“Do you mean it? Are you sure? We haven’t confirmed it.”
“Red, I’ve never been more sure about anything. And even if you’re not pregnant, I want you to move in and quit Club R. We’ll take on the future one day at a time.”
I smiled as happy tears rolled down my face. “Take my shorts off so you can make love to me.”
“Jeez, you’re so bossy.”
I giggled. “You know I am.”
“After we make love, we’ll go buy a test.”
“Deal.”
18
Leo
I NEEDED TO hold my shit together for Red. The last thing I wanted was for her to run away from me. Yes, my initial reaction to her being pregnant sucked. My demons had rushed back. All the women I’d been with, my parents’ fighting and divorce, my selfish and arrogant ways.
I wasn’t good enough for my redheaded beauty, but I fucking would try like hell to deserve her. I would do everything in my power to make my child proud I was their dad.
Red trembled in my arms as we waited for the timer. I held her close, kissing on her repeatedly, trying to assure her it would all be okay. After I’d made love to her, pouring everything I had into her, we ran to the drugstore for a pregnancy test.
And now we were waiting. This was the longest three minutes of my life.
There wasn’t a single doubt in my mind she was having my baby, but Red refused to believe it. I knew it was because of me. She felt responsible for getting pregnant, but hey, it takes two to make a baby. No matter how many times I told her I wasn’t upset about it, I saw the doubt in her gorgeous green eyes. It fucking hurt too that she wanted to spare me what she thought was grief.
Red was the most remarkable woman. Kind and loving, sweet and sassy, sexy and selfless. She loved me. She didn’t have to say it for me to know it. Her actions spoke what was in her heart every moment we were together.
Why couldn’t she feel what was in my heart like I did hers?
What was I doing wrong? Or was she guarding her heart? Protecting herself in case I ran out on her? Yeah, that was probably it.Dammit.
Running out on Red would never happen. Baby or no baby, Red was mine. I had no intention of ever letting her go.
The timer on my cell phone went off, and Red buried her face in my chest.
“I can’t do this,” she mumbled into my shirt.
I rubbed her back. “We’re doing this together.”
“Why are you so calm? This is huge.”
“Well, I guess because I’m okay with having a baby with you.”
She lifted her head and straddled me. She cupped my cheeks and kissed me. It was sweet and chaste and so tender, she nearly made me melt into the bed.
“I don’t think I could do this without you.”
“Red, I’d be a fucking crazy man if you tried to do it without me. If you cut me out, I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”
“I’d never cut you out, Leo. But I would set you free if that’s what you wanted.”
“It’s not, Red. I don’t want you letting me go or pushing me away. Before we look at the results of the test, I want you to promise me you will never let me go.”
She inhaled a deep breath and kissed me once more. “I promise to never let you go. I hope you won’t let me go either.”
I squeezed her tightly. “Jesus, woman. I’d be a damn fool if I let you go. I may be a lot of things, but a fool isn’t one of them. Now let’s go confirm we’re going to be parents.”