“You given any more thought to what we talked about?”
He’s been after me for the past few months to have another baby with him. I love James more than anything, but we’ve done that, and both failed miserably at the whole parenting thing. I’ve just gotten back to a good place with our daughter. We have a granddaughter to spoil. I’m selfish enough to want my man all to myself.
“I don’t want to fight with you.”
“Why does it have to be an argument? I’m asking you one last time. Whatever your answer is I’ll accept it and make my peace with your choice. All I am asking is yes or no. It’s simple as that.”
“It’s not simple as that.”
“Either you want to have a baby with me, or you don’t.” He rolls away from me to sit on the edge of the bed, going for his boots.
My stomach drops. I don’t want to fight.
“Honey...” I sit up and wrap my arms around him from behind.
His shoulders sag, but he drops his boots with a thump and grips my wrists. Dipping his head, he kisses both my palms. “I wanna know why you can’t give me a straight answer?”
“I don’t know. Part of me wants to give you anything you want, but do you really want to start over and raise another k
id?” I kiss the side of his throat. “Can’t we just see what happens. It’s not like you haven’t tried. Your pullout game is weak.”
“Nothing about my game is weak.” He twists around, shoving me back down. “Seems like you need reminding.”
“You gonna prove me wrong?” I quirk a brow at him. “When have you ever fucked me without coming in me, hmmm?”
“Sounds like a challenge.”
“I tell you what. My answer is if it happens it happens. I won’t try to prevent it. If it’s meant to be it’ll be.”
That earns me a flash of his teeth before he pins me to the mattress and strips me of my clothes. “Let’s find out how many times I gotta fuck you to knock you up.”
I don’t have the heart to tell him that I’m certain his swimmers aren’t as strong as they used to be or that his beard is sprouting some grey whiskers.
James makes quick work at teasing me with his fingers and mouth between my thighs. The wiry hair of his beard rubs over my sensitive skin. “Nothing better than this.” He grips my hips, holding me in place. “Don’t know what I did to deserve such an angel,” he murmurs.
“I’m no angel. But, babe, we’ve sure been through plenty of hell.”
It’s been months since we got rid of the toxic bitch who poisoned our lives for years. Part of me is still on edge waiting for Ruthie’s next move from beyond the grave. I’m getting all I ever wanted. I should be happy, and for the most part I am. And yet I keep waiting for it all to fall apart. For something bad to breeze into our lives and ruin all we’ve fought so damn hard to build.
Can it be this easy and natural? For so many years I fought for him to see me. To be with him. I dreamed of nothing but this only to have his wife at the time shoved in my face over and over again. Of course this was all due to bad timing and fucked up circumstances out of his control. I wasn’t innocent. I know I’ve done wrong. James is the only good I’ve ever had outside of being Wylla Mae’s mother. I don’t know how to accept that this is it. We’re finally proving everyone wrong. My parents—everyone who said we’d never last.
I’m days away from saying those two precious words. I do. This Valentine’s Day is twenty years in the making. No sneaking around. No stolen kisses. Random hookups.
This is freedom.
Me in his bed and him in mine.
No games.
Simply this.
Us.
I stroke his jaw. “I love you.”
“You better.”
“Do you doubt it?”