I’m happy for her, really. Happy and not at all jealous.
I’m perfectly fucking miserable. I love this baby, and I’m grateful for the experience, but I don’t think I’ll do this again. The HG has put me off pregnancy entirely. No wonder my parents stopped after one. My dad used to joke that they broke the mold with me, but I’m starting to wonder if it wasn’t my charming personality after all.
“I should get going. I want to stop by the sanctuary and check on Sadie.”
She stands with one hand on her back and the other cradling her bump. “Sadie? Is that the excuse you’re using to see your husband?”
“I don’t need an excuse. All I have to do is make a minor complaint, and he somehow materializes with the cure to whatever ails me. I’m pretty sure it’s the same for you and Jaxon.”
Callie gives me a smug smile.
It takes me a moment to register what I’ve done. I just equated Jaxon and Callie’s marriage to mine and Griffin’s. Is that… how I see us? Am I starting to think of this as a real, full-hearted, authentic marriage? Not some pragmatic partnership in the name of having someone to raise this baby with?
Yeah. I think I am.
Holy shit.
Oblivious to my emotional upheaval, Callie snorts and follows me out onto the porch. “You’re right. The Hayes men are built different.”
“If anything changes with Atty, just let me know.”
“I will. Thanks for coming.”
With a backward wave, I head out to my van and make the short drive to the sanctuary.
My heart skips a beat when I spot Griffin’s truck already parked near the stables. In light of recent developments, I consider driving away and pretending I was never here, but I’ve never been one to run away from my problems. Griffin Hayes isdefinitelya problem. He’s under my skin in a way that’s hazardous to my well-being. I can’t handle another heartbreak. Not now. Not from him.
The behemoth in question strides out of the stables in a flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of wranglers that hug his thick thighs in all the right places.
Hazardous to my libido, too, it seems.
When we lock gazes, a warm smile spreads across his face, and it does nothing to quell the persistent ache between my thighs. It must be the pregnancy hormones causing me to react like a bitch in heat.
Definitely the hormones and not at all the six-foot-seven cowboy who’s looking at me like he wants to fuck me up against the side of the barn. There isn’t one part of me that would try to stop him.
I stride toward him with calculated indifference, but it melts away the second he sweeps me into his arms and off my feet.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” he murmurs against my neck.
“Last-minute decision. Callie asked me to check on Atticus. Since I was already here, I figured I’d stop by and visit my girl Sadie, too.”
He sets me back on my feet, keeping a tight hold on my waist. “Mm. Not a single thought for your husband?”
His brown eyes hold me captive, silently begging me to say I need him, want him, yearn for him. I do. It’s scary how much.
“Happy accident,” I respond airily.
He bends to press a chaste kiss on my lips, and something rubs off on my cheek. I pull back and swipe at it with my hand. “Is that… flour?”
He runs his hand over his beard. “Huh. No idea how that got there. Come on. I’ll take you to see your girl.”
Griffin
Earlier that day
Me: Denver Coloradough update #26. She’s ready.
Olivia: Dropping the girls off with your mom. Meet me at the house in fifteen. Bring an apron.
