Page 28 of The Nicolaides Baby

She closed her eyes as her heart hammered and she searched her feelings.

Oh God. She opened her eyes and stared at his laughing profile. She did.

Leo took that moment, when the revelation of her feelings was hitting her full force, to glance over at her. His continued smile at something his mother had said and the chatter around them faded as he held her gaze. His face flushed as her lips parted. What was she going to—

“Done!”

Rowan dropped his stare and smiled at her daughter and the mess she had, as usual, made of herself. “We need a full body bib for you, young lady,” she said on a laugh as she cleaned Mara’s face and wiped at bits of food she’d managed to smear on her clothes. “It would save a ton on my detergent bill.”

“It’s getting late.” She glanced over at Gregorios as he pushed back his chair. “So, we’d better get going.”

“I’m so excited,” Charlotte said as she and Libby rose from their chairs. “Maybe I’ll get to feed him today too.”

“I bet you do,” Rowan told her with a smile.

“All right then. We’ll see you later.” Charlotte gave her and Leo another grinning look before she followed her husband and daughter into the house.

“Not very subtle. Is she?” Leo reached across the table and took her hand. “Do you think she suspects.”

She shook her head at his obvious understatement and squeezed his hand. Then she pulled it back and stood to take Mara from her high chair. “I would say that’s a given.” She grinned over at him. “But now I see where you get it from.”

He tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

She hefted Mara onto her hip. “You do realize you were basically broadcasting we had…” She glanced at her daughter’s enrapt face. “S-E-X as soon as you walked in and sat down.”

“Well,” he said, standing and coming around the table. “Everyone had better get used to it because I plan for us to have lots of S-E-X at every opportunity.” He gathered her and Mara in a close embrace. “But not right now. Now, we have some fun family things to do before we go to the hospital.”

Rowan tensed at his words that were truer than he realized and then did her best to smile as she pulled away from him. She gathered up Mara’s diaper bag before letting him lead her down the back steps—as a family.

And how am I going to tell him?

* * *

The next few days had Rowan and Leo falling into a routine. They started each morning with his family for breakfast before doing something fun with Mara until it was time for them to fly out to the mainland. They would then spend the next precious hours with their growing nephew, taking time to feed and hold him, before it was time to go. Afterward, they would use their time alone to go to Leo’s penthouse nearby for bouts of that S-E-X he had promised her before flying back to Santorini late in the evening.

Rowan was exhausted but happy as she stroked over Leo’s bare chest while she snuggled against him in his massive bed at his home in the city. She let out a contented sigh. “I still can’t believe Lukas will be ready to come home in a couple of weeks.”

The news from the doctor that afternoon had been exciting, and they had quickly called Leo’s family to let them know it was truly happening. She smiled imagining Charlotte busy at that very moment opening boxes and making Gregorios help her put together the baby bed and changing table she’d ordered as Libby ran around doing her part.

“Mother andbampáswere ecstatic.” He sat up, reached behind him to the nightstand, and opened the drawer. Then he shut it back and faced her with his fist clenched. “I’d like them to be ecstatic over something else too.”

She frowned as he took her left hand and pulled her up to a sitting position. The sheet pooled around her waist, leaving her open to his admiring gaze.

“I’d planned on doing this at dinner, but…”

Her eyes widened and flew to where he held her hand and the large diamond and emerald ring he was slipping on her finger. “Leo,” she gasped as he held it in place.

“Will you marry me?”

Nothing had prepared her for this, and all she could do was stare at the ring and take deep shuddering breaths.

“I know it’s sudden. But since Lukasisfinally coming home, it’s gotten me to thinking.”

Her heart stuttered as she glanced up at him.

“I’d like him to come home not just to a family but to parents who love him. I’d like those parents to be us. We both love Lukas. And I hope you know how much I care for Mara.”

But do you love me?

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