Page 100 of Decidedly With Baby
One was doable—there were only ten days left untilSpring.
Theother?
“It’s not that easy,” I said, always the planner, never the spontaneous one. But have you tried being spontaneous when you had a baby? “And it might affect my immigration status, which means I might be sent back to Australia because of that. Plus all my friends are here.” I stroked my fingers against his jaw and his one-day scruff. “If I go to Montreal, Lily and I will be on our own while you’re away. I won’t have the same support system I havehere.”
I gave him a sad smile. “So as much as I would love to be there with you, it won’t work. I’m sorry.” Plus I needed to begin searching for a nanny soon. D-day—also known as my first day back to work—was two months andcounting.
A small part of me shuddered at the idea of returning to work. It wasn’t the job I was dreading. Remember? Ilovedmy job. It was the idea of being away from Lily during the day, along with balancing motherhood and my career that made me feelunsettled.
Seriously—how had my mum managed to go back to work when my brothers and I were little? Or had we driven her crazy enough that she couldn’t wait to get back to hercareer?
That was always a possibility. Averygoodpossibility.
Josh pressed his lips together, and let out a heavy breath. “What’s going to happen, Holly, if I’m offered a contract with another team? Yes, maybe it will be with L.A. or San Jose or Anaheim, but the odds of that aren’t great. And even then we still won’t see much of each other, other than onSkype.”
“What do you expect me to do? Give up my job and marryyou?”
He pushed himself up to sit. “Why not? You’re smart, have a great degree and work experience. You’ll find anotherjob.”
Did you notice what he didn’tsay?
Once upon a time, a young maiden lived in the kingdom of kangaroos and koalas. Like her mother before her, she was expected to marry for convenience—not for love. And we all knew how that story went, didn’twe?
Yes, I got that he loved me and was trying to come up with a way for Lily and me to be in his life, but it all felt off-kilter. He never said he longed to marry me because he loved me and he couldn’t imagine spending another moment without me in hislife.
Wasn’t that what most girls dreamed of hearing from the man theylove?
Because what girl wanted her happily ever after to sound like a businessproposal?
I sat up, the sheet held against my chest. “Never mind that I don’t want another job,” I said a little harsher than I had intended. “Never mind that I don’t want to get married just so Lily and I can be with you. What happens if the only contract you’re offered is in Canada? Thenwhat?”
He didn’t argue I was wrong. He couldn’t. Like me, he knew it was a strong possibility the only team who would offer him a contract once he became a free agent was a Canadianteam.
And then I was expected to give up everything just to be with him, and so his daughter could be withhim.
You want to know the truth? Being an adult sucked the bigone.
There, I’d said it. Disney needed to turn my life into a princessmovie.
I was positive it would be the nextblockbuster.
Except in real life, there were no bibbity-bobbity-freaking-boos.
Josh’s jaw jerked. “Look, I didn’t come here for us to argue. I just thought it was a viable option so we can be together.” He looked toward the rain-splattered window and let out a long breath. “This is our last night together for a few weeks, and I’d much rather spend what little time we have left with me making love toyou.”
The frustration in his face eased, to be replaced by my favorite panty-dropping smirk—if I had been wearing panties. “Now, can we have some hot and dirty make-upsex?”
Despite everything, I laughed. Besides, he was right. Why waste time being angry when we didn’t have much time before he had to leaveagain?
“So, you don’t even want dinner?” I asked, laughter in myvoice.
He grinned, everything being good for now—as long as we avoided the elephant in the room. “Dinner might begood.”
I lay back and tugged him down to join me. “What do you want first? Dinner? Or…” I trailed my fingertips down his chest, under the sheet covering his hips, and along his hardeninglength.
He didn’t answer with words…instead he showed me exactly what he hungered for—with his mouth and tongue, with his fingers, with hiscock.
Dinner? Totally overratedanyway.
