Chapter twelve Aubrey #2
He looks up, his swirls of blue and green boring into my light browns. “It’s definitely working,” he whispers as my breath catches and my stomach does a somersault. We haven’t said those three little words yet, but I can tell they’re getting close with how much we keep hinting at them.
I’ve been wanting to say it to him since the first night he kissed me, but I’m scared.
I’ve never said them to anyone except for my friends and family.
What if I say it and he doesn’t say it back?
Like Emma did with Greyson. She loved him, yet she wasn’t ready to say it.
What if Shane is the same? It would crush me…
His fingers travel up my bare thigh, under the hem of his shirt that I’m wearing. He squeezes my butt cheeks as his lips trail over my collarbone and down to my breast, where he sucks on my erect nipple through the white fabric.
“Mmm, Shane, we can’t,” I whine, wishing we could.
“Why not? We never get mornings in. I’m here, you’re here, and my family doesn’t arrive for a few more hours.” He moves onto my other breast, doing the same and leaving wet patches with his mouth.
“Because I have to go to the bakery for a little. There’s a delivery being made this morning that should have been arriving tomorrow.” I sigh with annoyance. It’s the third time it has happened in two weeks.
Shane lifts his head, looking down at me with a frown. “Again? Jesus. You really need to find a new supplier. Clearly, they aren’t reliable.”
He knows all about this one specific supplier. All my others I have zero issues with; everything is always done professionally with rarely any mistakes. But this one, there’s always something wrong, and I find myself venting to Shane about it every time.
“I know, I’m working on it.” I sigh, looking away. I feel like there’s so much going on lately, and everything is just adding to my stress.
He releases my butt cheeks and brushes my hair away. “I’ll look into it for you today. I’m sure I know someone who knows someone.”
“You don’t have to do that, Shane. You already work nonstop. You don’t need to do my job on top of it.”
“I know.” He presses his lips to mine. “But I want to. If it can take some weight off your shoulders, then I’ll gladly do it for you.” He’s so thoughtful all the time. I just hope I’m half as good to him as he is to me.
“Thank you,” I whisper, kissing him back.
“You never need to thank me, Angel. We’re a team.” He smiles down at me. “Now, I have a serious question for you.”
I already know what it is, but I feign ignorance. “What is it?”
“Are there any more of those delicious treats for me?”
I laugh as he gives me his pretty boy eyes accompanied by a charming grin. It makes him look so young despite him turning thirty-eight today. “There’s a whole plate for you in the kitchen.”
“Yes! My girlfriend really is the best.” He pecks my lips and then climbs out of bed. “I’m going to shower quickly. Don’t leave until I get out, okay?” He loves wishing me goodbye before I leave.
“I won’t, I promise.” I smile as he winks and strolls butt naked into the ensuite.
I watch him as he climbs into the glass shower and starts the water. The glass quickly fogs up, only leaving an image of his silhouette as he lathers his body with body wash.
Finally crawling out of bed, I head into my walk-in closet. Because yes, there are his and her closets, and Shane has slowly started adding new clothes to it for me. He probably thinks I haven’t noticed, but I do, and I find it endearing.
I grab a black lace panty and bra set, then shimmy into a pair of black leggings and a simple light-pink t-shirt. I don’t plan on wearing this when his family arrives or for the party later tonight, but for an hour at the bakery on my day off, it will do.
When I come out of the walk-in, Shane’s phone is ringing on the nightstand.
I quickly look at who’s calling and notice it’s a video call from Hailey.
I know I could let it ring out, but she was really nice to me the last time we talked, and it feels wrong to do that. I pick it up and accept the call.
Her pretty face with perfect bob-cut blonde hair fills the screen within seconds. “Hi, Hailey,” I say, feeling a blush manifest along my cheekbones.
“Oh! Hey, Aubrey!” She smiles, then smirks with a knowing look in her eyes. “Let me guess, he’s in the shower.”
I giggle while nodding. “He is.”
“Damn, I really have bad timing, don’t I?” She laughs along with me.
“It’s okay, he should be done soon if you want to wait.”
“Oh no, that’s okay. I was just calling to wish him a happy birthday. I’ll call back later.” She smiles sweetly.
“Actually,” I start, not sure if this is a good idea, but Shane said they’re childhood friends and are still close. “I planned a little surprise dinner for Shane tonight. His family will be here as well as a few friends. I was wondering if you’d like to join us.”
“Oh, Aubrey, that’s very kind of you, but you really don’t need to do that.
I understand this situation can be a little awkward for you, given I’m technically his ex-wife.
I don’t hold it against you at all,” she answers with such sincerity and warmth that I feel the need to push a little more.
I don’t want her to think I don’t like her being in Shane’s life.
“No, it’s okay. Shane explained everything to me, and I know he’d want you here.
I’d really like you to come as well,” I tell her truthfully, but frown when a thought occurs to me.
“Wait, I don’t even know if you’re here in New York or close by.
I should have probably started with that. ” I flush harder with embarrassment.
She laughs once more. “I am. And I’d love to come if it isn’t too much trouble.”
“It isn’t, I promise.”
“Okay, well then, I’ll see you later. Thank you again, Aubrey. I can’t wait to meet you in person.” I can tell by her smile that she means every word.
“Me too.”
We hang up just as Shane emerges from the bathroom. “Who was it?” he asks, not bothered by the fact that I answer his phone.
“Hailey, she wanted to wish you a happy birthday, but she said she’d try to call back later,” I tell him, not mentioning that she’ll be here later since he doesn’t know about the surprise party.
He nods as he wanders to his walk-in, disappearing from view just as the doorbell rings, and I look toward the doors to our bedroom. Shane peeks his head out from the closet with a frown. “Can you go see who it is? I’ll be there shortly.”
I walk over to him, kissing him once before leaving the room and heading for the front door.
I’m not sure who it could be. His family isn’t set to arrive for another four hours, and the rest are only joining us around dinnertime.
I know Marianne and Antoine should be arriving soon, but they never ring since they have access to our home.
Just as I’m about to pull the large ten-foot-tall black door open, the doorbell chimes again. I finally swing it open and am greeted by a familiar face I wasn’t expecting to see this early in the day.
His normal scolding expression is in place, jet black hair and piercing green eyes that rattle your soul slightly when they fixate on you. And as always, a well-tailored black suit, with black everything underneath.
“Hello, Aubrey.” A devilish smirk graces his lips for a split second before his stoic expression takes over once more. “I told you we would be seeing more of each other again.”
The way he says my name always makes my skin crawl. I know he’s a good man, since he’s friends with Shane, I just can’t help feeling like he has this sense of darkness in him. But I’m not afraid of him, I trust him.
“Julian.” I open the door wider, letting him through. “I wasn’t expecting you this early.”
“Yes, well, I was in the neighborhood and thought I would stop by. I have a few things to discuss with Shane regarding you.”
My eyes widen at his comment, confusion wrapping itself around my brain as I blink a few times. “Me? What could you possibly have to say about me?” I mentally go over anything I may have done wrong but come up blank.
He strides through the door as I close it behind him and turns to face me. “I understand congratulations are in order.” His eyes dip to my stomach.
My cheeks flush as a soft smile settles on my lips. “Thank you.” But the confusion comes right back to the surface. “But that still doesn’t explain why you need to talk about me. Is it… is it because of the baby?”
Could he not be happy about it? Does he think I planned this to trap Shane in some way? He can’t truly believe that, can he?
“Aubrey,” he says strictly, like I should already be aware of whatever it is he has to say. “You are carrying my niece or nephew, which means as of now, your life is precious.”
Well, thanks, I guess before that my life had no value.
“I will not allow any harm to come to my niece or nephew, which means I won’t allow it to come to their mother either.
” Oh… I don’t like where this is going. “From this moment on, you will be assigned one of my best security personnel to stay by your side at all times. I would also like you to quit your job.”