Forever with You

“Speaking of sharing time, I’ve gotten about five million texts from Reece and Jax.” He picked up the tomato and placed it on the carving board. “I’m pretty sure the moment you left Roxy this morning she got on the phone with Reece, who then called Jax.”

I cringed. “Um, sorry? I didn’t think about the fact she would tell Reece, which is a duh moment. I should’ve guessed that.”

“No need to apologize.” He carved up the tomato perfectly. “I’m actually glad you did say something. I don’t like keeping my friends in the dark. They’re pretty cool about it. Happy for me—for us.”

My breath did a fu

“Of course you are.” The tomato slices were scooped up and dumped in with the lettuce. “You were the honorary recipient of my very active sperm.”

I laughed as I turned sideways, blinking back the sudden wetness that had gathered in my eyes. Damn hormones. “Well, besides that, Nick.”

“Explain.” He started slicing the skin of the cucumber with expert ease, unlike me, who always ended up losing half the cucumber during this process.

Drawing in a shallow breath, I unfolded my arms. “You’re handling all of this so well. I’m lucky, because some guys . . . they would’ve been real assholes about it.”

“Well, some guys don’t need to be engaging in behaviors that can end in reproducing,” he commented dryly. “I’m not one of those guys.”

“True.” I watched him chop for a moment. “But I didn’t really know if you were going to be like that or not. No offense, but you’ve been so . . . so wonderful about everything—about me being pregnant, me telling Roxy and Katie, and dealing with your friends. So, I’m lucky.”

Sliding the diced cucumbers into the bowl, he walked around me, carrying the board and knife. He placed them in the sink and then turned around. Taking one step with those long legs of his, he was right in front of me. He lifted his arms, and his hands curved around my cheeks, tilting my head back so that our gaze met.

“I’m the lucky one,” he said, his eyes searching mine. “You didn’t make a decision about this baby without involving me. You didn’t take that choice away from me. And this is something I know you don’t know, but I never thought I’d have a child. Not because I didn’t want one, but because I just . . . I just never thought it would happen. I wasn’t screwing around when I said I didn’t do relationships, but with you—with this—this is different. Yeah, it was a big damn surprise.” His thumbs smoothed along the line of my jaw. “But there’s not a single part of me that doesn’t realize how lucky I am.”

I lowered my gaze, willing the stupid wetness to go away. “There you go again, being all great about this.”

“It really isn’t that hard to be this awesome,” he teased.

My lips curved up, and when I raised my gaze, I figured it was time to really figure out what we were doing, what both of us expected from this. “Can I ask you something?”

His gaze dropped to my mouth, and the tense, hungry look that settled into his features was hard to ignore. “You can do whatever you want.”

Reaching up, I wrapped my hands around his wrists. “Is it true that you haven’t hooked up with anyone since you met me?”

Those heated green eyes flew to mine. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and say Roxy’s been very chatty lately.”

“Actually, it was really Katie.”

“Girls,” he murmured, and then he laughed softly. “They’re right. I haven’t been with anyone since I’ve met you.”

The relief from earlier resurfaced. “Why?”

“Why?” His brows rose. “I don’t know.”

“You really don’t?”

Nick’s forehead wrinkled as he seemed to seriously mull my question over. He dropped his hands but didn’t step away. “I just . . . there’s been opportunity . . .”

“I’m sure there has been,” I replied wryly.

A quick grin flashed across his face, but it didn’t dampen the confusion etched into his features. “I just haven’t been interested, and I . . .” Trailing off, he closed his eyes. “Fuck it.”

My head jerked back as I blinked. Fuck it? That was not the response I was looking for, but before I could say anything, his hands had clasped my cheeks and he’d tilted my head back again. He lowered his mouth to mine.

And he kissed me.

Chapter 18

The first contact of his lips against mine was a shock to my system. It had been so long since I’d been kissed, really kissed, that I’d seriously forgotten how it felt, but even with the lack of memories, I knew this was going to blow every other kiss out of the water.

His lips glided over mine once and then twice, as if he were mapping out the layout, committing the feel to memory. When he tilted his head to the side, I felt his tongue sweep across the seam of my mouth. There wasn’t a moment of hesitation on my part.

I opened for him, and he took that kiss deep. My hands settled on his arms and my body sank into his. The kiss branded me, dug in below the skin and muscles, and wrapped around my bones. I didn’t think I’d ever been kissed like this. Not that I could remember.

Not that it even really mattered.

Clutching his arms, I kissed him back. I chased after him, staking my own claim. A soft groan rippled out of him, and I knew he was also branded. Our tongues tangled, and the touch of his mouth against mine increased. Raw. Fierce. Those were the two words that came to mind as he started to back me up. My hands slid down his taut sides, reaching the low hanging jeans. One of his hands slid around to the nape of my neck, tangling in my hair as—

The one minute warning went off in the oven, breaking us apart. Both of us were breathing heavy as we stared at one another. My lips were pleasantly swollen and I felt thoroughly kissed.

“That’s why,” Nick said thickly. “That right there is why I haven’t hooked up with anyone else.”

“A kiss?” My chest rose and fell sharply.

“Not just a kiss.” He shook his head as he dragged his thumb along my lower lip. “It’s the way you feel against me—the way your body just softens right into mine. It’s those tiny sounds you make when you’re liking what I’m doing. It’s the way I get as hard as a baseball bat if I even think your name. And it’s been that way since I saw you in those damn little shorts.”

My mind zoomed back to the day I was moving in. “Those were some little shorts.”

“No shit.” His voice dropped a level. “I’m going to be honest. After we hooked up, I wanted to get right back inside you, and it was real hard not to accidentally run into you again in those days afterward. I didn’t think it would happen again. That’s just my practice, but when you tore into my ass in the middle of the bar, you caught my attention, and it isn’t going anywhere.”

In my chest, my heart started jumping around.

“I know I said I wanted us to be friends, but obviously, I’m shitty at the boundaries that friends have,” he continued, his gaze never leaving mine. “Things are different now than they were then.”

Because of the baby.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen between us, but I know we can’t be just friends.” His forehead dipped to mine, and I sucked in an unsteady breath. “And I know—yeah, I know—you can’t just be friends with me. Friends don’t kiss like that and friends sure as fuck don’t come like you did around my cock and my fingers.”

Oh dear.

Those lips curved up at the corners. “So that’s why I haven’t been with anyone else, and I don’t plan on changing that. Not when you and I are going to try to make the best of this.”

Make the best of this? My thoughts spun those words around and around in my head. They weren’t the most romantic or the most promising, but they were the truth, and more than that, they were realistic expectations, and that was something I valued higher than pretty words.