far as to agree with her, but she has no pants on, and her pussy is basically eye level. After being on a boat for so long, I can’t think of anything else at this point. I stare at her bare legs. “I’m done talking.” I slide my arms around her waist and pull her onto my lap, kissing her with everything I have. I grip the back of her neck with one hand and her chin with the other.
“Me too.” She moans into my mouth with a gasp, rocking her hips into mine. “Sex is pretty much all I’ve thought about lately,” she admits, her voice laced with shyness.
Reaching between us, I pull my shorts down enough to get my dick out, nothing on my mind any longer but fucking her. “It’s been two months. Don’t expect much.”
“I won’t hold it against you.” And then she sinks onto my cock, and I forget all my fears about losing this girl. If I can’t have forever, at least I have the in-between, because fuck, if it isn’t worth every minute.
Jogging - Jogging is often used to hold the boat in a safe position during bad weather.
On a day in January, the air is too cold, my thoughts too jumbled for what this means. The one holding my hand as we walk the streets of Seattle is quiet, chewing on thoughts he hasn’t let me hear.
I’ve never felt more whole. In a world where I only knew bits and pieces of myself, my entire being makes sense. With him, with this baby, with the little boy wandering a few steps ahead of us looking for a pie shop he swears is around every sharp turn.
“It has to be here somewhere,” Atlas says, searching the busy streets of Capitol Hill.
“Why’d we let him lead the way again?” Lincoln asks, keeping a close eye on him. Seattle at night isn’t exactly where children should be running around, but for pie, we do just about anything.
“Because he follows GPS way better than me.”
“Oh, believe me, I know. He reads the GPS on the boat better than Bear.”
We laugh, and I think maybe he does this to put me at ease, but his hand slips in mine.
I squeeze it, thankful for the small gesture of reassurance.
“There it is!” Atlas points up the street to where a man wearing neon green shorts and a robe is dancing to music we don’t hear.
Lincoln eyes the man, then Atlas. “We should get it to go.”
“I don’t care.” Atlas bounces around in front of Pie Bar’s take-out window. “I just want pie.”
It’s literally all they have. So we order pie, Atlas strikes up a conversation with the guy dancing next to us, and I wonder what the hell Lincoln is thinking. He hasn’t said much of anything since he heard the baby’s heartbeat, and the words, “It’s a girl.”
Maybe he’s in shock? I know I had been. But like coming to terms with his lies and the fact that I have his wife’s heart, I had time to process being pregnant before Lincoln came home. He, unfortunately, had everything slammed on him all at once.
I still haven’t wrapped my mind around it entirely, you know, being a mom in less than six months. But I also couldn’t have asked for a smoother pregnancy so far. Baby is healthy, I’m healthy. No morning sickness, no weird cravings yet. No complications. So far. And I know the risks. You don’t have to lecture me like Avie and Lincoln have these last couple of weeks. I’m willing to take them to have this baby with him.
To hold her, to be a mom, it’s going to be more than I ever could have imagined because I never thought I’d be here. I never thought I’d make it this long, let alone be happy and in love.
Leaning against the stone on the building, the sweet smells of fresh pastry baking and warm berries surrounding us, Lincoln regards me for the first time. His stare still gets to me and sends a flutter of electricity racing through my blood.
As quickly as my heart skips a beat, he looks away. My smiles fades. I step toward him and wrap my arms around his waist. He holds me close to his chest, his lips pressed to my forehead. An awkward silence lingers between us, but then I draw back. His expression disarms slightly, his body relaxing.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” I tell him, placing his hand over my heart. “I feel it. Deep inside me.” Our gazes lock on one another, and I know he understands the meaning behind my words. “My heart is telling me this was the way it was supposed to be all along.”
The slight lift of his eyebrows shows his surprise, and a hint of amusement reaches the corners of his lips. “I feel it too. She’s going to be perfect, and so will we.”
Before he can press those beautiful full lips to mine, Atlas pushes himself between us. “Is the pie ready yet? Why is it taking so long?” Without waiting for us to answer him, he touches his cold hands to my growing belly. “Can I name her since she’s my sister?”
I kneel next to him and zip his jacket up, holding his hands in mine to warm them up. “What did you have in mind?”
“Talise. I looked it up at school.” His hand slides from my stomach and into my hand. “It means beautiful water.”
Lincoln chuckles.
“That’s a beautiful name,” I tell him. “It’s perfect for her.”
As Atlas wraps his arms around me, I’m never more aware of my place here than I am now. I’m no longer living a temporary life. I’m made of those who I’ve lost.
Standing, my chest meets Lincoln’s. He smiles down at me, and this time, it touches his eyes. Someone once told me that loving someone is like throwing yourself into a stormy sea and hoping you don’t end up ashore alone.
I won’t. Not this time.
What a crazy ride this book was. I started it four years ago, took a break, then wrote another couple chapters. Deleted all those and started from scratch. Halfway through, I wanted to delete everything but kept pushing forward because of my BETA team.
Thank you to my BETA team for helping me through this one. I know I kept you all on edge, and we spent many nights wondering what the fuck was going through my mind while writing this one. Without you, I couldn’t have done it.
Thank you to Becky and everyone at Hot Tree Editing for their constant support and wonderful guidance on all my novels.
And Sommer, thank you so much for once again delivering an outstanding cover portraying exactly what I wanted for Journey and Lincoln’s story.
Finally, thank you to my readers! Without you, this wouldn’t be possible so thank you so much for allowing me to do what I love for a living.
Love, Shey