Page 133 of Stepping Into Tomorrow

She blinked up at him. “For this one? Nash, you didn’t have to—”

“I wanted to. I needed to let go of my guilt, and admittedly, I’d be pretty pissed if you had a boat named after your ex even if I understood it.”

“What did you name it?” she asked.

He set the paperwork back in the cabinet. “Renamed her El Amanecer.”

She swallowed the fresh bout of emotion rising in her throat. “You named your boat The Sunrise?”

He nuzzled her neck and kissed the corner of her mouth. “Sure did, sweetness. After our daughter, but also because I plan on spending the rest of my sunrises with you.”

She placed her hand on his cheek. “Who would have thought that the grumpy man I went fishing with who could barely string a few sentences together was this romantic, sentimental, and poetic guy deep down?”

He gave a snort and shook his head. “You’re the only one who knows, so don’t ruin my rep and tell everyone.”

She laughed and took his mouth in a slow, sensual kiss. He licked her bottom lip and pulled back.

“One thing we haven’t discussed is how many more kids do you want,” he said, his hand splayed over her stomach, tracing the lines of her newest stretch marks. It seemed to be his favorite thing to do lately when they snuggled.

“Well, I’ve always wanted a big family. I would like a few years in between getting pregnant again. But I am open to adoption.”

His eyes lit up. “Really?”

“What about you?”

“I didn’t build my house with five rooms for nothing.” He smirked and lowered his mouth to her belly, kissing along the red marks the creation of their daughter had left behind. “God, you’re so beautiful.”

She relaxed against him, savoring the tender kisses he placed on her body.

The shrill ring of her cell phone had her tensing. “Where’s my phone?”

He reached down to his pants and pulled it out. “I told them not to disturb us. It’s Roman.”

“It could be about Eli or Alba. Answer it.”

“What do you want?” His brows drew together in a concerned line as he tensed. “Someone broke in?”

Isabella sat up, placing her hand on Nash’s forearm.

“Christ, man. You could have led with that.” He breathed a sigh of relief, and it brought a sliver of comfort to her as he traced his thumb up and down her bare thigh. “Yeah, well, I was in the middle of it when you interrupted me. Yeah, it’s today.” He smiled. “She said yes, by the way . . . I will . . . Yup.” Nash ended the call and tossed the phone onto the pile of clothes.

“What happened?”

“Apparently Roman thought he had an intruder in his house, and he acted accordingly. Thing is . . .” He chuckled. “It’s not a thief but his new live-in nanny. Apparently, Mom didn’t give him a heads-up and, well, he made a mess of things.”

“Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah. Guess she has a strong right hook.” He laughed.

“She punched Roman?”

He nodded. “I’d like to know how that happened.”

“Now that’s quite the first impression.”

His arms tightened around her. “Not as good as ours though, right?”

She smiled and kissed his pec. “Ours will forever be my favorite.”

He gripped the back of her neck. “Mine too.”

The End.

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