Coming to stand behind Billie, I wrap my arms around her waist and rest my chin over her shoulder, gazing up at Blake’s delighted beam.
“She was in fits of giggles in that one,” I say, pointing to the middle image. “You caught her just right.”
“They’re truly stunning.” My girlfriend’s voice is full of wonder.
I turn her in my hold, looping my hands under her ass. She wraps her legs around my waist, hands secured tightly at the nape of my neck.
“Did you have the whole place renovated?”
I nod. “Even the bath towels match.”
Throwing her head back, she laughs out loud, and, fuck, could I play that sound on repeat for the rest of my life.
Even better, I pray that I get to hear it live until the day I leave this earth.
“Want to see my favorite room?” I ask.
Billie casts a hand around the open-plan space. “I’m not sure you could top this, to be honest.”
Walking us down the hallway, which has been finished in a similar style to the living area, I depress a door handle with my elbow and ask Billie to flick the light switch directly in front of her.
“Holy … moly.” Both hands cover her face, and I pull her closer to my body when she forgets that she needs to hold on to my neck.
“What do you think?”
Billie presses her lips together, more tears emerging. “I think this is every little girl’s dream.”
Cotton-candy pink, lacy ruffles. A huge dollhouse, complete with all the furniture Blake could ever want when she’s old enough to play with it. Books and sensory games are scattered across a soft pink rug, ready for her to explore, and in the center of the room sits a crib, which is small enough for Blake now, but big enough for her to grow into.
“Emmett …” Billie casts her eyes up to the golden stars painted on the bedroom ceiling. “They’re beautiful.”
I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. All I want is to be around my favorite girls twenty-four/seven.
“They illuminate in the dark. So, when Blake’s falling asleep,they’re the last thing she’ll see and the first image she’ll wake up to.”
Memories of the first time I woke to Billie’s face were the reason behind that idea. Everyone should open their eyes to something beautiful each morning.
“I want our baby girl to shoot for all of her dreams. Whether that’s as a pro soccer player, like Kendra and Jenna, or a lawyer, like her mommy, or whatever she chooses to be. I made you a promise, Bill. A promise that I will always be here, and I wanted to show you how serious I am about that by transforming my stark penthouse into our home.”
It takes her a second to catch up to what I just said. “Ourhome?”
“Our home,” I repeat.
I walk us back through to the living area, where I sit down on the couch with Billie straddling me.
“When the playoffs are over and I’ve got the time to help you pack up your things and we have late-night pineapple pizza on speed dial, I want you both to move in with me.”
I’m met with silence, although it doesn’t make me anxious. Billie’s overwhelmed—I can see it in her eyes.
Moving my mouth up her neck, I pause my lips over the shell of her ear. “While others speculate over us being a rebound, I’m over here, knowing that you’re my soulmate.” I rest her palm over the sunrise tattoo on my chest. “I know that Scott doubts my love for you, and I’m going to make it my life’s mission to prove him wrong by loving his daughter harder than any man has ever loved a woman before. If you want my heart, then it’s already yours. If you want my life, then it already revolves around you and Blake. And if you want more babies with me”—I smirk, my dick growing hard at the thought—“then I’ll be too happy to put some inside you.”
“You want us to move in with you now?” Voice dazed, Billie wriggles in my lap, and, Christ, I’m desperate to be inside her.
“As soon as practically possible,” I reaffirm. “If you’re ready, then I’m ready to build the rest of our lives together.”
Blake’s tiny whimper lets us know that she’s stirring from her nap, and Billie turns toward the stroller before centering her attention back on me.
“You don’t have to answer right away. You can always think about it.”
