Page 56 of Tangled Up With You

“I love you, Connor. It’s you and me and our little chickpea.” She took my hand and pressed it against the tiny bump that had formed there almost overnight. I hadn’t thought it was possible for her to get any sexier than she already was. Then I saw her belly swelling with my kid and that breeding kink was fully unlocked.

She didn’t know it yet, but I fully intended to keep her pregnant with my babies for as long as I could get away with it.

“Christ, I fuckin’ love you so much.”

“I love you too,” she repeated against my lips. “But...” She pulled back and looked around. “What are you doing out here? Should you be back getting ready?”

My dimples popped as I shook my head. “Nope. You can consider me officially retired. I’m goin’ out on top.”

Her lips parted on a gasp. “What?”

“I’m done, butterfly. Hal’s been talkin’ about retiring. Says he’s too old to be a ranch foreman and wants to enjoy his last years fishin’ and drinkin’ beer. I was thinkin’ that I’d talk to Zach about taking over for him.”

“Consider the job yours.”

My head whipped around, and I spotted Zach, Rae, and Lennix hanging on to the top of the fence.

“Thanks, buddy,” I said with a laugh.

He shot me a thumbs up. “You got it.” Then he waved me on. “Proceed.”

Ivy and I shared a laugh as I turned to look back at her. “And I was thinkin’ about mentoring some of the younger riders. The kid I helped a few weeks ago has shown some real improvement.”

She reached up and cupped my cheeks, tears welling in her eyes. “You would be so good at that.”

Hearing her say that meant the world to me. “You think so?”

“I know it. Because I know you. And Connor Bennett, you’re a good man.”

I reached into my back pocket and pulled the envelope out, holding it up between us.

“Is that . . .?”

“Our future,” I answered. “Care to find out what we’re havin’?”

She hopped up and down on a squeal and snatched the envelope from my hands, ripping it open like a kid going ham on her presents Christmas morning.

She pulled out the piece of paper inside and twisted so we could read it together. A watery laugh worked its way up her throat.

“We’re having a?—”

Epilogue

Connor

Five and a half months later

Sylvia Hayden Bennett—Sylviefor short—was born at 12:03 in the morning, and the very first thing she did the instant she came into the world was let out a wail strong enough to rattle the walls.

Like Ivy’s mom had predicted, my baby girl had a head full of pale red hair that glowed bright beneath the florescent lights of the hospital room.

As I held her clutched to my chest, staring down at her utter perfection, my heart cracked wide open. I didn’t know it was humanly possible to love a person as much as I loved the tiny bundle in my arms. I didn’t even care that she was probably going to be as wild as her momma. In fact, I was excited to see what my little chickpea would get up to and if she could top some of the stories I’d heard about Ivy.

“She’s absolutely perfect,” I said in a whisper as I turned and looked at the hospital bed where my whole world laid, her hair slick with sweat and a tired smile on her beautiful face.

“She damn well better be, she made me push long enough to get her out.”

Seventeen hours of labor had taken its toll on my butterfly, but she’d handled it like a champ. Even when she was screaming at me that my dick was never getting anywhere near her again.

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