Page 108 of Sweet Escape
“First of all, don’t talk about my baby mama that way.”
“Wilder—”
I stop her with a finger against her rosy-pink lips, my mind replaying the sensation of them trailing over my skin.“Just listen to me for a minute. If you still want to go off on one of your tangents after that, I’ll let you spiral until the cows come home.”
She rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “By all means, mansplain motherhood to me.”
“If you wanna be a brat about it, I’d be happy to introduce you to my ropes, Pretty Girl.”
“Don’t tempt me with a good time.”
I grip her chin between my thumb and forefinger, pinning her with a hard stare. “Any other time, I’d jump at the chance to tie you up, but not while you’re doubting yourself. You’re going to be an amazing mom, Liv. Not because the nursery is immaculately decorated. Not because you’ve read every parenting book known to man. Not even because you were raised by two incredible parents, but because you’reyou. There’s not a single doubt in my mind that you were born to be a mother, Olivia Sullivan. The next time you doubt yourself, you come to me, and I’ll set you straight. Got it?”
She gives me a jerky nod, chewing on the inside of her cheek.
“Don’t cry, honey.”
“I don’t deserve you. You weren’t supposed to be—” She cuts her sentence off on a sharp inhale, but I already know what she was going to say.
You weren’t supposed to be mine.
“But I am. And you’re exactly where you’re meant to be.”Unable to resist the pull, I bring my lips to hers, soft and sweet, so different from our usually heated kisses. My heart gives a painful squeeze when I pull away. “Let me take over the nursery.”
“Why?”
“You’ve got enough on your plate, and I don’t want you going into labor before we’re ready to meet this little filly.”
I can tell she’s conflicted. Liv’s reluctant to put her faith in someone else after what Jake and Amber did, and I can’t say I blame her. They really put her through some shit, but I’m not them.
“Ok,” she says. “But call your mama for help.”
“You don’t trust me to do right by our little girl?”
“This from the man who spent the first few months in this house eating from divided toddler plates.”
“Alright. Fine. But no peeking. I’m locking this door until it’s done.”
“Oh, come on. That’s not fair!”
“This just became an Olivia free zone until further notice.” I tug on her hands, helping to lift her from the chair. “Go on now, git.”
“I’m not a horse. You can’t just shoo me away.”
“Watch me.” My palm connects with her ass, and she squeaks, spurring into motion.
The door starts to close on an indignant Olivia, but she says, “Call your mom” over the threshold before the rest of her tirade is muffled.
As soon as the door snicks closed, I shoot off a text.
Wilder: I need your help.
Ivy: Hello to you too, Wilder Hayes. What can I do for you?
Wilder: I need some custom artwork. Can you make it happen?
Ivy: You know I can. Meet me at my place in an hour.
Olivia
