Page 115 of Challenged by the Single Dad

Tightening her grip on his fingers, her eyes glittered at him under the recessed lighting. “I’ll be okay. I’ll admit, the first time I saw him it was really hard. But he’s such a lovely little boy … and I can’t run away from children simply because I lost mine too soon.” Her gaze met his. “You’re not running away from love because you lost your wife too soon, right?”

The mention of Remy sent sharp, tiny barbs into his heart and caused a rock to lodge in his throat. He was still grappling with the guilt over moving on. But he also didn’t want to add that to Chloe’s plate. She didn’t deserve it. So all he did was squeeze her fingers back and smile. “I’m going to leave you to relax. I’ll just be downstairs. It’s cleaning day, so … sorry about the loud-ass vacuum in advance.” Unease flitted across her eyes for just a moment as he released her fingers and stood up. “Call me if you need anything.” Then he pressed a kiss to her forehead and left the bathroom, taking his guilt, confusion, and painfully scarred heart with him.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Itwasn’tuntilnearlynoon that Chloe felt well enough to put on anything besides sweatpants, and head downstairs. Up until today, she had been feelingoffbut never equated it to being pregnant. Just overworked and exhausted.

Now, it all made sense.

She was pregnant. She was pregnant with Dom’s baby. And now, she was with Dom. She was living in his freaking house, and as shocked as they both were about all of it, deep down, she could tell he was excited.

She refused to let herself feel the same though.

Too many times she got excited when those two little lines appeared, only to find blood when she went to the bathroom a few weeks later. She wasn’t going to do that to herself again. She was already worried about how this might affect Silas if they did lose the baby. Not to mention what would happen to her and Dom. Was he only with her because of the pregnancy?

No, you twit. He pounded on your door last night, kissed you and told you how he felt about you, ALL before you told him you were pregnant. He wants you.

She did her best to believe the voice in her head, but it was still tough.

Dom was unloading the dishwasher when she joined him downstairs. “Can I make you something for lunch?” he asked, unloading the cutlery rack into the drawer. “Anything you’renotfeeling?”

She went to the sink to rinse out her mug. “Anything fried has made my stomach flip and revolt all week. I honestly thought I was coming down with something, or just overworked. Pregnancy didn’t even cross my mind until my boobs started to hurt and I realized I was late.”

“So, no fish and chips then?” he asked with a cute little smirk.

“No fish and chips.”

He angled his head toward the fridge. “Well, have a peek in there and let me know what strikes your fancy.”

Setting the mug in the drying rack, she went to the fridge and opened it. It felt weird going into his fridge. Like she was snooping. Yes, he insisted she move in with him, but they’d onlyjustdecided to give all of this a try last night. She hadn’t even been to his house until now. And already, they were living together and having a baby. They seriously got the order of things mixed up.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” he asked, putting a stack of plates away in the cupboard. “That this is the first time you’ve been in the house, looked in my fridge, and yet we’re living together and having a baby.”

Exhaling and shutting the fridge door, she spun to face him. “Right? Okay, good. I thought it was just me. I was like, ‘Why is he acting so normal? This is not normal.’”

He went to her, resting his hands on her hips which put them so close she had to crane her neck to look him in the eye. “No, it’s notnormal,but it’sournormal. It’s our story.”

“You’re not worried we’re rushing everything? I mean, we can’t really take a step back on the baby thing, but the moving in together part we can.”

He shook his head. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you and I wasn’t right here, or one of my brothers or their partners weren’t within shouting distance to help you. Chances are you’re going to be a high-risk pregnancy, right?”

She nodded. “I’m thirty-eight years old. A geriatric pregnancy, technically. And because of all my previous losses and my ‘basically barren’ diagnosis, they’re going to be watching me closely.”

“Then we need to take all the precautions, and that includes you letting me take care of you. Of youandthe baby.” Then he took her chin between his thumb and finger and brought his mouth down to hers. She wrapped her arms around his waist and their gentle kiss became much more heated. Before she knew it, she found herself with her legs wrapped around his waist and her ass on the counter.

Frantically, she reached for the hem of his Henley and yanked it over his head, then he went to go dramatically rip open her button down, but smiled with wide-eyed shock when the buttons didn’t go flying.

“It’s snaps,” she said, all proud of herself.

“Nice.” Peeling her long-sleeve chambray over her arms, he peppered kisses across her shoulders, up her neck, over her jaw, and down the other side. With the other hand, he cupped her breast, but when she winced and whimpered from the ache, he backed off and pulled away. “You okay?”

Nodding, she grimaced. “Yeah, just … sore boobs and all. I mean, sometimes they feel fine. Other times, not so much.”

“Should I ignore them?”

Shaking her head, she reached behind and unclasped her red lace bra. “Maybe focus on the nipples more. They’re not sore.” Then she shucked her bra to the floor, and he dropped his head, taking one tight bud into his mouth and sucking. She arched her spine, leaning back against her hands on the counter as he sucked, nibbled, and licked at her sensitive peaks.

Trailing his teeth and tongue back up over her collarbone and the side of her neck, he took her mouth again as their hands went to work. She had to lift up a little to scoot her leggings out from under her, taking her underwear with her. Dom unzipped his jeans and she reached into the waistband of his boxers to free him. Suddenly, the urge to taste him overcame her need for an orgasm and she placed her hand in the center of his chest and pushed him away.

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