I lay my head on his chest, listening and feeling his heartbeat slowly coming back down.
My own is still fluttering like a bird’s wings. Hasn’t really stopped dancing since he first caught me in his car a few days ago.
I could stay like this forever, I really could. But I get the feeling that Pearce is holding back, staying out here for my benefit when he really has other things on his mind.
Other things besides me he needs to attend to.
“Is there something you need to do?” I ask him. Neither of us needs to play games or have secrets anymore.
Not after what we’ve done together the past couple of days. Good lord.
Pearce twists his mouth and blows some air out of his pursed lips.
“Yeah, I kinda do have to go back for something… work,” he says and rolls his eyes.
I know it’s got something to do with that woman from his office and that Whitman fella, but I really don’t know enough about Pearce’s world to know what to say.
The thought of being alone out here doesn’t thrill me, but Pearce is quick to explain that when he does go back, I’ll be right by his side.
“Anything that happens from now on, you’re a part of it too,” he says, almost sounding like he’s warning me.
“Wha-What does that actually mean, Pearce?” I ask, not sure whether he’s kidding or not.
“It could all go either way, but just so you know, we’ve got the house and plenty of spare change in the piggy bank,” he grins, moving only to kiss me as his whole mood lifts even higher.
The sound of a van or truck outside makes me sit up, covering my body out of habit more than anything else.
Pearce rubs my shoulder, easing me back down to rest on him.
“Just more deliveries, Brynn,” he says soothingly. Making me shift from apprehensive to excited, all in a millisecond.
Feeling like a kid at Christmas. I even ask Pearce if he minds if I start unboxing now. It’ll be the first real delivery of stuff I’ve bought thanks to him.
Clothes, lingerie, and a surprise or three for Pearce, of course.
His laughter is my own too when he says he couldn’t think of a better way to start the day.
Slipping into one of his oversized sweaters, with Pearce only covering himself with the sweatpants of the same outfit, we both head downstairs.
Far from spoiling any surprises by being here, Pearce helps me bring the boxes inside, then suggests he get breakfast started while I unbox.
“I got you some things too,” I tell him, absently holding my belly with a smile.
I’ve been doing that a lot lately the past few days.
“I can’t wait to see ‘em,” he says, his eyes straying from mine down to my chest and finally my exposed legs.
“I might need some new sweaters,” he jokes over his shoulder on the way to the kitchen, confirming what I thought all along. That the man wants me barefoot and barely dressed every moment of the day.
I make straight for the biggest boxes, guessing they have what I think inside.
I’ll need to get these upstairs before Pearce sees…
Although I haven’t picked out the exact room, I figure the bedroom closest to ours makes the most sense for now. I put the two biggest boxes behind the door and head back downstairs.
Pearce is at the bottom of the stairs, wearing a ‘kiss the cook’ apron and holding a spatula, making me laugh.
“I thought you were?” he asks with mock suspicion, eyeing the boxes and then me.
“I just needed the ladies…” I chirp, flitting past him and reminding him how hungry I am, I set to work unpacking.
After breakfast, and once Pearce has let me know it really is time to go back to town, even just for a day and a night, I decide to peek at my boxes in the room upstairs.
Pearce’s deep baritone voice from the shower as he sings to himself tells me I have a few minutes before he’ll call me to join him.
He’s not the worst singer. I just can’t keep a straight face when he does it. It’s the one thing I know he’s self-conscious about, so I let him sing for a bit while I go peek.
Opening up just the top end of each package I can see one pink, one blue.
Just in case.
The little pictures on the end of the boxes make my heart fill with mixed emotions.
Having sex for days on end is one thing, maybe even thinking that ‘one day’ we might have kids…
But actively buying cribs and baby clothes?
I’m not sure how into that Pearce would be, so for now, I decide to keep it as an open secret.
Not telling, but not stopping him from—
“Here you are,” he says from behind me, making me squeal with fright until I realize who it is.