Bet Me Something (Something Series Book 3) (39 page)

He smirked.
“Tied to the bed as much as possible.”

“Sign me up, then.”

“That’s all it
takes to convince you? Don’t you want to verify he’s actually handsome as
advertised?”

I leaned up,
biting his bottom lip gently. “If you put a blindfold on me, it won’t matter.”

“Is it any
wonder I’m crazy about you?” He reached over grabbing his phone from his
trousers off the floor.

“What are you
doing?”

He was scrolling
through his device. “The last part of the ad has a visual component.”

My lips curved
up in a ridiculous smile. “Oh yeah?”

He chuckled.
“Not that kind of visual, although I do appreciate how your mind went straight
to the gutter.” Passing his phone over, it showed a picture of an adorable
yellow Lab puppy on the display.

“I don’t
understand.”

“There’s an
option for this little guy. He’s at the shelter and can be picked up Monday.”

I’d always
wanted a dog, but my mother was allergic. I practically launched myself at him.
“Oh, my God, we’re getting a puppy?”

“Something tells
me I could’ve skipped the whole ad and convinced you with the dog alone.”

“Your ad was
about the sweetest thing ever.” I kissed him deeply, then curled up into his
body, loving the naked cuddling. “But picking out a puppy, from the shelter no
less, knowing how much I’ve always wanted a dog, pretty much sealed it. Was
there anything in your roommate requirements about number of orgasms per
night?” My fingers danced up his chest.

“Mm, that can
definitely be negotiated. So is that a yes to moving in with me?” His hands
glided over my skin.

“A definite,
resounding yes.”

He grinned,
pulling me closer and kissing me playfully before his face turned serious. “I
have no idea what the future holds, but I absolutely know I can’t imagine mine
without you Kenz.”

“Good, because you
won’t have to.”

“Even though the
lead singer of Misfit Toys is the type of guy you usually go for?”

I was completely
confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Well you’re
going out on tour with them next summer and you once said men with tattoos and
brains were your thing.”

“Oh, my God, I
wasn’t being serious. I was only trying to throw you off because saying pretty
boys with devastating dimples who make me laugh would’ve been too obvious.”

His smile
could’ve lit up the room. “And to think this all started with a bet.”

“Uh-huh, sure,
that’s when it started.” The crush for the sixteen years before that and the
seduction fails didn’t need to be mentioned.

He smiled.
“Okay, maybe it was seeing you in your lacrosse shorts and that sexy mouth
guard in your last game that started me realizing I might have other thoughts
about you. You were so
cute
.”

I propped up and
noted his smirk in using that word I detested. “Was it when I was chasing after
the
balls
?”

“Have I
mentioned how much I adore you?”

“You might not
feel the same when I name our dog
Beaver
.”

He threw his
head back and laughed. “That wouldn’t be a good idea. Think about telling your
first class full of kids what your dog’s name is.”

I grinned. “No,
probably not. When you said that, I got chills. Ms. Lane: future music
teacher.”

“I’m willing to
bet that might not be your last name by the time you’re teaching in the
classroom. I mean, what could be better street cred than being a music teacher
named Mrs. Singer?”

“Damn. Is that a
proposal?” I couldn’t help but tease him.

“No way. I may
not be the best with all of our previous firsts, but I sure as hell won’t mess
up when I ask you to marry me.”

My heart
fluttered. “Good. Now come here and kiss me like it’s the
second
time.”

It was only
fitting that during the best year of my life, I’d be lucky enough to be up on
stage accepting a Golden Globe. As the producer for the film, I had a list of
people to thank, from the director to the cast and my team, before looking at
my amazing wife in the audience. “Last, but certainly not least, thank you to
my gorgeous wife who makes me laugh every day and inspires me to love what I do
and do what I love.”

Kenzie blew me a
kiss from the table as I grinned, thinking she’d never looked more beautiful
than she did tonight.

After winning
the award, I dealt with the press and photographers, necessary tasks that came
with taking home the trophy. If I could ever get out of here, I planned to meet
Kenzie for the after party, along with my brother and Mom, who’d flown in to
share this evening’s celebration with me. Realizing my phone was buzzing in my
pocket, I stepped to the side to answer my brother’s call.

“Hey, Josh.”

“Hey,
congratulations.”

“Thanks. So I’m
hoping I’ll wrap up here soon.”

“Well, I hope
it’s real soon because Kenzie made me promise not to tell you for a half hour,
but I can’t wait any longer. She’s in labor.”

“What?” She was
only a week away from her due date, so labor wasn’t unreasonable, but she
hadn’t mentioned anything earlier, so I’d assumed we were good. “Okay, where is
she now?” Jesus, I’d just seen her in the audience only twenty minutes ago.

“On the way to
the hospital with Mom in our limo. She didn’t want to interrupt your press, but
I thought I’d leave that decision up to you. By the way, she said to pass on
that she was calling her brother, but not her mom until after the baby is here.
I’m two blocks over in a cab, ready to go when you are.”

“Okay, I’ll be
there as fast as I can.”

By the time we
arrived at the hospital, it was almost an hour later. The traffic from the
Globes hadn't helped the drive. My brother had kept me calm, and thankfully, I
was able to get a hold of Kenzie, who assured me that we had plenty of time.
After getting out of the car, I was about to sprint in through the hospital
doors when I saw my mom in the parking lot next to a limo.

She beamed with
excitement. “Kenzie’s in the back. Josh and I will head in and let them know
you’re here and leave you two a few last minutes of privacy. Congratulations
are in order all around tonight. Love you.” She gave me a hug, grinning from
ear to ear.

“Thanks, Mom.
Love you, too. We’ll see you both in there soon.”

Climbing into
the back seat next to my wife of almost a year, I smiled at the familiar rush I
experienced every time I set eyes on her. She had the kind of energy that
brought sunshine to a dark room and she was undoubtedly the love of my life.
Brushing her hair over her shoulder, I kissed the sensitive spot behind her
ear, breathing in the floral scent that I knew came from her conditioner. I
grinned when I pulled away and her eyes met mine with humor. Those big brown
eyes with the golden blond hair were a lethal combination, and I was one lucky
bastard to experience it on a daily basis.

If she was
nervous about what was about to happen, she sure as hell wasn’t showing it.
Instead, she was shoving her face with In-N-Out Burger, which made me chuckle.

“Hi, Kenz.”

She attempted a
smile with her mouth full. “Hey, you.”

We were both
smiling, so easily lost in one another as we often were, even amongst a crowd
or in a busy parking lot.

She offered up a
fry, and I shook my head. “I take it you didn’t eat much during the ceremony?”

She wrinkled her
cute nose and shook her head. “Every time I went to take a bite, someone would
ask a question or the camera would pan to the table. I didn’t want to be the preggo
wife who was bulldozing a meal for the whole world to see. Plus, I was kind of
nervous, hoping so much that you’d win. After you stepped up on stage and gave
your really great speech, I was instantly starving.”

“How long have
you been in labor?”

Her grin was
sheepish. “Uh, I might’ve felt some pangs on the red carpet.”

My eyes widened.
“Jesus, why didn’t you say anything?”

She gave me the
look. The kind you get that says,
yeah right
. “This was your big night,
and there was no way you were going to miss winning a Golden Globe. I’m so
proud of you, by the way. You worked so hard on this film. I was just hoping I
could give you some more time, but your brother was kind of freaking out about
waiting.” She winced with some discomfort before returning to her chocolate
shake.

I laughed,
picturing Josh stressing about Kenzie telling him to delay in sharing the news.
“Although I appreciate you wanting to let me have this night, you have to
understand that compared to all of my other productions, this is by far the
greatest one. There’s nothing more important.” I rubbed her pregnant belly,
completely in awe when our baby moved under my touch.

She put her hand
to my face. “That was really sweet. Now take my mind off of what’s about to
happen, please.”

“My pleasure.” I
tipped her chin and met her lips, never tiring of this action and forever
appreciative that she’d been the one and only woman I’d ever kissed like this.
Finally breaking away, I whispered. “How was that?”

“Perfection. Now
if only I could both eat and kiss at the same time.” She finished up her
burger, then frowned at her phone, which seemed to be blowing up with text
messages.

“Who is it?”

“My mother. She
heard over the news that after winning your award, you had to leave because
your wife went into labor. Damn press. She’s upset I haven’t contacted her
yet.”

Knowing full
well I wasn’t going to let Kenzie’s mother stress her out another minute, I bit
the bullet by taking her phone and dialing.

Kenzie’s eyes
went wide.

“Hi, Mrs. Lane.”

Her upset voice greeted
me, but I didn’t hesitate in pushing forward. “I’m sorry to be calling so late
at night, but wanted to let you know that Kenzie went into labor. With all the
traffic around the Globes and chaos, we’re only now in the parking lot of the
hospital, about to go inside.”

She calmed down
considerably and let me know she’d be on a plane first thing in the morning. At
least it wouldn’t be tonight.

“I’ll tell her.
Safe travels and congratulations, Granny.” Hey, I couldn’t resist the nickname.
It was clear that Kenzie’s mom was never going to really like me, which made it
that much more fun to mess with her when the opportunity presented itself.

When I hung up
the phone, Kenzie fell into a fit of giggles. “Oh, my God. I can’t believe you
just called her Granny. That was awesome.” She threw her arms around me,
kissing me with exuberance.

“She’ll be here
most likely tomorrow, but you have a day at least.”

Kenzie sighed.
“I’ll take it, and you’re my hero.”

I picked up her
legs so that her feet were on my lap and slid off her shoes. When I massaged
the first one gently, I enjoyed the little gasp of pleasure she expelled at the
contact. “I’m already her least favorite person, so let me be the bad guy with
her. I mean it, if she starts to stress you out, I’m throwing her out.”

Kenzie bit her
lip, apparently enjoying the foot rub. “God, that feels good. If she steps over
the line, she gets one warning, then I’ll throw her out myself. And I don’t
think you’re her least favorite person, although finding out we were an item
when she caught us kissing at the Christmas Eve party with your hands on my ass
probably didn’t start you guys off on the right foot.”

I laughed at the
memory from a couple years ago of her mom, in shock, dropping the glass she’d
been holding. “I don’t seem to remember you minding. And can I help it if my
hands wander there automatically? Matter of fact, your ass and I have become so
acquainted over the last few weeks, with me only being able to do you from
behind thanks to the belly, that I think I could dub myself a definite ‘ass
man’ now.”

She smiled. “Careful
with how you phrase that.” She shifted in her seat, sighing. “You would have to
get me all hot and bothered at the most inconvenient time ever.”

Her voice was
low and husky and made me think about all kinds of things, none of which were
associated with being in a public place or keeping our clothes on in the back
of this car.

“Are you kidding
me? The fact that I’m able to turn my wife on while she’s in labor, at the
hospital is like the crowning achievement of manhood.”

She gave me another
kiss before wincing through what I assumed was another contraction. “All right,
I’m done gorging myself. I guess we can go in now. Thanks for the foot rub, by
the way. Best husband award definitely goes to you.”

She’d gone
through the last forty weeks like a champ, making my role easy. I gathered up
the trash, slipped her shoes on, and helped her out of the car.

“Remind me why
we didn’t have a destination delivery?”

I laughed out
loud. “Even if there were such a thing, I’m not sure your mother has gotten
over the fact that Brian and Sasha didn’t tell her they were adopting until
after they brought their son home. Nor do I think she’s forgiven us for eloping,
so going off to have this baby would probably send her over the edge.”

She scoffed. “A
true elopement would’ve meant she hadn’t been invited. She was there.”

In fact, our
whole family and most of our friends, along with our exuberant rescue dog,
Lucky, had attended our big engagement party almost a year ago, where we’d
surprised them by turning it into our nuptials. I didn’t blame my bride for not
wanting to deal with the aggravation of planning a wedding with her mother, so
we’d unapologetically done it our way by getting married on the beach in Cabo
in a low-key sunset ceremony. The only concession to her mother’s
disappointment had been to let her throw us a large reception back in Virginia
a month later. Kenzie may love her mother, and her mom may have made some
positive changes to help their relationship, but the days of letting her
dictate her life were long gone.

I led Kenzie
into the maternity wing where we met my mom and Josh all of us looking
hilariously out of place in formal wear. He handed me her bag which thankfully
he’d insisted on taking with us tonight just in case and hugged me.

My brother had
been especially supportive of me over the last few years and we’d grown closer
both with professional respect and on a personal level. Last week we’d gone old
school back home in our decrepit tree house drinking our father’s favorite
whiskey with him telling me he was proud of the man I’d become. As if marrying
the woman of my dreams, being nominated for my first major award and having a
baby wasn’t enough to make me overly emotional, hearing those words from my big
brother, who I’d always looked up to, about did me in.

Thankfully Kenzie
had insisted that it just be the two of us in there for the birth, so when we
went into her room it was only the nurses coming in and out. Even though I was
nervous as hell, at least we were in it together.

She took my
hand, looking completely at peace with the fact that we were about to become
parents. “You doing okay, soon-to-be-my-baby-daddy?”

I grinned like a
loon. “I sure am.” I couldn’t wait to become a dad. Since Josh had become a
father again earlier this year and Brian for the first time only a month ago, I
already had a welcoming committee waiting for me to enter the club, too.

“Promise me
something, though,” Kenzie started, while changing out of her beautiful gown
and into the hospital garb.

Helping her onto
the bed, I watched her breathe through yet another contraction, one which
seemed to come faster than those she’d had in the car. She rolled her eyes as
if the interruption in conversation was annoying and then kept talking.

“Promise that
even after this baby, we’ll still make time to go on tropical vacations and
have hot, amazing sex like last night.”

Was it any
wonder I was crazy about this woman? Although I wasn’t a man who blushed
easily, my bride could definitely manage to make that happen, heating my face
when I looked up at the grin of the nurse in the room. “I promise.” I leaned
down and whispered in her ear only, “And you’ll need to stop talking about last
night if you don’t want an embarrassing display in the form of your husband’s
erection while you’re giving birth.”

She giggled. “You
know I love it when you blush.”

We both watched
as the nurses continued hooking her up to various machines.

I squeezed her
hand, waiting for the next contraction to subside. “How was that one?”

“Getting more
intense for sure.”

I was completely
envious of how calm she was. “You sure seem ready for this.”

“Well I would
hope so considering you made it your mission to knock me up on our honeymoon
and there’s no going back now.”

Yeah, so we’d
decided not to wait. Hell, I wasn’t getting any younger, and Kenzie loved kids
so much that she’d been just as eager to get started on our family. Then we’d
made a bet about being able to get her pregnant during the honeymoon which of
course made it that much more fun to try. “And what a week that was. I guess
I’m just wondering what your secret for being so unruffled by this is?”