Page 122 of Call You Mine
And then it hits.
His eyes widen, his whole body going still, like he’s trying to process too many things at once. “Wait?—”
I bite back a grin.
“You mean—” He huffs out a disbelieving laugh, dragging a hand through his hair. “No, hold on. You’re serious?”
I shrug, soft but unapologetic. “I don’t see a reason not to be.”
“Ava,” he says, like that somehow explains everything he’s trying to ask.
I step in closer, close enough that he has to look down at me, my voice light but deliberate. “I didn’t want to make a big announcement out of something that already felt like a done deal.”
He stares at me, still caught somewhere between shock and something warmer. He lets out a breath, shaking his head, but there’s a smile breaking through now, slow and real.
My cheeks hurt from how big a grin I realize is on my face as I turn toward the waiting room, like I didn’t just completely knock him off balance.
“And there’s no use pretending there’s anything fake left between us anyway. Not with this,” I tease, handing the ultrasound photo to Anderson as we sit down.
“What did I tell you about using that word?” he asks, plucking the photo from my hand.
My stomach flips at the memory—him telling me he would fuck the word out of my vocabulary with his fingers inside me.
Just before he told me to come for him.
Myhusband.
I lean into him, making sure the receptionist across the room can’t hear us, or the few other couples in the waiting room. “I can’t remember. Daddy might need to give me a little refresher,” I tease, pressing a soft kiss just below his ear.
Leaning back, I see his eyes widen, a small smirk on his face. “Don’t ‘Daddy’ me,” he scolds, his voice low.
“Why? Does it turn you on?” I ask, and the blush that floods his cheeks makes my entire body go just as warm, loving how much of an effect my words have on him. “Tell me,Daddy,” I go on, “what else can I say to make you blush like that?”
“Keep being a little brat of a wife, and you’ll find out,” he whispers, and it goes straight to my core. “And my handprint on your ass will be just as red.”
“Is that a threat or a promise?”
“Keep talking, andyou’llfind out.”
“Ava?” A voice calls out, and we both turn to find a nurse holding a clipboard.
Grabbing Anderson’s hand, we both greet the nurse and follow her to the exam room, smiles on our faces, taking along our little secret.
Pretending that we weren’t just whispering dirty thoughts to each other in the corner of the waiting room.
I could get used to this kind of pretending.
CHAPTER 44
AVA
I’m officiallyinto my second trimester, and I still haven’t told anyone, aside from Anderson, about the pregnancy. I’m not showing yet, but I know the changes to my body are going to become more noticeable.
After hitting fourteen weeks, my boobs are bigger, and my clothes are tighter, and, honestly, I just don’t want to keep this a secret anymore.
Work has finally started to slow down now that the baristas I hired back in March are fully trained and comfortable working shifts without me and Emerson. Rumi had her last shift a few weeks ago since she’s transitioning to writing full-time now. She’s working on publishing her second children’s book and preparing to start her third and fourth.
I’ve been able to line up my hours, so I can take Georgie to school each morning and pick her up, and I try to have my off days be the same as Anderson’s.
