Page 13 of Built for Temptation

He chuckled and leaned down to kiss the tip of my nose. “Yeah, baby. I’m ready. I want to shout that we’re having a baby from the fucking rooftops.”

I smiled softly up at him and cupped his cheek, stroking my thumb over his stubble. “You’re going to make such a good dad, Elliot.”

He swallowed thickly, his eyes holding so much vulnerability that it hurt my heart. “That means a lot to me, Har,” he rasped. “You have no fucking idea.”

I leaned up and softly pressed my lips to his. “You deserve the entire fucking world, Elliot. And I know you may find that hard to believe, but I will strive every day to give it to you.” I clasped his hand in mine, linking our fingers together, a smile on my lips. “Let’s go break the news to our family.”

He pressed a kiss to my forehead before leading me out of the kitchen, our fingers still linked together. Elliot stopped us at the end of the bar and loudly cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. He looked down at me and lifted our joined hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to my knuckles before his lips lifted into a smile.

“Harbor and I have some news to share,” Elliot announced.

“You’re getting married!” Remi shouted, jumping from his chair, his beer already raised in a toast. I snickered. Remi was a work of art and almost as wild as my man. He never failed to put a smile on someone’s face with his little outbursts. There was no filter between his brain and his mouth.

Elliot, laughing quietly, drew me in front of him and cupped my belly. Cecily and Athena’s eyes comically widened, and they began to make little squee sounds. “No—not yet, anyway.” My heart skipped a beat in my chest at the promise in his words. “Harbor and I are going to have a baby!”

A loud cheer went up in the room before we were swept up in hugs and congratulations. Elliot kept one arm around me, like he was trying to protect me from being toppled by his excited brothers. Probably a good idea, honestly. The only gentle ones were Adler and Seb, who had already been down this road and essentially seemed to think pregnant women were extremely fragile.

When I looked up at my boyfriend’s face, my heart squeezed in my chest. He looked so happy surrounded by his found family with the one he was creating wrapped up in his arm.

Feeling my eyes on him, he looked down, smiling softly at me. I love you, I mouthed.

He leaned down and kissed me in response.

Epilogue

Harbor

I was bored out of my mind. I’d only been on maternity leave for three days, and I was already losing my mind. There was nothing for me to do. Elliot had hired a cleaner to come in once a week when I was six months pregnant because he didn’t like my feet swelling and had decided I needed to actually rest on my days off. So, there was nothing for me to clean, and I did all of our laundry my first day home. And Elliot always loaded the dishwasher before he left for work each morning, so there weren’t even dishes in the sink.

I groaned and grabbed my phone off the armrest of the couch, pulling up my group chat thread with Athena and Cecily. I’d text Elsie, but she was working.

Harbor: What are you ladies doing today?

Cecily: I’m debating going shopping and getting a pedicure for a little self-care.

Athena: LOL someone sounds bored.

Harbor: Bored straight out of my mind. Cecily, you want company?

Athena: Um, excuse me! I wanna come!

Cecily: Tell your husband that. It’s his job.

I snickered. God, I loved these ladies. They’d quickly become more than just friends in the past few months; they were family. Like sisters. They even welcomed Elsie in with open arms when I invited my best friend out with us for girls’ night a couple of months ago.

Athena: Maybe I will. But seriously, I could go for a pedicure and some shopping. We going kid free?

Harbor: As kid-free as I can be right now.

Athena: Woman….

Cecily: Yes. Kid-free. Robin is with Chelsea today.

Chelsea was Cecily’s best friend and also the assistant manager of the strip club Cecily owned. Chelsea was… a work of art, honestly. She as as wild as they came. I’d honestly never met anyone who was more… out there.

Athena: Cool! Then we can all agree to meet at the clubhouse in an hour?

Cecily: Woman, who made you boss?

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