“Easy now, I’ve got you,” Kent said gently as I blinked my eyes and looked at him in confusion.

“When’s the last time that you had something to eat, Pierre?” Liam asked from where he knelt at my other side.

I had to think about that for a second. “Hmm… Lunch? I think?” I looked off to the side and bit my lip, trying to focus. “Yes, I had a croissant filled with chicken salad.”

“And what time did you have lunch?” Liam asked patiently as he continued to press.

“Around 10 o’clock, that’s when I usually stop to eat—smack dab between the breakfast rush and the lunch crowd. I know that sounds early, but you have to remember my workday starts at 3 AM,” I spoke almost defensively.

“Are you kidding me? It’s almost 7 o’clock, which means it’s been nine hours since you’ve eaten anything. Given all the calories that you burn working, along with the fact that you’re pregnant? I’m just surprised you didn’t pass out sooner.”

As he spoke, Liam stood and began digging around the kitchen, pulling ingredients together as he began putting together a quick meal. Kent helped me to my feet, and guided me gently over to one of the stools at my workstation.

“All right, I think you’re all set,” Liam said as he put a paper plate with a sandwich and a serving of fresh fruit in front of me, along with a bottle of apple juice. He smiled knowingly at Kent as he passed him a sandwich as well, along with a bottle of water.

Once he was satisfied that we were eating, Liam gave a quick nod and dug his keys from his pocket. “I’m going to take off and let you two sort your shit. I know you’ve both got a lot of talking to do, and you don’t need me around for that.”

With that, Liam popped a kiss against Kent’s temple and patted me on the shoulder before quietly making his exit. Neither of us spoke as we companionably ate our food in the now silent kitchen. Once we were done, Kent stood and threw away our disposable dishes.

“That dough you were making when I arrived, I obviously had to toss it all. Do you need me to help you whip up another batch for tomorrow, or will it put you behind if I just take you home instead?”

I thought about this question for a minute, then shrugged. “Not really, I was getting ahead to make up for the rush I had today. I don’t need to do that tonight. Wait, you can’t take me home, we have two cars.”

Kent shook his head and walked around, making sure everything was turned off as he started shutting down the place while I watched. “We don’t need two cars, because I’m leaving mine parked down here for the night. My shift doesn’t start quite as early as yours, but I can always hang out here and give you a hand until it’s time for me to head across the street.”

I tilted my head and looked at him in confusion. “Wait. I don’t think I understand—why would you be here with me in the morning?”

“I will be with you, because how else am I going to get from your place to here? Carpooling will save gas anyway,” he said with a shrug.

“Carpooling? My place? I think you need to back up a few steps, Kent, because I’m seriously lost right now.”

Kent looked at me with a lopsided grin. “Obviously I’m coming home with you; we have a lot to talk about and you’ve had a long, stressful day.”

When he confidently came around and pulled me to my feet, then led me to the door, I couldn’t think of a single reason to argue. Even if it was just for this one night, the idea of being able to rest and let Kent worry about the details for a change was too tempting to resist.

* * *

There was just one thing that I hadn’t considered—Julian. As soon as I opened the door to my condo, Julian came running. He skidded to a halt in front of us, staring up at Kent with his big toothless grin.

At six, Julian was missing all four of his front teeth now. Mrs. Anderson, my babysitter, was already gathering her purse and putting her sweater over her arm as she prepared to rush out the door and back to her own life.

“All right then, dearest. I’m off, I’ll see you tomorrow evening.” She looked curiously at Kent, but didn’t ask any questions as she bustled right out the door.

“Daddy, you didn’t tell me that Uncle Kent was comin’! Can he put me to bed tonight, please, Daddy? Please? Uncle Kent, we can read my book about dinosaurs. Daddy tries, but he doesn’t know how to make them roar good enough and everyone knows that dinosaurs have the best roars.”

Before I could answer, Kent once again took charge. I wasn’t quite sure what to think of this previously unknown side of him, but I kinda liked it. I watched with interest as he stooped down to talk to Julian, rather than towering over him.

“Tell you what, slugger. You go in there and get your jammies on, while I make your dad go take a bath. While your Daddy takes his bath, we’ll see if we can’t get you all settled in and make a few dinosaurs roar.”

I yielded once again, as there was no reason to argue with a plan that sounded so perfect. While Julian ran off down the hall to his room, Kent caught my hand and leaned in to kiss my cheek.

“Show me to your room, Vegas. I hope you have a nice big tub back there that’s built for soaking.”

As I led him to my room, I couldn’t help but picture the Jacuzzi tub in my room that was definitely big enough for two. Pity that this wasn’t a good time for that. As soon as we made it back to my room, Kent headed straight into the bathroom.

“Do you trust me with this whole bedtime thing? I promise to get him settled in snug as a bug.”

I heard him speaking as he started the water, and the fragrance of my lavender began wafting from the room. I slipped off my clothes, and walked straight to the bathroom. Kent had lit the candles that I kept around the tub. Before now, they’d just been there for the decor—I never had time for things like relaxing in candlelit baths.

Kent held my arm as I stepped into the tub, and even went so far as to help me ease down slowly into the bubbles. Once I was settled, he moved around the room competently as he turned on some soft music on his phone, setting it on the counter before turning off the light and quietly making his way out.

Before I could process everything that was going on, Kent was right back with a glass of juice that he poured into a wine glass. He reached over and turned off the water before handing me the glass with a shy smile.

“I figured that while you couldn’t have wine since you’re pregnant, it wouldn’t hurt to pretend. Now you relax, and I’m going to go get Julian tucked in.”

I leaned back against my bath pillow, enjoying the rare moment of complete relaxation. I must’ve started to doze, because it felt like no time had passed before I felt Kent join me as he urged me to sit up and lowered his now equally naked body into the tub behind me.

Once he had me settled in between his thick thighs, I leaned back against his broad chest and relaxed against him. Kent rested a hand over my small bump, stroking it with a thumb as he began to speak.

“I’ve already told you about my father and the whole thing about his abandoning me. I didn’t paint a picture of the poverty that we grew up in, though. My omega dad did everything he could for us. Just like you, he worked long hours to put food on our table, a roof over our heads, and clothes on our backs. In the lean years, our food budget was supplemented by the community food pantry. They even brought us the fixings for our holiday dinners.”

“Your father sounds like a very good man, what did he do for a living?” I asked softly.

“Dad? He was a waiter at a small diner about six blocks from where our shops are. Chun and I grew up running around that part of town. Even though I know that you are a successful business owner, and wouldn’t ever have to struggle as much as my dad did, I want you to know that you don’t have to be alone. It’s not just because I vowed that I would never leave any child of mine the way my own father did, either. I knew during our night in Vegas that a single night with you would never be enough for me.”

I thought about what he was saying, nearly biting my tongue to keep from begging him to never leave. Instead, I sat quietly and allowed him to finish his thoughts.

“I know that you and I did not have the best start, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a fairytale ending. This baby may not have been planned, but it’s already wanted. Not just the baby either, Pierre. If you’ll give me a chance, I’d like to show you how happy you and I, and little Julian, could be together. We could be a family, if you’d let me in.”

His voice trembled with tears as he reached for my shampoo and poured a tiny amount into his palm. I sat up straight and tilted my head back when Kent slowly began to massage the shampoo into my hair, luxuriating in the feel of his strong fingers massaging my scalp.

It wasn’t until after he’d poured a cup of soapy water over my head, rinsing away the shampoo, that he spoke again. It took me a minute to realize what he was saying because I was stuck on the fact that I would need to re-wash my hair in the morning before work. I mean, the soapy water from the bath that we’d been sitting in was used to rinse my hair. Just no. Uh-uh. Oh, well. It would be a small price to pay for the awesome scalp massage that I just received.

My breath stuttered, and my heart caught in my throat when I realized when he was now saying. “Please, Pierre. I’m not above begging. Will you consider giving me a chance—giving us a chance?”

Without stopping to talk myself out of it, I jerked my chin in a nod. “Okay. I’m not sure how we can find a middle ground between hot ass sex and then wanting to rip each other’s throats out, but I’m game to give it a try.”

“So, you’ll marry me then? Make it legal?” he asked excitedly.

“Easy, cowboy. I just gave you permission to saddle up, I didn’t give you control of the reins.”

“But you’ll think about marrying me? Or should I ask Julian’s permission? He should probably have a say too…” Kent’s voice trailed off thoughtfully.

I was chuckling as I stood and started to reach for a towel. Only Kent would go from getting a definite maybe to planning our honeymoon. Deciding that I really didn’t want to take a shower at three a.m., I stepped into the attached shower to properly rinse my hair and get the bubbles off.

When I stepped out of the shower again and began to dry off, I noticed that Kent had thoughtfully drained the tub. While I finished drying off, I was impressed to see him take the time to rinse the bathtub too.

It wasn’t until we were spooned up together in my bed, cuddling under the fluffy duvet, that Kent spoke again.

“Are you the one who found the gold arrow that was laying in the bedroom doorway earlier? I’m hoping it wasn’t Julian, the tips on those things are sharp as hell.”

My eyes popped open and I twisted my head to see his face. “Gold arrow? Bent shaft? I’ve found a couple of those around town, but they’re all locked up in my safe at work. Not only are they 24 karat gold, but they’d be downright lethal if a child were to come across one. Are you seriously telling me that you found one in my home?”

“Yeah, except that this one wasn’t bent. It was as if whoever shot it hadn’t missed their mark this time. I’ll show it to you in the morning. I put it over there on top of that hutch in the corner so that Julian wouldn’t hurt himself on it. I didn’t see it when we came in here earlier, but it was laying just inside your bedroom door when I came back in here from putting Julian to bed.”

“There was no arrow there when we got here, trust me on that. I would’ve noticed it immediately. Have you seen any of those around town?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, I have. I don’t know who has the money to be shooting 24k gold arrows and leaving them wherever they drop, but someone needs to put a stop to this shit before a little kid or something gets hurt,” Kent grumbled as I laid my head back down and tried to relax, my brain busily working over this new information.

“Have you ever seen these arrows anywhere else?” I asked curiously.

Kent chuckled dryly. “Actually, I kinda thought they might be connected with you. I found the first one outside of my hotel room in Vegas the morning after you snuck away.”

“So what you’re saying is, the things that happen in Vegas really don’t stay in Vegas. Arrows and babies abound.” I giggled sleepily.

Kent yawned in my ear and began to breathe slower. Right before he drifted off to sleep, he joked. “24 karat gold and babies… It almost makes me wonder if Cupid is in town. Except that this time, he didn’t miss his shot since the shaft wasn’t bent.”

I snorted. “That’s just Valentine’s Day talking. But seriously. Tomorrow maybe we should talk to the guys and see if we can’t all try and figure out where the hell these things are coming from.”