Why wasthatthere?
“Is this one of the old folders from when we were doing IVF?” He lifted it and opened the folder, just as Indie turned.
She gasped. “No, wait…”
It was too late. He frowned at the first page. At the big bold heading that read: “Sperm Donors.”
What the hell?
He turned over to the next page…and sure enough, there was a whole damn bio of information on a guy.
Indie rushed forward and pulled the folder from his fingers. “You weren’t supposed to see that.”
“You’re doing IVF with a sperm donor?” Jesus, saying the words out loud tasted like acid on his tongue.
“No. I went to an information session at the clinic the other day, just to explore the option.”
“Having a baby with a man who isn’t your husband is anoptionfor you?” She washiswife, and she was thinking about having another man’s baby?
Fuck no.
Her mouth opened and closed. “Colt, we’re separated. And I still want a baby.”
“Separated but still married, Cricket.”
“I’m almost thirty-five. I want to be a mother.”
“Well, let’s make a baby then.” His words came out too loud. Too angry. But he couldn’t stop them.
She scrubbed her hands over her face again. “We tried. We tried for so long that it destroyed us.”
“Itdidn’tdestroy us.”
“It destroyedme!” She looked back at him. “The physical and mental toll it took on me…I can’t even explain it. It broke me. I feltbroken. And I thought maybe if I tried by myself, it might be different. Easier.”
He couldn’t stop himself. He closed the space between them and gripped her waist. “I know it was hard. And I’m so damn sorry I couldn’t be here as much as you needed me. But I’m here now. And if you want to do another round of IVF, I’ll do it with you and hold your hand every step of the way. I have nowhere I’d rather be. I would doanythingfor you, Cricket.”
Tears pooled in her eyes. “I’ve missed you.”
Her eyes widened like she hadn’t meant to say those words out loud.
“You have no idea. I told myself I was okay, but the second I saw you, I remembered what okay was supposed to feel like.”
Her breath hitched. Then suddenly, her hands moved up his chest—and she pulled his head down and kissed him.
And the second her lips touched his, he could breathe for the first time in over a year.
Indie was kissing Colt.She hadn’t kissed him in over a year, yet everything about him felt so achingly familiar. His soft lips against hers. The power in his arms as they wrapped around her.It was the kind of familiar she wanted to fall into. Let it envelop her. Sweep her away to that place that was for just the two of them.
Her lips separated and he dove in, his tongue tangling with hers, claiming her.
His kisses hadalwaysfelt like more of a claim. Like he knew she was his and he was telling her with his entire body. There was never any hesitation. And right now, it felt like he was trying to take every moment they’d lost over the last year and make up for each one. Hold her tighter. Explore her deeper.
She groaned at the taste of him—it always reminded her of the rain. Soft and grounding. Rich. But there was also sweetness there. It was all so infinitely unique to Colt.
She wove her fingers through his hair. Soft locks that were in such contradiction to the hardness of the rest of him.
He spun them and lifted her to the island. Then he was between her thighs, the thin material of her shirt bunched around her waist. And she felt him right there, hard and long, pressing to her core, making desire flare in her lower belly.
