Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92841 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“He’s doing a great job,” I say, patting his chest. “He’s pretty much made it impossible not to fall for him.”
“Does that mean you’re moving in?” Taylor asks, hopefulness lighting up her face.
“Umm …” I glance at Shane for help.
“She’s thinking about it,” he says, draping his arm across my shoulders and pulling me into his side. “Moving in with someone is a big deal. Something nobody should go into lightly.”
The way he protects me warms my heart and makes me want to go all in. I just need to make sure I’ve completely thought it through. The last thing I want is to break his—and his daughter’s—heart. I already hurt two people I loved, and I refuse to do that again.
“Oh my God,” Taylor whisper-yells as she scoops Emma-Lynn into her arms. “She’s so precious.”
“Don’t get any ideas,” Shane grumbles, making Taylor glare his way.
“Do you really think I would screw up my entire future by having a baby?” Taylor scoffs. “Besides, not that it’s your business, but I still have my V-card.”
Shane visibly blanches. “I wasn’t talking about you,” he murmurs. “I thought you were trying to hint at Kinsley and me having a baby.”
“Oh.” Taylor cringes. “Guess I misunderstood. But now that you mentioned it, I wouldn’t mind having a brother or sister.” She glances at me, her face softening, and I know, without her saying anything, that she’s remembering what happened to me … to my baby. “But only when or if you want to,” she adds softly. “I wouldn’t mind being an only child.” She shrugs. “Just makes me that much more spoiled.”
I can’t help but choke up at her sweet words. She’s only seventeen, yet she acts so much older and wiser.
“She is precious,” I say, looking over Taylor’s shoulder. “A beautiful little miracle. Proof that there’s good in the world.”
Katie and Cathy nod in agreement.
“Would you like to hold her?” Taylor asks, her words slow and careful.
“Sure.”
I haven’t held a baby since my daughter was born. Because she was stillborn, she was cold and still, but as I take Emma-Lynn into my arms, I note how warm she is. Her chest is moving up and down as she sleeps peacefully, and I realize in this moment how much I want to have this one day.
Not to replace the daughter that I lost—nothing and nobody can replace her—but because I want the chance to love someone the way my mom and dad love me. I want to share that love with my husband, to create a family that laughs and loves and fights. I want the good and the bad.
And as I glance up at Shane, who’s watching me hold his niece with love shining in his eyes, I know I want to have that with him.
TWENTY-NINE
Kinsley
“Jesus, baby, do you have any idea how good you taste?”
I pry an eye open to glance down at Shane, who’s currently lying between my legs, licking my center like he’s desperate for my taste.
“I think you’ve made me taste myself a time or two,” I say, lifting onto my elbows. “Now, can you please make me come before Taylor wakes up and you’re late for work?”
“Don’t rush me,” he says with a pout. “It’s bad enough I’m going to be without this pussy for the next twenty-four hours.”
He goes back to licking me, and I drop back down onto the pillow. It’s been a little over a week since Shane asked me to move in, and while I haven’t agreed yet, I have been sleeping at his house every night—even on the nights he has a shift.
I have an appointment with the realtor today to look at a few more places, and my mom has agreed to go with me, so I can talk to her about everything that’s going through my head.
I already know where I stand and what I want, but I feel like this is a life-altering decision, and I just want to make sure I’m doing it because I love Shane and want to live with him and not because I’m using him as a crutch.
A part of me wants to insist I live on my own so I can prove that I can do it, but the other part of me doesn’t want to waste time just to prove a point that nobody cares I can make.
“I must not be doing my job well,” Shane says, snapping me out of my thoughts.
When I open my eyes, he’s hovering above me, and it hits me that I was so lost in my head that I forgot he was going down on me and didn’t realize he’d stopped.
“What’s going on?” he asks, caging me in with his arms.
“I’m meeting with the realtor this morning,” I admit, making his brows furrow.
“Well then, looks like I’ll need to work extra hard to convince you that living on your own won’t bring you half the pleasure you’d get by living with me.”