It only makes him more entertained. “Maybe.”
I roll my eyes. Great, just great. Add this to my list of things I do to dig us deeper.
Vaughn begins to stroll out. “I need to call my brother, pack for Nashville, and take alongshower.” Oh, now we’re back to inuendo by highlighting “long.”
Damn it, this isn’t great for my stress levels.
“Take it easy, I’ll lift the heavy stuff later.”
I salute him. “Sure thing, sir.”
That sexy smirk is back in full force. “Careful, Isla, I may just have to fuck our baby out of you.”
My jaw drops, and he leaves me there.
17
VAUGHN
Pacing my bedroom with the phone to my ear, I wait for my brother to tell me something wise. Anything to untangle the thoughts happening in my head.
“So, you went to the baby shower? Preparing for my niece? What else are you two getting ready for? Doing one of the labor courses or something like that?” he lists his questions.
“Don’t have time for any course, let alone reading a book. I’m literally winging it, all of this. Basically 95% of the presents we got from the baby shower, I have no clue what they are. Diapers?” I feign doubt in my voice. “No idea how that works.”
“I bet you Isla does, and I haven’t even met her,” he assures me.
I pinch my nose before I sit on the edge of the bed, only to stand again due to my energy level. “I’m quite confident she’s nesting or something like that, someone mentioned that’s a thing. I keep catching her in the nursery doing something.”
“But not doing you,” he jokes.
I stop, frozen at his humor, because it brings me to my predicament. “We haven’t even discussed how this lifetime as parents together is going to go.”
“Ah…” I can tell he’s kicking his feet up on a table while he gets comfortable for this discussion ahead. “You mean the you-and-her-together kind of thing.”
My head bobs side to side in contemplation. “Again, thanks to her, I haven’t had time to think about it.”
“Still angry she never told you?”
My shoulders fall. “I think I’ve decided to bury that away so we have a chance to have some normalcy, as our focus should be on the baby.”
Stone lazily claps his hands once. “Give the man an award.”
“Funny. But yeah, we haven’t really talked about it. I’m not sure it’s even crossed her mind.”
“Does it cross yours?”
Blowing out a breath, I finally flop onto the edge of the bed in defeat. “It might have appeared once or twice.” Maybe I’m downplaying it. “I just can’t be sure if it’s the baby factor that makes me want to think it or something else.”
“Hmm… well, what did you think of her before the baby equation?”
A smile jerks on my lips. “A lot of attraction, good conversation, she’s funny, gorgeous, understands hockey, I think that we were both okay with our boundaries that we had set…” Damn, it’s a long list.
“And do you really think those feelings just faded away? Maybe your anger and disappointment with her may have fogged those attributes, but now that you’re not angry, then are they clear as day?” He’s treading carefully.
“That’s exactly the problem. I’ve never been a relationship kind of guy, but now my view might be altering, and I’m just not sure to what completely. And Isla? Well, she’s as beautiful as ever, there’s still good conversation, to the point I swear she can predict my thoughts, and well, she’s funny yet a little feisty. All of it together is making it impossible for me to not want to kiss her. Which may surprise her, considering I’ve been a complete idiot lately.”
The sound of something from the hall grabs my attention, but not enough for me to look.
