Roman

It was only seven o’clock in the morning, but I’d already been up for a couple of hours when Xander called me with an update. I’d expected to hear back from him the night before, but I figured if things had gone too badly then he would have let me know right away. “Was the guy more of a problem than we expected?”

“Fuck, no,” he laughed. “He almost peed his pants when he opened the door and found me standing there this morning. Sorry I didn’t check in sooner to let you know that it was a no go last night, but Calista had a surprise waiting for me when I got home and—”

“No need to explain. I get it.” Before Jessa came into my life, I would have given him shit for falling down on the job. But if the roles were reversed, I could easily see myself distracted any surprise Jessa had in store for me.

“When I stopped by last night, the kid wasn’t home. In addition to the online class, he’s doing a couple of night ones on campus. Doesn’t get home from them until late from what his mom told me. After talking to her for a little bit, it was clear he wasn’t going anywhere once he got home because she was pissed as shit when I told her why I was there. She must have given him hell all night long because the kid started apologizing before I even had the chance to get a word in. Stupid little shit thought she’d consider going out with him if he showed her how much he liked her, but he knows better now.”

“He better,” I growled. “Cause if I ever see him anywhere near her, he’s going to regret it.”

“Oh, he knows all right. If you didn’t beat his ass down for bothering Jessa again, his mom sure as shit would. The odds are good that boy would run screaming in the opposite direction if he even saw her on the street by accident.”

“That works for me.” The only thing better than that would be if I was the one to toss him across the street.

“I’m sure it does. The guys have mentioned that you’re almost as territorial with Jessa as I am with Calista. I’m not going to have to worry about you scaring off all our male clients, am I?”

“Like you have room to talk.”

“Yup, that’s what I thought,” he chuckled. “I already sent a text to the team to let them know they’re off duty and to head to their next assignment. I’ll see you and Jessa in the office tomorrow?”

“Yeah, about that. We need an extra day.”

“Running off to get married?” he guessed.

“Nah, just moving her into my place.”

I hung up to the sound of his laughter and headed outside to find Brecken’s team. I only made it down the front steps before they came walking out of the woods towards me.

“Hey, Roman!” Whit called out. “We heard the good news and figured we’d say goodbye before we headed back up to Chicago.”

“I really appreciate all the help,” I thanked them.

“Enough to ditch the job in Atlanta and take Brecken up on his offer?” Devon asked.

Sera elbowed him in the side. “Don’t be an idiot. The only moving he’s going to be doing in the near future is of Jessa’s stuff into his home.”

“Damn straight,” I agreed.

I shook each of their hands and promised to bring Jessa up for a visit some time so she could meet Brecken and his wife, Hadley. Then I headed back inside to wake Jessa and pack up the truck. About an hour later, we were on the road back home. The ride was a lot better in this direction, and it wasn’t because there was less traffic. When we were headed to the cabin, I’d had to keep my hands to myself. Not anymore, and I took full advantage of it by sifting the fingers on my right hand through her hair, trailing them along her thigh, and stroking the palm of her left hand.

She spent most of the time turned in her seat looking at me, so she didn’t notice when I passed the exit to her grandmother’s house and headed towards my apartment instead. It wasn’t until I pulled into the parking garage that she looked out of the window and asked, “Where are we?”

“My place.”

Her nose scrunched up like it did when she was confused. “I thought you were taking me home?”

“Yup,” I answered as I parked.

“Umm, I don’t live here, Roman.”

I shut off the engine, undid both our seatbelts and pulled her onto my lap. “But you should.”

“You really think so?”

I slid my hands under her shirt to stroke her back. “I’ve gotten greedy after having you all to myself for the past week.”

“It has been nice,” she sighed. “But you don’t think it’s too soon?”

“That depends. When you go to bed tonight, do you want it to be here with me or at your grandmother’s house—with me.”

“Those are my only two options?” she asked with a laugh.

“I wasn’t joking when I said you were mine, Jessa.” I shifted so my hand covered her belly. “And there might be another life growing inside you that’s a little bit of you and a little bit of me that’s mine, too.”

“What? A baby? Ohmigosh!” She slapped a palm over her mouth and stared at me with wide, brown eyes.

“If we’re lucky, yeah.”

Her hand dropped down to press mine harder against her stomach. “Lucky?”

“To create life with the woman I’ve fallen in love with? Lucky isn’t strong enough to describe it.”

“Love?” she gasped. “You love me?”

“Yes, Jessa. I love you. How could I not?”

Tears spilled down her cheeks, even as she flashed me a blinding smile. “I love you, too.”

“I love you. You love me. How about you move in with me, have my baby, and get married?”

“Yes. Yes. Yes,” she cried. “Just maybe not in that exact order.”

“Definitely not in that order. We’ll tackle the first one today. Then we can get our marriage license tomorrow. And if you’re already pregnant, you’ve got a little less than nine months to plan whatever you’d like for the wedding so long as you’re my wife before the baby is born.”