Page 164 of Changing Rules

XANDER

Two years later

The first thingI see when I open my eyes is my daughter’s sleeping face. Smiling, I touch her cheek with my fingertips. Her small mouth trembles, as if she’s having a nice dream. The sight of her makes my already full heart burst with joy. Starting my day with a dose of cuteness like this fuels my body and mind. Now I have the energy to accomplish everything on my mile-long to-do list.

Slowly, I prop myself up and discover that Bella is gone. I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess. She’s an early riser.

I move carefully, ensuring I don’t wake my baby girl, then arrange pillows on either side of her so she won’t roll off the bed in her sleep. I hover over her, my chest aching with love. She has been my universe since the moment the doctor put her on Bella’s chest in the delivery room. My daughter and her mom are the only people in this world I need by my side to feel complete.

I take a step forward and almost trip over Milo.

“Dammit,” I whisper-yell.

He opens his eyes and blinks but doesn’t even lift his head. He won’t leave the room without Isla. As soon as she learnedhow to crawl, he shifted the attention he’d always given Bella to our daughter. They’re best buddies now.

“Do you think it will work?” Bella’s voice drifts down the hallway as I close the bedroom door behind me.

She’s standing near the table with her back turned to me, tapping her fingers over the tabletop. A composition of inked peonies with a dragon Haku fromSpirited Awaycovers the scars Miller left on her wrist. She designed the tattoo and had the work done after she stopped breastfeeding.

She’s in her white sports bra and leggings. Some things definitely never change. With her determination and her love for working out, she quickly bounced back after her pregnancy. Though I can’t say she ever stopped exercising. Even nine months pregnant, she was doing yoga and whatever else she was capable of… Dear God, my fiancée is the sexiest girl on the planet.

“Sounds great,” she says softly into the phone.

I gently wrap my arms around her waist and bring my mouth to her other ear. “I hate waking up without you.”

As she relaxes into me, pressing her back to my chest, I hide my face in her hair, inhaling her coconut scent.

“Thank you… Uh-huh. Call me when you have some news for me. You too. Bye!” She ends the call, then spins in my arms and presses her lips to mine. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, babe.” I slip my hands around her hips and squeeze the globes of her ass. “How come I found Isla in our bed?”

“Who knows?” She lifts her shoulder in a shrug.

Inching forward, I catch her bottom lip with my mouth and rake my teeth over it.

“Ouch!” She pulls back and retaliates by tugging at the hair on the back of my head.

Push and pull. Exactly what I love the most about her. The game. A little hunting. Praising. Role-playing. We’re up for anything. And even after bringing a child into the mix, our sex life is as intense as ever.

“She woke up as I was starting my morning routine, so I brought her into bed and left after she fell asleep again,” she explains.

“What’d you do this morning? Yoga? Stretching?” Her morning routine always starts out in a way that turns me on. If I don’t wake up with morning wood, I always have it after watching her.

“A lady has to havesomesecrets.” She winks at me.

With a chuckle, I toss her over my shoulder and head to the kitchen. It’s Sunday morning, and the season is over, so on days like this, I like to cook breakfast.

“I can walk, you know.”

“But you fit perfectly in my arms.” I give her ass a firm slap.

I set her on the kitchen counter, then pull out ingredients. Isla loves pancakes with bananas, so I’ve mastered them. Anything for my little girl.

“Can you get the coffee started?” I ask Bella.

“Yes, sir.” She sticks her tongue out at me as she hops to her feet and heads to the coffee maker.

“Stop taunting me. I’m already debating whether I should continue making breakfast or punish you.”

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