Page 66 of The Run Home
“That’s fine too.” And I meant it. This could look any way we wanted it to.
We sat there staring at each other for a little while longer. The chair massager timed out and shut off. The oven dinged.I stood up and held my hand out to Shae. She groaned about having to get up, so I leaned over and picked her up, princess-style. She shrieked and lazily hit my chest. I shook my head at her weak protest.
I was almost to the kitchen when she froze, her hand flying to her stomach. The bottom of my own stomach dropped out and I froze too, suddenly alarmed.
“Are you okay? The baby?” Did I pick her up too quickly? Squeeze her too tightly?
Shae’s shocked expression turned to a watery laugh. “Yeah! I think I felt the baby!” Her cheeks went pink and she bit her lip. “I thought I’ve been having gas for like a week now, but I think it’s been the baby the whole time.”
Relief flooded my system. I diverted from my path and set her down on one of the chairs by the kitchen table. I crouched between her legs and pressed my hand to her stomach. We stayed just like that for several long, silent minutes. Shae moved my hand and forced me to press in harder than I’d like.
And then…I felt it.
A tiny flutter that could have been mistaken for anything else, but Shae’s gaze flew to mine. We both sat there, hands on her stomach, gazes locked, silly grins on our faces.
“Is that him?” I whispered, feeling another flutter.
“I think so.” A single tear ran down her cheek and I let go of her stomach to swipe it away.
My hands went to her hips, my face right by her stomach as I leaned in. “Hey, baby. It’s your dad. Are you wiggling to get Mommy’s attention?”
Shae gasped, obviously feeling the flutter again. “Keep talking. I think he likes it.”
I looked back at her stomach, envisioning our baby in there and pissed at myself for missing this whole phase when it was Kinsley. “We haven’t picked out a name for you yet, but I betwe’ll come up with something good soon. Something strong. Something that you’ll be proud of, just like we’re proud of you, son.” My voice broke and I had to take a deep breath to keep my shit together.
Shae’s fingers slid through my hair, scraping across my scalp. I leaned my head against her stomach and we stayed that way until my legs started to go numb from crouching for so long. I stood, picking her up again. I headed for the kitchen, turning off the oven and heading for Shae’s bedroom.
“What are we doing?” Shae asked, voice deepening.
“I want to see you, lovebug. Kiss you. Every inch of this beautiful body that’s making our son.” I laid her down on the bed and stepped back, admiring how her breasts were pressing against the confines of her shirt, having grown the last few months in preparation to feed our baby.
I stripped out of my clothes in record time and then slowed down to peel her layers off. She let me, her gaze hot on my erection.
“You better give me that cock finally. You can’t show it off and then withhold it like you’ve been doing. It’s mean.”
I’d never get tired of hearing Shae get mouthy in the bedroom. Or hearing her say she wanted my cock. “I’ll give it to you, baby. Just be patient.”
She glared at me, naked and soft and feisty. Her hips were already more rounded and her stomach had the slightest pooch that no one else would have noticed, but I’d spent months studying her body.
“You’re so beautiful, Shae,” I murmured, climbing onto the bed and kissing my way from her ankles to her belly.
My shoulders wedged her thighs apart, parting her for my gaze. She was already wet and pink and shifting impatiently on the bed. I dragged my tongue up her center just to hear her gasp. She tasted like forever. My home. My everything. Beforeshe could pull my hair or scream my name, I lifted my head and gave her breasts the attention I knew she loved. With one knee hooked over my arm, I slid inside her gently but without reservation, both of us pausing to enjoy the feeling of being connected this way.
Damn. There was nothing like being inside Shae. Knowing I was the only one making her pant and writhe and moan. Knowing our baby was inside her belly right now, the one we’d made together before I even knew I was in love with her. The love had always been there, manifested in our baby, but unknown to us. I knew now though. Knew it in my bones. Shae Fletcher was the woman for me.
It didn’t take long for either of us to reach the end. It had been too long for me, and Shae’s orgasms seemed to be on a hair trigger these days. We came at the same time, our foreheads pressed together, breath mingling as we panted. I slid to the side, taking her with me and wrapping her in my arms.
We eventually ate a cold casserole, naked in the kitchen, hoping neither my mother nor my daughter would come over and catch us.
And then I carried her back to bed to make love to her again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Shae
Boon was used to attention.He’d walked these halls decades ago, every head turning to watch the king of the baseball field in our midst. He was the first of only two boys from Blueball to ever get picked up by a professional team, which made him basically a god around these parts.
I was the quintessential wallflower. The smart, nerdy girl watching Boon from the stands, pretending like she didn’t give a crap about some egotistical teen boy when really, just a look from him sent my heart aflutter. It was a tale as old as time, the ending already written, which made our story all the more absurd. The nerdy girl had defied all odds and snagged the baseball god. Sure, it was years later, but I had half a mind to claim the victory for what it was.
