Page 108 of Before I Loved You

Her shoulders drop. “There’s nothing I can do about that, though.”

My hand reaches her face, and I trace her jawline back and forth. “How would you feel if I moved in with you?”

Her eyes widen slightly, but they don’t look disturbed by the idea. Maybe a bit intrigued.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you,” I start. “If there’s any reason you need to get to a hospital, I want to make sure I’m here so I can get you there as fast as possible. And if Greyson has any fucked-up plans about coming here, I want to make sure I’m here to beat the ever-living shit out of him.”

A content sigh leaves her lungs. “I think it would make me feel safer having you here. So, yes. I think you should move in.”

“Good.” I kiss her temple, reach for my wallet in my pocket, and then take out one of my credit cards. “This is for you.”

She stares at my credit card before moving away from it, like it has an infectious disease, but my hold keeps her in place. “You’re having our baby. Which means if you’re hungry, you order food. If you’re cold, you buy a new coat. If you’re feeling run-down, schedule a massage. If you’re not sleeping well, buy the most expensive mattress you can find. And baby girl, if you ever feel like replacing that tin can on wheels, be my guest because there’s no limit on this card… This is for whatever you need. Are we clear?”

Her lips press together in a thin line, but she reluctantly nods. “I don’t want you thinking I did this on purpose to trap you or something. I’m not a gold digger. I’ve taken care of myself for as long as I can remember, and usually, I can keep up with everything, but with the baby, things have become pretty tight.”

She appears ashamed of herself when she has no reason to be.

I brush her hair back from her face. “I would never think that, baby girl. I was there with you that night. I remember quite well how good it felt when your soft hands rolled the condom on my cock.”

She blushes, shaking her head.

“Now, about Greyson.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I don’t want to incentivize him to release the tape. So, until my brother takes care of it, we have to be careful about being seen in public together.”

“Yeah. I understand.”

“But I don’t think you should continue to work at the bank either.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t have a choice. I need to finish my internship with LH United, or I’ll lose my credits. I’m already taking extra classes to graduate before the baby is born. I need these credits.” She restlessly twirls a piece of her hair. “I was hoping they’d offer me a job at the end of the internship, but I guess that’s out of the question now.” She blows out a whoosh of air. “I’ll need to start looking for another job soon.”

I tip her chin up. “How much longer do you have for the internship?”

“Just one week. Only two more shifts.”

I nod. At least I know that we have a good amount of away games this upcoming week, which means less of a chance for Greyson to be at the office while she’s working. “I would never tell you what to do, but after your internship, I don’t want you anywhere near that bank again.”

She scrunches her face, focusing on the front of my shirt. “It will be hard to find a job when I’m pregnant. No one will hire me.”

“Then don’t work.”

She lets out a humorless laugh. “Good joke.”

“I’m not joking.”

“I have bills to pay and things to buy for the baby.”

“Sarah, I have more money than I know what to do with. Let me take care of things financially right now, and after you have the baby, if you want, and only if you want, you can look for a job if that’ll make you happy.”

She rolls her lips from side to side, debating something inside her head—something she wants to say but doesn’t know if she should.

“What’s going on inside that head?” I ask.

“I want to paint,” she blurts out.

“Then paint.”

“I mean like as a job.”

“I know what you mean.” I grin in amusement.

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