Page 261 of Lovers' Dance: Vol. 2

“What was that about?” Matt asked as he strolled into his office.

“Nothing I want to discuss with you,” I quipped back. “Did you put Evie’s night light on?”

“No,” Matt replied without an ounce of mercy. “She’s old enough to know the dark is nothing to be afraid of.”

“You are so cruel.”

Matt walked over to the desk and gently pulled me out of the chair. “And I know you’ll only put it back on before we go to bed.” He winked at me then bit his lower lip. “On the subject of beds, I think we should get ready for ours. I’ve run you a bath, poppet.”

I leaned back to peer at his smiling face. “Me?”

“Us.” he corrected his previous comment and started marching me out his office. “The children are fast asleep. George has retired to his quarters for the night. And I plan on shagging you for at least five hours tonight.”

“Oh, I see,” I drawled. “You’re going to try and pace yourself.”

“Don’t be cheeky.” he replied while slipping an arm around my waist. “We’ll see who caves first. It’s been three weeks for you also, and I have stubble. Contrary to what you said earlier, Iknowyou love me with stubble.” He nuzzled the back of my neck and I shivered at the thought of his stubble kisses.

Fifteen minutes later I was naked and slipping into a deliciously warm bath while awaiting Matt’s arrival. When he walked through the bathroom’s door with two flutes in one hand and champagne in the next, well, I sighed and sunk lower under the water. I would have to tell him much sooner than I wanted. Honestly, I was still in denial. From lowered eyelids, I observed as he popped the bottle and filled the flutes, something I should have halted. Matt placed our drinks on the flat edge of the large tub and quickly stripped down to bare skin and firm muscles. I squashed the surge of lust and squinted at his damned stubble. It truly was a great look for him, kryptonite for me, but sexy for him.

“Mmm, this is nice,” Matt groaned in pleasure once he’d entered the tub. “Is it warm enough for you, poppet?”

I nodded as he moved close enough to pull my legs over his thighs. I watched him pick up both flutes and offer one to me. “I can’t.”

Matt arched an eyebrow at me. “Why not? One glass isn’t too much and I’ve been gone for three weeks. We always celebrate myhomecoming.”

I had a rule when it came to drinking ever since the kids were born. Being pregnant then breastfeeding meant alcohol was a no-no for me and once Matt resumed his rota in the social calendar, I got dragged along. I worried. I used to worry all the time about Eth and Evie. Whether they would go to sleep one night and not wake up, or contract a terrible illness which would steal them from me; I worried. So when they were little, one of us always had to be sober just in case something went wrong. Guess who got stuck with sobriety? They were older now, but I still didn’t drink as much as I used to.

I shook my head. “Ican’t.” A big sigh fell from my lips before I added. “That damned stubble of yours. It’s evil.”

Matt froze and his eyebrows shot right up, then he carefully put the flutes back and tugged me closer. “You can’t because we have a busy day tomorrow, or you can’t because,” Underneath the water he slid a hand over my stomach and gently palmed it.

When I remained silent and started glaring at him, his mouth stretched into the widest grin I’d ever seen on his face.

“Youcan’t?” he whispered reverently. “Poppet, are you-”

“Yes,” I admitted as the excitement built on his features. “I’ve done a couple of tests, four actually; then I went to the doctor,”

“Oh God.” Matt exclaimed before he yanked me into a bear hug and the water splashed all over the sides of the tub, almost washing the flutes over also. “You’re the best. I love you so bloody much! We’re pregnant. Oh sweetheart, this is the best welcome home present.” He jerked back. “How far along are you?”

“About nine weeks.” I grumbled.

It made no sense and I was certain he’d been sporting the stubble around the period of conception. There wasn’t a valid and concrete reason why my damned contraceptive pills had failed me. I hadn’t been on any medication so that meant it must have been his sexy stubble spell. He had stubble and once again it ju-jued me. I guess being a member of the 1% actually applied to other things. Seriously though, it was perplexing. I was strict with taking my contraception, ok, maybe on the odd occasion I might have forgotten – nope, no, I blamed the stubble.

“Darling,” he murmured before pressing kisses all over my face. “You’re amazing. I’m so happy. Why aren’t you smiling? What’swrong?” Matt’s wet hands were now cradling my face. “Aren’t you happy?”

“It’s not exactly the best time.” I admitted softly. “The company is performing abroad in two months, we have so many shows on…the kids are – well, it’ll be such an upheaval. I just, I’m busy, you’re busy, you barely see the children…I don’t know, Matt. I don’t know how to feel. You’re not the one carrying the baby. I never really thought I would go through this again. My body might not be able to bounce back as quickly this time around. I mean, we have two kids already and the world’s over-populated as it is. I don’t want to be off stage for over a year to be honest. The kids are six already. Do we want to go through all that baby stuff again? Seriously, I don’t know-”

Matt kissed me, taking his time to express his love with the sensual movement of his lips and tongue. He stroked my stomach under the water and kissed me silly before resting his forehead against mine and saying, “We’ll make it work, poppet. Please don’t hate me but I’m bloody ecstatic over this. How can I be anything else?” He kissed the tip of my nose. “We’re pregnant and this time I get to be here from the start, I get to share everything with you.”

I wanted to cry right then at his emotion-filled words. It didn’t take a genius to know Matt sorely regretted the bumpy ride of our first marriage and divorce. Sometimes I would see him staring at the kids with such joy, and he would whisper to me,‘I almost lost this’. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for our kids. He loved them more than anything, he loved us completely. And we did make beautiful babies.

“Promise you won’t work away as much as you do now.”

Matt nodded eagerly, already grinning in delight. “We’ll change Patricia’s contract so she’ll be a live-in nanny instead, unless you want to hire another one. We can definitely hire an additional nanny if you want. That’ll ease some of the pressure for you.” He stroked my tummy again. “Promise me you’ll take it easy this time around.”

I nodded and returned his grin. “Live-in nanny? Hmm. I’m not sure about that. You hear these sordid stories about husbands and nannies.”

Matt literally dunked me under the water by upending me from his lap. He kept his arms around me though, making sure his horseplay didn’t hurt me.

---