I was confident she’d say yes, but still, my nerves felt frazzled the whole time I was doing it. And when she finally broke into that sideways grin of hers, the one I love so much, and told me she would, I thought I could fu
cking conquer the world right then.
Even now, two weeks later, I’m still high off the look on her face, the knowledge that this gorgeous, sexy, smart-as-hell woman is going to be mine. Forever.
“Up here,” Daisy’s voice drifts down the staircase.
We were able to afford a pretty nice place out here. Turns out, the real estate market out in the suburbs of Atlanta gives you a hell of a lot more bang for your buck than downtown LA does. We bought a huge four bedroom, three-story house, that looks like it popped right out of a Victorian dollhouse catalog, complete with a huge yard, and wisteria creeping along the bricks out front, and decorating the broad porch out back. We like to eat dinner out there at night, sipping wine while we gaze out across the trees in our backyard, the patch of sun where Daisy’s mother has started her own little garden, and the pond in the distant corner that makes the property feel magical.
Between the garden and the pond is the best feature of the house. A guest cottage, with its own private bathroom and kitchenette, and even a homey living room with its own fireplace. A perfect home for Daisy’s mom.
Granted, she winds up eating with us more often than not, and since she’s a delight to have around, we enjoy the evening company. But it’s nice for her to have her own space, a spot where she can still feel like she’s living independently, in spite of everything.
Her health has stabilized somewhat. It helps to have Daisy around to run errands for her and keep after her about taking her medications and keeping her doctors’ appointments. She’s still on the mend, and the doctors think she’ll need constant care for the rest of her life, probably. But having Daisy so close to her has made her life so much easier and happier. And getting to know her has shown me where Daisy gets her sharp sense of humor as well as her kind heart.
As for Daisy, she landed her dream job here in Atlanta, one with an easy commute from home that allows her to continue learning and building on what she loves doing—helping offices problem-solve. She’s in marketing now, after taking a promotion up from the sales job where she began. Every night she comes home with another exciting story about the campaigns she’s working on, the progress she’s making helping the company.
I couldn’t be prouder of her.
Me, I’m working on building up an investment portfolio. Turns out, there’s a lot of interesting opportunities to be had at the spot where gambling intersects with financial investments. I’m learning to put my old Vegas skills to a much more productive use—figuring out the stock market and turning the little nest egg I left LA with into the kind of money that will be able to sustain us for the future.
Us, and the family we plan to have one day, of course. Because there’s a reason we wanted this nice big house with its huge yard and its multiple bedrooms and plenty of bathrooms. Daisy always dreamed of having a big family, and her dreams have a way of becoming infectious. I can’t help picturing us with kids underfoot, imagining Daisy barefoot and in the kitchen, shooting me that exasperated but somehow still sexy smile of hers.
It’s the future I want. The life I want. A life I could never have imagined just a little over a year and a half ago. Somehow, in just the one month she and I first spent together, Daisy changed my whole outlook on the world.
Now I get to spend the rest of my life savoring it.
I reach the top of the steps and glance around, a little furrow appearing on my brow in confusion. The hall lights are dark, the only light coming from the master bedroom that Daisy and I have claimed for ourselves. “Daisy?” I ask again, stepping toward it.
“In here,” she calls, and there’s a suppressed emotion in her voice that I can’t quite place.
I reach the door and gently push it open.
Inside, I see Daisy reclining on our bed, dressed in nothing but a sheer lingerie and high heels. She never wears them to work anymore, but we both love it when she breaks them out in the bedroom on occasion.
My eyebrows rise, and I start to smile, unable to tear my eyes from the luscious curve of her breasts, cupped and pushed up into perfect handfuls under that dress. And from there, I trace the line of her body down to her narrow waist, her broad hips, cocked to one side as she grins at me, a devious look that does just as much as the sight of her right now to send all the blood in my body rushing south.
Fuck. I’d never known that a woman could make me hard in seconds flat, with little more than a smirk, until I met Daisy.
“Mom’s holed up for the night on a Pride and Prejudice miniseries binge,” Daisy says, still grinning, as she sits up just far enough for her breasts to spill toward me like an invitation. My cock is practically throbbing against the seam of my jeans as I take a step toward the bed. “So we’ve got the house all to ourselves for the night.”
“What’s the occasion, naughty girl?” I ask when I reach the edge of the bed, reaching down to catch her ankles and slowly part them. She rolls onto her back, obedient, and grins up at me as I raise her leg and kiss the soft skin above her ankle, starting to kneel on the bed between her legs as I kiss my way higher, up to her calf, the inside of her knee.
“Well, I thought it would be a fitting way to celebrate,” she says, her eyelids fluttering half-shut as my mouth reaches the inside of her thighs, and I nip lightly at the skin there.
“What are we celebrating?” I ask, my mouth moving against her skin as I speak.
“We’re celebrating the outcome of this,” she replies.
I lift my head to raise an eyebrow at her, confused. “Of what?”
She gestures to herself, and brushes both hands down her sides. “Of all the hot sex we’ve been having.”
I tilt my head to one side, still not fully understanding. Not until I see what she’s holding in her hand. A slim little stick, white in color, facing away from me. Only then do my eyes widen, as I start to grasp what she means. “Are you saying…?”
She bites her lip. Nods, and now I can see the joy, which she’s been trying to hide from me, clearly bubbling up to the surface. Now it shines through, unmistakable, as she turns the stick around to face me.
My eyes widen as I take in the little pink plus sign on the end of it. I reach for Daisy, catch her waist and draw her up off the bed and into my arms. “Oh my god, Daisy.”
“You’re going to be a father, Bronson,” she whispers into my neck, kissing me.
I tip her head back with one finger beneath her chin, and gaze into those blue eyes I love so much. “You’re going to be a mother. And a fucking fantastic one.” I lean down to kiss her, gently at first, then harder as her arms circle my neck to bury in my hair.
And me? I’m going to be the father I always wished I had. I’m not going to let our child feel controlled or pressured the way I was. I’m going to support them no matter who they turn out to be, even if they’re different from me. Because I learned that much from my parents. I learned how to be the parent I’d always wanted.
I lean down to kiss my way along Daisy’s jawline toward her ear, nipping lightly at her skin there. “We made a baby,” I whisper against her neck.
Her arms tighten around me. “How crazy is that?”
I lean back to grin at her. “Not crazy at all, Daisy. It’s perfect. Just like you.” My gaze travels down her body and my smile widens. “You, and this outfit you’re wearing.”
“Are you sure it’s not too naughty for a mother?” She smirks and twists a little on the bed, displaying it.
I catch the edge of her lingerie. “Mm, you’re right. Entirely too dirty for a mother-to-be. We’re going to have to get you out of it instead.” With that, I tug it up her body, and she raises her arms to let me pull it off and toss it unceremoniously on the ground beside the bed. Then I pull her toward me again, kissing my way down to her pert nipples, already starting to harden as I swirl my tongue around them, one after the other, my hand working at her other breast as my lips tease the first. Before long she arches her back up into me, and runs both hands through my hair, her nails as sharp as she is sof
t.
I shift down, kissing between her breasts, then along the flat plane of her stomach toward her mound. I pause along the way to kiss her belly, one hand stroking the gentle curve there with wonder. “Hello in there,” I murmur, and she laughs, rolling her eyes. But she reaches down to stroke her stomach too, her touch slow, wondering.
“I still can’t believe we’re here,” she murmurs. “That this is our life. The life I’ve always dreamt of.”
“And now we’ve created a new life to join us.” I grin and kiss her belly again. Then kiss my way lower, slowly. “Do you know how hot that is?”
“What, that I’m carrying your baby?” She smiles at me.
I kiss the top of her mound. “And that I get to call you mine now. Forever.”
She laughs softly. But it transitions into a soft sigh of pleasure as I kiss my way lower, tracing my tongue along each of her pussy lips, one side after the other. Then I draw back and reach up to trail a finger along the length of her slit, collecting her juices on the tip of my finger.
“Clearly you find this as hot as I do.” I raise an eyebrow at her and slip my finger into my mouth to lick it clean, savoring the taste of her. Salty and sweet and utterly intoxicating.
I need more.
I part her legs and kneel off the edge of the bed, between them. At the same time, I use two fingers to spread her lips wide, and smile up at her. “Have I ever told you what a gorgeous goddamn pussy you have, Ms. Rider?”
“You might have mentioned it once or twice,” she replies, one eyebrow lifted as she smirks.
“Have I also mentioned how sweet you taste?” I add, and lean in to lick my tongue along the same path my finger just took, trailing the entire length of her slit and finishing by circling the tip of my tongue around her clit, already red and swollen with want. Then I flatten my tongue like a blade and drag it over her, again and again, lapping at her clit in slow, steady strokes.