I stiffened but stayed quiet. The pride in me warred against the idea of Vane paying for anything, but this was a fight I didn’t want to have with him. We could discuss payment arrangements later if my mother finally agreed.
“I won’t allow anyone to pay any of my bills,” Mom said, crossing her arms, and I knew she’d hold off as long as possible. I’d learned my hard-headedness from her, after all.
Vane raised his chin, and I realized this was just another challenge for him. He enjoyed mind games and he’d use his charisma to wear her down, and even though I hated the thought of him paying, I also wanted to see the way he twisted her to do what he wanted.
I glanced at Dad, whose eyebrows had dipped low in frustration. I hated that they were in this position in the first place.
“You’re family now, and I’d really like to help,” Vane said, bringing my attention back to the stare-off he was having with Mom.
“Thank you. I appreciate it, but I don’t need your money.” Her expression softened and the tight lines on her face disappeared. Mentioning family was a smart move because that’s one thing Mom thrived on, even though before Vane came along, there were only three of us.
“With all due respect, I’ve seen the damage hospital bills can do. Right now, your husband needs to concentrate on recovering.”
“I….” Mom’s stare slid to Dad and her mouth turned downward. The fight in her eyes dwindled. All he had to do was push a little more….
“That’s what family does, Patrice.” The charismatic smile came out, and I saw the exact moment Mom folded.
Her bottom lip wobbled, like she was about to cry, and she nodded. She pointed a finger at him, though, and I knew what was coming before she even said anything. “It’s a loan. That’s it. Iwillbe paying you back monthly. I don’t take things for free, Vane.”
Vane laughed. “Now I know where Jaxson learned it.”
Mom brightened up and giggled, and it was so unusual for her to do it that both Dad and I looked at each other with bewilderment. She’d never been the kind of person to makethatsound, but Vane had brought it out of her.
“Is that a deal, Vane?” she asked, her cheeks flushed and her grin wide. “We pay you back monthly.”
He nodded and turned a smile on me that made my knees weak, and I wondered when this had developed. When had I started to feel this way for him? Elsie was right: I never once told her a thing about my sex adventures with Vane, when I’d always shared everything with her about the others. I’d thought it was because he was the deputy mayor with a weird kink, but maybe it’d been more than that. I wasn’t naïve enough to believe in love at first sight, but was there such a thing asreallyliking someone at first sight?
“Agreed, but only what you can afford. If you can only afford something small or nothing at all, I’m not going to complain.” Mom opened her mouth, but he held up a hand. “I mean it. This is what family does.”
She ducked her head with a bashful grin and nodded, before she was herding us to the kitchen table, mumbling about dinner being ready. Vane took the seat beside me and squeezed his fingers on mine, and my stomach did this funny little dance that had my cheeks flushing at the feeling. It would have taken me a lot longer to convince my mom of anything like that, and it was abundantly clear how he’d made his way through life.
“You okay, little baker?” he whispered, after leaning in closer.
I gripped his hand in mine and rested my shoulder against his. Speaking low so my parents didn’t hear me, I said, “Perfect, Daddy.”
A few hours later,Mom and Dad let us go home. We’d tried to leave earlier, but Mom held on for dear life and we let her. Vane had entertained them, and I was surprised and thrilled at how much they enjoyed his company. He didn’t seem put out by having to be there, either.
Vane took us to his ridiculously swanky apartment building. It wasn’t a true skyscraper, but it was probably the closest thing New Gothenburg had to one. I felt a little weird as we strolled together on the sidewalk and I looked upward. I was going straight to the top with Vane.
He ushered me through the glass-and-steel lobby with a nod a the built doorman, who looked more like a bodyguard. The elevator was a shock every time I stepped inside because it was on the outside of the building and made of glass, except for the floor. Vane inserted his key in a slot under the number pad to choose the floors and twisted it left before he hit the button for the penthouse. I got to watch the ground fall away and the night sky get closer as we went up. This was so different from the house we’d spent the evening in, and for some reason, tonight the opulence made me feel small and a little lost.
When the elevator doors opened, he led me inside with his hand on my lower back. I kissed him on the way through and strode to the couch, flopping down on it with a sigh. I’d barely gone back to my own place since the first night he welcomed me into his.
“Tired?” he asked gently, taking a seat beside me and urging me closer. I settled against his chest and breathed him in, the small trace of his sweat mixed with his cologne giving me tingles.
“A little.” I threw my leg over his knee and he grabbed my ass, dragging me even closer. “But you know what I’d like right now?”
His mouth twisted into a smirk and he raised his eyebrows. “I can take a guess.”
“I want to be pregnant for you, Daddy, and I want you to fuck me.” I licked my dry lips and rubbed my hardening cock against his thigh. Pleasure zipped through me, and I tilted my chin back, pleading for a kiss.
He slammed his mouth against mine, devouring me in all the right ways until I felt boneless and needy, and only then did he pull away so I could take deep breaths of air. “Go get ready. Put the belly on. I’ll be in there soon.”
I held back the urge to pout and slid off the couch, making a show of running my hands over the tight jeans I’d chosen on purpose. They made my ass look great, and I’d wanted him to get me out of them from the second I put them on.
Aware of the way his gaze ate me up, I walked as normally as I could toward the bedroom. My belly warmed when I found myself in front of the walk-in closet, two different-sized bellies waiting for me in there. Since the second had arrived, Vane had given me a choice on which one I preferred to wear, and lately, I’d enjoyed the bigger one.
Shedding my shirt, I grabbed the belly and lifted it over my head, wiggling into it until I had it positioned over my flat stomach. The more I used them, the easier the bellies were to get on.
