Page 145 of Finding Forever

“Aah, well then…” She dragged the T-shirt up and off, tossing it over her shoulder without a backward glance. His eyes sparked at the sight of her in only knee socks and bright pink panties. He drank in her obviously pregnant body with the little baby bump and her now bottom-heavy breasts with their dark, pert nipples.

He was so busy staring, he was taken completely unaware when she stepped toward him and tugged at the hem of his T-shirt. She had it halfway up his chest before he could react.

“Bend your head,” she commanded and he automatically obeyed. She had the shirt off him and on her in seconds after that. Leaving him to blink at her in shock.

“You stole my shirt,” he said, sounding a little dazed.

She laughed at him.

“You’re right, Idolike your shirts better.”

She walked out of the room with a brazen swagger to her hips.

Cade followedafter changing into another shirt and ushered her straight to the sofa—even though she insisted that she was fine. He covered her with a lap blanket, plumping up the cushions around her, and making her a mug of hot cocoa with marshmallows.

“You know it’s summer, right?” she asked him from the depths of the cocoon he’d created for her.

“Are you trying to tell me you’re not comfortable right now?” he asked with a skeptically arched brow.

She tossed him a mutinous glare before taking a sip from her delicious cocoa and grumbling beneath her breath.

“What’s that?” he asked, cupping a hand around his ear. “I didn’t quite catch it.

“Maybe I’m a little comfortable.”

“I have a couple of meetings. It won’t be too long,” he told her. “I’ll be in my office. The door’s open. Call if you need me.”

“Fine. Thanks for the cocoa.”

He grinned and dropped a kiss on her mouth.

“Love you.” He seemed to get a kick out of saying it.

“Love you too,” she replied…. Okay, maybe she got a kick out of saying it too.

She lifted her phone and immediately started texting Beth,until he leaned over the back of the couch to confiscate her phone and replace it with the tv remote.

“Hey, come on, man, it was just a text,” she protested.

“You heard the doctor, lay off the small screens and reading for the next twenty-four hours. The television screen is larger, better for your bruised brain.”

“Fine,” she grumbled. She was a little more familiar with his entertainment system now and began flicking through his streaming services. He watched her for a moment, before leaving her to it.

When Cade checkedin on Fern an hour later, she was fast asleep. Still curled up on the sofa, buried under a couple of cushions, with the blanket drawn up to her chin. Her small feet were sticking out on the other end of the blanket.

He grinned, feeling a pang in his chest at the sight of her, so perfect and content, exactly where she belonged. He couldn’t quite believe that she loved him. It all felt like a surreal dream, and he was petrified that he would wake up from it at any moment only to find that she’d never really existed.

He shuddered at the thought and sat down by her feet, scooting over, until they were in his lap. He took one of them into his palm—so small—and peeled off her socks before giving her a foot rub. He wasn’t very good at it, just did what came naturally, gently digging his thumbs into her soft heels and soles.

She sighed… and stretched. Then opened her eyes with a throaty little moan.

“Hmm, that feels nice,” she told him with a sleepy smile.

“You have a good nap?”

“Uh huh.”

He moved onto the other foot.

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