One More Time - Ali Parker Page 0,70

now felt like it wanted to soar.

“I can’t believe it. Kelly…” I trailed off, still trying to find the right words. “Thank you. I’m going to be a dad. You’re not taking away my happiness. You’re giving me more than you can possibly even imagine.”

Kelly stilled in my arms, pulling away from me to look into my eyes. Her face was beautiful, tear stained and incredulous, but she was the most stunning woman I’d ever seen. Her expression changed as she held my eyes with hers, looking at me like I was crazy.

“But you don’t want kids,” she whispered, confusion furrowing her brow.

My lips curled into a wide smile, my hands gripping her hips. “That was before. God, I can’t believe all that shit I said to you. You should’ve stopped me, told me.”

“But you said you’d be a terrible father and that you didn’t want children for a long time.”

I wanted to punch myself in the face for having said those things to her.

How had I not put it together before? I’d replayed our conversation in my head so many times, yet I’d completely missed that her demeanor had changed immediately as soon as I started spewing that crap Elizabeth planted in my head about how I would never be able to be the father she wanted for her kids.

I pressed a kiss to Kelly’s forehead. Everything was so clear in retrospect. “This is different, Kelly. I’m going to be a father with the woman I’ve fallen in love with. This is different, so different.”

“What did you just say?” She held her breath. Wide eyes burned into mine, tiny clouds of hope drifting in to them.

“This is different?” I repeated, narrowing my eyes as my brows pinched together.

Kelly smiled, a ghost of her usual wide and happy smile, but it was there all the same. She punched my shoulder lightly. “Not that.”

“Oh.” I allowed the full-scale grin that wanted out to break free. “You mean the part where I’m in love with you?”

“That’s the one.” Her answering smile was wider and more radiant than any I’d ever seen. “I love you too.”

For the second time that night, everything in me stilled. My world, so out of whack for such a long time, seemed to click into place. This girl, this amazing woman, loved me. And she was carrying my child.

I couldn’t believe my luck. Kelly bent her head closer to me, bumping her nose to mine. Lifting my lips, I wrapped one hand around her neck and the other arm around her waist to pull her as close to me as she could get, never breaking eye contact with her. “I love you, Kelly Diamond.”

Without waiting for an answer, I slammed my lips to hers.

Chapter 28

Kelly

Caleb’s kisses were hungry and insistent, almost animalistic in their need. I responded as fiercely, relishing every swipe of his tongue and nip of his teeth. He kissed me until I was panting and aching, and he was so hard against me that I briefly wondered if he’d shoved a book or a rock or something in there.

Any thoughts I was having didn’t last long. He kissed them all away, holding me close to him and tightening his hold almost possessively the longer we kept going. He laid back on the bed and brought me down with him so that my body was covering his.

I ground into him, my hips rolling against his as we kissed. He drove me mad with desire for him, his hands skimming my sides, but not touching me until I was ready to beg for it. Sitting up so I was straddling him, I tugged my own shirt over my head and stared down into his eyes, wondering why he hadn’t made the move.

As if he could read my mind, he kept his gaze on mine, even though I could tell he was struggling to keep his eyes from dipping to my chest. I hadn’t been wearing a bra when he’d arrived since I’d been lounging around by myself in my room.

The last person I’d expected to arrive at my door was Caleb. When he did, I’d scrambled to get rid of the pregnancy magazines Alicia had brought up, and since I hadn’t been wearing pants either, those seemed more important to put on while he waited outside the door than my bra.

It hurt my breasts anyway. Apparently, the tenderness would dissipate a little with time, then come back even worse when my milk started coming in.

Oh, the things