Page 29 of Secret Bump

It only took one mis?—

No.

Not a mistake.

It only took one moment of raw, unthinking desire to change the trajectory of her life forever.

Mine, too, although not immediately. And not necessarily. My own father walked away from the family he didn’t want.

My absence for the last three months must have made Isabelle painfully aware that she’s alone with the burden of my baby.

Now I have to show her that she wasn’t alone all that time. I mean, she was. Fuck. She didn’t know I was there, watching her with absolute hunger.

Butmy heartwasn’t absent.

I’ve now told her twice that I love her, and she hasn’t believed me. I need a new strategy to show her that it’s true.

She twists in my arms, thrashing about in her sleep.

“It’s okay, I’m here now,” I murmur. God damn it. “I’m here forever.”

Chapter 17

Isabelle

I wake up slowly,warm and cozy in a soft nest of blankets and pillows and…billionaire?

Mack is curved around me, his arm slung possessively across my hips.

“Did you sleep well?”

I take a deep breath. No hiding that I’m awake now, apparently. “I think so. What time is it?”

“Almost—”

My stomach gurgles so loud it interrupts him.

He pats my belly and laughs. “Exactly. Almost dinner time.”

I roll onto my back, and as I do, the robe falls open over my thigh.

Mack looks down my body to the flash of skin, but he doesn’t reach for my bare leg.

On the other hand, he doesn’t cover it up, either.

He just holds very, very still.

And then he kisses the top of my head.

Earlier, it was a nose kiss. Then a kiss on my cheek. And now the top of my head.

It took a full afternoon nap to bring my observational skills properly back online, but I think my boss is trying to keep his hands to himself. Figuratively. Literally, his hands are all over me, but not in a “I want to fuck you” kind of way.

I don’t know how I feel about that.

A phone rings, unexpectedly loud in the quiet stillness.

“That’s for you,” Mack says before answering it. “Come through the gate and up to the house,” he says into the phone. “I’ll meet you at the front door.”

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