Sade stared down at Atlas as he slept. He’d come to her suite last night and hadn’t left since. She didn’t want him to. Things felt normal between them, and she knew it was because they were closed off from the rest of the world. When they were alone, things were perfect. It was when they were out in public or when they were with his family that they started to have issues.
In Atlas’s arms, she found rest. As carefully as she could, Sade slipped from his embrace. She wanted to call Dante before she lost her courage. Instead of going out onto the patio, she stepped outside. Sade walked down the hall and waited for Dante to answer. When he did, she smiled.
“Hello, Smiley.”
“Hi. Are you busy?”
His low chuckle made her heart skip a beat. “I’m never too busy for you.”
“Can you come to Memphis? There’s something I need to talk to you about in person.”
“Of course. I’ve been waiting for you to call.” He laughed softly. “It’s been hard as hell waiting.”
“Well, you don’t have to wait anymore.”
“I’ll look up flights and tell you when I’ll be there. But you’re good, right?”
“Oh yes, I’m great. I just think this is something I should tell you face-to-face.”
“All right, Sade. Let me look into some flights, and I’ll text you.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“I love you.”
Gritting her teeth, Sade blinked back her tears. “I-I love you too, Dante.”
After disconnecting the call, she went back into the suite. Atlas was up, brushing his teeth. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, beautiful. You good?”
“Yeah. I’m actually glad you’re up.”
“You about to kick me out?”
Sade laughed softly with a shake of her head. “No. I just wanted to talk.”
“Cool. Let me take a shower, and then I’m all yours.” He paused. “You wanna join me?”
“No. I don’t trust you to keep your hands to yourself.”
“Smart woman.”
The sexy smile he gave her caused her to blush. His locs were longer now and a dark brown color at the ends. The scruff that usually lined his jaw had grown out into a beard. Those syrup-brown eyes were as beautiful as they always were against his milk chocolate-brown skin. Sade turned, not wanting to get so aroused by the sight of him that she joined him for that shower anyway. They didn’t have sex last night, and she wanted to keep it that way. Sex was always easy between them, but it would complicate things even more.
After Atlas finished dressing, they went to the hotel restaurant for an early lunch. They’d placed their orders, and Sade felt it was a good time to tell him what was on her heart.
“I’m going to tell Dante about the baby.” Atlas only stared at her, so she swallowed hard and continued. “He deserves to know, Atlas. He was a great father to the twins, and he’s my best friend. I can’t deny him of the opportunity to be a father to our baby just because I decided I don’t want to be with him.”
Atlas’s head tilted. He licked his lips and rolled his tongue over his teeth. “You still don’t want to be with him?”
She considered her response carefully. Things had been good between them since last night, but Atlas was still the possessive man he’d always been. The possessive man she’d need to be careful with.
Did she want to be with Dante? Absolutely. Would she tell Atlas that? Not a chance in hell.
“I want him to know about his baby and be here,” she said carefully. “I want my best friend back. My priority right now is having a healthy and stress-free pregnancy, so I’m not trying to be in a relationship with him or you.”
His head bobbed once...His jaw set. “Okay, so what do you want from me? To stay away while you work things out with him?”