Standing on the sidewalk embraced with Paxton is a moment that I’m searing into my brain. This moment is perfect and I can’t help what falls from my lips before we move. With my eyes closed, the feel of his skin against mine, all of my connectors in my body are alive.

“Paxton, I’m pregnant.”

“I know this, Belle.”

“No, I’m pregnant with your baby. We’re having a baby,” I say with a rush of air. It flies from my mouth so fast that I’m not sure he heard me. It’s when his body that was rigid relaxes and falls into me that I know he heard me.

“Say it again, Belle.”

“I’m having your baby.”

With those four words released into the world, I feel the weight fall from my shoulders. No longer am I hiding this from my best friend. No longer am I keeping this from my child’s father. Paxton knows, and he’s not pulling away from me. I slow my breathing, waiting for his reaction.

“Belle, I know and I’ve been waiting for you to say those words.”

I pull back glaring at him, trying to gauge what I just heard.

“You knew?”

“Well, I suspected, but I have to say when I first returned I thought it was Jace’s,” he says, which brings the loudest laugh from my chest that I’ve ever heard. At this point I’m leaning over, holding my stomach as I continue to laugh.

“Come on, let’s get you inside before they think hyenas have invaded the city.”

“Oh my God, Pax, you thought Jace was straight.”

“I did,” he says right before he lifts me up into his arms and we enter our building.

“Pax, put me down.”

“Nope,” he says as he approaches the elevator.

“Seriously, I can walk.”

“I know this, but that takes all the fun out of claiming my girl finally.”

“Claiming me?”

“Yes, claiming you, Belle. You’ve always been mine and it’s time that I show the world just who you belong to.”

“For the record, no one has been trying to steal me away.”

“And for the record, yes they have.”

“You, Paxton West, have problems.”

“This is also true, but we’ll figure them all out with each other.”

As we enter the elevator, he sets me down but doesn’t let go of me as he pushes the button for our floor. I stay close to him, my arms wrapped around his waist.

I’m not sure what’s happening next, but I followed through tonight. I finally told him what I’ve been holding back from all this time. Now, I just wonder where this leaves us. Will we date? Will he be as active in the baby's life that I want him to be?

“What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“Nothing,” I murmur against his chest.

“You can’t lie to me, Belle,” he says as we enter the apartment.

“I’m just curious as to where this leaves us? I know this wasn’t ever in the cards for you and this changes a few things, don’t you think?”

“It does, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’ve loved you from the first day I laid eyes on you.”

“Why haven’t you ever said anything?”

“I was scared. I didn’t want to mess things up and push you away. Which, when I think about it, that’s what I did for years.”

“Yes, but I’m just as guilty. I hid behind my feelings just as much as you did.”

“What are those feelings, Belle? I need to hear you say it.”

“Only if you promise to not run away from us again.”

“I promise that I’ll never run again. You have me completely.”

“I love you, Paxton West. I have since the first day you beat me at my favorite game. From the moment you said your name, I knew that you’d be the one that I’d marry one day.”

“Ditto, Belle. Ditto.”

I back away a little from him, bending down to unzip my shoes. Okay, in my head I thought this was going to be a lot sexier than it’s folding out to be. Seems that I’m not as flexible as I was a few weeks ago. I manage to get my shoes off as I brace myself against the counter. Straightening myself upright, I grab the hem of my dress and slide it up and down to the floor. In nothing but my not-so-fancy bra and panties, I hold eye contact with Pax.

In the sultriest voice that I can muster up, I say, “I think it’s time you fully claim what’s yours, don’t you?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” his deep husky voice says before he steps toward me. In one swift move, he has me up and in his arms walking backward to my bedroom. That last time we were blitzed with tequila, but this time it’s full of hunger and desire wrapped so tightly that I might combust just from the feel of his body against mine.

Gently, Pax lays me down on the bed. Standing back he unbuttons his shirt slowly, causing me to lick my lips in hunger. My eyes travel down his chiseled chest to where his hands rest on the button of his slacks. Afraid to blink, as I might miss something, I keep my eyes trained on his hands. Pax watches me as I maneuver my panties down over my hips. Leaning forward he grabs them, sliding them the rest of the way down and to the floor. Still in his briefs, he leans forward and joins me on the bed.

“I’m sorry if I’ve hurt you over the last few months, Belle. It’s taken everything in me to fight this, to fight the need I have for you. You walking around this damn house in nothing but your short shorts and tank; do you know how many cold showers you’ve caused me to take?”

“I’m sorry,” comes from my mouth in a voice that I didn’t even know I had.

“Don’t be, but just know that when I want you from here on out, I’m not taking a shower. This is mine,” he says, placing a kiss on the edge of my shoulder. He travels down the length of my body, stopping every so often to remind me that I’m his. When he reaches my inner thighs, I can’t help but fall back further into the mattress, lost in the way his mouth trails against my skin. The way his hands caress my breasts.

“Paxton, I need you and I need you now.”