Resting a hand on my cheek, she nodded once, pushed my hand off, and jumped down on both feet. “I have never been so sure of anything in my life. Ever.”

“Me, either.” I swept her hair out of her eyes. “I love you, Lilly Hastings. I plan to spend the rest of my life making sure that I deserve you. I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to be enough.”

“I love you, too, Jackson Worthington. It always has been, and always will be, you who owns my heart. It’s about time you came and got it, too.” She scrunched her nose in that adorable fashion that I loved so much. “And you’re enough. You’re so enough. You have always been enough. You always will be enough.”

She rose up on tiptoe and kissed me.

By the time we pulled back, we were both breathless and clinging to one another.

“So here’s what I’m thinking.” I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Mmm-hmm?” she said, fisting my shirt and biting down on her swollen lip. The lip I’d made swollen with my kisses.

“Well…” The curtains in the front window of the house next door moved, and a curious face peered out, so I grabbed her hand and led her up the pathway. “What do you say we go inside, pack up your stuff, and then head for Hawaii?” I unlocked the door and let her in, shutting it behind us and turning the lock. “We’ll check everything out, and pick a place together?”

“Sure. Sounds good,” Lilly answered distractedly. “Oh, my God, my makeup.”

I swallowed, my mouth going dry at the sight of her rising on tiptoe to get a closer look at her face in the mirror by the stairs. She might be horrified at the sight of herself, but I wanted nothing more than to get closer to her. Much closer. “We can get a nice little one-bedroom apartment by my office, close to the beach.”

Lilly wiped off her makeup using some tissues she’d pulled from her impossibly tiny purse, twisting in a way that made me step closer to her. At my words, though, she froze. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

For too long, I thought I would never have her again. And now we were here, talking about our future, and I wanted her in my arms. Now. And I—

“Wait, what?” I asked, my voice coming out harsher than intended. Not because I was angry—I didn’t give a damn where we lived as long as I had her—but because she looked so damn sexy, standing there on the stairs. “Why not? You just said you wanted to move to Hawaii with me.”

“I do. We are. I’m talking about the whole one-bedroom-apartment thing.” She paused to face me. When she caught my gaze, she flushed, obviously seeing some of my thoughts in my expression. “We will need two.”

I leaned back against the door and tried to calm my raging libido. Tried to focus on the conversation at hand. “Okay, fine. But why? I highly doubt our parents will be coming out to visit us or anything.”

“First, let me ask you a question.” She nibbled on her lip. “I asked you before, but you might have a different answer now.”

I crossed my arms. “I’m trying to pay attention, I swear, but you keep biting your lip, and it’s sexy as hell, and I really wanna kiss you right now.”

She gave me a mischievous smile and dropped her purse on the floor. She took one step toward me, running her hand down her own arm slowly. “We can do that. We can totally do that. But first…”

I swallowed hard. “Yes?”

“Tell me, how do you feel about kids?”

“What?” I blinked at her.

“Do you still not want any?” she asked, watching me closely. “Like, ever?”

I rubbed my jaw. “I hadn’t really thought about it. Up until an hour ago, I didn’t even know that I’d have you, let alone anything else.” I froze, my heart stopping for two seconds. She wanted two bedrooms, and asked me this now, and the only reason I could think of that paired those two sentences together was…“Wait a second. Are you—?” I stumbled forward, my gaze locked on her stomach. It didn’t look any different. “Are you saying—?”

“Y-yes.” She nodded. “I’m pregnant.”

“But…” I stopped, heart pounding hard. “We used protection. How do you know?”

“Last night, in the hospital, I had a lot of time to think, and it occurred to me I’m late. I didn’t think anything of it, because I’m on the pill, but then I got to thinking, I have felt pretty sick lately,” she said, the words coming out in a rush. “And emotional. I thought it was from the stress of the wedding and losing you, but then I looked at the date….So I bought a test in the pharmacy, and took it in the women’s restroom, right there in the hospital. And…it’s true. It’s real. I’m pregnant.”

I stared at her.

Just…stared.

It wasn’t that I wasn’t happy. I—maybe surprisingly—was. Happy. Thrilled. Scared as hell. The idea of us having a tiny brown-haired, green-eyed baby was pretty much the best thing ever. What kept me silent was that I couldn’t believe I was being blessed with all these amazing things, all at once, and I wasn’t even sure if I deserved it.

Any of it.

And I was terrified as hell that I might lose it all.

She fidgeted. “I know you didn’t want kids, and if this changes your mind in any way, please tell me. I’ll stay here, and—”

“No.” I shook my head. “Fuck, I’m not unhappy. Or upset.”

Nibbling on her lower lip, she took a step closer. “You’re not?”

“Hell, no.” I closed the distance between us, pressing my hand to her stomach. The stomach that held a baby—our baby—inside it. “I’m in awe. I can’t believe I’m this lucky. This blessed. To have you, and a baby? I don’t deserve this.”

“Oh, Jackson. You’re wrong. You’re so wrong.” She cupped my cheek. “And I’m going to spend the rest of my life showing you just how wrong you are. I love you.”

I grinned and kissed her. By the time I pulled back, she clung to me breathlessly. “I love you, too. And I can’t wait to spend all my days with you, and our baby. But do you know what I’d really like to do first?”

“No.” She sucked in a quick breath when I splayed my hand across her lower back, my hard cock pressing against her soft stomach. “Please, do tell me, though.”

I lowered my lips to her neck and took a nibble. I couldn’t resist any longer. “Now that you’re mine, I want to take you in every way possible, and make you scream my name at the top of your lungs as you come so many times, you lose count.” I froze as a horrible thought occurred to me. “Wait, we can still do that, right? The baby—?”

She laughed throatily and said seductively, “Yes. We can.”

“Oh, thank God.”

She played with the collar of my shirt. “And if we’re going to move out of this townhome, you really need to fuck me on the sofa first.”

Aw, man, I loved it when she talked dirty to me. “Right now?” I asked, serious as hell, slipping my hand between her legs. “Lilly…”

She giggled at the expression on my face and sidestepped out of my arms, her gaze flitting into the living room as she slowly backed away from me. “Maybe…”

“Anything you want, Lilly.” One more step toward her. “Anything and everything.”

It was a real promise I made, despite the teasing way I said it.

“All I want is you, and me, together. Forever.” She walked backward into the living room, crooking her finger at me. I grinned and followed her, like I always would. I’d follow her into hell if she asked me. She wouldn’t even have to say please. “But you have to catch me first.”

She turned on a heel and ran into the living room.

Laughing, I gave chase.

She stopped behind the couch, cheeks flushed, eyes shining with happiness. I stopped in front of it, bent over, seconds from catching her, and we both knew it. “Wait! I need a head star—agh.”

I leaped at her, yanking her over and onto the couch, cradling her in my arms so they—she and our baby—didn’t get hurt in the fall. We landed amidst lots of her giggles, but the second I melded my mouth to hers, her laughter turned into a throaty moan.