Page 74 of Final Chance At Love (Chance At Love Duet 2)

“Kristoff,” I started hesitantly. “I remember you telling me birth control was non-negotiable when you offered me the job.” That lunch in D.C., when he tried to convince me to work for him, seemed like years ago. “I thought I couldn’t have any more pregnancies. Turns out, I was wrong.” Duh, obviously! Damn it, I was so nervous. “What I’m trying to say, I know we didn’t plan this and if I’d just accepted that birth control clause, we wouldn’t be in this situation, and-”

“I’m happy it happened,” he interrupted me. “If I knew we’d end up pregnant, I’d still do it all over again.”

Seeds of hope started flourishing again. I realized I could have stayed away from him for years and I’d still love him. There was no getting over him. At least he was happy about the pregnancy.

“Twins, ha,” he mumbled with admiration. “Can you feel them yet?”

I chuckled low. “It’s too early, but sometimes I swear I feel something.” I beamed at the feeling of it. “It’s probably an upset stomach although I did read with later pregnancies you can feel it as early as thirteen weeks.”

His hand reached out to touch my slightly rounded belly and he stopped mid-air so I took it and put it there.

“Ok, now wait,” I told him gently. “When I feel something, you tell me if you feel it too.”

We remained still for a few minutes but when nothing happened, I just shrugged my shoulders and uttered. “Maybe not such a great idea. We could sit like this for hours.”

His fingers gently circled my lower belly and just like that I was turned on.

“You said it is not the ideal way it happened,” he repeated my earlier words. “What is the ideal way?”

“Well, you know,” I replied uncomfortably while his fingers were still playing on my skin, branding it. “The normal way.”

He raised his eyebrow. “I think we conceived the normal way.”

I blushed to the roots of my hairline and I rolled my eyes. “Kristoff. Seriously!”

“I want to know what you meant,” he persisted.

“Well,” I started off exasperated. “...the normal way is you meet someone, you date, you get married, buy a house then have kids. Not get a job, sleep with your boss, then have a baby.”

He never removed his hand off me, his fingers off my skin. “So marry me, then.”

I stared at him in shock, looking for evidence of humor on his face. There was none. Did he want to get married because I was pregnant?

“Hellooooo,” came a shout and we all turned to see who it was. I looked over my shoulder and stared dumbfounded trying to process what I was seeing. Coming towards us was Samuel Jr. His stride towards us was confident and he had a broad smile on his face.

“Look who I found,” he said as he reached down and pecked me on the cheek.

“What… how… where did you come from?”

He laughed hard at my stutter.

“I went to your charming villa and your Croatian neighbor said I would find you here. What a lovely beach spot!”

Glancing around the beach, he sat on the opposite side from Kristoff whose hand stilled on my stomach, but he never removed it.

He smiled and motioned to the shallow water where all the kids were, along with Betty and Rick, “Are those your kids?”

“Ah, yes. My youngest Sierra, my middle one Saoirse, and my oldest Sienna.”

“You can definitely tell they are sisters,” he chattered and waved at them. “Hi, girls, I’m Samuel.”

They mumbled hellos and continued with their play. I noticed Betty’s questioning look and I just shrugged my shoulder. Even Saoirse who was usually very friendly and loved meeting new people was uninterested. Maybe she was finally learning some boundaries.

“Hello, Kristoff,” Samuel greeted him. “Gemma told me she quit her job. Although it seems you can’t quit being all over her.” He motioned to his hand still on my stomach.

“What are you doing here, Samuel?” I asked him before Kristoff could say anything.

“I wanted to work out our business together versus over the emails and phone,” he answered and glanced over at Kristoff. “Although I didn’t know he was here.”

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