Page 46 of Dirty Money
They watched each other through their simultaneous climaxes. At the end, they both whispered, “I love you.”
Never had he felt more for anyone. Not another soul. Aulora was it for him. He just wished like hell that time would pass rapidly, so he could ask her the question he wanted to so desperately.
Pushing her damp bangs back off her forehead, he asked her one question that had been bobbing around his mind since they’d gotten serious. “Aulora, do you think you’ll ever want to have kids?”
Her laugh was quick and caused him a sharp pain in the middle of his heart. “Kids? Not anytime soon.”
He nodded, kissed the tip of her nose and rolled off her. Lying back on the bed, he pulled her to lay her head on his shoulder and wrapped his arm around her. Venturing a bit further into what he wanted to know, he asked, “Do you like kids?”
“I haven’t been around any to know. I would guess I’d like mine,” she said then laughed again. “I’m only twenty-two, I have plenty of time to have kids. I want to focus on my art right now. I barely have time for you.”
He nodded. He knew she was right. But he also knew he wanted to have kids sooner rather than later. And he had an offer on the table he couldn’t ignore.
He hadn’t thought seriously about what had been asked of him. Until that very moment when Aulora told him kids weren’t anywhere near her mind at that time.
“Aulora, how long do you think it will be before you want kids?”
“I have no idea, really.” She leaned up on her elbow and looked down at him with a smile. “West, do you want me to have your baby or something like that?”
His smile told her he did but his words came out, “No. I just want to know when you think that would be something you would want.”
“So, you don’t want me to have your baby?” she asked with a frown, suddenly irritated that he’d bring up kids but not say he wanted them with her.
“Not if you don’t want to. That’s not a thing I’d ever push on you. Parenthood isn’t a thing that should be forced. If you don’t want kids, then I just want to know that.”
“I didn’t say I never wanted them. Just not now. With school, work, and my art that would be too difficult.”
“You graduate in six months,” he reminded her. “Work, at that bar, is a thing that should end soon. Your work as an artist doesn’t conflict with pregnancy or raising children. I should think you could start thinking about having children as soon as one year from now.”
“One year?” she asked with a high tone to her voice. “One year? Really? I think twenty-three is too young to have a baby. Especially, if you have no clue what to do with one. I’ve never changed a diaper, have you?”
He looked at her for a moment, weighing his answer.
“I have. It’s not so difficult.”
“What about learning how to feed them? Remembering to feed them?” she asked him. “I have to set an alarm to remind me to feed Bruce.”
“A baby pretty much lets you know when to feed them.” He pulled her back to lie in his arms, trying to settle her back down. Her brows had furrowed and she looked like she might be getting upset.
“We don’t have to talk about this anymore. I can see you’re nowhere near ready.”
“I feel like that means something to you, Weston. Does it?” she asked him, sensing him closing off a part of himself to her.
“Let’s just go to sleep, peach. I shouldn’t have brought that up. It’s far too early in our relationship to ask such things.”
She nodded and they closed their eyes as he wondered to himself why he wanted to force something that important so early in what they had. He knew deep down that it had everything to do with what he’d been asked.
Once he’d loved another woman, a long time ago. Once they’d built dreams of a future together. That had all been lost and he knew that young love was nothing compared to what he’d found with Aulora. But something nagged at him about what he’d lost.
He wondered if he’d be able to keep the thing he longed for at bay, long enough for Aulora to want to give him what he so desperately desired. Or would he eventually give in to the offer that was made to him?
With a quick kiss, Weston left Aulora’s apartment early the next morning, so he could go out to his place and get ready for his work day. Aulora didn’t have to be in her first class until ten, so she went back to bed shortly after feeding the cat and letting him out for a minute. The cold air had him right back at the door, meowing to be let in.
Cozying up on the small sofa with him, she found her phone ringing and saw it was Brittany.
“Early for you, isn’t it?” she answered the phone.
“It is,” Britt replied. “And how was your evening, if I may ask?”
