Page 52 of Claimed By the Boss

Nolan pulls me closer, nuzzling my neck. “I never thought I would find someone like you. You’re everything that I’ve needed in my life.”

Tears prick at my eyes. No one has ever said such kind words to me.

He shifts back, his green eyes searching mine. “I know these past two weeks have been unexpected?—”

“Unexpected, but good,” I interrupt with a shaky smile. “I love you, Nolan. I don’t care if it’s too soon. I’ve been yours since the beginning.”

“Not too soon.” He lifts my hand and nibbles on my ring finger. “I want you to become my family.”

My breath hitches. “As in marriage?”

He smiles. “Yes, as in marriage. I love you and want to make you Leo Rockford.”

“Yes.” I cup his cheeks and rain kisses on his face. “Yes, please. I want that.”

“We’ll go pick out your ring once your bruises fade. Until then, I intend to keep you in bed, even if you’re not tied up as plan?—”

A quiet vibration comes from the nightstand, startling us both since it’s my cell phone and not Nolan’s.

He lifts onto his elbow to grab it, and his brow furrows as he passes it to me. “Why is Dr. Wallace calling you at this hour?”

Pulse quickening, I answer. “Hello, this is Leo.”

Warmth fills the line. “Leo, I have the results of your pregnancy test. Are you ready?”

NOLAN

Aloud whir fills the kitchen as I pack the remaining frozen strawberries and bananas into the ice chest on the island. This will be the last smoothie made at the townhouse for the next six months, at least, so I’m bringing all of Leo’s favorites.

The locks on the lid snap into place, and I pour the fruit mixture into a to-go cup. After a quick wash and dry, the blender goes into the box with the other items we’re taking. I would have preferred to just buy duplicates of everything for our suite at the family house, but Leo’s frugality got the better of me.

I raise my voice to carry upstairs. “Are you almost packed? Our appointment is in twenty minutes!”

“I just need a few more things!” Leo yells back, bringing a smile to my lips.

Over the three months we’ve been together, he’s blossomed and gone from carrying all of his possessions in a pillowcase to needing actual luggage, thanks in no small part to my insistence on buying him new clothes.

My driver, O’Donnell, walks in from the garage to collect the ice chest. “We’re about full, Mr. Rockford.”

I pat the box with the blender. “This is the last one, aside from Leo’s suitcases.”

As he takes the food from our fridge out to the waiting car, a thunk from overhead sends my heart lurching.

I run from the kitchen to find my fiancé struggling to haul a suitcase nearly as big as he is down the stairs. “Stop right there, unless you’re looking to get spanked.”

Silky blond hair falls over his blue eyes, and he blows it out of the way to glare at me. “There’s no reason for you to come upstairs to get it when I can just bring it down with me.”

“Not when you can’t see the steps past your belly.” I hurry up the stairs to take the heavy, hard-shelled case from him with one hand and kiss his flushed cheek. “You just concentrate on safely walking down.”

While Dr. Wallace assures me Leo is now up to a healthy weight, his frame remains delicate. At only three months, his swollen stomach sticks out farther than his feet. Which is why we’re moving back to the family house.

“You’re being ridiculous.” Leo grips the handrail and takes the stairs far faster than I like. “If you get any worse, I’m going to demand Aaiden give me a separate suite on the other side of the mansion from you.”

The threat makes me smirk. “You’d just come waddling back at night when you can’t sleep.”

“I don’t waddle,” he huffs as he reaches the ground floor and waddles after me.

“Sure you don’t.” The doctors have assured us there’s only one baby, but at the rate Leo’s growing, I question if there’s another one hiding in there.

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