Page 155 of Timid (Lark Cove 2)

To my surprise, Jackson had been the one to bring up the topic of children. I’d been perfectly fine just enjoying our time as husband and wife, but on his birthday last fall, he’d asked me to go off my birth control.

When I’d asked him why, he’d told me it was because of his time spent coaching. He was co-coaching Charlie’s soccer team with Logan, and he was an assistant for Ryder’s football team. He didn’t want to be too old to coach his kids in sports.

That day, he’d given me another dream. It was one I hadn’t written about in my diaries, but it was one I’d always held in my heart.

“Do you love me?” I whispered.

He kissed my hair. “I love you so much, Willow.”

“Hey!” I pinched his side, making him chuckle.

“Still too soon, huh?”

I leaned back, trying not to smile at the smirk on my husband’s face. “Just for that, you owe me two orgasms tonight and you have to bring me ice cream in bed if I wake up hungry.”

“Orgasms and ice cream. I can do that.” He took my hand, scooped up the presents in his other and led me out the door.

Later that night, he gave me the two promised orgasms before I passed out, exhausted. And when I woke up hungry at three in the morning, he brought me a huge bowl of ice cream to eat in bed.

He catered to my every whim for the next four months, right up until our little boy, Roman Page, was born.

And he did the same when I was pregnant with our daughter, Zoe, two years later.

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Enjoy this preview from Tragic, book three in the Lark Cove series.

One or two.

“Kaine?” Mom’s voice echoed off the cement walls as she stepped outside. The glass door swished as it closed behind her.

I didn’t look at her as she stepped up to my side. My eyes were aimed blankly ahead as I wrestled with my decision.

One or two.

“What are you doing out here?” she asked. “We’ve been looking all over the hospital for you.”

I wasn’t sure how long I’d been standing out here. I’d told Mom that I was going to the bathroom and that I’d be back soon to talk with the doctors. But when I’d passed this exit door, hidden on the bottom floor in the back wing of the hospital, it had beckoned me through.

I’d needed a few moments away from the red-rimmed eyes and sniffling noses. I’d needed just a few seconds to pass without a single person asking me if I was okay.

I needed some quiet to decide.

One or two.

The parking lot ahead of me was shrouded in darkness. The night itself was pitch-black. There were no stars shining. There was no moon glowing. A thick fog had settled in, dulling the light of the streetlamps so their beams barely illuminated the few cars parked on the asphalt. The air should have been cold on my bare arms, but I couldn’t feel it.

I was numb.

I’d felt this way for hours, ever since they took her from my arms.

One or two.

It was an impossible choice, one I shouldn’t have to make. But because of him, it was inevitable.

“Kaine, I’m so sorry. What can I do?”

“I can’t decide.” My voice was rough as I spoke, the burn of rage and sorrow and pain making it nearly impossible to speak.