Page 63 of Wish You Would

She shakes her head. “Well, I think it’s a girl.”

I laugh, not surprised in the least. Briar can’t resist an opportunity to challenge me. She’s cute as hell.

Since she moved in with me, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her. I can’t imagine anyone else having this effect on me. Just the thought of any other guy touching her—especially withmybaby inside of her—has me losing my mind. Now that she’s having our baby, I feel this strong sense of possession. I groan inwardly when I think about how badly I want to touch her, how it’s getting harder and harder to keep my hands to myself when I’m around her. My dick twitches in my pants. Fantastic. Now I’m going to be sitting next to her in my truck with a hard-on.

When I reach for the door handle on the passenger side of my truck, I can’t resist dipping my head into her neck until my lips are millimetres from the lobe of her ear. “You’re carrying my little slugger, Bee. I’d bet the damn house on it.”

Briar shivers, then covers up her response with a laugh. “So cocky for a guy with only a 50/50 chance of being right.”

I have her caged in against the door of my truck. When she turns around to face me, her cheeks are flushed. She looks happy. She’s beautiful. I could spend forever just looking at her.

It blows my mind. This woman walked into my life and turned it upside down, overwhelming me in the best way with her joy for life and spontaneity. Not to mention a mouth on her that drives me absolutely crazy. Every time she sasses me, I have to clench my jaw to stop myself from grabbing her by the neck and kissing her senseless. Stubborn, uninhibited and carefree. She has an attitude largerthan the size of Canada. She has wrecked me in all the best ways.

But as good as we’ve been getting along lately, there’s a chance that’s as far as our relationship will go. I would be smart to remember that.

But I want her.

I want more.

My hand moves to the small of her back to help her into the cab of my truck.

“You realize I’m not as big as a house yet, right?” she asks. “I can get into your truck without your help.”

“This again?”

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

“Get in the truck. I’m taking you somewhere.” I reach for a loose strand of her hair, tugging on the tendril.

“Where are you taking me, Holden Banks?”

“You’ll see.” I round the truck and hop into the driver’s seat, then pull out of the parking lot. I steal a look at Briar, who has rolled her window halfway down and has her eyes closed as the warm breeze blows a few loose strands of hair around her face. She looks the most relaxed I’ve seen her in days.

She catches me staring and smiles, making my pulse beat a little faster, and I have to remind myself to keep my eyes on the road and not on her.

“How are you feeling?” I ask.

“Right now? Good. Ask me in an hour and it might be different,” she says.

“The doctor said it’s normal.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s any fun.”

Her phone buzzes and she looks at the screen then sighs before dropping it back into her lap.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just my mom asking how my week has been. I feel guilty for not telling her.” She drops her face into her hands. “I’m worried how she’s going to take the news.”

I reach across the console, my hand sliding across the nape of her neck. Her muscles tense beneath my touch then begin to loosen as I rub the column of her neck with my thumb, back and forth, over and over.

“Are you worried she’s going to be upset?”

“No, that’s not it…. I’m just nervous. What if I disappointed her?”

“I doubt you could ever disappoint her, Briar. If you’re worried, we can FaceTime her and tell her together.”

She immediately shakes her head. “Thanks, Holden, it’s sweet of you to offer, but I think this is one conversation I need to have myself. I’m sure she is going to ask to meet you though.”

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