“Jesus, woman, will you let me talk?” he grumbled.
“Sorry, go ahead.”
“Take care of yourself, yeah? That’s all I was going to say.” He settled his hand on my hip and then slid it to my belly.
“I’ll take care of myself,” I promised. “And the baby. You don’t have to worry.”
“I worry. I worry all the time,” he muttered.
“You do?”
“Of course I do. If I had it my way you’d be walking around in a protective bubble or carried on one of those platforms like an ancient Roman princess.”
“How would that even fit in the car?” I asked. “You’re being sweet. A little overprotective, but sweet. I’m young. I’m healthy. Everything is good. You being out of town doesn’t change that.”
“So what you’re saying is, I can’t control everything, so I need to chill the fuck out?”
“Something like that.”
“Yeah, not going to happen.”
I chuckled and settled back down, but then I sobered. “I worry every time you get on your motorcycle.”
“Have you ever been on a motorcycle?”
“I haven’t even been on a scooter,” I quipped.
He tangled his fingers in my hair as he spoke. “It’s freedom, babe. It’s open road, sun on your back, just you and the pavement. Just you and your thoughts. One day after the baby’s born, I’ll get you on the back of my bike and I’ll show you what it’s all about. I live for the moment when you’re on the back of my bike with your legs wrapped around me and we’re riding up the California 1 with the wind in our faces and the sunshine and ocean spray on our skin.”
“Sounds like a dream,” I murmured, settling back down against him.
I fell asleep happy, knowing that some dreams really did come true.
Chapter38
“I’ve never been sotired in my entire life,” I said, plopping my bottom onto a stool in the bakery kitchen. Brielle had just driven away in the delivery van with a Bar Mitzvah cake while Jazz and I cleaned up.
“I’m pretty beat, too,” Jazz admitted.
We were one week out from Imogene’s wedding, and despite all my organizational skills and the extra few hands we’d employed, I still felt like I was falling behind. We’d gotten so much new business it was hard to keep up.
Slash was still gone, and even though I was working every hour of the day from waking up until I went to sleep at night, I managed to miss him. I missed his smile, his humor, his pensive gaze when he was thinking about something that he didn’t always share with me. I missed his arms around me, his legs tangled with mine, his hot lips on my skin.
I was fully addicted to him and how he made me feel.
When we spoke, it was brief. Just a checking in, a ‘miss you’, a ‘love you’.
My phone chimed.
I looked at my screen and saw Slash’s name.
I can’t wait to be inside you.
I sighed.
“Most women make that noise as they’re eating a bite of chocolate lava cake,” Jazz said with a grin. “But I’m guessing it was Slash saying something dirty?”
“Fairly dirty, I guess.” I set my phone aside.