Page 51 of Tangled Up With You

“Fuck,” he gasped, bending over my back and pressing kisses to my shoulder as he worked the knot and loosened the rope around my wrists. His arm banded around my waist before I could faceplant on the floor, lifting me so my back was flush with his chest. His dick continued to jerk inside me, the hot ropes of cum coating my walls as his lips dragged along my skin. “Fuck, Ivy. I’ve missed you, baby.”

All I could think was that I had missed him too. Terribly. And that was a huge problem.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ivy

The paper sheet beneath me crinkled as I sat on the bed in Dr. Shaundry’s office, swinging my legs back and forth as I tried to settle my nerves. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right, and I didn’t mean the ridiculous paper gown that was supposed to somehow protect my modesty when my ass was literally hanging out in the breeze.

Today marked seventeen weeks. I was into my second trimester, and had the tiniest little pooch to show the growing baby in my belly. Most of the time it looked like I’d eaten a giant burrito, but I knew what the little bump was. Nearly the instant it popped, Connor had become obsessed.

He was constantly touching my belly, caressing it lovingly, placing a kiss every chance he could, or leaning down to talk softly to our chickpea. Now that he finally had a visual representation of what we had created, he couldn’t seem to get enough.

He couldn’t seem to get enough of me either, and the feeling was more than mutual.

That was the problem. That afternoon in the tack room had flipped a switch. We were going at it every chance we got. I couldn’t seem to get enough of him. Every time I thought I might finally be sated, he’d do or say something that would get my engine going all over again. I told myself over and over it was pregnancy hormones driving me crazy, but deep down, I knew better. It was him.

He was the man I’d fallen for when he first came to Hope Valley all those long months ago. The man I couldn’t help but confide in. The man I wanted to know everything about. And that terrified me. I tried to keep the things between us as straightforward as possible. We were friends. We were going to be co-parents. We just happened to like ripping each other’s clothes off and going at it until neither of us could walk. It didn’t mean feelings had to get involved.

Only, no matter how many times I told myself that, I’d find myself tangled up in those pesky little feelings all over again. I was so tangled up with Connor I wasn’t sure where he ended and I began. I could play aloof all I wanted, but inside, I was a wreck.

He’d stomped my heart to smithereens the first time, and I was recklessly opening myself up to that again, only I wasn’t the only one who would suffer if he freaked out again.

It wasn’t just my heart I had to protect this time around.

A knock sounded on the door, pulling me from my thoughts right before the doctor poked her head inside. “Momma Young,” she greeted with a smile that instantly put me at ease.

“Hi.”

She looked around the room as she moved to the sink and washed her hands. “No Daddy today?”

“No. He had to go out of town for work.” That was what felt so off about the appointment. Connor wasn’t there. He wanted to be. He was actually really upset about missing it, but I assured him it would be okay. There would be other appointmentsthat wouldn’t fall on the same day as a big rodeo. He was in Tennessee right now and wouldn’t be home until later tonight. I tried to reschedule for another day, but Dr. Shaundry was apparently the most sought-after OB in the area, and this was the closest appointment I could get.

It was his job, and it required traveling, even with Hope Valley being his new hometown. I understood that. I just... missed him.

“That’s okay. Happens all the time, believe me. We’ll take plenty of pictures for him to look at once he gets back.”

She instructed me to lie back on the reclined bed. Now that I was in my second trimester, she didn’t have to use that creepy, uncomfortable wand. She squeezed a dollop of jelly onto my stomach and placed the transducer against my belly. She slid the controller around for a few seconds before the room filled with the sound of that lovely heartbeat. “Ah, there’s baby.”

My heart squelched as I watched the monitor, seeing the perfect little profile of my baby. I could see the forehead and the nose. As I watched, I could have sworn I saw it lift its tiny little hand to pop its thumb into its mouth.

She let out a little laugh as she started clicking buttons near the monitor, taking picture after picture that I couldn’t wait to share with Connor. “Oh, wow. Looks like it wants to show off today.”

“What do you mean?” She tilted the device and squinted at the monitor. “Well, most of the time I’d wait to try and tell the gender, but your little one has decided to make it known. If you want, I can tell you what you’re having.”

I looked to the screen, trying to see what she was seeing, but it was just a bunch of floating clouds. “Right now?” I asked in amazement. “You can really see it?”

“Yep.” Her smile grew. “Right now. Your baby isnotbeing shy, that’s for sure.”

I let out a little giggle. “That’s from its father’s side.” I wanted to know so badly, but not having Connor here was holding me back. This was something I wanted to share with him. I didn’t want to find out what we were having without him.

“Do you think you could write it down and put it in an envelope? That way we can open it together tonight.”

“Absolutely.” She tucked the transducer away and wiped my bump clean before helping me sit up straight. “Why don’t you go ahead and get dressed? I’ll take care of that for you and print those pictures for Dad.”

By the time I left the office I was downright giddy. I couldn’twaitfor Connor to get home.

I was soakingin the bathtub, using the warm water to ease some of the round ligament pain that decided to creep up on me when I heard Connor’s truck drive up. A smile pulled at my face as I pulled the plug to drain the tub and climbed out. I quickly dried off and scurried to my room to get dressed, throwing on a pair of cotton lounge shorts and a matching cropped hoody.

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