Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
When he pulled away, he gently brushed his nose against mine before he kissed the corner of my mouth. “All right, now you can get back to work.” His grin was big, beautiful, and infectious. It brought a twinkle to his eyes, a warmth hotter than the Sicilian sun.
I got off his lap and felt his big hand give my ass a playful smack.
“I’ll take the Palermo-style cutlet,” he said. “And a glass of red wine.”
“Sure thing.”
He winked at me. “Attagirl.”
I turned away and headed back to the kitchen to put in the order, but I felt his eyes drill into my back, hot and possessive, like we’d just met all over again. I glanced over my shoulder and saw exactly what I predicted—but there was also a smile.
I got him a glass of wine and returned to the table.
He kicked out the chair across from him. “Sit.”
“Well, I’m at work.”
“Doing what, exactly?” He looked around the dining room. “No one’s here, all the tables are clean. Now sit that fine ass down.”
“Fine ass, huh?” In a couple months, my fine ass would be a big ass. I took a seat across from him and crossed my legs, my arms on the table.
He took a drink of his wine and relaxed in the chair.
“Constantine!” Antonio shouted from the kitchen. “I’m making this for you?”
“Yeah, and it better be damn good,” Constantine yelled back.
“Only the best for you, man.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” He turned back to me, still smiling like it was permanently carved into his face. “You’re fucking beautiful, you know that?” He cocked his head slightly as he looked at me, his smile slowly fading from his mouth but remaining in his gaze, looking at me like he’d never really looked at me before.
“Okay, what’s gotten into you?”
“Gotten into me?” he asked, eyebrows cocked.
I should probably have just left it alone, but now I needed to know why he’d woken this morning in a whole different mode. “Last night was rough, and now . . . it’s like it never happened.”
He gave a shrug. “Guess I remembered what I have, and how lucky I am to be here with you. That there’s so much more to life, and I’m excited to live it—with you.” Affection and happiness still burned in his gaze, a shadow of a smile on his lips. “I’m here to talk whenever you’re ready. But no rush. Take all the time you need.”
Another burst of adrenaline filled me, but it dissipated quickly when he removed the pressure. It seemed like he was done asking me about it. Finally gave me the space to decide how and when I would tell him the truth . . . that I was pregnant.
The bell in the kitchen rang, so I headed into the back to retrieve his lunch. A breaded piece of chicken with a side of pasta. I returned to the table and placed it in front of him before I sat down.
He dug into it right away, then called into the back. “Thanks, Antonio.”
“You got it, Con.”
He cut into the meat, took big bites, and smiled at me with his eyes while he continued to eat—the happiest I’d ever seen him. Last night, he’d confessed how lost he was, but now, he’d never looked more sure of himself.
My mind continued to question it, but I decided to let it go.
I always took a shower when I got home from work. I wore a shower cap to protect my hair, but I washed away the smell of tomatoes, eggplant, and fried rice balls. There were worse things to smell like, but I didn’t want to stink up the beautiful house.
I walked out of the bathroom in just my towel and found him on the bed—completely naked. And he was hard as hell. Like just thinking about what he wanted to do to me was enough to make his balls turn blue.
I stilled, feeling like prey that had been caught walking through the grass by an enormous lion.
He didn’t pat the bed or order me to come to him. He left the bed, rose to his full six and a half feet, and then came behind me, gone from my view. His hand reached for the towel that covered me, and he tugged the edge where it was tucked in to make it come free.
It fell to the floor at my feet, and I felt the bumps form on my arms.
He hooked one arm over my chest while the other moved over my stomach. He gently tugged me into him and kissed my neck and then my shoulder, kissing me but doing it in a way that felt like he was eating me alive.
Then he moved in front of me and took a knee, his eyes level with my tits because of how tall he was. He hooked one of my legs over his shoulder then brought me close, pressing kisses to my stomach and licking my belly button ring that I hadn’t taken out yet. My stomach was still flat because I wasn’t more than a month pregnant, and there was no way he or anyone else could tell. And when I’d had my period, our sex lives hadn’t changed because he didn’t care about the bleeding. He probably didn’t notice that it hadn’t come this month. So I wasn’t afraid he would figure it out for a while. I had at least another month before it might catch his attention.