Page 71 of Fall Love

“You think I’m looking at you like something has changed and it needs to be adjusted.”

Her eyes flick up to mine, then away again.

“No.” I step closer. Not crowding her. Just close enough she hears me. Really listens. “I look at you, and I want you.”

The truth here is simple.

“All of you. Every curve. Every inch.” I pause a beat, letting my gaze roam over her. “I wanted the you that you were on New Year’s Eve. Confident, loud when you wanted to be, walking around like you didn’t care who was looking at you. I wanted you then.”

Her expression shifts, uncertain. I don’t stop.

“But the way you are now,” I continue, exhaling with awe. “Carrying my child, standing in my home. No less beautiful. No less fascinating. I still want all of you. Maybe even more than I did before, because now I’ve gotten to know you better.”

Her hand slips over her belly again.

“And afterward,” I add, quiet but firm. “Whatever you look like after our baby arrives, you will still be the most incredible, beautiful, captivating woman alive.”

I hold her eyes.

“It’s not versions of you, Neve,” I say. “It’s all of you. That’s what I want.”

Silence stretches between us.

Her gaze wavers for a second, like she’s trying to absorb the truth bomb I just detonated. A man standing in front of a woman, willing and wanting to love all of her, imperfections and all, as she said.

“Okay,” she quietly whispers, bringing her eyes back to mine.

Her response is simple, but it’s also enough of a signal that she’s absorbing what I’ve said, hopefully accepting it.

I want her.

“Still up to play?” I ask, voice low as I hold up the darts. “We don’t have to. We can pull a game off the shelf. Or⁠—”

“Okay,” she says a little louder this time, the confident woman I know, and love, slipping through her vulnerable cracks.

Her eyes roam down my freshly showered, newly-dressed body. I’m not wearing socks or shoes, so I have maybe three articles at the most to be removed. Neve kicked off her sandals when we got here, so my best guess is she has four items.

Ideally, I want to see her naked, because I haven’t yet. We’ve been fooling around, fumbling over and inside clothing, but I want to see the stretch of her belly. Want to feel all of her skin.

“Okay,” I repeat, a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding, slowly releasing, hopeful once again she understands me.

“Rules?” I arch a brow.

“Rules.” She slowly lowers her hand from her belly, and takes another small breath, releasing any tension in her shoulders. Hopefully, all doubts from her head.

“Get a bull’s-eye, and you get to request a favor.”

Her mouth begins to curl, one corner lifting higher than another. Her dimple peaks out. “A sexual one?”

I shrug. “Doesn’t have to be.” But I’m hoping it is.

“I can’t say I’ve ever played strip darts before.” She gives me a slightly larger smile.

“I’m happy to be your first.” I wink. I want to be her first in many ways. “Ladies first,” I say next, waving toward the board.

As expected, Neve hits a slot in the rings. She cheerfully turns toward me. Her demand is quick. “Lose the shirt.”

I chuckle and reach behind my head, grabbing the back of the collar and pulling my T-shirt forward.