Page 14 of Wine & Whiskey: Everything for You
She fucking better. Or he will find someone who does. He’ll hire a team of experts if he has to.
“All righty, here you go.” Kathryn steps inside and hands Shae her drink. “I’ll give you a few minutes to work on it, and then I’ll come back and check on you.”
“Okay, thank you.” Shae uncaps the bottle and takes a long swallow. After tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she gives him a timid smile. “I’m sorry this is taking so long. I know you need to work.”
“You know better than that. This is where I want to be.” He nods toward the posters decorating the walls, depicting various stages of pregnancy and encouraging healthy behaviors. “Besides, I’m learning a lot. Marta’s right about the fruit.”
“She’s going to make a wonderful grandmother.” Her happy sentiment grows bigger at the housekeeper’s name. “I think she worries as much as you do, although neither of you likes to admit it.”
“We just want both of you to be okay.” A grimace rolls through him at the photo behind her. The woman in labor, her face pinched in pain, sweat beads rolling down her temples as another lady holds her hand. He’s going to be a fucking mess when it’s Shae, unable to stand watching her suffer.
He’s got to fucking get himself together. Be the man she needs him to be. Not a weak bastard unable to support the strongest woman he’s ever known. Who puts up with his bullshit no matter what he does. Forgives him over and over for the same mistakes. And yet, somehow, still loves him.
Her soft voice pulls him out of his thoughts. “Everything’s happened so fast, and you haven’t had much time to think about what a baby means and how they change your life.” She spins the now almost-empty bottle between her fingers, hesitation threading through her words, her smile gone. “It’s okay to be overwhelmed. To feel like you’re not ready for all of this yet.”
“Nothing to think about. I’m ready.”
“But, if it wasn’t for Evan trying to get me to trick you, we probably wouldn’t even be—”
“Fuck no, sweetness.” Fire races through his clenched gut at her misguided assumptions. That she thinks he isn’t completely committed. That she and the baby aren’t everything he’s ever wanted. “You think I’m here because I was jealous? Or out of fucking obligation?” His tone is harsher than he intends. But she’s got to understand. To believe him. In him. “Even without that motherfucker’s schemes or you being pregnant, I would have found my way back to you. What we have between us could never be over.”
He takes a deep breath, trying to slow the pounding of his racing heart and slides his finger under her chin. Forcing her to meet his eyes. Cursing himself for the skepticism in hers. She squirms against his hand, anxiety blazing her cheeks as she leans closer. “I have absolutely zero doubt.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I’m all in. One hundred percent.” His gaze drops to her stomach before returning to her pinked face. “For both of you. Living this life, with you, is exactly what I want. You are the only woman I’ve ever loved, ever wanted to marry, wanted to have a family with. Just you.”
“I know. I believe you. All I was trying to say is, it’s okay to be scared.”
Relief softens his rigid posture, the muscles loosening under her gentle caress of his hands. “I’m not.”
“But my body is going to change.”
“And be even more beautiful.”
She glances around the room, pausing on the image he had been staring at seconds before. “I’ll be in pain.”
“I’ll be there to help you.”
“You’re going to worry so much about protecting us.”
Fuck. He finally gets it. All of her fears for him as well as for herself hold back her complete happiness. But he’ll overcome them. Pass every test. Crush every objection. Make her trust in him again. “I’ll never let anything happen to either of you.”
“We won’t get enough sleep.”
“I’m a night owl.”
“Our sex life could be ruined.”
He smirks at her, winking before pressing his lips against hers. “Now that, I won’t let fucking happen.”
A small shiver shudders through her body, and her arms wrap around his neck, the tight grip a welcome contrast to the uncertainty threatening to weaken them. “You’re going to be a dad.”
His heart soars more than he ever thought possible at her joy. That she picked him. That she’s happy he’s the father of her child. And he’ll be everything they both deserve. “Yeah, and you’re going to be a mom.”
“Sorry to interrupt.” A light knock sounds from the door before Kathryn walks in. “Ready for me to take another look?”
Shae’s huge smile never fades, her gaze not leaving his. “Yes, please.”
