Chapter 15
ELIJAH
I’m smiling as I load up the back of my truck with purchases. When I finish, I get into the driver’s side. “One more stop.”
Sassy holds her hands up. “No, we’ve done enough shopping today.”
I feel as if I’m pushing my limits with her. “Okay, how about if I promise I won’t buy anything while we’re there, but we will window shop and look at things.”
She perks up a little. “You promise? No buying anything… just looking.”
I hold my hands up. “Scouts honor.”
She rolls her eyes at me. “Elijah Wolfe, you forget I know you, and I know you were never a scout.”
I pull out of the parking lot and drive down the street. “Fine, I promise then.”
I drive into Jasper and stop at the baby super store. Sassy looks at the store and then back at me. “We’re not buying anything, Eli.”
I put a hand to my chest. “I promise. I will not buy anything today. We’re just window shopping.”
I walk around and help her from the truck, and then with my hand to the small of her back, I guide her into the store. We’re met by a sales associate who hands us a guide to everything we may need.
It’s like a little booklet, and it has categories on it. I’m a little overwhelmed by it all, so I imagine Sassy is too. Her face is pinched as she looks around the store. I fold up the booklet and put it in my back pocket. “Come on. Let’s just look.”
We go through the store aisle by aisle, and eventually she starts to loosen up. She’s talking about things she wants to buy, things she wishes she had, and things she knows she needs to buy soon.
I ask her questions as we walk around. “Have you picked out a theme?”
She laughs. “Well, it was going to be pink bows, but that’s not going to work now. I’m not sure. I saw a safari print on Pinterest that I really liked, but maybe I’ll just do it in yellows and blues.”
We get to the cribs. “These are nice. Are you thinking white, light wood, or the dark wood?”
She tilts her head to look at them. “White for sure, but I’ll probably just get a bassinet at first. There’s not really room for a crib at Kane’s house.”
I commit it all to memory, everything she says she likes, wishes for, or says is cute. I want her to have everything she wants.
We walk through the rest of the store and talk about diapers and what brands she likes or has heard good things about. Bottles, breastfeeding, I just let her talk. I hear the fear in her voice about it all, but I try to soothe her. I know she’s going to be a good mom.
We’re almost through the whole store when she asks, “What about you? You think you’ll ever have kids?”
I look at her possessively. I want to tell her that I want her to be the mother of my kids. I want her to know that I want the child she’s carrying to be mine. I want it all with her, but I don’t think she’s ready for that. All I can say is, “Yeah, I do want kids.”
She nods and looks away.
I reach for her hand. “What else do you want to look at?”
She puts her hand to her belly. “Honestly? I’m ready to put my feet up.”
I stop walking and look at her. I’m not ready for the day to end. “What do you think about picking up dinner and then going back to my house to wash all your new clothes?”
She’s about to say no, but I put my hands on her shoulders. “That way you won’t have to go up and down the stairs at the apartment building. We can watch a movie in between loads.”
She looks at me, unsure. “Are you sure? I’m sure there are other things you’d rather be doing on a Saturday night.”
“Nope. You will never wear out your welcome with me.”
She leans her head back and smiles up at me. “Where did this guy come from? This flirty, touchy, feely Elijah?”
I loop my arms around her and hook her to me. “This Elijah is not holding back anymore. I see what I want, and I’m going for it.”
She blinks. I don’t miss the look of hope on her face, and then she tries to tamp it down. “No expectations. No—”
I cut her off by sealing her lips with a kiss. By the time we break apart, we’re both panting, and I’m hard again.
“Come home with me.”
She nods, and before she can protest, I pick her up in my arms and carry her the rest of the way to the truck.
As soon as we pull out of the parking lot, my phone is ringing. “Hey, Kane, what’s up?”
“You wanna watch the game tonight?”
I look over at Sam. “Sam and I are heading to the house. We’re going to pick up dinner—”
Sam points at me, and I read her lips, telling me to invite him.
I was hoping to have her to myself, but maybe this is a good thing. The sooner everyone thinks of Sam and me as an item, the better off we’ll be. “Why don’t you come over? We can all hang out together.”
“I’ll bring dinner,” Kane says instantly.
I groan. “Something besides pizza. Sassy needs something more nutritious than just pizza.”
“I’ll bring her a salad with the pizza.”
“That sounds good,” Sassy chimes in.
“We’re in Jasper, heading to the house. See you soon.”
I hang up, and Sam sits tensely beside me. I reach across the console. “You okay?”
She tenses. “I am, but maybe we should talk before we get home… I mean, to your house.”
I pull her hand toward me and rest it on my leg. “Talk.”
She sighs. “I think we need to keep whatever this is under wraps. Chances are the people in town are already going to be talking, but I don’t want my brother—”
I cut her off. “You embarrassed of me, Sassy?”
She rolls her eyes. “No, don’t be ridiculous. I’m just saying I don’t want things to be weird between the two of you, that’s all.”
“Nothing’s going to be weird, and Kane already knows.”
She perks up at that. She sits up a little taller and turns to me. “What do you mean? What does Kane know?”
“He knows that I want to date you. I figured I owed it to him to talk to him about it first.”
Her mouth drops. “You told my brother you wanted to date me?”
I nod. “I did. I also told him that whatever he said was not going to stop me, but I wanted his blessing because I knew it would be important to you.”
“Elijah…” she starts and then trails off.
She doesn’t have to finish. I know what she’s going to say. She’s going to talk about how this is temporary, no strings or expectations. All the shit I don’t want to hear.
But she surprises me.
“How did he take it?”
I smirk. “Well, after a few cuss words, he was fine with it. I mean, he threatened my life and all that, but all in all, he took it better than I thought he would.”
She leans her head back and closes her eyes with a smile on her face.
I have to believe that it’s all going to work out because there’s no other option.
Sam falls asleep on the way home and doesn’t wake up until I’m turning onto my road. She yawns. “I’m so sorry for falling asleep on you, Eli.”
I squeeze her hand that I’m still holding. “I don’t mind. You need your rest.”
She looks at me curiously. “How do you know so much about pregnant women?”
I blush. “I’ve been reading about it.”
She leans toward me. “You’ve been reading about pregnant women?”
I nod. “I have. I figured I should be able to help you or anticipate what you may need.”
She puts her free hand to her chest. “Elijah Wolfe, you better watch it because you are making yourself very hard not to fall for.”
She leans forward and kisses my cheek before rushing to get out of my truck.
I get out and meet her at the back.
She’s pulling the tailgate down, and I stand in front of her with a laugh. “What do you think you’re doing?”
She takes a step back. “Carrying stuff in.”
I pull my house keys from my pocket. “No, here you go. Open the door for me, will you, honey? I’ll get these.”
She goes on her tiptoes and kisses me again, and I know she meant it to be a gentle kiss, but it turns hot and heavy pretty quickly.
And that’s how Kane finds us as he pulls in.
Sassy pulls back first. “Uh, I’ll go get the door.”
I grab the bags, and Kane gets out of his truck, carrying a pizza box, salad, and a six pack of beer. He gestures to the bags under the cover of my truck. “What’s all that?”
I grab all the packages. “Maternity clothes for Sam.”
He eyes me speculatively. “Good for you, but I bet she was pissed.”
I nod. “She was, but I think she’s okay now.”
He nods and snarls his nose. “If that kiss was any indication, I think you’ve been forgiven.”
We walk into the house and unload everything. I take all the clothes to the laundry room and start taking off tags when Sam walks in. “I got this. Go sit down and eat with your brother.”
She leans against the washing machine. “I’m not going to sit down and eat while you do my laundry.”
I kiss her. “Here, I’ll show you where everything is.”
I show her how the washing machine and the dryer works, pointing out where I keep everything.
We get the load going and then join Kane in the living room, where he’s already put out plates, napkins, and drinks with the pizza and the salad.
Sassy sits on the end of the couch, and instead of sitting in my normal seat, I go to sit next to her.
Kane, mouth full and open, watches me. He chews his food and then smiles, pointing to the two of us. “This is going to take some getting used to.”
Sassy laughs. “There’s nothing to get used to. We’re just having fun together. No expectations, no—”
I put my hand on her leg. “Just figuring things out one day at a time.”
Kane snorts. “Yeah, right, that’s what everyone says right before they’re done pretending.”
I nod with Kane because he’s right. I’m pretending right now that I’m okay with the no strings or expectations. But eventually, I’m going to convince Sassy that we’re meant to be together. I’m just biding my time.