Dazedly, she nodded. “About three weeks ago, it finally let up. But then the cravings kind of kicked in full blast. Which has been a total pain in the ass. It’s hard to find weird foods in the middle of nowhere.”
“What kind of cravings?”
“Deep fried Oreos with sriracha was just one of the strange things I’ve gotten addicted to.” She rubbed her stomach fondly. “Thankfully, Kin can cook just about anything I requested. Otherwise, I don’t think either of us would have survived as long as we did together.”
“You went to the doctor regularly?”
“I went twice. At this point, I only have to go every few weeks. I guess I’ll have to find an actual OB-GYN to take care of me from here on out.” She bit her lip as she contemplated it. “I’ll figure it out, though.”
“I want to go to your doctor’s appointments. All of them. Let me know when and where.” I rubbed my thumb over her knuckles, watching for a reaction. “I’ll drive you.”
She rested her chin on her free hand as she leaned forward. “You’ve come a long way from your initial reaction to me telling you about the baby. I’m really glad you want to be involved, Cash.”
I grimaced at what a bastard I’d been. “I’m sorry for the way I reacted when you first told me about the baby, Dreamer. I freaked out, but after I talked to Gray and Harris, I calmed down. It just took a little time. Forgive me?”
“If you’re one hundred percent on board with helping me raise this baby, then yeah, I forgive you.”
“For everything?” I asked hopefully.
She sighed heavily but nodded. “Yes. Everything. I’m not going to say I’m happy about the Lindsey thing, but I believe you when you say nothing sexual happened.” She rolled her eyes at whatever was running through her mind.
“What?” I asked when she didn’t tell me what she was thinking.
“Our sex life was pretty crazy. As wild as you were with me, I’m fairly sure you weren’t getting it anywhere else.”
I threw my head back, laughing out loud as her entire face bloomed with pink.
“Cash!” she hissed when heads turned to look at us.
Grinning, I lifted her hand to my lips. “Baby, you have no clue how happy you make me. I couldn’t keep my hands off you, and it’s killing me not to touch you the way I’ve been aching to. But for you, I’m going to do just that.” I leaned forward, dropping my voice. “The second you say this sex ban is over, be prepared. You’re not leaving my bed for at least a few days.”
Her throat worked as she gulped, and she quickly grabbed her water, taking a few thirsty swallows. Once she was composed, she tried to glare at me, but the need shining out of her eyes wasn’t very convincing. “It’s not a ban. Just a pause.”
“Right. Then, when you hit play again, we aren’t likely to see daylight for a week.”
A grin teased at the corners of her mouth. “Let’s make it two.”
Groaning, I leaned back enough to rearrange my cock so my zipper didn’t cripple me. “Evil,” I mouthed as the waiter placed our food in front of us. Amara grinned and picked up her fork.
Later, after dessert, I took her home. Even though I was dying to take her back to my place—our place—I wasn’t going to fuck this up again. She could have all the time she needed. Until then, I would do whatever possible to show her how much she meant to me.
With a soft kiss to her lips, I stepped back. Her lashes fluttered up, as if surprised I hadn’t kissed her deeper. Her fingers touched her lips as she leaned back against her apartment door. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I promised as I took a reluctant step back. “Call me if you need anything.” At the last second, I leaned down and touched my lips to her stomach. “Bye for now, tiny dreamer.”
“Cash, wait!” she called when I would have turned for the elevators.
I grinned but shook my head. “No, Amara. Don’t hit the play button just because I said goodbye to our daughter. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Chapter 23
Amara
My lips were still tingling as I walked into work the next morning. My office was a shared room with five other road managers, who came in sporadically throughout the day if they weren’t out on tour with the bands they handled.
Dropping my box of personal items I’d brought to make my desk homier, I started pulling out picture frames. One of Riley and me, one of the ultrasound that I loved. I’d even printed out one from my phone of Kin and me that I took while we were at the cabin. She wasn’t just the client I managed; she’d turned into a close friend I’d come to rely on.
And said friend was expecting me downstairs to oversee her demo recordings. Leaving everything on my desk, I scrambled to get there as fast as possible. As I stepped into
the recording studio where Shane Stevenson was already messing with buttons that did God only knew what, I nearly tripped over a miniature replica of the rocker.