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)
He gave a quiet chuckle. “That’s fair. Wish I could do it for you.”
“I wouldn’t fight you on that.”
He smiled again before he filled his wineglass. “We should take a drive and get some shopping done. There’s a lot of stuff we’re going to need in a couple months.”
“We have like eight months.”
“But it’ll be here before you know it,” he said. “I like to be prepared.”
The first man I’d ever met who had his shit together, who wasn’t afraid to be proactive about tasks, who was on his game every single day. I loved his boss energy, and I loved his ambition . . . among all the other things I loved about him. “Can’t believe this is real.”
“Yeah.” He looked out to the dark coastline, his eyes warm in their version of a smile. “Pretty great, huh?” He reached for his wineglass and lifted it by the stem. “La dolce vita, right?”
I picked up my water glass and gently tapped it against his. “La dolce vita.”
I had that Monday off, so Constantine asked if I wanted to spend the day at the beach.
And there was no way I was going to pass that up. I packed my tiny little bikini that I wouldn’t be able to wear in a couple months . . . or maybe ever again. I took my sun hat, my shades, and a cover-up.
Constantine had a driver drop us off at Belmond Villa Sant’Andrea, and we walked down the path and the stairs to the beach club below. It was the same place we’d been to with his friends, and I was excited to go back, especially since it was just the two of us.
He checked us in to a private cabana like last time, but we used the set of loungers closer to the water, right in front of the rock we’d recklessly climbed and jumped off months ago. The waiter came over and brought us drinks, and we lounged in the shade together and watched the boats in the cove.
He was in his black swim trunks, a muscled hunk covered in tattoos, an eleven out of ten. I noticed a few girls looking at him, but I wasn’t even mad. Who could blame them, right? He ordered a mortadella and pistachio pizza like the last time we were here, but he was so fit, it didn’t look like he’d ever had pizza in his life.
“When your mom showed me your family photos, you didn’t look the way you do now.”
One arm was propped underneath his neck as he gazed out at the water, a slight smile on his lips. “I left a boy and returned a man.”
“What made you make that change?”
“Because no one respects you unless they think you can kill them with your bare hands. When I came home for the first time, my mother nearly didn’t recognize me.” He released a quiet chuckle. “And then she made all my food portions bigger, like they weren’t already big enough.”
“Yeah, when I stayed there, she tried to get me to eat about ten thousand calories.”
“Yep, that’s my ma.”
“After I have the baby, you’ll have to help me get back into shape.”
“I can certainly help you with cardio.” This time, he turned to look at me, that big-ass grin on his face.
I rolled my eyes, but it was completely playful.
He patted his thigh, then nodded for me to join him.
“There are people around.”
“So?” He snapped his fingers like I was Medusa. “Get your ass over here.”
The chairs immediately around us had been vacated, so there wasn’t anyone directly next to us. It wasn’t private, but it was semiprivate. And anyone who was uncomfortable with it was just jealous they weren’t me.
I moved to his lounger and settled between his legs, my back to his chest.
He pulled me against him, his big arms like two safety belts in a car, and he cocooned me between his muscular thighs as the summer breeze moved over our skin. He dipped his head and kissed my shoulder a few times, even though it probably tasted like sunscreen. He flattened his hands over my stomach like he could feel a bulge no one else could see. “I can’t wait until you start to show.”
I relaxed against his hard chest, feeling him support me from behind while making me feel loved with his big hands and arms. He always smothered me in love that felt so masculine and secure. There were beautiful women everywhere in Taormina, but I never saw his eyes wander once. They were always on me, loving me physically and emotionally with just his stare.
“Turns me the fuck on,” he said into my ear.
“Wait until my belly is enormous and I can barely walk.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Right on command, his dick hardened and poked into my back. “Don’t torture me.” He hooked his arms around me again and pressed another kiss to my shoulder as he cradled me to him. He eventually lay back, his chest rising and falling evenly, peacefully.