Page 73 of Keeper
I half smile and look up into his stunning eyes. “I just got back.”
His brows lift. “Where were you?”
I swallow, my mind fogged over from the sight of his abs. “Just running some errands.”
He grins at me, that perfect press of a dimple stamping into his face. ‘Want to join me?”
Beads of steam cling to my face, and I want nothing more than to get in the shower and wrap my arms around him. For a few minutes, I want to forget that everything is about to change. I want to soak in another wonderful, blissful moment with Booker before I tell him our life-altering news.
We undress and step into the shower. He instantly wraps himself around me and pulls me under the water. His large hold on me makes me feel so safe and secure. It’s warm and the damp smell of him is heavenly. I press my face to his chest, loving the feel of our naked bodies against each other as he rubs his magical hands up and down my spine.
“You okay?” he asks and I nod into his chest. “You sure?” I nod again. “Poppy, why aren’t you talking? Something’s up. You’re usually singing by now.”
Swallowing, I pull back and look up into his hazel eyes. Booker knows me better than anyone. He’s attuned to my eccentricities in both personality and now in day-to-day needs, even leaving the cap off the shower gel because he knows I have trouble opening it.
We are still Booker and Poppy, but we are so much more now. He has to see that. He has to know that he’s not just looking at me with lust anymore. His eyes are wide and full of…love. It’slovehe’s looking down on me with. He’s fallen for me, making it so mind-blowingly easy for us to become one. Surely this hurdle can be overcome as well.
Still holding back, I reply with a half-truth. “I have another migraine coming on.”
His face softens. “Oh, bugger.” He leans down and kisses all the way across my forehead, moving his hands so his fingers can make small circles on my temples. “Does that feel all right?”
“Mmm, that feels so good,” I groan.
He massages for a while and drops a few more kisses before saying, “Wait until you see what I have planned for you after this. It should help you relax and take your mind off the pain.”
I quirk a sardonic brow at him. “If you say I have to give you a blow job, I’ll come up with some really creative ways to hurt your balls.”
He shakes with laughter. “I’m sure you would.” He presses his lips to my forehead again. “Come on, let me get you all bubbly and then I’ll show you what I have in store.”
After a gloriously romantic and sex-free shower with Booker, he tosses me one of his giant Bethnal Green T-shirts and tells me to crawl into his bed while he goes and gets something. When he returns shirtless and wearing only a pair of football shorts, my eyes zero in on what he has in his hands.
“Where did you find that?” I ask with a tired smile as he opens my Brothers Grimm collection of fairytales.
“In your wardrobe. I was looking for your earbuds and came across it.” He strokes the leather bound book reverently.
“That thing is a relic,” I reply as he sits down beside me, propping himself up against the large wooden headboard.
“I can read to you?” His smirk is adorable.
My eyes widen. “You always made me read to you when we were kids.”
“That’s because your voice is sexy and you did the character voices. But since you’re not feeling well, we can change it up.” He winks.
My smile is huge. “I’d love that.”
“Let me see if I can find your favourite one,” he says, thumbing through the book until he finds the story about Cinderella. The sky outside is beginning to darken, so he reaches over and flicks on his bedside lamp. When he’s ready, he opens his arms to me and says, “Lie back. Let me hold you.”
I turn and lean against him, pressing my back to his stomach so that my head rests right below his chin. He kisses my wet hair and holds the book with one hand while snaking his other under my arm so it’s resting across my belly. His hold on me is so tender yet deliciously strong in his tan, sculpted arm. With this single embrace, he has the power to make me feel completely cherished.
His smooth voice fills the room with one of my favourite passages from the book. I let myself disappear in the story for a while, enjoying the respite from my mind over the last couple of days. This is why I ignored the oddness of my period. I wasn’t ready to break this beautiful bubble that we’re in right now. I didn’t want to let the real world taint us. Everything is going so perfectly. The news will shake all that we’ve accomplished in a short amount of time.
After he turns the page, he readjusts his hold on me and begins playing with the hem of my shirt. The bottom has ridden up past my black knickers and hips. His fingers brush my lower belly with his small movements, like the universe is telling me there’s more in the room than the two of us.
Suddenly, his hand flattens against my belly and the sensation feels so good, so wonderfully intimate, I can’t help but wonder what if. What if I was happy about all of this? What if he was happy? What if we do this together? Be parents. Be a family. Be in love.
Booker and I have known each other our entire lives. Now we’re sleeping together and becoming closer than ever before. The only thing missing is titles. The feelings are all there. I love him, he loves me. We haven’t uttered the words, but I know we both feel the same.
For a moment, I allow myself to daydream about what the baby will be like. A boy or a girl? Will it be kind-hearted and protective like Booker? Or creative and flamboyant like me? Will our baby have Booker’s passion? God, I’d love that. Booker is my favourite person, probably ever, and picturing any part of him on something we made together brings me complete joy.
