Page 107 of Beloved Beauty

I tug her closer, hands sliding beneath the hem of her shirt, palms settling on warm skin. “I love you.”

She laughs, quick and bright, then kisses me soft and fast. “I love you too.”

“So, what’s the actual plan? Because I know you have one.”

She grins. “We only have to avoid getting pregnant for one month. One. That puts us in the sweet spot for an off-season baby.” She leans in close, eyes dancing with mischief. “How strong is your pull-out game?”

I arch a brow. “Stronger than my abstinence game, that’s for damn sure.”

“Condoms?”

I shake my head. “Absolutely not. I’ve been inside you bare—we can never go back to shrink-wrapped sex.”

She grins. “Okay. I guess we’ll go with the rhythm method. Pull out, avoid sex when I’m ovulating. My doctor said the failure rate isn’t too high when you do it right.”

That sounds like a very sexy math problem. “Okay, but what happens when it’s your fertile time of the month and I want to fuck you six ways from Sunday?”

She leans in, mouth brushing mine, eyes full of heat. “We’ll get creative.”

God help me, I love this woman.

“Alex… can we keep this between us for now? I’m not looking for advice or questions—or anyone else’s version of what’s right. Just want this to be something for us.”

I press a kiss to her temple, steady and sure. “It stays with us.”

She’s quiet for a beat, her fingers tracing idle patterns across my back. “There’s no guarantee this’ll happen on our timeline. My body might not cooperate. I need us to be okay if it takes longer or if it doesn’t go the way we pictured.”

I run my hand down her spine. “We’ll pivot if we need to. If it takes longer, we wait. If it goes sideways, we love each other through it.”

Her breath catches, and she kisses me—slow and deep. A kiss that tastes like a promise and a challenge all at once.

When she pulls back, I’m already chasing her mouth for more.

“This,” I murmur against her lips, “is the hottest secret we’ve ever kept.”

She shifts in my lap, her body sliding against mine in a way that does not help my self-control.

“Better come up with a few new workout routines,” she whispers, voice thick with amusement. “You’re gonna need the distraction this month.”

“Oh, I’ve got one distraction in mind already,” I say, catching her mouth with mine again. “You need to increase your pineapple intake.”

She melts into the kiss before pulling back and smiling. “Pineapple, huh? I wouldn’t mind that at all.”

I grin, brushing a thumb across her cheek. “Good. Because I won’t mind either.”

She kisses me back, soft this time. Lingering. When she pulls away, her forehead rests against mine, and her voice is barely a breath. “We’re gonna be parents, Alex.”

“Yeah,” I whisper, brushing her hair behind her ear. “We are.”

She’s quiet for a second, then adds, “I hope the baby looks like you.”

I smile, heart catching in my chest, because we’re talking about a child that could enter our lives soon.

“But… I also hope he’s not a giant like his daddy who’ll rip me in half on the way out.”

I wince. “Jesus, favorite. I could’ve gone my whole life without thinking about that.”

She grins. “One request. Can you please put a smaller kid inside me?”

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