Takin' the Reins (The Sterling Brothers #2) (9 page)

It is, but there isn’t anything to do about it. You’re pregnant with Jace’s baby.

That had her smiling, but also feeling so worried. What if he didn’t want this?

“Baby?” Jace said behind her, his voice thick from sleep, deep and soft.

“I’m coming back to bed now.” She said and turned around. “I just got up to get something to drink—” Her focus went to what he held—one of the pregnancy tests she’d taken early in the day.

Her throat tightened, her heart started beating fast, and she shook her head, not knowing what to say.

“Lexi?” he said and took a step closer. “Baby…” The word was thick, and his expression was genuinely confused and dare she say … happy?”

“I just found out, and was trying to think of how to tell you.”

He was in front of her and had her in his arms seconds later. Jace held her, whispering how happy he was, how much he loved her, and she closed her eyes and smiled.

“I thought you’d be upset.”

He pulled back and cupped her face, his expression changing from happiness to concern. “Upset?” He shook his head. “Hell no, Lexi. I love you.” He placed his hand on her belly, and leaned down to kiss her. “I fucking love you, want you to be my wife, the mother of my children.”

“It’s so fast,” she said between kisses.

“Yeah, but I love you, you love me, and we can make this work.” He started kissing her again, and she let her worries over it all fade away. “When you’re ready we’ll tell my brothers and your parents.”

She nodded. “Yeah, my father might give us shit,” she said and chuckled.

“Hey, if he didn’t I’d be worried. He cares about you, and getting on my case to make sure you’re taken care of is what dads do.”

She looked up at him and nodded. “Are you sure you’re ready for all of this?”

He was silent for a moment, and she felt her pulse race faster, but then he smiled and she felt everything else fade away.

“Everything will be okay. Everything will work out, baby, I promise.”

And she believed him because since being with Jace she felt like everything was right where it needed to be. And it was a damn good feeling.

Epilogue

Eight months later

Lexi held onto her lower back and breathed out as she had another Braxton Hicks contraction. She was due in about a month, and she’d been having the false labor pains since she was five months pregnant. But it wasn’t the tightness in the contractions that gave her the back pain, but the way their little daughter was curled up inside of her.

Jace came up behind her, gently pushed away her hand, and started rubbing her back, easing the pain.

Placing her hands on the kitchen counter and closing her eyes, she couldn’t help the sigh that left her. “You have magic fingers,” she murmured. He chuckled and kept massaging her.

“Are you scared?” he asked, his voice by her ear, his fingers doing wonderful things to the tension in her lower back.

She opened her eyes and looked out the kitchen window, seeing Travis’s truck pulling up the driveway. Lexi didn’t answer right away, just stared out the window and watched. Travis got out of the truck, walked around to the passenger side to open Pearl’s door, and then Pearl went to the back passenger side door and got the car seat out. They’d had their son, Collin, and Lexi couldn’t help but smile. Turning around and looking at Jace, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned up to kiss him.

“I’m not scared,” she murmured against his lips and pulled back to look in his eyes. “Are you?”

He shook his head. “I’m not afraid to be a dad, but I will tell you this,” he said and cupped her belly. He got down on his knees, pushed up her shirt, and kissed her huge stomach. “You’re not dating until you’re thirty, little girl, and even then I’ll be holding my shotgun waiting for the asshole to come knocking.”

Lexi started laughing and ran her hands through Jace’s hair. The sound of more car doors slamming had her looking over her shoulder to see Colton had arrived, and so had her parents. They were having a family lunch, and she was so glad they could all be together. She could see Brooklyn’s car approaching, and Lexi immediately looked over at Colton. The other Sterling brother already had his focus on the vehicle.

“He’s got it bad,” she said softly.

Jace laughed. “Yeah, good. He needs to get knocked on his ass.”

She grinned.

“Hell, I did, and I was the best thing that happened to me.”

She kissed Jace again, so ready to have their baby and start the next chapter in their life.

The End

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Other Books by Jenika Snow:

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