I held my hands out for him to see how badly they were shaking. “I’m thinking that I love you so much it scares me. See?”
Dex's thumbs tipped my chin back so that I could look at his face—at his beautiful, scruffy face. "Baby." He said my name like a purr that reached the vertebrae of my spine.
I curled my lips behind my teeth and took a deep breath, overwhelmed by the good things that nipped at my nervous system. "And even though it really scares the living crap out of me, I love you, and I want you to know that. Everything you've done for me..." Oh hell. I had to let out a long gust of breath. "Thank you. You're the best thing that ever yelled at me."
He murmured my name again, low and smooth. The pads of his thumbs dug a little deeper into the soft tissue on the underside of my jaw. "If all the shit I do for you, and all the shit I'd be willin' to do for you doesn't tell you how deep you've snuck into me, honey, then I'll tell you."
He lowered his mouth right next to my ear, his teeth nipping at my lobe before he whispered, "Love you."
The feeling that swamped me was indescribable.
He gave me hope. This big, ex-felon with a temper, reminded me of how strong I was, and then made me stronger on top of it.
"Dex," Iexhaledhis name.
He nipped my ear again. "Ilove you, Ritz." The scruff of his jaw scraped my own before he bit it gently. "Love your fuckin' face, yourthat's what she saidjokes, your dorky ass high-fives and your arm, but Ireally fuckin' love how much of a little shit you are. You got nuts bigger than your brother, baby."
I choked out a laugh.
Dex tipped my head back even further, holding the weight on his long fingers as he bit the curve of my chin. "And those are gonna be my nuts, you little bad ass."
Fire shot straight through my chest. "Yeah?" I panted.
"Yeah." He nodded, biting my chin even harder. "I already told youI keep what's mine."
Epilogue
I was going to puke.
Literally.
"You're gonna have to pull over."
Sonny turned to look at me over his shoulder, eyes wide in exasperation. "Again?"
This was only the third time.
Well, the third timein the last hour.
The overly enthusiastic nod I gave him must have been enough for him to jerk the rental car over to the side of the road. The uneven payment made my stomach roll even harder. We'd barely come to a rolling stop when I threw the back passenger door open and jumped out, throwing up things that shouldn't have even been in my stomach after puking my guts out twice before.
To think that Dex's momhad told me I'd be suffering through this for the next two months.
Two months. If I was lucky.
Why?Why?
It wasn't as often anymore that I missed my mom but when the morning sickness had finally kicked in—just weeks after that friggin' test came back positive—it had hit me like a battering ram. Who would I go to for advice? I didn't know the first thing about....that. So even though I'd been excited—and terrified out of my mind—missing her, needing her, had dampened all of that those first few days.
Until I'd gone to the doctor and known for sure that my life would be changed forever.
Then again, I guess it'd only been a matter of time. I'd swear on my life that Dex had been working toward this goal from the moment...well, knowing that smug dick, probably from the moment he'd decided to tell his two best friends to—in his words—"Go fuck themselves."
"You okay, babe?" Two hands landed on my shoulders, kneading them as I stood hunched over the overgrown weeds.
I probably had puke on the edges of my mouth.Great.
Nodding, I straightened up, pulling one of the many paper towels I'd stuffed into my back pocket to wipe at my mouth. "I'm okay."
