Page 9 of Ink

“Can you please just open the door, honey?” he asked. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to face the fact that she had just accused him of sleeping with his new employee, but now he was admitting that he was falling for her. She felt the same way about him and maybe that’s why she acted so crazy, but she couldn’t help herself when it came to Ink, and she wouldn’t apologize for being jealous.

Charlie slowly pulled the bathroom door open and peeked out at him. He was wearing his sexy, angry scowl, and she wasn’t sure if she should laugh or cry about her behavior.

“I’m sorry for accusing you of sleeping with Cynthia,” she breathed.

“I don’t care about any of that, honey,” he admitted. “I just care about you hearing me when I told you that I’m falling in love with you.” She had heard him loud and clear.

“I did,” she said.

“Good,” he whispered, pulling her into his arms. “Now, this is the part where you tell me that you’re falling for me too.”

“How do you know if that’s true or not?” she asked, smiling up at him.

“Because I can see it in your eyes every time you look at me, Charlie,” he said. “I think that it’s time that we stopped playing games and figure out what we are supposed to do next.” Hearing him say that gave Charlie hope that he’d want to do the same thing she did.

“Why haven’t you said any of this before? Why tell me that we need to slow down after I moved in with you?” she asked.

“Because I worried that you might not be over your ex at first,” he admitted.

“And now?” she asked.

“Now, I know that you are and have been for a while,” he said. There had to be another reason why Ink was holding back with her. It couldn’t all be about Zeb.

“What else are you not telling me?” she asked.

He sighed, “I’ve never been with a pregnant woman before and I’m afraid that I might hurt you,” he admitted. Charlie couldn’t help her outburst of laughter. Ink pulled away from her and she instantly regretted her reaction to what he had just told her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I just wasn’t expecting you to say that. You won’t hurt me, Ink. Pregnant women have sex all the time—well, not me. I mean, I haven’t had sex with anyone since finding out that I was pregnant. But from what I’ve read, they do it all the time. Plus, my hormones are all out of whack, and you’ve honestly been drying me crazy with all the touching and kissing.” She reached for his hand, and he took hers.

“Really?” he asked.

“Yes, really,” she whispered. “I want you Ink and I have for months now. Heck, I’ve wanted you since the first night that I spent at your house. You were the one who told me that I had to stay in my own room.”

“I can close the shop early today,” he breathed. “I don’t have any more appointments if you’d like to head home early.” Was he finally going to give into his desires and give her what she had needed for months now?

“Tell me that you will let me move into your room, Ink,” she insisted. “I don’t want to just have sex with you and then go back across the hall to my room.”

“I think that can be arranged, as long as you promise to stay with me, permanently. I don’t want you to leave after the baby is born,” he admitted.

“I think that I can manage your request,” she said. “Now, how about you take me home?” she asked.

“Deal,” he agreed. Ink tugged her back to his office where he turned off everything and grabbed his sketches that he had beenworking on for future clients. He shut off the lights and grabbed her bag, quickly walking to the back of the shop.

“You’re in a hurry,” she teased.

“Yeah, and I don’t want you to change your mind,” he admitted. There was no way that she’d change her mind—not now that he said he was falling in love with her. All those months of waiting were finally going to pay off and honestly, there was no way that she’d tell him no now.

Ink drove like a bat out of hell to get them back to his house as quickly as possible. When he parked in his garage and cut the engine, he turned to her and the worry on his handsome face made her scared that he was going to change his mind.

“Hey, what’s that look for?” she asked, framing his face with her hands. She loved the feel of his beard as she held him and wondered what it might feel like to have his beard roam all over her body as he kissed every inch of her.

“I’m worried that I’ll hurt the baby, now,” he admitted.

“I think that you’re over thinking this, Ink,” she insisted. “You can’t hurt the baby. She’s perfectly cocooned inside of my body. And we’ve already been over the fact that you can’t hurt me. How about you put all those fears to the side and just let me show you?” she asked. He nodded and she leaned in to gently kiss his lips.

“We need to go into the house,” she said. “I’m afraid that having sex in your truck won’t work for me right now.” She patted her belly, and he smiled rubbing his hand over hers. “I’m worried too, you know,” she admitted. “I’ve never done this while pregnant either, so this is going to be new for both of us.My body probably isn’t what you are used to—you know, like all the other women that you’ve been with.”

“I think that you’re sexy as fuck,” he admitted. “And I don’t give a fuck about other women, honey. I want you and only you. Stay put,” he ordered. She watched as he got out of his truck and walked around to her side, opening her door. “You ready?” he asked.

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