Page 183 of New York Love Stories: Vol. 2

“You don’t have to use the formal title. You can just call me sweetheart.”

He chuckles and looks at me. “Did you just think of that comeback?”

I know he’s teasing me, but I answer honestly. “No, I’ve had it pocketed, waiting for the perfect time to unleash it. How’d I do?”

“Fan-fucking-tastic.” He kisses my chest. “The comeback wasn’t bad either.”

We take turns in the bathroom and then return, ready for bed. Call us boring, but I don’t mind turning in early when it’s with him.

It takes a few minutes before his body eases, which makes me happy to see. The man is all brawn and brain. He works hard and carries so much tension in his body that I like when peace takes over his face. I eventually turn toward the window with my back to his chest. But a few minutes later, I roll to my back and turn my head to face him.

Jackson is so attractive that I don’t think I’ll ever not stare when I get the chance. I smirk. What have we gotten ourselves into? And then I remember how Cammie was worried about the size of her baby and nudge Jackson. “How big were you at birth?”

His eyes fly open. “Where did that come from?”

Cammie’s worried about Cade, but she’s right. Jackson’s bigger all around, like a giant. How the hell did his mom birth him. “Like length and weight. Did you have a big head?”

“What the fuck, Marlow? Why are we talking about this?”

“Cammie’s pregnant.”

He lifts up on his elbow, his head nudged forward and jaw dropped. “Cammie’s pregnant? I just talked to Cade today. The asshole didn’t say anything.”

I wince. Was I allowed to share that news? As a group, there’s an understanding that if one knows, we all know. What ifCammie doesn’t remember? I’d forgotten, and see, it all worked out without me jumping on the gossip grapevine. “Maybe he’s waiting to tell you guys. Don’t tell him I told you.”

“This is big news.”

“I know,” I reply with a smile. I’m game for any reason to go shopping. “I bet the clothes are adorable.”

“Is that why you asked about me as a baby?”

“Yes.” I reach over and start doodling on his chest with my finger. “I’ve been thinking.”

“I’m not ready for a baby, Marlow, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“No. Me?” I lift up, shocked that would even cross his mind. “I don’t even have a place to live. No way am I ready for a baby.”

Reaching forward, he brings me closer and then dips so our eyes are even. “You have a place to live.”

“Temporarily.”

“But you have one.”

Pushing forward, I kiss him on those glorious lips. The scent of our bodies coming together still lingers like an aphrodisiac before the main course. How does he manage to make me so freaking horny all the time?

By simply existing.

We lie there in the dark for a minute that feels like ten, the silence killing me. “What are you thinking about?”

His body starts rocking with laughter. “How you wore me out?”

“Really? You relive the sex in your mind afterward?”

“Hell yes, how could I not?”

This time, I laugh but lighter. I quieten, and then he asks, “What are you thinking about?”

Normally, I’d smile, but I don’t have a good answer like he did. “I can’t stop thinking about how Cammie and Cade got married last year and bought a house two years prior. They’resettled in their jobs and now having a baby, and I was just evicted with nowhere to go and no money.”

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