“Hey honey,” Brad calls. “We got the baby’s crib. It just needs to be assembled now, and boy, it’s going to be a doozy.”
Both men are wearing jeans and t-shirts, and it must be hot outside because they’re both a little sweaty, and the material sticks to their toned chests. Next to me, Emma sucks in a sharp breath and I turn to my friend again. To my surprise, her eyes are locked on my dad, and her cheeks are starting to flush. Eeew, gross. I know Joseph is a good-looking guy but still. This is my dad, and if he thinks the age gap between me and Brad is huge, then the age gap between him and Emma is even bigger. Ugh, I don’t even want to go there.
But the Senator merely keeps busy without meeting anyone’s eyes.
“Let’s put it in the nursery,” he directs my boyfriend. The two men disappear and when I look at Emma again, she’s still got stars in her eyes as she stares in their direction. The men reappear, and my dad smiles like nothing’s wrong.
“Well,” Joseph says, “I hate to run but I’ve got a dinner I have to get to.”
Emma hops up from the couch and makes a point of looking at her watch. “Oh yes, and I have to go too. I forgot I made a study date at the library with some people from my Humanities class. I’m going to be late.”
I stare at her.
“Really?” I ask. “You guys are studying on a Saturday?”
Her cheeks flush but she nods while grabbing her jacket and bag.
“Yes, because midterms are only a week away. Okay bye everyone!” she calls before disappearing out the door. Two minutes later, my dad’s gone too and Brad and I are alone in the apartment.
“Okay, did that seem weird?” I ask my boyfriend.
“About what?’ he asks.
“I mean, Joseph and Emma are being so weird around one another. You don’t think … do you?” I ask.
My boyfriend bursts into hearty laughter.
“No, I don’t think that and I haven’t noticed anything. But maybe that’s why the Senator was so quick to come around to our relationship,” he says with an amused smile. “Because he’s actually in love with a younger woman himself.”
I turn to my boyfriend then.
“Yes, but it’s even more scandalous in their case because my dad’s almost fifty! At least you’re only forty!”
Brad merely shrugs as his eyes gleam.
“Hey, we’re guys who like ‘em young,” he says. I slap his shoulder playfully.
“OMG, you’re so bad.”
With that, he leans down and kisses me before rubbing my tummy. “Yes. I do like them young, and I adore everything about you, Katy Mellon. But then, he goes serious and before I realize it, my boyfriend’s on one knee before me.
“Speaking of which,” he rumbles. “I’d love for you to change your name, sweetheart, from Katy Mellon to Katy Landon. What do you think? Would you consider it, baby? Would you make me the happiest man alive and become my wife?”
With that, the gorgeous man reaches into his jeans and pulls out a deep blue box, before popping it open. Inside, is a huge sparkler on a platinum band and I gasp with tears in my eyes.
“Oh my goodness,” I cry out. “Yes, yes, I’d love to marry you, Brad Landon. I’d love to change my name.”
With that, my fiancé slips the ring on my finger, and we admire it for a moment, both for what it represents and for what the future holds. He leans forward to kiss me once again, that mobile mouth seizing my lips.
“I love you, baby. God, I love you so much. Thank you for making me so happy and for accepting everything about this crazy relationship from the beginning.”
I giggle.
“What are you calling crazy? The baby’s not even here yet, and after he or she arrives, then things are really getting crazy.”
My fiancé merely pulls me close before dropping another kiss onto my hair.
“Crazy has its place, baby girl, and your place will always be with me.”
My heart soars as I snuggle into the warmth of his arms because when this all started, I never planned on becoming Mrs. Brad Landon. I thought I’d maybe flirt with the handsome man, and even exchange a kiss or two before getting into naughty times. But instead, I fell head over heels for the man who was off limits, and now, he’s mine for keeps.
* * *
THE END