn’t have let you leave my bed.”

“Jude, I’m twenty-seven weeks pregnant. Getting out of bed is becoming an accomplishment.”

She wasn’t deflecting that easily.

“You’re beautiful, Doc.”

“I’m forever pregnant.”

“And you still look amazing. Strong.”

“You really must have a head injury.”

I pulled her away from the living room. My steps led us from everything safe, rational, and familiar, but I was willing to lose myself in a dangerous world that would ensnare us both.

My concussion and the lingering side-effects aggravated me, but they suddenly make everything else so much clearer. I might have forgotten the little things, but that made the important aspects of my life much more precious.

Like Rory.

Like her touch. Her gentle kiss. The way she looked at me like it was the first time she saw me, the last time she’d ever let herself get so close, and the beginning of something beautiful.

I never thought I’d need someone as much as I needed the game, but I wasn’t complete without her. I wanted it all. Her lips. Her body.

Her laugh. Her smile. Even her chastisements.

How could something so wonderful, so meaningful, be wrong?

Rory held me tight as I edged her to the bed. I removed my shirt and ignored the sting of my bruises. Stretching a tweaked shoulder was easier than taking a pregnant woman. Still, I was willing to learn. I’d rub the pain from her back, tease the pleasure from her core, and hold her as we drifted to sleep—together—feeling the baby move.

She groaned as I tugged at her shirt. “I’m big.”

“Beautiful.”

“I’m all bump.”

No. Not all bump. She was mostly tits too. I kissed her, letting her warm skin press against my chest. My bruises looked ugly, but Rory wasn’t deterred. She gently touched the purplish and blue stains, and I let her caress me. She studied my shoulder, and I reached behind to unhook her bra.

Her breasts spilled from the cups.

My cock couldn’t get any harder.

“One perk of the pregnancy.” Rory followed my gaze to her almost-vulgar assets. “I’m definitely more…defined than I once was.”

A woman that delicious should have been illegal. Christ, I’d be blessed to forget this sight after tonight. Nothing else would ever draw my attention away from her.

I brushed a hand along her curves. She nearly jumped. Her nipples budded, hard and tempting.

“Sensitive,” she whispered. “Be careful?”

I never let myself get