Page 51 of Rafa's Convenient Wife

“You know, for someone who kept us awake all night with your fussing about those teeth, you are way too chipper his morning.” Rafael marveled at his nephew’s ability to be adorable and sweet this early in the morning. “Let’s sneak out of here and let your Tia Sky sleep.”

Carefully, he carried Jasper out of the nursery and across the bedroom, passing Sky’s sleeping form. She had been the one who handled everything last night. She had refused to let him help, insisting he needed to rest.

Now, it was her turn to rest.

After handing Jasper off to his mother and Camila, he returned to their bedroom and slipped into bed with Sky. She groggily eyed him as he moved closer and draped an arm across her waist. “Jasper?”

“With my mom.” He kissed her cheek. “Sleep. He’s fine.”

“The party?”

“We have hours.” He kissed her again. “Sleep. You need it.”

She didn’t argue and was soon sleeping soundly at his side. For a long time, he simply watched her. These quiet, intimate moments were hard to come by lately.

The last few weeks had been some of the hardest of his life. Recovering from a gunshot was tough enough, but he had caught a respiratory virus during his stay in the hospital. He’d had some bad illnesses in his life, but nothing compared to the agony of coughing with a healing wound in his chest.

There had been one night when he’d been delirious with fever and fighting to breathe in the ICU when he had feared he might actually die. Only Sky’s constant presence and support had gotten him through it. She hadn’t left his side even once, not even when he’d begged her to go home and shower and sleep. She had camped out in that awful little chair by his bedside in an oversized sweatshirt and leggings until his fever broke and his lungs cleared.

It had taken his mother piling on the guilt to get Sky to go home and rest finally. Soila used that tactic sparingly, reserving it for when it was most needed. Sky had spent almost two days at the estate, sleeping and resting and rebuilding her strength so she could care for him.

He couldn’t believe he had ever doubted her ability to be a mother. She had proven time and again that she would act selflessly, putting everyone else before her. Her capacity for lovewas endless, and he promised he would never, ever take her for granted.

I owe her everything.

I have to protect her.

She would give and give and give until she had nothing left. As her husband, it was his duty to prevent just that burnout.

In a few short days, he was surprising her with the honeymoon she deserved. Jasper would stay here with his family, and he would whisk his wife away to Greece for a week of uninterrupted romance. He expected her to push back about leaving Jasper behind, but he had ways of persuading her to agree with him.

Hopefully, halfway around the world in Greece, loved up in a private villa, Sky would be shielded from the ugliness of Beverly’s trial. It was slated to begin the day after they left, and he had been assured by authorities it would be finished before they returned. Beverly should have taken the plea bargain offered to her like her accomplices who had pled guilty for reduced sentences. She seemed determined to make stupid decisions, even when it meant losing her freedom.

Certain Beverly would make outrageous claims in court, he wanted Sky as far away from that madwoman as possible. He wanted her blissed out on a beach, relaxed and happy. He wanted her thinking about their future, not the past.

A future that included him home almost every night. A future that had him stepping back as CEO and promoting Dina. A future that would see him taking over Jaime’s role as the head of the company’s US operations.

Dina had earned her turn at CEO, and he was thrilled to pass off the reins to someone he trusted implicitly. He and Dina had wanted Lola or Beto to take on Dina’s open position, but both had refused the offer. Lola wanted to stay in the fields with the agave, and Beto needed to be close to the ocean. So, they would promote from within to fill Dina’s place.

“I can hear you thinking,” Sky murmured, her eyes still closed as she snuggled in closer.

“Sorry.” He combed his fingers through her hair, loving the scent of coconut that enveloped him. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“My ability to sleep in seems to have vanished since becoming Jasper’s guardian.” She yawned tiredly. “The smallest noise wakes me, and my internal clock starts to go crazy if I’m still in bed after seven a.m.”

“Do you think that goes away as he gets older? Do you think we’ll be able to sleep through the night? Or go out on a date without feeling guilty?”

“Probably not,” she muttered and kissed his jaw. “With our luck, the moment he’s potty trained and sleeping ten hours a night, we’ll get pregnant.”

A year ago, if the woman sharing his bed had uttered the word pregnant, he would have panicked. Now? With Sky in his arms? He found the idea exciting.

“Maybe we can discuss a baby while we’re on our honeymoon?” she asked carefully.

Doubly shocked, he ignored the baby question and asked, “How did you know about the trip to Greece?”

“Do you really think you can keep secrets in this house?” She laughed and peppered tender kisses along the curve of his throat. “Between Beto and Camila, there’s no secrets here.”

“Those two,” he grumbled. “They’re like old gossiping ladies.”

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