Page 65 of Reunion With Benefits

It was well past two in the morning. They were in bed, lying side by side, recovering from what she might call the greatest make-up sex of all time. She’d mentioned that to him and he hadn’t stopped smiling. Until right now.

She looked at his hands, those long fingers. Saw the white stick he held in a death grip. “You keep staring at it.”

“It’s so little and has the power to change everything with a plus sign.”

He’d insisted on the pregnancy test after their last round. She’d wanted cake, but he won the argument. Now, if only the panic screaming through her would stop.

“I could make a joke about how babies disrupt lives, but I’m not sure you’re ready for that.” She also wanted to point out that the Jameson men were pretty fertile and warn Carter, but the timing seemed wrong for that, too.

Spence shook the stick. “It should do something.”

“Like?”

He shrugged. “Balloons should pop out of it. Maybe play music.”

“It’s not a magic stick.”

He snorted as his head turned and he faced her. “It kind of is. We wave it and it changes everything about our lives together.”

Skipping the cake might have been smart. Her stomach wouldn’t stop dancing. “Well, that’s true.”

His eyes narrowed just a fraction. “You okay?”

“Scared.” It would take her a while to figure out how to deal with this news. They’d have to make plans, but she knew they would do it together. He’d made that clear. “Not about us. Not about how much I love you.”

He turned over and faced her. Wrapped an arm around her waist as he watched her. “But?”

“This is going to be hard. We’re still trying to sort ourselves out as a couple and now we’ll have this.” A few hours ago, that would have terrified her, but not as much now. She just needed to make sure he agreed with her. “Spence, this is—”

“I’m going to get angry if you offer me an out.”

“Six weeks ago, when you stepped back into my life, I knew you as the guy who bolted when everything got to be too much.” She winced as she pointed that out. She didn’t want to start another fight.

“Didn’t we settle this?” But he didn’t sound angry. Instead, he rolled her onto her back and balanced his body over hers.

She ran a hand up and down his bare arm, loving the feel of his sleek muscles under her fingertips. “I trust you to stay. The point is I want you to.”

“Leaving you, losing you, ripped me apart.” He pressed a quick kiss on the tip of her nose. “It was a wake-up call for me to get my act together.”

She let the words settle in her head. Yeah, she liked the sound of that. A lot. “And I’m part of that act?”

He snorted. “You have the main role in it.”

The last of her defenses crumbled. The walls came roaring down and took her doubts with them. In a few short hours, with a couple of words, he brought her peace. It would not be easy. Knowing the two of them, life would not be quiet or simple. It would be loud and loving and perfectly imperfect, and that sounded pretty great to her.

“I love you. You and your big messy family.” Because when she claimed him, she decided she’d claim them, too. “Okay, not your dad.”

“Remind me to show you something later.” His smile was downright mysterious. “A letter.”

She didn’t want to know, yet part of her did. She guessed he did that on purpose. Reeled her in and made her care about Eldrick, which should have been an impossible feat.

“I hate letters right now.” They reminded her of Jeff and no matter how tonight turned out, she still despised that guy.

Spence’s smile only grew wider. “This one may surprise you.”

“I’m intrigued.” She was about to pepper him with questions, but his hand slipped under the covers. Right down to her thigh. “Oh, yeah. There.” Then those expert fingers traveled a big higher. “The letter can wait.”

“Yes, it can.”

“I’m going to let you show me how much you love me.”

He rolled over her then. “Again?”

“I’m sure you can handle it.”

He lowered his mouth until it hovered right above hers. “I can handle you.”

“Show me.”

* * * * *

---