Page 82 of Forbidden Mistress

It’s been months since we’ve visited Obscura together. We’ve been too busy house hunting for an adorable bungalow in the quiet Pasadena neighborhood adjacent to Caltech so that I can finish attending school next year while we raise the baby. I’m sure our Obscura visits will resume after we become parents and once we’re over the sleep deprivation.

“Ooof.” I rub my belly. It’s been weeks since I felt the first kicks, but since then, the baby hasn’t let up.

“Something wrong?”

I smirk at him. “Your son won’t stop kicking me.”

Immediately, he presses his hand to my belly, and in less than a minute, another kick lands near his palm. I reposition Liam’s hand on my stomach, and he grins when he feels it.

He rubs his hand over the spot. “Be a good boy, Patrick. Mommy needs to keep her energy up.”

I quirk a brow at him and am about to make another suggestive comment when his phone chimes. It’s sitting across the room on the brand-new changing table.

He moves to scoop it up and walks to the bathroom with the washcloths while he reads it. I go over to the changing table to inspect the folded baby clothes on top, all still with their tags. They need to be washed, but that’s a project for next week.

I turn back to look at the remains of the crib, trying to figure out how I’m going to talk him into finishing the job when he comes back.

“Mom wants to know if we can get together for dinner tonight. Are you okay with that?” he calls to me.

I nod and smile. “Of course. She hasn’t seen you since you got back to town.” He’s back in the room typing out a quick response. Then sets his phone back on the changing table and returns to assembling the crib, picking up the screwdriver and the assembly instructions.

I take a deep breath, happy that we’ll see Lori tonight. She’s been amazingly supportive through all of this. And, of course, she’s over the moon about the baby—her first grandson. When we’d told her that he was a boy and that we’d decided to name him after Dad, she’d cried for an hour straight. We’d all cried, actually, huddled in a group hug.

That isn’t to say that she wasn’t shocked when we first told her about us. When we’d sat her down to tell her that we were a couple—and then on the heels of that announced that we were going to have a baby, she’d stared at us, wide-eyed and pale, and said, “Oh…I’m, ah, I’m going to need to take some time to absorb that.”

It had been an awkward first few days, but she’d rebounded.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. All that time she’d spent trying to throw us together, so we could be one big happy family again. She’d had no idea that it would come about in the way it did.

We’re unconventional, our little family. But we are definitely happy.

My eyes wander back to Liam as he successfully screws two more pieces of the crib together and looks about as satisfied with himself as if he’d just completed open-heart surgery. I can’t help but smile.

“See? You’re doing great, and here you wanted to hire someone to do all this. I knew it would be special for the two of us to do it ourselves.”

“The two of us?” he says with a teasing smile. “I don’t see you helping much with this mind-boggler.”

“You’re putting it together, and I’m admiring your ridiculously hot body while you do it. Win, win.”

I toss him a little blue onesie, and he catches it against his chest.

“Now that the crib is done, we can put the dresser together,” I say.

He tosses the onesie aside and walks up to me. Then reaches out and brushes the tip of his finger down my arm. “I have an idea. Why don’t we skip the dresser, Little Fawn, and head to our bedroom instead?”

Mmm, I love it when he calls me that. We just had sex, but I know when he calls me by my Obscura name, he has something extra fun in mind. We obviously can’t be as adventurous as we once were, but Hart never fails to disappoint.

I lift my shoulder and look at him through my lashes, playfully feigning innocence. “Yes, Hart. Whatever you say. I’m here to obey.”

Just as I turn to leave and head to our bedroom, he slaps my ass. When he speaks, I can hear the smile in his voice. “Good girl.”

Chapter 33

Haley

“I fucked the hottest guy all morning,” I say to my wide-eyed roommates clustered around me. “I met him last night at the hotel bar, and this morning I woke up next to him. I’m telling you, it was the hottest thing I’ve ever done—with the hottest dude I’ve ever done!”

It’s parents’ week at Caltech, and my housemates—Cassie, Sam, and Avery—and I are all sitting at our table, while we wait for our parents to arrive at the Institute-sponsored luncheon. Since none of the parents have arrived yet, I’m regaling my roomies with the story of the ah-mazing hookup I experienced this morning. Each one of them is leaning in, drinking in every sordid detail.

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