The sound of crying has my eyes slowly blinking open as daylight creeps in through the curtains of my bedroom. I move to get up and go to Rose when the feeling of an arm wrapped around my waist registers in my sleep-fogged brain.
Seb. Last night.
A wave of heat washes over me, hitting me square between my thighs at the memory of it. At what happened and exactly how many times. He had three condoms with him, so considering he was the one who wanted to wait until I was ready, he certainly made sure he was prepared for when that time came.
I yawn, about to roll out from beneath his arm when it suddenly squeezes me closer to him. He kisses the back of my shoulder. “Morning, beautiful.” Oh, how I could get used to waking up to that. But at the present moment, I’m more worried about the state of my bed head and morning breath than whether or not I can keep him chained to my bedroom. Rose’s cries increase in volume as I mumble out an awkward, “Hi.”
He chuckles, the sound even huskier with sleep as it vibrates the skin at the back of my neck where he’s currently nuzzling his nose. “I’ll get her; you stay here.” He kisses my shoulder again, releasing me and climbing out of bed before I can even mumble a protest. I don’t even think twice about doing what I’m told. As soon as I hear, “Good morning, sweet girl,” from Seb through the baby monitor, I’m off and running to my en suite bathroom.
I brush my teeth, run a brush through my hair, and then use the toilet. After washing my hands, I exit the bathroom to find Seb lying on the bed with Rose on his chest, his large hand resting on her tiny bottom. Everything within me melts at the sight of them. She’s trying to lift her head, and I laugh as it bobbles around. “I changed her. Want to take her while I grab a bottle?” he asks as I come closer, leaning over and rubbing my hand over the soft tuft of her brown hair.
“You don’t have to work?” Wrong thing to say if the frown that pulls at his brows is any indication.
“No, not until late this afternoon.”
I nod and lean over further to poke a finger in the exact spot where his dimple usually appears. He grins, and yep, there it is. “Chill, Sebastian. Was just checking you aren’t going to get in trouble for anything. I’ll get her bottle. Thanks for changing her.” I walk out of the room to the sound of him calling out, “The only one in trouble here is you if you keep calling me Sebastian!”
“Naw, is that a threat? Because I might just like your brand of punishment,” I call back.
He guffaws, his laugh following me all the way to the kitchen as I quickly prepare a bottle and make us some coffee.
“Are you sick of me yet?” he breathes against my ear as I prepare another bottle for Rose to take with us to see Wilma and Ken.
I scoff and place the bottle in her bottle bag then turn in his arms. I grab his face in my hands and bring his lips down to mine. Biting his bottom lip, I release it and say, “Never,” with a sincerity that must ring as true as it feels. His eyes heat, and he growls, sinking his hands under my dress to grab my ass as his tongue sweeps inside my mouth. I moan, wanting to climb him like a spider monkey, wrap my legs around his waist, and return to my bed. But the sound of a rattle toy hitting the wood floor has us pulling apart and remembering we have an audience, one who’s sitting in her stroller by the door. Waiting for us.
“Okay, let’s go before I drag you back to your woman cave and let you have your wicked way with me.” He walks over to Rose, passing her a different toy from the basket on the table and picking up the other.
I laugh. “Right, because that’s what happened.”
He shrugs, and I just shake my head. This man, I feel my heart stumble just looking at him. After staying for breakfast, he grumbled about having to shower with my “girly shit” and went to his car to pull out his duffel bag that he admitted to keeping in there since he stayed over when Rose first came home but also needs sometimes if he gets stuck working a double.
Now, we’re off to see Wilma and Ken about getting me back into some kind of work. I asked if he wanted to come, not only ‘cause I’d feel bad making him think he had to leave but because each day I spend with him has me feeling happier than I have in a long time. He’s my friend that I fell face first in love with, and now, he’s my lover. I’m not about to feel bad or hide something that makes my heart happy after the beating it took from Zeke.
“Ready?” he asks while cleaning the lenses of his glasses on his dark blue Henley. I walk over to him, pluck them out of his hands, and inspect them. Lifting them to his face, I slide them into place before giving him a quick peck on the corner of his mouth. “Ready.” I smile as he grins down at me.
Outside, Seb takes the stroller from me, so I link my arm through his as the warm spring air washes over us and we head down the street to the town square.
I open the familiar door to Thompson & James, holding it open for a hesitant Seb. “Coming?” I raise a brow at him.
He nods, walking in with Rose and stopping at what was my desk, where a pretty young redhead now sits. Wilma and Ken’s niece, Darla.
“Hi,” she chirps at us, rising from her chair.
“Hey, Darla. Just came to see—”
“Oh, my goodness, give me that precious bundle of baby.” Wilma cuts me off as she exits her office, unclipping Rose and hoisting her into the air, Lion King style, to get a good look at her.
“Hiiii, you gorgeous thing.” She lowers her to the crook of her arm as Ken appears beside us.
“How are you, dear?” he asks me with a gentle pat on my back.
“Great, thanks. You guys remember Seb?”
Ken and Wilma exchange hellos with him, smiling knowingly at me. Whatever, I’m not in the business of denial anymore. I cut straight to the point. “I want to come back to work. No, I need to.”
Ken takes Rose from a reluctant Wilma, who scowls at him. Once she’s settled, he starts bouncing her around a bit, completely disregarding my question. Right, although completely out of character for them, I should’ve known. These two go gaga over Rose every time they see her. Wilma touches my arm, bringing my attention to her.
“We’d love to have you. Darla only lasted a day before she asked how long she’d have to keep helping us out.”
“Hey!” Darla frowns at her aunt from her perch in my old chair. I don’t miss the not so subtle glances she’s been throwing in Seb’s direction, either.
Wilma ignores her. “Are you sure you’re ready, though? Who would look after Rose?” I hadn’t exactly come up with a plan for that. I don’t want to put her in daycare, but I need the extra income to start coming in again soon.
“I was hoping we could maybe discuss the option of working from home? I could come in when needed, but otherwise, I can do most things from there.”
She hums, turning to Ken who’s finally looking interested in our conversation.
“I don’t see why not. We did mention it,” he says, looking over at his wife who shrugs. “Let’s give it a week or so to fine tune some details, and we’ll get you sorted. Sound okay?”
I nod, probably a little too eagerly because I see Seb frowning at me slightly out of the corner of my eye. We say goodbye with the promise to talk further about it next week.
“You take care of our Olive and Rose, now won’t you, Sebastian?” Wilma quirks a brow over at him. He cringes at the use of his full name, but thankfully, lets it slide.
“Of course, they’re both my number one priorities,” he says with an absolute sincerity that has Ken grinning and Wilma looking as if she’s about to double over in a fit of swooning.
I laugh as we exit onto the street, closing the door behind me as I push an empty stroller. Rose tries to keep her sleepy eyes open to take in her surroundings from her new vantage point up high on Seb’s chest.
It doesn’t take long to figure out why he was frowning at me in there. “Do you need money?”
I fiddle with the handle of the stroller and try to avoid his burning gaze.
“Liv?”
I sigh. “Yes and no. My grandparents left me the house and a small inheritance, but it won’t last forever. I’ve already had to dig into some of it since Rose arrived, but I’m fine. I just need the income and a bit of my old self back, I guess.”
He continues to stare forward, a small frown tugging at his brows; his jaw is set tight, as if in thought. I decide to change the subject.
“Did you see Wilma? After what you said?” I smile over at him. “She looked like she was going to faint from your testosterone-fueled sentence.”
He chuckles, his muscular arms wrapped around my reason for breathing. The way he cares for us both, so naturally and seemingly effortless has my heart warming and a steady burn igniting in my lower belly.
“Well, it’s the truth.” His frown returns as he looks at something ahead. I lift my eyes to see what it is and find Keira and Simone standing outside the pharmacy a few stores up, watching us. Obviously talking about us with the smirks and moving of their lips giving them away. Not that they probably care. Neither do I, for that matter; I’ve got nothing to feel ashamed over. Unless you count moving on with my life, which to them, it probably is.
“I heard you got yourself a new baby daddy, Olive,” Keira says as we near them. “Didn’t believe you’d actually lucked out with it being this one, but”—she shrugs—”my eyes work just fine.” She rakes her blue gaze over Seb, and I stop. Gritting my teeth as Seb keeps walking, backtracking when he realizes I’m no longer next to him.
“Liv,” he warns.
“No, it’s okay, Kiera here just wants confirmation.” I shrug. “I’m cool with that. And yes, as you can see, I’ve traded up.” I smirk and go to keep walking, seeing Seb place Rose in her stroller.
But her next words have my feet rooted firmly to the ground.
“Well, let’s hope this one doesn’t get sick of you and skip town, too then.” I’m moving toward her before I even know what I’m doing. Seb’s arm scooping around my waist is the only thing that stops me from getting all up in the bitch’s face.
“Ignore her shit, Liv. Let’s go.” He releases me to grasp my hand and the stroller in the other, and I’m reluctantly pulled away from a smirking Keira and a blank-faced Simone.
God, what is wrong with me? What was I even going to do? Slap her? I really wanted to. But really? In all the years I’ve known Kiera, she’s always been catty toward me about something or another. Usually, that something was Zeke. But I’ve never felt so overtaken by rage at her like this before. I blow out a breath and run my other hand through my hair to remove it from my face in an effort to calm my racing heart and cool down.
Seb waits until we’re back at my place to say anything, which I’m grateful for. I place a freshly changed Rose into her crib then pat her tummy for a minute and watch as her little eyes drift closed. Grabbing the monitor from the living room, I find Seb in the kitchen, fixing some lunch. I sit on a stool and grab the glass of water he poured for me from the counter. I down the whole thing, wishing it was hard liquor. He places a sandwich in front of me before coming around the counter and taking a seat on the stool next to me.
He clears his throat. “Want to talk about whatever the hell that was?”
“Not really.” I shrug.
“Liv, come on.”
Sighing, I give in. “She’s never liked me. Her and Zeke went out in junior year. They broke up, and not long after, Zeke and I started dating the summer of our senior year. We’ve never been friends. She tolerated me before that, but hated my guts afterward.” I pick up my sandwich and take a bite.
I feel his eyes on me as I chew, but I keep eating.
“You’re okay talking about him?” He sounds wary.
I swallow and shrug again. “I guess, you know how I feel now. Sure, what he did will always hurt. I loved him, and he betrayed me.” I take a sip of water from Seb’s glass before continuing, “But I can talk about him. I just didn’t think you’d want to.”
“I don’t, but I mean.” It’s his turn to sigh. “I hate what he did to you, and what he put you through. And this might make me sound like a selfish dick, but I have you and Rose in my life because of it.” I turn to look at him as he continues, “I wouldn’t want to change that for the world.”
He looks away. As if I might reprimand him for what he’s said. I get it, though. To be honest, I started seeing it the same way he did not long ago myself. You can only wish and hope so much for the wrong thing before you finally realize the right thing has been standing right in front of you. Ready and waiting for you to open your eyes and really see them.
“Hey.”
He turns back to me at the sound of my voice. I crook a finger at him to come closer, kissing the side of his mouth before whispering, “I understand because I feel the same way.”
I pull away, and we eat in silence for a few minutes before he asks, “You know him leaving wasn’t your fault, right? It takes two to make a baby, Olive.”
I finish chewing before replying, “I’m well aware of that, genius.” I smirk at him.
He just shrugs. “It’s a pretty fucking simple truth.”
I laugh. “Indeed, but …” I scratch at my cheek, wondering if I should just blurt it out. I go with blurting it out. “I was on the pill, Seb. Took it religiously. Especially knowing Zeke’s hang-ups about kids, marriage, and the like.” I turn to look at his frowning face. “I know it’s rare, but I got pregnant anyway.”
“This is why…” he trails off. Probably thinking about last night.
I nod. “I wouldn’t change it for the world, either. I love Rose more than my own life. And now, well, I have you as well. But it might take some time to—”
“I get it,” he cuts me off.
“You do?”
“Of course. I mean the chances of it happening to you again are probably slim to none. But I still get it. Once burned and all that.” He waves a hand around halfheartedly. Then finishes off his water. “I’ll wait, and if you don’t think that’s something you’ll be able to give me, then that’s okay.”
I’m climbing into his lap a second later, smiling down into his handsome face. “You can’t be real; you’re too perfect.”
He laughs, wrapping his arms around my back. “I’m not perfect. I just happen to love the shit out of you.”
I laugh against his lips. “I love the shit out of you too, Sebastian.” I kiss him, cutting off what I’m sure was another protest about using his full name.