Page 27 of Adrian (Love Under the Lights 3)

He didn’t judge me because she was a pushy pain in the ass who wanted to use him—and probably his mother—as gossip machines. Better than that, he didn’t take her shit. He stood up for me when I hesitated to speak up for myself because that’s the man he was.

“Thank you for not letting my mom scare you off.”

He gave me a pointed look. “Sweetheart, there’s not a chance in hell of that ever happening,” he vowed. “You and I are stronger than anything she throws out, Casey. In addition to keeping her from driving you crazy, I’m doing what I can to break her bad habits now. If she can’t get her shit together by the time we start our family, she’s going to be left in the dust.”

I knew that no matter how bad Mom and Cindy’s antics got, they wouldn’t really affect my relationship. With Adrian, I was happier than I’d ever been in my life, and my heart was full. I’d started falling in love with him the night of our first date. I knew I was all the way in love with him about a month into our relationship—one week after I’d given in and moved in with him officially—when he came home with supplies for us to make laundry detergent together. The man made upward of twenty million dollars a film and in no way needed to save money with homemade detergent. He did it because he knew I liked it. He was everything I’d ever dreamed of, and I was head over heels for him because of it. That he had such a strong vision of our future family was the icing on the cake. I could no longer keep it to myself.

“I love you,” I blurted.

I knew I’d remember the smile on his face for the rest of my life.

“I love you, too,” he answered. He sealed that sentence with a kiss. I was glad Jen had caught the earlier kiss as opposed to the one we got into after I love you’s were exchanged. Adrian would’ve had to give her a month off to cope with seeing us as we wound up on the couch naked, satisfied and so very, very in love.EpilogueAdrianTwo years laterAfter a long, long day on set, I was damn near deliriously happy to be home. It was my first week back after a three-month break, and the transition was tough. I liked being at home with my wife, so the killer shooting schedule was kicking my ass. Luckily, the set was only forty minutes from my house, and the total shoot time was six weeks. After that, I had two months before my next project started. I could hardly wait.

Although it was after nine at night, Duke greeted me at the door. He was joined by Duchess, a black and tan Rottweiler, and Doug, a gray and white Italian greyhound. We’d adopted them as a bonded pair from a local shelter shortly after we got back from our honeymoon to Necker Island last year. After giving each of the pups some love, I headed into the living room.

The dogs weren’t the only addition to our family after that trip. Having a private island at our disposal for two weeks led to us finding out that Casey was pregnant a month after we got home. Witnessing the changes in her body as our son developed inside her was one of the best experiences of my life. I can admit that one of the things I liked best was that her rounded belly told people she was mine in an even better way than her wedding and engagement rings did. Through it all, Casey just laughed and called me her favorite caveman.

My heart melted as I crossed the room to the couch. Standing next to it, I took in the scene before me. Casey had fallen asleep on one of the reclining seats on our sofa with our son Miles nestled against her chest. I figured she’d fallen asleep after his last feeding for the day because it happened that way a lot. As I pulled my phone from my pocket and snapped a few photos, all three of the dogs jumped onto the couch and got comfy. They liked to stay close to their mama and their human brother, something that delighted Casey and me to no end.

The movement of the animals getting into position on the cushion next to her—where all three dogs managed to fit themselves onto the one cushion—woke Casey up. Seeing me standing there, she smiled softly.

“You’re home.”

“I am,” I confirmed as I leaned in to kiss her hello. When I finished kissing her—at least for the time being—I lifted our son from her arms.

Somehow, we’d lucked out because our boy was a champion sleeper, which meant he didn’t wake up as I positioned him against my chest and dropped some kisses on his sweet, chubby cheeks. The life-changing love I had for my son had somehow quadrupled the love I had for my wife. I hadn’t known it was possible to love her more, but every time I held our child, I was reminded anew of just how lucky I was.

---