“I am now,” she replied softly, peering up at me. “You wanna get married quickly?”
I shrugged nonchalantly. “No point waiting. We both want babies and soon, and I won’t knock you up until you take my name.”
She held my gaze. “I need to keep my name for work. My management trademarked Saint McClure and Saint’s Rapture. I can trademark Irons, too, but I’m not sure where that would leave me legally.”
“Use McClure for work,” I advised her. “But with everything else, use Irons. I want us and our kids to have the same name.”
“Good idea,” she murmured. “I’ll talk to Talia, then patiently wait for your formal proposal.” Her voice took on a teasing quality. “If you’re good, I may even accept.”
I laughed. “Baby. I’m not asking. Mark my words; by the year’s end, you’ll have my name and hopefully my baby in your belly.”
Her eyes bugged out. “Jacob. That’s four months away.”
“Better hurry up and get that album recorded, then. Maybe we’ll have a Christmas wedding.” My lips curved into a self-satisfied smirk.
Her gaze was warm, her eyes soft. “So basically, I won’t get a formal proposal. You’ve got everything mapped out, and I don’t have a choice in it?”
“Pretty much,” I answered, full of bravado. “I’ll get down on one knee if you want, but even if you say no, I’ll still slip a diamond on your finger.”
Saint rolled her eyes like the brat she was.
I fingered the lapel of her silky robe, my finger dipping underneath to stroke her nipple. “I like this sexy little thing.”
She shivered at the contact. “Thanks. I wore it for you.” She leaned up and whispered, “I’m naked underneath, and hearing you talk about marriage and babies has made me all wet.”
I groaned out loud.
Sexy as fuck.
“Wanna slip it off me and fuck me by my pool?” she asked seductively.
I let out a growl. “There’s nothing I want more, baby, but that pervert fucker may be out there with a long-lens camera. Your body’s for me and me alone.”
Her hand came up and cupped my jaw, her beautiful eyes darting between mine. “You better take me to bed then, Jacob. Your woman needs a good fucking.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I did an ab curl to a sitting position, hauled ass off the sun lounger, and then reached down with both arms and scooped Saint into them.
She let out a surprised squeal. Her hands slid up my chest, and she linked her fingers around my nape, staring into my eyes as I carried her into the house.
And I proceeded to give my woman a good fucking.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SAINT
Ifelt it, the wrongness in the air. It was as if the atmosphere had turned thick and heavy from a miasma of darkness settling over us like a blanket in summer that was too hot and suffocating.
Jacob had gotten a phone call a few minutes before. He’d looked at the display and snatched his cell up before biting off a curt, “Be right back,” then gone out into the yard to talk.
The way he paced up and down the side of the pool indicated a few things. First, he was angry but trying to keep it locked down, probably for my benefit. Second, Jacob always spoke in front of me. He never hid anything and often told me to go into his phone to get a number or to start a call for him if he was driving or in the middle of something. Which led me to believe he was worried about me hearing his conversation, which also meant he was trying to protect me.
Something had obviously happened, and he was trying to get ahead of it before he told me. I may have only been with Jacob for a short time, but I knew him inside out.
It wasn’t difficult to deduce that the stalker had made a move, and Jacob was not happy at all.
“Your man, he seems upset,” Catalina, my housekeeper and second mother, pointed out.
Absentmindedly, I watched her spray the countertop with cleaner before wiping it down. She pushed back the lock of dark grey hair that had fallen out of her bun and began to scrub at an invisible spot. “He never takes calls in the yard.” My gaze turned back to fixate on Jacob. “We don’t hide things from each other.”
