Page 137 of Good as Gold
“Until now,” he agrees. “But if you see me enjoying my free time with you and the baby, that’s intentional. I don’t want to miss out.” He kisses my eyebrow. “I’ll go back to work pretty soon. My family—or yours—will suck me back in, yeah?”
“Yeah, true.” I chuckle. Between the Rossis and the Giltmakers, there’s practically a new business plan every day before lunchtime.
“So let me have this time with you and Reina.”
“Absolutely,” I say, feeling relieved already.
“You should know that I paid the rent for next month, too.”
“Youdid?”
“Sure. I was chatting with Benito about the apartment, and he told me how much he’s been charging you. He said he hopes we stay a long time because he doesn’t want the hassle of selling it. Then I cut him a check.”
“Why?” I demand.
“Because I want to pay my share. Didn’t you just say the same thing a minute ago?”
Huh. I guess I did.
“It’s my bad, though—I should have discussed all this with you before,” he says thoughtfully. “But you’ve been so tired I didn’t want to bother you with money crap. That was a mistake, I guess. We’re supposed to talk about this stuff, so you won’t worry for nothing.”
“You’re right, we need to get better at discussing things. I’ll work on it. But maybe not this second, because…” I lean into him and wrap my arms around his waist. “The baby is sleeping right now.”
“Yeah, because of my skills,” he says, stroking my back. “But what does that have to do with it?”
“You haveotherskills, too,” I point out. “And my doctor just cleared me for takeoff.”
His hands go still on my back. “Does that mean what I think it means?”
“We are good to go. Unless you’re too tired…”
I don’t even get the sentence out. He lifts me up off the floor and carries me toward the bedroom, snagging the baby monitor off the counter on his way.
I wrap my arms around him and laugh.
“Stay focused,” he says. “We’re on a tight timeline.” He drops the monitor on the bedside table and sets me down on the bed. “You look cute in that sundress. But it’s in my way. Take it off.”
“Yessir,” I say, and his eyes go feral.
God, I’ve missed that look. Cuddling him in my bed for the last seven weeks was nice. But this is even better. I toss off my dress but then cup my hands in front of my breasts. “You can’t play with these. I might spring a leak.”
“But you just pumped,” he says, unfastening my bra. “I’ll be careful. Just don’t hide the big mama tatas.”
“You’ve been warned,” I say as he yanks his shirt over his head and then pops the button on his jeans.
Wow.Hello sir. Matteo is looking as fine as ever, partly because he’s joined the same gym that his siblings belong to. “I get a morning workout, and I get to hang out with the guys at the same time,” he’d said.
That’s all well and good, except I’m yanking back the bedclothes now and diving under the sheet. It’s broad daylight, and this body had a babyveryrecently. I’m still fifteen pounds heavier than I was a year ago, according to my doctor’s scale.
“Whoa, whoa,” Matteo says, lifting the sheet again. “Don’t hide the goodies.”
“I’m hiding the stretch marks,” I grumble. “Maybe I should have waited until nightfall to suggest we get naked.”
“Fuck no. No waiting,” Matteo says, crawling over me and looking down into my sheepish gaze. “We did not rearrange our entire lives to let a little thing like stretch marks get in our way.”
I reach up and push his long hair out of his face. “That’s an easier thing to say if you don’t have any stretch marks.”
He frowns. “Listen up. I’ve only had a couple of months to show you how much I love you. Maybe it will take some time for you to understand how deep this goes. But pay attention, baby. There is not one ounce of you that I don’t love. And someday when I get old and gray, I’d expect you to feel the same about my wrinkles.”
