Everything Unexpected (37 page)

After a minute, she points to the corner frame at the bottom. “This one’s empty,” she points out.

“I know,” I nod. “It hasn’t been taken yet.”

I walk to her side, taking her hand in mine and bringing it to my lips. I press her fingers to my mouth before I explain further. “This frame is for our first family shot. The three of us.”

I feel the tips of her fingers dig into my hand, squeezing them, broken breaths escaping her lips. “Shane,” her voice falters but her lips curve with the faintest of smiles.

It’s now or never
, I tell myself.
I’m going to say everything I need to say and I’m going to make her listen. To finally hear it. I’m going to get through her stubbornness and make her see we belong together.

“I hate that you were hurting, Comb,” I begin. She opens her mouth to interrupt but I don’t let her. I will not be stopped this time. I lift my hand, stilling her. She’s had plenty of time to say her part, now it’s my turn. “I hate that it put a space between us we’ve never had before. It drove me crazy being away from you. It drove me crazy
you
kept me away. But I let you have your space. I gave in, but never did I give up.”

“Shane—”

“No, Comb,” I say, seriously. “It’s my turn now.”

She closes her mouth and lets me continue. “I hated being away from you. Especially these weeks.” I glance down at her midsection. “That night in New York,” I pause, not sure how to really articulate my feelings. “Obviously I didn’t handle the confused feelings I was having for you properly. It drove me crazy thinking of you dating someone else. And I didn’t know how to deal with that. It surprised me.
You
surprised me. The one person I thought I knew best shocked the hell out of me. You were all I could think about. Still are,” I say with a small laugh. “Of all the people in my life, you are the last one I would ever want to hurt or disappoint. You
must
know that. You must know that had I had any idea of what you were going through while I was in New York, I would’ve dropped everything to be there with you. I would have held your hand and waited right beside you for those tests results. You believe that, don’t you?”

I watch a lone tear fall down her cheek as she nods. “I do. I do believe that.”

Progress.
Finally
.

“Good. Because I love you, Leah. I am
in love
with you. And I hate that a part of you thinks it’s because you got pregnant. Because it’s not,” I say with as much certainty I can convey. “Maybe it jumped started me into realizing my feelings, but they were already there. They had to be. Because what I feel for you is too strong not to have been there for a very long time already. I doubt I’ll be able to tell you how or when I knew, but I can promise you this—I
felt
every second of it. I’ve felt myself falling for weeks, months. Probably even years.”

“You think I need time, but I don’t. You said you needed time, but I’m done giving it to you. I’m not willing to waste any more time. We’ve already waited six years. I want to start our next sixty right now. And I know now what it’s going to take to get us there. You were right,” I say.

Beyond her tearstained eyes, she looks at me a bit puzzled. “About what?” she manages to say.

“It wasn’t fair of me to expect you to do all the sacrificing. With your job, your life—”

“No, Shane,” she interrupts. “A lot of what I said…came out of frustration. I didn’t mean it. I know you’ve done your share.”

I smile, appreciating her words. “Maybe. But it doesn’t mean you weren’t right about some of it. It was naive of me to think I could continue to live my life the way I was and be there for you the way I needed to be. The way I want to be.”

“You are there for me,” she argues.

“Not always the way I should be,” I tell her. I shake my head and try to hold in the laugh of irony at what I’m about to admit. “My father was right and I wanted so badly to prove him wrong. To show him my way would work just fine, but he was right. My way only works for
me
. And it’s not just me anymore. It’s not even just the two of us. There’s three of us now.” I look into her eyes and see that she completely understands what I’m saying. That maybe she’s had some of the same realizations herself. “I took a job with my father,” I tell her.

Her eyes open wide, mouth opening in shock. “What? Shane, no… You love your job!”

I nod. “I do. But I love us more,” I say, holding her stare.

Leah opens her mouth to argue but I silence her by placing my index finger over her open lips. “Stop,” I almost order her. “It’s not exactly what you think. My father and I came to a mutual…agreement. I’ll work in the art department at the firm, help give us some scheduling stability. And in return, I get to be a bit more selective on what outside jobs I take. It will allow us to afford me saying no to certain jobs and wait for the ones I really want. The jobs that are the reason I love taking pictures. So really, it’s a win-win.”

Leah looks overwhelmed with everything I’ve just laid out in front of her. But I warned her earlier. When I say I’m in, I’m
all
in. Now I just hope she’s ready to be all in with me. But if she’s not, then I have no problem carrying the weight of us until she gets there on her own. But under one condition.

“I want you to move in here,” I say. “I want this place to be ours. To start our life as a family here, together. This room is pretty much done but we can work on building the rest of it together. A new couch, a new table. We can paint the bedroom, make it…yours—ours. You can even buy as many pillows as you want.”

That gets her laughing through her tears. I let her smile settle between us for a moment before I ask the question that will give me the answer to the rest of my life. “What do you say, Comb? Are you in? Do you want to build a life with me?”

Leah’s tears begin to free fall like a fountain down the sides of her face. “I have been in love with you for so long,” she says, bringing her fingers to my face. “But I’ve never been more in love with you than I am right now.”

I let out a relieved sigh. “So you’re in?”

“I’m in,” she says laughing, crying.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” I tell her, cupping the sides of her face.

“I’m going to let you.”

Not even a second later, my lips are on hers. Once again, surrendering to her, promising her all of my future days. I’m too impatient, not waiting to use my tongue to open her mouth and slip inside. I feel her body fall against mine, her breasts pressed against my chest, arms wrapping around my shoulders. I run my hands down her back, over the sequins of her dress.

“God, I’ve missed you,” my lips pressed against her neck, making their way to that small freckle on her collarbone that’s been calling to me.

“Me too. So much,” she answers, bringing my mouth back up to hers. She bites my lips playfully at first then does it again a little harder. I pull back slightly, just out of reach. I see want in her eyes matching my own. It’s been weeks since I’ve been able to touch her, taste her, be inside her. But she’s as close to bursting as I’ve ever seen her. I’m not sure how
much
she can take, how
much
she can handle.

“Do you remember how it was the first time?” she asks.

I blink, nodding. “Of course. I remember everything about that night.”

She doesn’t say anything else, only looking at me with haze filled eyes. But that look tells me everything I need to know. She’s telling me how she can take it, how she wants it. Just like that night. Fast. Hard.

Her cheeks flush a shade of pink.

I grin at her sudden shyness. “How I remember it,” I start, pulling her closer. “You weren’t shy about anything that night.”

The corner of her mouth arches and she bites her bottom lip. I feel my own rush of blood heading south. I take her hand and lead her out of the nursery. There’s no way I’m going seal this deal in my kid’s new bedroom. The second we’re inside my room, my lips are back on hers. I’m incredibly worked up and immediately feel for the zipper of her dress, needing to touch more of her skin. As I pull the dress down her body, she’s working on the buttons of my shirt, followed by my pants. Soon we’re both standing in the middle of the room in only our underwear.

I take a minute to admire her body, how much it’s changed since last time I saw her like this. She’s definitely fuller. So much so I’m a little nervous I might hurt her.

“If I hurt you or you’re uncomfortable, tell me,” I make her promise before touching her skin again.

“You won’t hurt me,” she answers before her eyes meet mine. “I know you won’t.”

I grin, feeling better. “Sit down on the bed,” I order.

She blinks once before cocking a small smile and turning towards the bed, sitting down on the edge. I go to her, standing between her bent legs. I bend down, running my hands along the inside of her thighs, causing her to squirm before skimming her hips and pulling at the only piece of material left on her body. She lifts her hips up off the bed, helping me rid her of her panties before she lies down on the mattress.

I tug my own boxer briefs off, letting them fall to the floor before I climb over her, brushing some of the loose hair off the side of her face. She closes her eyes and bites the corner of her lip again, a sure sign she’s definitely getting close to where I want her to be.

“You are so sexy,” I tell her, running my tongue down the side of her neck.

“Even looking like this?” she asks, running her hands over my head.

“Especially like this.”

There’s something incredibly sexy about a pregnant woman. It makes all of her curves fuller, all of her sensations stronger. Looking at a naked woman is great, but seeing what the woman’s body can do? That’s just fucking unreal.

I kiss my way down her body, over her breasts, down her round midsection to her hip and then make my way slowly to her center. It’s not until this second I realize just how much I’ve been craving her. All of her—her smell, her taste. I fight the urge to sink immediately inside of her because I want this to last. I want to worship her first. To drive her wild the way I’ve learned how.

I kneel on the floor, pulling her closer to the edge of the bed. She’s at the perfect height this way. I run my fingers carefully over her, feeling how wet she is. I start to move my fingers in small circles and her hips buckle off the bed.

I smirk, maybe a little arrogantly.

“Still so very sensitive.”

She only moans in response.

I can’t wait any longer—I need to taste her. I dip my head further between her legs and take everything she has to offer me. I feel her hands reach for me over her stomach, running her fingers over my head. I press my tongue harder against her, holding her in place with my hands. She tastes amazing. Better than I remembered. And the sounds she’s making? Only make me want to fuck her harder than I ever have. Her legs come up around my head and squeeze a little when she starts to come.

“Oh God… Shane…yes,” she mumbles, pulling at the sheets.

Once she starts to come down, her legs fall open against the bed. I get up from the floor and look at her. Areas of her body are flushed a deep pink, her hair having come loose and splaying all over the bed. Her hands fall her to her breasts and she squeezes them, still writhing from her orgasm.

“I could watch you do that for hours,” I say.

She opens her eyes and looks at me. She doesn’t stop what she’s doing, unashamed of her own touch. I fucking love that.

“I want you to take me. Hard,” she says. “Then you can sit and watch me do this all you want.”

I fist my hands together tight. “Whatever you say, Comb.”

I take one step closer to the bed, lifting her legs up and wrapping them around my hips. Before I start, I meet her wanting expression. “Remember, if you’re uncomfortable—”

“Shut up and fuck me!” she commands.

So I do.

The way she asked for it.

Hard and fast.

I WAKE UP a few hours later, alone in bed. I look around the room, listening for sounds coming from bathroom, but all is quiet.

“Leah?” I call out, my voice hoarse with sleep.

I turn over on my side and see the smallest glimmer of light in the hallway. I know then exactly where she is.

I get up, find my discarded boxers on the floor and pull them on. I walk out into the hallway and follow the sliver of light all the way to the nursery. The door is only open wide enough to shine a small amount of light into the hallway. Opening it wider, I see Leah sitting in the gliding chair, running her hand over the blue blanket lying in her lap.

“What are you doing?” I ask, startling her. I walk over to where she’s sitting and squat down in front of her. She found some of my clothes to wear.

“I can never sleep through the night anymore,” she says. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

I shrug. “It’s okay.”

She lets her head fall back against the chair, looking around the room. “I still can’t believe you did all this,” she says.

“Well, if you weren’t going to listen to me, I had to show you,” I say, half teasing.

But she doesn’t smile or laugh. In fact, she looks…sad.

“Hey, hey… What—”

“I’m so sorry, Shane. I hated these last few weeks too. I hated the way we fought, the way I pushed. It all just…fucking sucked,” she says, her shoulders falling.

“It did. But we’re moving past all that now,” I say, rubbing her legs, consoling her.

“I know.” She nods. “But
I
still need to say it. I’m sorry. For all of it. I was so scared of having to do this on my own that I almost made it happen. I should have believed in us more. Believed in you more.”

I let out a deep breath. “I didn’t make it easy for you.”

“Still,” she says, pushing up from the back of the chair. She brings her face close to mine and rests her hands over the sides of my face. I feel her soft breaths tickle the top of my lip. “I should have trusted in us. Trusted in your feelings. Trusted that I wasn’t the only one falling in love. That you were right there with me too.”

I swallow the lump that’s formed in my throat. “Always.”