Page 70 of Taming the Boss

“We just hooked up and made a baby.” I shrugged. “It happens.”

“It does, especially here. So, I have to admit I don’t get why you’re so lax about protection.”

“I never have been. I’ve never gone bare before you.”

“You haven’t?”

“Absolutely not. I never even considered it. Not once. I definitely did not with Owen’s mother. But I’ve been going with instinct with you.”

“And your instinct says to have unprotected sex with me?” She lifted a brow.

“You were all I could think about. It’s been a difficult week.” I stepped closer and brushed my hand over her hair, carefully undoing her braid until all her waves floated free around her shoulders. “I wanted to make sure you had all the space you needed.”

“I needed to think. To process.”

“If it makes you uncomfortable, condoms are fine.”

“This is like the pregnancy capital of the world. An exaggeration, of course, but not by much.” Her lips trembled as she looked up at me. “My brother even had twins.”

As if she felt I needed proof, she grabbed her photo insert out of her purse and unfolded it to show me a photo of a big, bullish man who looked remarkably like her with his arms around a smiling blond woman with several adorable kids in front of them.

“Twins, huh?” I commented. “That’s intense.”

“Yeah, and if you knew how they met…” She quickly recounted how her sister-in-law Vee had accidentally placed an ad in a Facebook group looking for a baby daddy. Maddie’s older brother Moose had contacted Vee using a fake name, since he’d had a crush on her for a while—a reciprocated crush, no less. But they’d both been shy to come clean about their interest.

Instead, their interest had soon centered around making a baby and somehow that had worked for them. They’d been happily married and making more babies for years now.

Was that something that people did around here? Made a family and then figured out afterward that it was meant to be?

All I knew was that creating a family the regular way had not particularly worked for my parents. For years, they’d just worked long hours and alternatively ignored each other or fought through the few hours they actually spent together.

“This place has an odd effect on people.”

“No kidding.” She closed her eyes as I filled my hands with her hair and drew her against me. “I just don’t want you to get into a situation you’re not prepared for. One kid has been an adjustment. Another would be…” She trailed off.

I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You’re worried about me. Not yourself.”

“Whatever happens, I’ll figure it out. My family supports me, regardless.” She exhaled. “You have no support here. Your sister isn’t even here yet. I know you’re alone, which can cause people do weird stuff. Moose was so lonely before Vee. Hell, so was Christian before Honey.”

Obviously, she couldn’t hear herself. She wondered why I was doing such inexplicable things. Nor did she understand why I was so drawn to her. Why just being near her soothed me in ways I couldn’t explain.

I mean, granted, she was hot too, but that wasn’t why I’d foregone protection. It hadn’t even rated with me as necessary.

“I have Owen. And we have you, as long as you want to be with us.”

“Jude, this is all so overwhelming. I contacted you for a job, and now, honestly, I’d be here for free. I’m not saying don’t pay me,” she let out a laugh, “just it makes me happy to be with you both.”

I cupped her cheek in my palm as I took her mouth, swallowing her moan of surrender as if it was air.

She wanted to be with me. With us. And all my urges for control didn’t seem to matter half as much as just being with her. Just feeling her body against mine while her noises of pleasure filled my head.

I didn’t know how I’d lucked into having her in my life, but I wanted her to stay.

Slowly, I backed her down the hall into my room and then I nudged her up the platform steps to my huge bed, switching places with her so she could climb on top of me. Letting her take the reins as she wished while I just savored touching her and kissing her and finding out what kinds of touches would make her breathing speed up and those sounds to leave her. The ones that stole my breath and caused my heartbeat to race while I forced myself to focus solely on her enjoyment and not my own.

She took her time undressing me, exploring me, running her fingertips over my body with a reverence that made me eager to go faster. I wanted to take off every scrap of her clothes and kiss every inch of her.

So I could get to know her in a way no one ever had and no one ever would.

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