Page 59 of Mending Hearts

And my heart.

But it was just the baby. Once I had the baby, all these feelings would disappear in a puff of placenta. Wouldn’t that be nice? No more clouds of emotional confusion. Absolute clarity awaited me on the other side of intense physical pain.

I swallowed. Best not to think about the giving birth portion of this whole thing. One meeting with the midwife and a couple YouTube videos had been more than enough.

When the front door opened again, I said, “I’m getting dressed.” Annoyance tinged my voice. Pasha was such a mother hen sometimes.

“If you don’t like the dress, it’s okay. You can wear whatever you want.”

I closed my eyes for a beat, silently cursing. When I turned toward Tyler, my smile was genuine. “I love it. I’ve loved all the things I’ve discovered today.” With a few quick strides, I was at the island, and I threw out a hand like one of those pretty girls showing off items from a game show. “I had no idea you knew me so well.”

A slow smile spread across Tyler’s face, and he leaned against the doorframe. Pasha’s disapproving head shake was at the edge of my vision.Yeah, yeah, Pasha, you told me.

That smile stretching across Tyler’s face catapulted my heart rate and made the whole lower half of my body long to drag him downstairs instead of out to dinner. I’d never wanted someone this consistently, constantly. He was an addiction.

Hormones. So many hormones.

“Maybe we can just order in?” I wandered over and slid my arms around his neck. “Wanna sing me happy birthday in the basement? I’m sure we can find a nice, tight spot for you to slide into.”

“I have plans for you.” He gave my butt a light slap. “That’s one plan, but it comes after the other plan. Give me a few hours out of the house, and I’ll sing happy birthday to you as many times as you want.”

“As many times as I want?” I closed my teeth gently around his earlobe. “I like the sound of that.”

His fingers dug into my waist, and he tugged me flush against him. “Need me to help you get dressed?”

“Just undressed,” I breathed into his ear.

“Careful, I could get used to this kind of greeting. Might insist on it every day.”

“I’ve had a good day. When you’re a good boy, it makes me want to be a very bad girl.” Under my lashes I took in the desire smoldering in his gaze. Sex had always been about power, or at least in my experience. When I could, I’d chosen men with less power than me—dancers, singers from opening acts, a waiter, an up-and-coming actor. Technically, Tyler fit the mold, too. It was why I’d asked him to my hotel in the first place. But the dynamic had changed. I didn’t know who held the power, and I wasn’t sure I cared.

“You gonna get out the whips and chains later, Mini?” His hands slid into my hair.

“You into that, Pretty Boy?” I laughed and rose onto my toes to press my lips to his. “Can’t say I saw that coming.”

“I’ll try anything once.”

“Somewhat comforting to hear this would be a first. I was worried I didn’t really know you.” I gave him a flirty glance, and I stepped back to snatch the dress off the hanger. “Back in a sec.”

“If you need any help in there,” Tyler called, “let me know.”

When we pulled up outside his mother’s house, I frowned. “We’re eatinghere?”

“You’ll see,” he said, climbing out of the car and coming around to open my door. He linked our fingers and led me toward the front entrance.

“It’s pretty dark, Tyler. Does your mom know we’re coming?” I frowned, uneasiness stirring in my gut. Pasha trailed behind us, but something about the house felt off.

Without punching in the code, he turned the handle and pushed the door wide. When the door swung open, he turned, and our gazes connected. The sincerity in his depths stopped my breath for a beat.

“Happy Birthday, Mini.”

All of the lights in the living room came on, flooding the front entrance, and a chorus of“Surprise!”burst out along the crowd of familiar faces. An enthusiastic and off-key round of “Happy Birthday” followed.

I squeezed Tyler’s hand, and I scanned all the people he’d gathered. My heart dipped into my stomach, because my mother wasn’t among them. Of course, she wasn’t. Why would she be? We were fighting.

But it was my birthday.

Grady appeared in front of them and swept me into a warm hug. He’d taken on the Sullivan habit of hugging, and I had to admit, he gave good ones. They were almost as good as Tyler’s.

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