We said goodbye to Gwen, then hung up.
“She knew, didn’t she?” I smiled coyly.
“Oh, of course she did.”
He held up his hands, still grinning. “Look, your dad I can win over with sport banter, but Gwen…” He raised an eyebrow. “Imagine me proposing without asking her permission?”
I laughed, shaking my head. “So that’s what all those secretive little chats were about.”
“Had to cover my bases.” He leaned closer, brushing his mouth slowly against mine. “Didn’t want to risk you saying no.”
I snorted. “As if you ever doubted yourself that much.”
“Not about me.” His thumb traced slow circles over my ring. “About you. You’ve been through enough. I needed Gwen’s stamp of approval to make sure I wasn’t pushing too fast.”
My chest tightened, the teasing falling away as I pressed my forehead against his. “Jordan…you never had to convince me. You’re it for me.”
For a moment, neither of us said anything. The only sound was the waves brushing the shore beyond our balcony doors. Then his mouth curved again, lighter now. “Good. Because you’re stuck with me. And the baby. And probably more babies, if I have any say.”
“Don’t start,” I warned, though I was laughing again as he stole another croissant off the tray.
“Too late.” He grinned around a mouthful, reaching over to wipe a smear of jam from the corner of my lips with his thumb before kissing me again. “Forever starts now, baby.”
Chapter Fifty-Six
Jordan
We’d spentthe entire week pretending the world didn’t exist. No cameras, no pressure. Just me, her, and the future we’d somehow stumbled into.
Kate was curled up beside me in the corner of the first-class lounge, flip-flops slipped off, legs tucked under her with a hoodie pulled low over her face. One hand was wrapped around her takeaway coffee cup. The other rested lazily on my thigh, like she couldn’t bear not to be touching me. We looked like a pair of newlyweds who weren’t ready to leave behind their blissful honeymoon.
I’d never forget this week. The way she’d looked on that damn lounger in that black bikini. The sound she made when I slipped the ring onto her finger. The way her body had moved against mine, under me, wrapped around me like she was made to live there.
It had been a dream start to finish, because the next few months were set to be chaos. But I didn’t care, because now I had her by my side forever.
My phone buzzed in my hand. I glanced down, expecting something from Chris about training schedules because as soon as the plane touched down I was back into conditioning.
Instead, it was a message from our PR guy, Matt.
Heads up—it’s out. Check this link.
I opened it and swore under my breath.
Kate stirred beside me. “What?”
I turned the screen toward her.
It was a pap shot, blurry but unmistakable. Us, arriving at the airport in Malé a week ago. I had my arm slung around her shoulders. She wore a fitted T-shirt and linen trousers, sunglasses on. But the bump…yeah. It was there. Clear as day.
The headline was already up on a few gossip sites:
Tennis Star Jordan Taylor Expecting First Baby with New Girlfriend?
I felt her body go still. She took the phone from my hand, her expression unreadable for a moment. Then she sighed.
“Shit.”
“We knew it would happen eventually,” I said gently, pulling her closer. “You okay?”
