Xander remained quiet.
“The house isbeautiful,” she said, more volume in her voice. “So very beautiful. I just wish you would’ve spoken to me first.”
“Would you have been more open then?” he countered. “If I spoke to you about it first? Be honest.”
His voice rumbled through the room, low, still soft, but still carrying weight.
All Rylee did was sigh.
“Exactly,” he whispered.
Rylee pressed her head even firmer to his chest, her hand wrapping tighter around him, which made him fight his smile… giving in, even though he didn’t want to.
“I love you, baby,” she said against him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. Then another.
Xander closed his eyes at the feel of her hand smoothing up to his face then her teasing him by brushing her lips against the maze of his ear. Rylee turned his jaw so he could look at her in the dark. Then she leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips.
He moaned. Folding like a paper plane.
Damn.
Xander was so easy when it came to Rylee.
And he knew it.
He didn’t hesitate to turn to face her, pulling her even closer. Her baby bump between them did the job of touching his heart, reminding him that despite her want to hang on to the past, their future was here… and so close… something she wouldn’t be able to deny for much longer.
But he left it for the night. Unresolved.
Because something in him always gave way whenever she touched him like that. That thread of intimacy between them stayed alive, tethering them even in disagreement.
So as he kissed her back, moving her into position to make love, Xander knew… as much as Rylee wanted that to be the first and last conversation about the house… it couldn’t be.
He pressed kisses onto her, let her think it was over.
But in the quiet of the dark, Xander knew this couldn’t be the last time they talked about the house. Not because he wanted to win, but because their lives were growing… whether they were ready or not.
Still, for now, he let it rest.
She needed time.
And he could wait.
fifteen
RYLEE
Laughter traveled around the table,bouncing off the ceilings and walls of the restaurant.
Seated at a long table that stretched from one end of the room to the other sat Rylee, Xander, and all the people they loved.
They were in a softly lit, upscale restaurant in Brooklyn, a mile from the brownstone.
Floor-to-ceiling windows gave views of the city street at night. Traffic lights lit up. Passersby peeked in. And Rylee basked in the intimate ambiance of the evening.
Xander had reserved the biggest table in the restaurant for the night for their baby shower. A very lowkey, last minute affair.
He placed a hand on her stomach as he leaned in, his other arm already around her shoulder. “You good?”
