The man was a saint.
He ambled out of the utility room in his black boxer briefs, and I raised an eyebrow. My husband’s physique had grown larger and bulkier as time went by and he continued working out. He enjoyed exercise as much as I did maybe even more, but he was more into weights than cardio. I loved all the ridges and planes on his large body.
I wolf-whistled at him, eliciting a deep chuckle. "You like what you see?" He flexed his muscles and wiggled his eyebrows at me.
"Too sexy for words." After blowing him a kiss, I giggled as I watched his black hair fall into his eyes since he hadn't fixed it yet. He normally gelled it and dried it in a way that looked natural and out of his face. He blew it away and turned for the stairs. "Be right back."
I loved that he took care of his appearance without going overboard. He was all masculine, but he also smelled nice and had great hair. My kind of man.
I had a friend whose husband believed a man should have a natural, musky smell that came from infrequent showers and hard work.
No, thanks. Not in this lifetime or any other.
He climbed the stairs one at a time, flexing and wiggling his butt on his way up.
"Go on, you ham!" I called after him.
Mine was truly a charmed life.
By the time he joined me downstairs, I stood at the counter, slow cooker open, dishing out a bowl. It was just warm enough and would need little time to cool before he could eat. “You’ve got a few minutes,” I said.
“Oh, good. I wanted to shoot off a couple of emails I didn’t get to before I left the office.” He pressed a kiss to my cheek and walked toward our home office.
Movement out the window had me jerking my gaze. I cried out as hot soup sloshed over my hand.
I scurried to the kitchen sink and held it under the tap as I peered out the window. I could have sworn someone had just walked past the window, but I couldn’t be sure. They seemed to have been moving so fast, but I hadn’t heard footsteps on the back porch.
As the sting in my hand faded, I peered left and right, trying to figure out what in the world had gone past my kitchen window. I knew darn well I wasn't imagining things. I'd not been cursed with an overactive imagination.
Lucian was the one that was whimsical and silly at times. I loved that about him, but even as I was thankful that hewas, I wasn't. He complimented me in so many ways. His sweet optimism to my cold cynicism.
Shutting off the water, I dried my hands and pushed my long, black hair over my shoulder as I leaned forward to look again.
There was nothing back there; still, I had to be sure.
After tiptoeing to the back door, I opened it slowly, wary of someone jumping out to scare me. Pregnancy brought a certain amount of paranoia with it, and I had no desire to be the next big news story. When I was sure there wasn't anyone near the back door, I stepped out onto the porch and looked around the backyard.
Empty.
"What the heck?" I rubbed my belly, comforting the baby, who didn't need comforting at all. I needed it because I felt like a lunatic.
I hadn't imagined it. "You're not losing it, Connie."
As I turned to go back into the house, movement caught my eye on the other side of our yard and our neighbor’s field. An enormous brown owl launched out of our neighbor's barn.
"Holy crap!" I squinted against the dwindling rays of the sun as the owl rose in the sky, then flew out of sight. It was possible that if it had flown by very close to the window, I could've mistaken it for someone walking by out of the corner of my eye. It was that big.
It didn't sit right, though. The shape I'd seen, even though it had only been a split second, had been tall, like a person, though very bulky.
"What are you doing out here?" Lucian asked.
I squeaked and whirled around again. "Stop scaring me!" I scolded. "You're going to put me into labor."
Concern washed over his face, and he stepped outside. "Is that possible? I didn't mean to scare you."
Bless him. He was so worried about me all the time. "No, silly. I don't think it's possible to be startled into labor."
He put his hands on my belly and rubbed softly. I couldn't stand for anyone else to do that, but when he did, I wanted to purr like a kitten. "Good. I wouldn't do anything to harm either of you." He bent and nuzzled my belly as I tickled the back of his neck and smiled at him. "Why are you out here, though?"
