Officially Over It - Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,24

for me.

“One, I want you to know that if I help raise this baby, the baby will be mine, too,” she began, flicking up one finger. “I’m already kind of attached to him.”

My heart swelled. “Done.”

“Two.” She flicked up her second finger. “I want this to be a real marriage. No cheating on me. No doing things without me. Either you’re all in, or I’m all out. I’m not doing this in name only. I don’t want to be made to look like a fool.”

My dick hardened behind my jeans and a thrill went through me that I’d never felt before. It was pretty close to elation, I was thinking.

“Not name only,” I said carefully. “Does that mean you want…”

I left it hanging because I couldn’t physically force the words out. My throat had closed up in delight.

The glee pouring through my veins was starting to pick up speed.

“Yes,” she said simply. “Because that leads me to my next condition.”

I swallowed and nodded, knowing that I couldn’t get a word out without my voice cracking and giving me away.

“I want a baby. One of my own. One that has my DNA.” She paused. “I’m not saying that your baby with Eerie won’t also be mine, because he will, but I want to go through pregnancy. I want to experience that. I want… everything.”

“You want a real marriage,” I found myself saying. “You want this.”

I pointed at my heart.

She already had it, but she didn’t know it.

“Your heart?” she asked, eyes serious. “I’m not going to fool myself into thinking that you’d give that to me because I demanded it. But this is going to be serious business. I don’t want children growing up thinking that we’re pretend marriagging it.”

“I’m not sure marriagging is a word,” I admitted. “But you’re right. I don’t want that either.” I held out my hand. “Deal.”

I could also see the benefits of this.

With her here, I could convince her to fall in love with me.

Or, at least, I’d have more of a chance.

I knew she’d fight me every step of the way.

“Anything else?”

She swallowed hard, as if what she was about to say was making nervousness work its way through her, causing her to fidget.

“Two more things,” she said softly. “I want a wedding night. I want to test out the waters, so to speak. Before you tie yourself to me forever, I want you to know what you’re getting.”

I couldn’t point out that I was already tied to her forever. Because suddenly I couldn’t see past the big white flag she’d just waved in front of me.

The one that signaled her surrender to me.

“And the other?” I croaked.

“I’ll tell you the last condition after.”

She held out her hand for me to shake.

It was more than obvious that I was in the twilight zone or something.

I was feeling and saying things that I never thought I was going to get to say, and I was actually getting things in return.

Things that would make Reggie officially mine.

Was she aware of what she was about to give me?

I reached for the hand that was still being held out in my direction.

The moment that my fingers closed around her fingers, I pulled her into me.

She gasped, her free hand going to my shoulder as she stared up at me in shock.

“Do you want me? Or do you want the nice husband? The one that I can pretend to be?” I asked. “Because those aren’t the same man.”

She licked her lips, nervousness now flitting through her eyes where before she’d looked like a fully composed, in control of everything she said, woman.

Her pulse was beating wildly against the smooth skin of her neck, and it took everything I had not to bend down and lick it.

Even still, I brought my hand up to curl around the side of her neck and my thumb around her throat to sweep over the pulse at the opposite side.

My hand looked good wrapped around her neck.

I refused to admit how hot I found it that she wasn’t pulling away. That my tanned hand looked big and rough against the smooth skin of her throat.

She pressed in a little deeper, her eyes never leaving mine, as she said, “I want you, Nathan. I don’t want some stepford-husband stand-in. I’m not going to lie and say you’re always going to like what I give you, but I’m not going to pretend I’m not me.”

Her words did something weird to my soul.

She wanted me?

Well, she was