Page 97 of Entirely Yours
I don’t take a second look at it though, because there she is, standing smack dab in the middle, an apt metaphor for how she is also the center of my world. A blue dress flows over her stomach and swings slightly around her calves. Without waiting for her to say anything, I collapse to my knees in front of her, ready to beg for her to be mine.
She laughs and it’s a balm to my aching heart. “Jules! Julien Bardot!” she admonishes. “What on earth are you doing?”
My arms wrap awkwardly around her middle, my face coming to the side of her round belly. “I’m sorry,” I tell her again. I’ll tell her over and over again until she forgives me.
Her fingers dig into my scalp, angling my head toward her. “Look at me,” she commands.
“Anything for you,” I breathe.
“I’m the one who is sorry,” she starts, digging her nails in harder when I try to shake my head. “No, I am. You planned a beautiful event, and I got in my head—self-sabotage seems to be my strong suit. But Jules, I’m ready.” She gets down on her knees so we are eye to eye. “I’m so fucking ready to be yours. Entirely yours.”
I don’t need to hear another word—we can talk later. I take her mouth in mine, savoring the way she melts into me. “Rosie girl, I missed you,” I whisper, planting kisses across her face, down to her exposed shoulder.
“Jules,” she moans. “Jules, wait. I have one more thing.”
I stop, looking at her expectantly, searching her eyes to make sure this is real.
“Jules, I love you. I love you so much, and I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to tell you, and I couldn’t be happier to be having this baby with you. Emmett, Chloe, and I—we’re… I can’t believe our luck.” She wipes under her eyes. “And all I fucking do now is cry, it’s very annoying.”
“Marry me.”
She chokes on air. “Excuse me?”
“Marry me, Thea. I love you, too. I have pretty much since the moment I met you. I want you to be my wife. I want… everything.”
Thea smiles, a hint of wonder in her eyes. “You are crazy,” she huffs. “Let’s have this baby first, yeah? Then we can talk.”
I nuzzle back into her neck. “I’m going to keep asking until you say yes.”
“One day, I’ll say yes. I promise.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
She laughs. “Please do.” She kisses me again, long and slow. “You didn’t even look at the room.”
So I do, though, I don’t particularly want to look away from her. I look around and see they’ve put together the crib, dresser, and rocker. Floating bookshelves line the sliver of wall next to the window, overflowing with children’s books. Over the crib,the banner from Louie’s hangs, slightly lopsided but absolutely perfect.
“You still like that name?” Thea asks.
I fall back on my heels, cradling Thea’s stomach in my hands. “Hi, Emmett,” I whisper. “It’s your daddy.”
“Careful calling yourself that, Bardot.”
I look up and give her a wink before turning my attention back to our baby. “I think Emmett is the perfect name for you. I can’t wait to meet you.” I lean a little closer. “Your mom is fucking gorgeous, by the way.”
“Language,” she teases.
“He’ll hear worse out of this dirty mouth.” I run my thumb over her lips, tugging slightly. “When are all of these people leaving our house?”
She winces at that. “I invited everyone for dinner since I wasn’t the best sport at the shower yesterday. And, you know, Bardot Sunday dinner.”
“Fine,” I reply, replacing my thumb with my teeth. “But then I’m dragging you back to my bed and fucking you until sunrise.”
“Yes, Daddy,” she replies.
Fuck, I love her.
“Let’s get this over with.”
