Page 37 of You Are Cordially Invited

He gripped my chin and pulled me forward into a kiss that left me humming for more. “Yes, it means we’re actually going to do this. You with a baby in your arms? Damn, I can’t wait to see that. Although I’m not sure the preschools are gonna be ready for you. I can see some fiery parent-teacher interviews in our future.”

I batted my lashes at him. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.” I rubbed a circle on the back of his hand with my thumb and watched him closely. “You’re not worried about Cory?”

He shrugged. “No guarantees, right? But I think Cory will be fine because we’ll make sure he’s fine, like we always do, and he’s come so far already. We’ll prepare him as best we can, get help, and deal with the rest. Same with working out the family involvement thing. One step at a time. I think the more we get to know Stella and her parents now, before the baby’s born, the better chance we have of developing a good relationship with them later. That’s what families do, right? Although what would I know?” He gave me a lopsided grin that I just had to kiss.

“I sometimes think you handle my family better than I do, so I have zero worries on that score,” I said, meaning every word. “But I hate having to live with so many balls in the air.”

“No.” He tweaked my nose. “Youhatenot being in control.”

I narrowed my gaze. “Maybe. I still can’t believe we’re doing this. No, that’s wrong. Imean, I can’t believe the timing. We were probablyalwaysgoing to do this, from the minute she asked, right?”

Reuben’s eyes glittered. “Yeah. I figured that too. But how about we still give ourselves till Sunday to sit with it. We’ve got the spa thing tomorrow—and holy shit, I can’t imagine what that bag of snakes involves. How the hell you got me to agree to that madness I’ll never know.”

“I got you in a weak moment with your balls hanging out your arse from an epic blowjob.”

His eyes crinkled at the corners. “Ah yes, I believe it’s all coming back to me.”

“Aw, Boo.” I walked my fingers up his arm. “I’ll protect you.”

He levelled a glare at me. “Yeah right. I have a bad feeling about the whole thing, and your name is written all over it.”

I fluttered my lashes at him.

He snorted. “Good luck with that. I’m immune to your winsome wiles, you little harlot.”

My mouth turned up in a slow, sexy smile. “Liar.”

“Maybe.” His eyebrow twitched. “But putting that aside for the moment, how about we head to Stella’s after the rugby on Sunday? It’s a noon game, and I can get out of the post-match thing. Maybe we could take Cory with us so he can start to get used to seeing them more often.”

I couldn’t have loved him more in that moment. “I think that’s a great idea.” I slumped in my seat. “Jesus, Reuben, we don’t do things by half, do we? Which reminds me—” I slapped his chest. “You want to start the process of me adopting Cory as soon as we’re married? Were you going to tell me about this sometime?”

“The sooner the better as far as I’m concerned,” he said with a cheeky grin. “And I love that I can still surprise you. As soon as we’re married, we file, if that’s all right with you?”

I squeezed my eyes shut in a vain attempt to conceal the well of tears threatening, as if I could hide anything from him. “It is. I want that more than I can say.”

He reached over and ran his thumb under both my eyes. “If only your nurses could see you now. You’re such a softie, Cameron Delaney Wano.”

I glared and shoved his hand away. “Lies, all of it. And you have to promise to keep this to yourself.” I palmed my eyes, no doubt smearing my liner. “For fuck’s sake, I hardly recognise this sappy chump I’ve turned into and I hold you totally to blame. You’ve loved off all my sharp edges.”

He slid a hand around the back of my neck, pulled me over, and kissed me soundly, sliding his tongue between my lips until I melted into his touch, and all I knew was the taste of him. It was enough. It would always be enough.

I pushed him back into his seat, crawled over the handbrake, and plonked myself sideways in his lap, no easy feat with the room he took up. He slid the driver’s seat back and I snuggled in close, the stiffening breeze raising goosebumps on the back of my neck.

“Oh, I think you still have plenty of sharp edges left.” He nuzzled my hair, and god, how I loved that.

“Shows whatyouknow,” I grumbled. “People are taking advantage. I can see it in their eyes. They smell blood in the water and they’re circling. I need a good fight to sharpen the blades again. I’m thinking of calling a few of the surgeons in for a meeting on response times. They’re a good bet to rile me up, and what’s more, they fight back. Not that it gets them very far, but at least they try, poor bastards.”

He laughed. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

“Not nearly enough.” I tugged at my ear lobe. “Hit me with it.”

He pressed his lips to my ear, and I shivered. “I love you, Cameron Wano, every sharp-needled, snark-filled, lace-covered, bossy, prickly, glorious centimetre of you. Don’t ever change.”

I turned and lost myself in those beautiful grey eyes which had snagged my heart in a wet parking lot over three years ago. “I love you too, Reuben Taylor. And if this baby venture all falls through, we’ll be fine, because it’s us.”

His forehead pressed against mine. “Yeah, because it’s us.”

Chapter Eight

---