Page 202 of My Only

“Would you just act natural?” I teased.

“I am.” He winked. “Just make sure you get me from the perfect angle.” He smiled, lowering his gaze to his sketchbook.

I inhaled a slow breath and let it out. My bottom lip quivered—until a soft smile eased it into place.

“My dad used to say something similar,” I murmured, loud enough for Hassani to hear. “Make sure you capture me at the perfect angle.”

He smiled knowingly. “Great minds, huh?”

I nodded, echoing softly, “Great minds, indeed.”

Because this man had designed a summer home just for us—one of our forever homes—and now, we would be spending the entire summer in it.

The soft scratch of his pencil against the page filled the air, a familiar and comforting sound.

I smiled as he worked, knowing that whatever he was sketching would become my new favorite thing.

“Let me guess,” I mused. “You’re sketching something new for the villa?”

He smirked but didn’t answer right away. Instead, he lifted the sketchbook, tilting it just enough for me to see.

My breath caught.

It was a drawing... of me.

Sitting right here on the patio lounge chair, my round belly peeking out beneath my sundress.

Emotion swelled in my chest.

How silly I had been to assume he was always working when he was sketching in his book.

I remembered those first months of marriage, when we had just moved into our home and he’d spend hours sketching little projects for the house.

But once he started the Greene Gardens Project, I had figured the sketchbook became solely for work for that project.

I was so wrong.

Hassani has always been about us.

About his love for me.

About our future.

It was foolish to have ever thought otherwise.

Things had been so good since we returned from Saint Lucia.

And life got even better when we found out in January that we were expecting.

I was five months along now, and every day, I fell more and more in love with the life we were creating.

Hassani set his sketchbook down a moment later and made his way over to me.

When he arrived, he kneeled in front of me, pressing a gentle kiss against my belly.

I ran my fingers along the back of his head as he rested there, whispering something to our baby boy.

A second later… our baby kicked.

---