Page 93 of This Baby Business
“Go try again. You were almost done, and it’s a crime not to finish. I don’t want you to give up. That’s what I did. Maybe we were both stuck for a while. But I’m coming out with my big guns today—your mother would have wanted this for you.”
Too bad I had never told either of my parents the truth about why I’d come home with my tail between my legs, but it didn’t matter anymore. Alec couldn’t hurt, intimidate or stop me. Only my doubts could stop me now. And I was so ready to be done with my past determining my future.
Dad continued, “I’m sorry you had to run the baby business for Mom, when it should have been me. You should have been doing your own thing. But now that you’re free, I think we both know where your heart is.”
“I’ve already decided. I just haven’t officially told anyone yet. I’m going back.”
Ironically, Levi had given me the strength to face my fears. My body now thrummed with excitement and not anxiety about the future.
But if I thought my life was complicated before, I’d now fallen head over heels for a man who had a big and open heart. He’d tried to help not only me, but my father, too. He cared more than he’d ever let on. More than he’d ever let me see. It might not have been spoken in words, but it was certainly in his actions. And he, of all people, would understand if I had to do this. I had to be honest with him, and soon.
I swallowed hard. My heart rate had kicked up, my legs felt numb and I bit at the quick of my fingernail. I’d tell Levi tonight, and he’d understand. We could work it out—it didn’t mean that this…thing between us had to end.
I didn’t want it to end.
I’d find Grace the best babysitter I could from the most reputable agency in the state. Just temporarily, of course. Levi could visit me in New York. He was a pilot and would probably love the idea. It would be hardest on me. I’d miss both of them, but I wouldn’t be gone forever. I’d be able to renew some of my contacts in the industry, work on my portfolio of baby clothing designs, meet with Jenny and the Cutting Edge in person, and figure out my next career moves.
I hung up, then ran across our shared lawn toward Levi’s. I let myself in the front door and found him standing in the kitchen.
He held up two soup cans. “She’s asleep, but the bad news is that all I have is chicken noodle soup. I’m thinking we need options.”
I didn’t speak, just stared at him in all his gorgeous male glory. He’d changed into jeans and a long-sleeved gray T-shirt. His hair was now officially on the wrong side of a haircut, his eyes deep and so blue. And I loved him so much my pulse kicked up just being in his presence.
“What?” He set down the cans and slid me a slow grin.
I launched my body into his arms, and he easily caught me, his hands dropping to grip my hips. My legs wrapped around his back and pressed into the warm strength of him.
“Thank you,” I whispered into the strong curve of his neck.
He smelled so good. Ten percent soap, one percent baby powder and one hundred percent man. Okay, so I couldn’t do math when it came to him. Maybe because he was larger than the sum of his parts.
“I don’t know what I did, but you’re welcome. Tell me what it was and I’ll do it again.” One hand tightened on my hip and the other wrapped around the nape of my neck.
I kissed his neck, then moved to draw his earlobe into my mouth and felt his entire body tighten like a cord. “Your friend talked to my father because you asked him to.”
“It was nothing. The least I could do.”
“It isn’t,” I said fiercely. “It isn’t theleastof anything.”
His hand tugged on a handful of my hair and pulled me back enough for him to gaze into my eyes. “I’d do anything for you.”
Those words filled my soul. I’d never had a man like him. Never had a man who had my back like Levi did, who looked out for me. Who selflessly cared for my needs. My wants. My desires.
“Anything?” I teased him, my fingers circling his tight biceps.
His piercing gaze never left mine. “You heard me.”
“You don’t know. I could go crazy with that kind of power.”
“As long as you go crazy on me.”
His eyes softened from the earlier hot gaze and were smiling, too, and right there and then, I caught it. Something in his eyes other than pure and unbridled heat and lust. A tenderness that had me slipping and falling even deeper into him. It was going to be even tougher to leave him now, even for just a little while. And it wasn’t fair because I probably still felt a whole lot more than he did.
But life wasn’t always fair. I’d learned to live with that.
“I want you to kiss me. Hard. Did I ever mention you’re the world’s best kisser?”
“Don’t make it too easy for me. Make me prove it every night.”
