The Rivals - Dylan Allen Page 0,448

shied away from a kiss or a hug from me.

He scoops Phoenix into his big arms, and I stand back to give him room to slide off the bed. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be waiting,” I call after his retreating back and my heart swells at how tenderly he’s cradling Phoenix.

I sit on the edge of the bed and tug the zipper on my knee length boots, both at the same time but suddenly exhausted from my drive and dizzy from the butterflies in my stomach, I lay down instead.

The surprise was almost ruined. He was in a lather when I called him back. He’d already called the hotel and knew I checked out. So, I lied and told him I’d checked in somewhere closer and had fallen asleep. That was three hours into my eleven-hour drive.

He’d been short and told me to call him when I woke up. I knew he was annoyed but thought that would disappear as soon as he saw me. But clearly, I misjudged this.

And it makes me wonder, for the first time, if maybe I’ve also misjudged what he was feeling that day in the kitchen. I hope not. Because since I realized he wanted us to start trying for a baby, it’s all I’ve wanted, too.

I stopped taking my birth control and decided to let nature take its course. I’m thirty-six and I had no idea how long it would take, but yesterday morning, I got confirmation that it didn’t take long at all. And when I got the news, a decision I’d been grappling with, was made for me.

I sit up when I hear his approaching foot falls. He strides in, eyes on my feet. “Let me help you with those.” He kneels and starts tugging at my boots.

“Thank you.” I run a hand through his close-cropped curls.

“Mmhmm.” He pulls the second boot off but doesn’t move from his crouched position.

“Remi, are you okay?” I ask when he doesn’t say anything.

He looks up at me and his eyes are bloodshot and narrowed in annoyance.

“What’s wrong?”

“I spent all day wondering where the hell was going on. You said you were at a hotel, but I knew you weren’t.”

I grimace, apologetically. “I’m sorry. I was trying to surprise you.”

“I wish you hadn’t.”

I flinch at his words and his stony expression. “You’re not… happy that I’m home?” the words come out in a croak.

He sighs and puts a hand on each of my thighs. “Of course I am. But…why did you something so reckless and drive all that way by yourself when you could have caught a flight in the morning?”

I slide off the bed and kneel in front of him and take his hands in mine. “There are a million reasons why I shouldn’t have. But I only needed one to overrule them all. I was desperate to get back to you.”

His dark eyes dart up to meet mine, finally. I smile at the surprise in them him stroke his cheek. “I was sitting there waiting for them to book me on a flight for tomorrow morning, feeling sick to my stomach because I was planning on giving you your present on Christmas Eve morning while we were alone.”

He eyebrows shoot up. “You drove home to give me a present?”

I nod. “It’s in my bag. Will you wait here while I get it?”

“Of course,” he says but his expression grows wary. With my nerves going wild, I walk over to the chair where I laid my purse. I pull out the gift I wrapped and hand it to him. He takes it but grabs my wrist and pulls me back into his lap.

“Before I open this, I want to say thank you.”

I grin, “You might want to open it before you start thanking me.”

His expression grows somber. “I know I was grumpy, but I’m so fucking happy you’re home, Kal.”

He leans forward and kisses me, and I know that there’s not a luckier person on this planet than me. “Open your present.” I urge him.

He tears the wrapping off with no ceremony and lifts the top off the small slim box. I hold my breath while he lifts the small stick out of the box and stares at it. And then back at me.

“Surprise,” I sing but my voice breaks with emotion as his eyes fill with tears.

His lips start to move, but no sound comes out.

“I wanted to wait for the blood test to come back from my doctor. She called me last