‘I do.’
He turns, his gaze hitting me with the quiet precision ofsomeone who’s spent years reading danger before it appears – stripping every layer until he finds the ache I’m hiding.
And it’s not worry over Sadie. It’s longing.
‘Am I that obvious?’
‘Not to everyone else, no.’ His voice drops, softer and somehow more powerful. ‘But to me…’
His gaze drifts down my body and my breath stumbles, heat skating along my spine.God.How women must feel when he gives them that look seconds before he?—
Nope. Hard stop. Do not go there.
‘Every time you look at Lottie, or at your sister and Theo, something comes over you…’ He strokes a curl back behind my ear and I trap a shiver. ‘Are you sure you’re not the one a little green tonight?’
My brow furrows, struggling to process his meaning when my body’s stuck in freefall from his touch. ‘I’m not sure what you mean…’
‘Wanting what your sister has?’
‘Hell, no,’ I blurt.
Though that’s not quite true, is it…?
‘Then what’s going on? Because I ain’t the only one being allbrooding.’
‘I’m broody, more like.’
It’s out before I can choke it back – and God, it feels good to unleash it. Even if Axel does look like I’ve just smacked him in the face with a leftover cannolo.
‘I know. Shocker, right?’
‘You mean…’
‘Yeah.’ I take a steadying sip of sweet orange and nod. ‘I want a baby, Ax.’
He takes an audible breath, blows it out slow. ‘Okay.’
‘Okay? Is that all you’re going to say?’
He pockets one hand, shrugs the other shoulder. ‘So what’s stopping you?’
I blink up at him. Of all the things I expected him to say…
‘You’re not going to tell me I’m crazy? Or that wedding fever’s melted my brain?’
‘No. You don’t say anything you don’t mean. If you say you want a baby… you want a baby.’
‘But I don’t want a partner. I don’t want all this.’ I gesture towards Theo and Sadie. ‘The life, the love, the happy ever after. That’s not me. But this.’ I glance down at Lottie. ‘This is different. Iwantthis.’
‘So… adoption?’
I shake my head. ‘I thought about going to a clinic, plucking a guy out of a database…’
‘The turkey-baster route?’
And I want to laugh, stunned at how steady he is. How he’s not baulking, not judging, not telling me I’m mad.
‘Yeah.’
