Page 2 of Bae

Romeo was my real home. Not the ultra-plush bedding, the paint on the walls, that breathtaking view out the windows, or my Range Rover parked in the five-car garage downstairs.

Him.

And now the little piece of him growing inside me.

Maybe that was the biggest surprise of all.

A baby. A life created from both of us. Something that was wholly his and mine—a person. I knew in the deepest part of me that this little girl was going to have the best of each of us, and hopefully none of my awkwardness.

The fact that I was pregnant wasn’t a surprise. We wanted this baby, and Romeo worked very hard to make sure we got one.

Him working hard = lots of sex.

It wasn’t such a sacrifice for either of us.

I think the biggest surprise was the instant, all-encompassing love I felt for a person I didn’t even know. Someone who technically barely existed. Before our daughter even had a heartbeat, I was so completely in love it stole my breath.

I was used to love, to the bottomless kind, but this was wholly different. The love I felt for this little baby was unlike anything I’d ever known.

People always told me it would become even stronger when I held her for the first time. I couldn’t even fathom that. But I hoped they were right.

Love was something I didn’t think I would ever get enough of. Especially when it came to loving anything Romeo was a part of.

“You’re doing it again,” his gruff, sleepy voice whispered right above my ear.

I smiled. “What?”

“Staring at this room like you were kidnapped and opened your eyes to a place you’ve never seen before.”

I giggled. “Well, if I was kidnapped and brought here, I probably wouldn’t protest.”

“You’re killing me, Smalls.” Romeo’s teeth grazed over my earlobe and tugged.

I shivered even as I laughed.

“If you were kidnapped, I would burn the world down to find you,” he vowed, breath fluttering across my ear and the husky quality in his promise making me squirm against him.

“I wouldn’t stay willingly anywhere you weren’t,” I told him, even though he already knew. My hand reached up behind me to cup the back of his neck and pull him down.

His tongue was warm and languid, moving into my mouth without much haste, taking time to fully explore as if he hadn’t already done this a million times before.

As we kissed, his hand slid over my side and across my belly, palming the baby and gently rubbing. I smiled into his lips, and he continued to kiss me.

“Your smile is my favorite flavor,” he said, pulling back only slightly.

My heart tumbled over. “You have morning breath,” I told him, smiling again.

“Is that your favorite flavor, Mrs. Anderson?”

I paused as if I were genuinely considering it. “I think I prefer pickles.”

He threw back his head and laughed. When he glanced down, I caressed some of the blond strands of his hair falling over his forehead, brushing them away from his face, while I took in every single thing about him.

I did this almost every day. And every day, I found something new to gaze at.

I never wanted to stop looking at him like he was new to me. I never wanted to forget the way he made my heart sing.

“I love you,” I whispered.

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