“I accept your decision. I just hope that you can accept my friendship instead.”
I shouldn’t forgive him, not after everything that happened. But if none of it had happened…I wouldn’t have Constance. I couldn’t exactly regret that. She was the missing piece in my life. She was just like Claire. I didn’t want her until I had her, and once I had her, I couldn’t imagine a different way of life. I finally gave a nod.
Just the look alone told me how much that meant to him. “I’ll get out of your hair.” He rose to his feet and left his glass behind. “Until next time.”
“Until next time.”
I locked the door behind him then went into our bedroom. The lights were off like she was already in bed. But then I noticed her in the dark, wearing a sexy two-piece lingerie set made of lace. I stilled when I saw her because I’d never seen her dress up in anything like that before. It was just for me, and I enjoyed every inch of it.
She walked up to me, her hands working my jeans as she kissed my neck, getting the pants loose on my hips so she could pull everything down. I was a man who needed little foreplay to get ready, but she chose to caress me with kisses anyway, to let me know how much she wanted me when she didn’t have to.
Her lips caught mine, and a few hot kisses ensued. Then she whispered to me, “I had my IUD removed today…”
My eyes focused on her lips as I processed what she’d said.
She moved farther away, so our eyes could lock on each other.
“You want me to knock you up, baby?”
She bit her bottom lip as she nodded.
“You want to marry me first?”
“A piece of paper doesn’t make us family. We’re already family.”
“I don’t think you understand what I just asked you.”
Her eyes shifted back and forth as she looked into mine. “Did…you just ask me to marry you?”
I backed her up toward the bed. My shirt came off, and then I stepped out of my boots.
“Because if you did…you know what my answer is.”
I got my jeans off then guided her onto the bed, dragging her until her head was on the pillow. “I want to hear your answer.” I settled between her thighs and prodded inside her, giving a push against her entrance. I gave another thrust—and this time, I slid inside perfectly.
“Yes…” Her arms hooked around my neck. “My answer is yes.”
Epilogue
Constance
I stood on the deck and closed my eyes.
The sunshine was so hot, burning my skin the second it hit my face. The day instantly warmed by several degrees when I stepped outside, feeling the summer heat I’d been craving all winter and spring.
Claire splashed the water with her hands. “Are you getting in?”
I opened my eyes and saw her in the water on a pink inner tube. It was a swan, and she could sit in it and kick around. “Is it warm?”
“It feels nice.”
I grabbed the railing and moved down the steps, the water cool against my warm skin. When the water was to my chest, I felt the relief on my back now my weight had been lifted by the buoyancy. I went to her inner tube and spun her in circles, listening to her laugh as I made her dizzy.
When I finally gave her a break, she asked, “Where’s Daddy?”
“Not sure. Might be working.”
She stuck out her tongue. “Daddy sucks sometimes.”
I laughed. “He does not suck.”
She moved to the edge of the pool, which gave a breathtaking view of his property, the horses and ponies in the pasture as they fed on the fresh grass.
“Do you like it more here or at the apartment?”
“Here,” she said immediately. “We don’t have horses at the apartment.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, that would be uncomfortable if we did.”
“But when it’s cold, there’s not much as much to do here…so I don’t know.”
“I think I prefer the summer.”
“Because we get to swim?”
“Yes, that’s a big perk.”
Benton finally stepped outside, in just his swim trunks and sunglasses, looking hotter than the underworld. “Got room in there?”
“Dad, take a swan.” Claire kicked one toward the shallow end of the pool.
He stepped into the pool and then tucked the floaty under his arms as he came toward us. “Thanks, sweetheart. So, what were you girls talking about?”
“That we love to swim,” Claire said.
“I noticed,” he said. “You guys have been out here every single day.”
“Yep.” Claire dunked underwater then swam to the other side of the pool, to show off how long she could hold her breath under the water. When she reached the other side, she giggled. “Did you see?”
“I did,” Benton said. “You’re good, sweetheart.”
“I can’t wait until I have a brother or sister to swim with.” She dipped below the water and did it again, swimming back and forth underwater, enjoying the praise she got from us every time she came up for air.
Benton stood next to me against the wall, his hand moving to my stomach under the water. “How’s your back?”
“A lot better in the pool.” I wasn’t even that far along, but it was getting really uncomfortable—really fast.
“I know you can handle it, baby. And just remember, it’ll all be worth it.”
I watched Claire pop up for air on the other side of the pool, wearing her goggles. “I know. But then I’ve got to do it again…and again.”
“Whoa, how many kids are we having?”
“I don’t know. Guess we never really talked about it.”
“You want to talk about it now?”
“Alright. How many do you want?”
He shrugged. “I guess if you ask me to knock you up, I won’t have the strength to say no…so it’s entirely up to you.”
“Glad we had this conversation,” I said with a chuckle.
He gave a slight smile, a handsome one. “Let’s just focus on this one. We’ll worry about the others later.” He leaned in and kissed me, his hand still on my little stomach, a stomach that I could still hide under my clothes for the time being.
“That sounds like a good plan.”
He pulled away and brushed his nose gently against mine. “I love you.”
I melted every time he said that, like a stick of butter in a hot pan. “I know you do.”
He turned toward Claire, who was on the other side of the pool. “You want to race, sweetheart?”
“Yeah!” Claire said. “Mom, you watch. And no cheating!”
My heart melted whenever she called me that, even though she did it every day now. Beatrice didn’t want the title, but I took it with so much joy, the kind of joy that made my eyes water. Everything that happened was still in my nightmares, still ingrained in my blood, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it was meant to happen.
Because if it hadn’t…I wouldn’t have ended up here.
Exactly where we all belonged.