With a nod, I forced a grin. “William’s wife is expecting their first child in about a month.”
With a gasp, Mom said, “That poor girl. She must have been so scared. I can’t even imagine.”
Taylor’s eyes looked so sad. “Are they both okay? I would be so worried news like that would throw her into labor.”
“That’s all William worried about, but luckily they are both okay.”
Clearing his throat, my father stood and looked down at my mother. “I know I’m exhausted. How about we let Jase and Taylor finish the wine and you and I call it a night.”
His hand went out for hers as she stood and took it. Making her way over to me, she kissed me on the cheek and whispered, “I love you, Jase. I’m so glad you’re back with us.”
“Me too, Mom. More than you know.”
She kissed Taylor and gave us both a gentle smile. “Good night you two. Try to get some sleep, Jase.”
Taylor’s face blushed as she looked away. We had been late getting to dinner when our second shower took longer than expected. “I’m pretty sure once my head hits the pillow I’ll be fast asleep.”
My father nodded as he said, “We’ll all meet in the lobby at six then head to the airport.”
“Sounds good,” I said as I laced my fingers with Taylor’s.
“Night y’all.”
“Good night, Dad. Night, Mom.”
We watched as they both headed out of the restaurant. “They were so worried about you.”
Turning to look at her, I couldn’t believe how damn lucky I was to have someone like Taylor.
“It was really nice of you to let my parents see me first.”
She focused back on me and grinned. “Well, don’t think I’m that great of a person because the whole time I was wishing we didn’t have to have dinner with them.”
I chuckled and shook my head.
“Plus, I knew the moment we saw each other we would get lost in one another and that would mean they would be waiting even longer.”
This time I laughed harder. “That’s true. I didn’t think about it that way.”
“I did,” she said as she took a sip of wine and wiggled her eyebrows.
After splitting a piece of peach cobbler, we headed back up to the room.
“Want to watch a movie?” I asked as Taylor slipped one of my T-shirts she brought from home over her head.
I couldn’t help but grin at the sight before me. She slipped under the covers and snuggled up against my side.
“Sure. If you’re up for one.”
Searching the movies, I picked a chick flick thinking she would like that. When she relaxed more into me I finally felt like everything was going to be okay.
“God, this feels so good,” I said, kissing the top of her head.
She draped her arm over me and replied, “Mmm . . . it sure does.”
It didn’t take long for my eyes to grow heavy. The last thing I remembered was Taylor turning off the lights and climbing back into bed. Pulling her closer to me, I breathed in a deep breath then slowly blew it out.
The feel of Taylor up against my body was something I had always longed for . . . more over the last week. It was a feeling I would never again take for granted.
Slowly I drifted off to sleep and heard Taylor whisper, “Thank you for bringing him back to me.”
The second I walked into my parents’ house I was overcome with the amount of people there. Everyone came up and started hugging or slapping me on the back. Taylor never left my side.
“It’s damn good to have you back, dude,” Walker said pulling me in for a quick hug.
I let out a huff of air and replied, “It’s damn good to be back. Everything okay here on the home front?”
“A few cows might have missed your pretty-boy face but other than that all is well.”
“Ha. You’re funny.”
After my fair share of hugs and congratulations on being home, I pulled Taylor off to the side.
“How about we sneak away?”
Her mouth dropped open. “What? Everyone is here for you. You can’t leave.”
“Why not? No one seems to even notice I’m still here.”
She narrowed her eyes and bit down on her lip. “Where would we go?”
“Our spot. I want to sit in the very location we plan on building our house.”
Her smile grew bigger. Taking my hand in hers, she whispered, “Lead the way, Mr. Morris.”
We took two steps and came to a stop. “Now, did I ever tell you kids about the time I jumped up on a bull to impress my Emma?”
Taylor giggled as Garrett stood there looking between us. The man did not look, nor did he act like he was ninety-eight years old.
“Um . . . I don’t think so, Gramps,” Taylor said.
Garrett turned to me and winked. “Oh, you’re in for a doozy of a story, son. Grab us some iced tea and I’ll meet you right here.”
Garrett walked back into the dining room and sat down in a chair. “Do we have to?” I asked as Taylor’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Yes! Jase Morris, go get some tea for Gramps. I’m excited to hear about his bull riding days!”
Moaning internally, I walked into the kitchen. Gunner and Jeff were talking to my father.
Jeff let out a laugh and said, “You look like someone just rained on your parade, son.”
Rolling my eyes, I poured a glass of tea for Gramps. “You could say that.”
“What happened?” my father asked.
Glancing over my shoulder to make sure we were alone, I turned back to them. “I finally talked Taylor into sneaking off with me and Garrett stopped us. Said he wanted to tell us a story about him bull riding.”
Jeff and Gunner looked at each other and busted out laughing. My father and I looked at them like they were crazy.
Gunner was holding his side while Jeff was bent over trying to catch his breath from laughing so hard.
“Did I miss something?” I asked my father with a confused look.
He chuckled and took a drink of his beer. “If you did, I missed it too.”
Once they finally got themselves under control, Jeff let out a sigh and wiped at his eyes. “Oh man. Shit, I must have needed a good laugh.”
Gunner looked at me and shook his head. “When we were your age, Jase, my grandfather I swore had some kind of detection system. If you were close to having any kind of . . . relations . . .” he said lifting his eyebrows. “You could almost plan on Gramps walking in and stopping it.”
Jeff blew out a breath and smiled as if remembering something. “I had to have extra locks put on our house because Garrett had walked in and called out Ari or mine’s names one to many times.”
My father and I both laughed. “And it wasn’t just us. He did it with everyone.” Gunner turned to Jeff. “He even banged on the hotel door at Heather and Josh’s wedding when Ellie and I snuck away for some . . . alone time.”
With another round of laughter, Jeff shook his head and lifted his hands up. “Sorry. Sorry, it’s just funny as hell to know the old man still has it in him.”
Taylor came walking into the kitchen looking flustered. “I need water.”
“Why? What’s wrong?” I asked as I quickly poured her a glass.
“Sweetheart, are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Amanda said as she walked up to Taylor.
Ari walked up to Jeff and smiled. “What’s with the grin from ear to ear?”
“Garrett stopped Taylor and Jase from sneaking away.”
Amanda and Ari both laughed. “Old man still has it,” Grace said as Amanda tried not to laugh harder.
Taylor frantically shook her head. “Oh God, don’t say that. Then that means she still has it too . . . oh shit.”
Amanda faced Taylor again. “What? What’s wrong?”
When Taylors beautiful green eyes shot over and pierced mine, my heart dropped to my stomach.
“Nothing. It’s nothing. I think all the st
ress from last week hit me all at once. I’m not feeling very well. Jase? Would you mind if we left?”
Turning to Layton, Taylor said, “I know everyone is here and I hate taking him away.”
Kissing her on the top of the head, he replied, “No I don’t mind. No one will mind. Y’all get home and get a good night’s sleep and I’m sure you’ll feel better tomorrow.”
Grace and Amanda glimpsed at one another before Amanda grinned and said, “Sweetheart, y’all take off. Don’t worry about anyone else they will all understand.”
“Go out the back door so you can slip away without Garrett catching you,” Grace said with a wicked smile.
The idea of being alone with Taylor was too strong of an urge to pass up. Walking up to her, I reached for her hand and pulled her with me.
“You heard them. Let’s go, Taylor.”
Jeff and Gunner busted out laughing as we walked past them.
Once we got outside, I spun around and pressed my lips to hers. “Don’t think about anything but me kissing every inch of your body.”
Her eyes searched my face. “Emma said I was pregnant. Did I ever tell you how incredibly accurate that woman is with that kind of stuff?”
I chuckled and leaned my forehead against hers. “You’re on the pill, Taylor. Everything is fine as long as you kept taking them last week.”
She nodded slightly. “I did.”
“Then don’t worry. Come on . . . let’s go home. Colt said they left Bella in her crate at the house. I’m dying to see her and smell her puppy breath.”
“Sounds good,” she replied weakly as I wrapped my arm around her and led her to the truck.
Peeking over my shoulder, I softly said, “Hurry . . . I think I hear Garrett!”
Taylor
June
“What do you think?” Jase asked as I gazed at our house.
Bella ran around me barking. All she was interested in was playing fetch. “I think it’s amazing and I cannot believe it will be done in three weeks.”
Jase picked up the tennis ball and absentmindedly threw it. Bella took off running after it . . . buying us a few moments of peace.
He reached for my hand and led me toward the house. “The only thing really left to do is some inside stuff.”
“I guess I need to give Gunner some paint color choices.”
“Yep.”
Letting out a frustrated moan, I dropped my head and closed my eyes. “That reminds me. I have to go with my mom next Tuesday for the final fitting of my dress.”
“Fun times.”
“No. Not really. If you thought wedding dress shopping with her was hell . . . try doing the fitting. She keeps telling the seamstress how to do her job.”
He chuckled and reached down to pick me up. Bella got super excited and jumped as Jase carried me inside. He did it every single time we walked into the house.
Trying to hide my smile, I said, “You know. You can’t always carry me in like this.”
With a stunned expression he replied, “Why can’t I?”
I hit his chest playfully. “Are you going to put me down?”
“If I must.”
He slowly let me down as my body slid against his. “I used to ask myself if I was dreaming during moments like this.”
His eyes searched mine while my heart raced with the intensity of his stare. “Not anymore?”
With a tilt of my head, I smiled. It felt as if heat radiated through my body as it warmed and tingled. “No. I’ve come to learn that you make me so incredibly happy that all I needed to do was get used to the feeling of being so loved.”
“I do love you, Taylor. More than you could ever imagine.”
Reaching up on my tippy toes, I softly kissed his lips. “The same goes for me. My love for you grows more and more each day.”
With one more kiss, we made our way around the house. Making notes of what still needed to be done and picking out colors. Soon we would be moving into the house as Mr. and Mrs. Jase Morris. The thought alone had my heart skipping with joy.
“Damn, baby. There is a lot happening in the next few weeks. The house finishing up . . . the wedding.”
My teeth sunk into my lip and I raised my eyebrows. “The honeymoon.”
“The honeymoon. What excites you the most about that?”
Lifting my eyes in thought, I replied, “Let’s see. Being back in Paris, where it all started. Staying in our hotel room for as long as we want. Romantic walks through the city. What about you?”
His crooked smile had my stomach fluttering. “I’m going to be all yours for one whole week.”
“Mmm . . . that will be nice. What else?”
His finger came up to my face while he traced my jawline. “My fingertips tracing the goose bumps that always pop out when we first get undressed and I touch you.”
Swallowing hard, my pulse began to pick up. “That’s true . . . your touch excites me.”
With a raise of his eyebrow, he nodded. “I hope it always will.”
“Keep going,” I said breathlessly.
“Close your eyes.”
I did as he asked and gripped onto his shirt.
“Picture a room filled with candles burning.”
“O-okay.”
“I’m going to relearn every curve of your body. Move my lips across your soft skin until you beg me to make love to you. But I won’t just yet.”
My lips parted open. “Why not?”
“Because I don’t want to take for granted that the most beautiful woman in the world is lying next to me in bed and she is mine. Forever and always mine. So, I’ll go slow with every touch and kiss. I’m whisper against your lips how much I love you and want you. I want to love you, Taylor, like it’s our last time together.”
The ground felt as if it was moving as my knees grew weak and my lower stomach pulled with desire. “Jase,” I whispered.
When his lips pressed against mine, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back with as much passion as I could. Things were quickly heating up. His hand moved up my shirt. Moaning into his mouth, I moved my hand over his hard hard-on and squeezed it.
“Jesus H. Christ. That is the last thing I want to see. Ugh. Noah, help me back outside ‘cause I think I’m about to puke!”
Jase smiled against my lips. Giggling, I stepped back to see my very pregnant best friend standing there with a snarled lip.
“Hello to you too, Grace.”
Noah waved off Grace. “Don’t mind her; she woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”
I quickly walked up and took Hope out of Noah’s arms. “Hi, sweet baby girl. You’re getting so big! I can’t believe in a few months she’ll be one!”
Grace ran her hand over Hope’s back. “I know. Makes me so sad she is growing up so fast.”
Jase and Noah shook hands and started talking about baseball. Rolling my eyes, I turned back to Grace.
“How are you feeling?”
With a wink, she let out a short chuckle. “I’m okay. Just uncomfortable and I still have a month and a half to go. Wait until you see Alex!”
Alex was due with her second child the beginning of July.
“My gosh, why is it so hot?” Grace remarked while trying to fan herself.
With a shrug, I replied, “Cause it’s Texas in June.”
“And you had to plan a wedding outside. Did you not take into account your three best friends were knocked up?”
Attempting to keep my smile hidden, I spun Hope around while she laughed. “How terribly inconsiderate of me.”
“I know, right?” Grace bit back.
“Do you want to go outside and talk about the landscaping?”
Her eyes lit up. If there was one thing Grace loved more than her husband and daughter, it was plants and trees and dirt.
“Yes!”
By the time we walked outside, Alex and Will pulled up.
I watched as Will ran around the front of his truck to the passenger sid
e. “She is in a mood . . . fair warning!”
With a soft moan, I leaned closer to Hope’s ear and said, “Great, we have to deal with two of them.”
“What did you say?” Grace asked with a scowl.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.”
Alex came waddling over. Not walking. She was actually waddling. I tried . . . I really did. But when Jase walked up next to me and asked, “Why in the hell is she walking like a duck?” I lost it.
Grace turned and hit Jase across the head. “Asshole. She’s a few weeks away from pushing out a kid. How would you walk?”
“Um . . . probably not like—”
Noah stood in front of Jase. “Dude! Don’t do it. Trust me on this one. Just close your mouth and don’t utter another word unless asked.”
“But . . .”
Holding up his hand, Noah exclaimed. “Do you value your life? Do you want to walk down the aisle with two good legs?”
Jase snapped his eyes over to Grace who was glowering at him. “Two good legs would be nice.”
“Good answer, dickhead,” Grace said as she made her way over to Alex. I couldn’t help but giggle when Noah smiled.
“Dude, if she calls you names it means she likes you.”
Jase’s eyebrows furrowed. “She called me dickhead.”
“It’s okay. She’s called me that at least six times today.”
I handed Hope back to Noah and kissed Jase. “Pregnancy hormones, baby. She didn’t mean it.”
Noah cleared his throat and made a face.
Turning, I made my way over to Alex and hugged her. “How are you feeling?”
“Like a beached whale. But let’s get this landscaping planned.”
I dropped down and pulled Bayli in for a hug.
“Auntie Tay Tay!” she called out. Kissing her on the cheek I picked her up and held her.
Peeking at Alex I couldn’t help but notice how miserable she looked. “Alex, sweetie, we can do this after we move in.”
“Nope. I don’t want to wait because what if Grace and I both go into labor at once? Then it will be even longer. I’d rather get it figured out now.”
“Early labor? I’m all for it. If this baby kicks me one more time in the bladder, I’m pretty sure I’m going to just start peeing.”