When I hit the elevator button, a welcome sense of peace washed over me. I walked onto that elevator with the knowledge that everything was going to work out fine. For the first time in a long time, I was excited about my future. Our future.
Chapter Twenty-Five
KAYLEE
My body ached in the most delicious way. I stared at myself in the mirror as I ran my fingers along my kiss-swollen lips. Smiling, I closed my eyes and let the memory of earlier take hold.
Ty’s mouth on mine, his body moving fast and hard. The way his eyes locked with mine when he came . . . it made my stomach jump simply thinking about it.
My phone rang, and I quickly headed back into the main room and grabbed it from my purse. It was Lincoln. “Hello?”
“Hey, so how did the talk go? I couldn’t wait another minute. I was dying to hear from you, and since you’re ignoring my text messages, I figured I would call.”
I chewed nervously on my bottom lip as I sat on the edge of the bed and slipped on one cowboy boot, then the other.
“Your silence is not a good sign. I’m just saying. Y’all either fought, or you—oh, no. Kaylee.”
“We’re going to talk tonight, but we sort of talked.”
“What does that mean?” Lincoln asked as Morgan made the most precious baby noises. There bloomed that silly desire to have one of those little monsters growing inside me.
“It means that I pretty much said what I wanted to say . . . while he was buried deep inside me.”
“Ugh. First off, the visual wasn’t needed, and two—Kaylee! You said you were going to talk to him before anything else.”
I stood and walked back into the bathroom. After putting the phone on speaker, I quickly got to work pulling my hair up into a ponytail.
“Listen here, Mom, have you seen the man? I mean, you’re married to his fine-ass brother. The moment he touched me, I decided talking could wait. I needed action instead.”
A slight giggle came across the phone.
“Also, have you seen his body?”
“Kaylee!” she repeated in a stern voice, but I could detect a hint of humor there. I imagined a slight grin on her face.
“I had every intention of talking to him, but things just got . . . out of control.”
“Did you use protection?”
That question, I didn’t want to answer. “Sort of. He pulled out.”
She gagged. “Oh God, another visual.”
I, of course, neglected to tell her the whole truth on that one.
“Will you please buy some condoms? Y’all are playing with fire.”
Pausing for a minute, I took in a deep breath. “I asked him if he wanted kids.”
“What? Wow! Okay, so there was some talking mixed in with the hot sex.”
“Yes, there was—I told you that already.”
“And? What did he say?”
Smiling like a schoolgirl who’s just gotten her first kiss, I replied, “He said yes, he wanted kids . . . with me. I also told him I loved him.”
That was met with silence on the other end of the phone.
“Lincoln?”
“Hold on, I’m putting Morgan in her swing. I need to do a little happy dance, and I don’t want to give her brain damage.”
I walked out of the bathroom, checked the time, and realized I needed to be down in the lobby for my ride to the arena.
“Okay. Oh my God! Oh my God! You told him you loved him? Kaylee, holy shit!”
I laughed. “I know. He didn’t freak. I mean, there was once or twice when I swore he was about to tell me, but he put the wall back up. I told him I wasn’t going anywhere, and that I was going to fight for us.”
“You go, girl! Oh my gosh, Kaylee. This is huge. Like, whoa.”
“Right?”
I opened the door—and let out a gasp of surprise when a woman with long blonde hair also gasped, her hand poised to knock on the door.
“Oh, excuse me,” she said, looking past me and into the room. “I was looking for Ty Shaw.”
“Who is that?” Lincoln asked, still on speakerphone.
“Hold on, Lincoln.” I quickly took her off and put the phone to my ear.
“He isn’t here. Is there something I can help you with?” It was then I looked down and saw a little girl standing next to the blonde woman. Dark-blonde hair . . . and blue eyes that looked so familiar.
My gut instantly twisted, and I forced myself to swallow the lump in my throat.
“I saw him on TV; he was one of the commentators.” She cleared her throat. “Are you his girlfriend?”
“Kaylee, what is going on? Who is she?”
I ignored Lincoln.
“Yes,” I said, because I was 99 percent sure I could now call myself that.
“Oh. This is going to be a bit awkward. I’ve been trying to reach Ty for a number of months now.” She looked down at the little girl.