Chapter 17 #2
Stepping inside, I closed the door behind me, hanging her coat in the closet by the entrance before rolling the bag toward the guest bedroom.
When I reached the doorway, I took a good look at my woman.
She was lying on her back with a hand on her belly, her chest rising up fast. I tried to push the feeling of her soft breast against my arm to the back of my mind.
She was murmuring something under her breath. I couldn't make out what. But looking at her here, in this bed, one thing became clear: I was going to fail miserably at trying to stay away from her this weekend.
"Am I interrupting something?" I asked.
"Just me having a conversation with the baby. Promising that Mom will take care of him or her."
“Mom and Dad.”
Her smile made me happy; at least she was accepting of that. “Of course. Thanks for bringing my bag. I want to change into something more comfortable. I put on the first clothes I could find after I saw the bleeding, I was just in such a panic to get to the doctor."
"Sure. I’m going to make you lunch. Any special order?"
"I get to order?" she said, looking up.
"I promised to spoil you."
"Which reminds me, where's my cupcake?" That snarky smile was going to undo me. I loved a woman who knew how to challenge me.
"It's on the way. I already put my family into motion."
Her eyes bulged. "Holy shit. What does that even mean?"
"My cousin Reese is coming over."
"She knows what happened?" The fearful look on Bonnie’s face was cute.
She would learn quickly that if you were dating a Maxwell, you were dating the family.
Not that we were dating—yet. But I was working on changing that.
Bonnie wanted us to be friends, but after today, I was certain that I wanted us to be a family.
And that started with dating her. Wooing her. Convincing her—and myself—that I was capable of a relationship.
"Yes. I was with her when you called. Knowing my family, probably everyone already knows and is waiting for news. I'm going to post it in the family WhatsApp group, but just a heads-up, they might accidentally drop by this weekend to check on you."
She blinked rapidly, shifting on the bed. I couldn’t tell if she thought that was a good thing or bad.
"Really?"
Why did that surprise her so much?
“Yeah. Have you told your mom you're okay?"
She shook her head. “No. I didn’t tell her about the visit to the doctor at all.”
Now that surprised me. “How come?”
She smiled sadly. “Doesn't matter. We can talk about it another time. I don't want to keep you from spoiling me.”
"First things first. Tell me what you need from here." I grabbed the handle of the bag, putting it on the floor and unzipping it.
"You're seriously not going to let me get out of bed, are you? Limit movement meant not exerting myself. I can walk around."
"As you pointed out, you can’t reason with me today.”
She pressed her lips together, smiling. "Okay, then I'm going to need the pink dress you'll find on top."
Apparently Ashley explained how she’d packed the bag and what was where.
I unzipped the bag, opening it. Bright pink fabric stared back at me. Must be the dress. I handed it to Bonnie.
Her eyes bulged, fixated on the bag.
“Fuck!”
"What? What happened?" Shit, what did I do wrong?
“Oh my God, I cannot believe she packed that.” She put her hands over her face.
I looked back at the luggage and found myself staring at some seriously sexy underwear, black with a lot of lace. An image of Bonnie wearing them popped into my mind. My cock twitched at the thought.
I was toast.
“I didn’t tell her to put that in there. I said underwear. Why she packed the lace… Oh my God. She took her own initiative, it seems.”
I liked Ashley even more now. The thought of seeing Bonnie in those things was messing with my mind. I had to get out of the room, and then I probably needed to give myself a cold shower and possibly rub one out. It was the only way I was going to survive this weekend here with her.
"I'm going to be out here. Let me know if you need anything," I said before leaving the room.
Reese arrived ninety minutes later, holding a huge box.
"How many cupcakes did you bring?" I asked.
"A lot. I'm going to taste a few as well."
"Of course you will. Thanks a lot for stopping by and doing this for me, Reese."
"My pleasure. Where’s Bonnie?"
"She's in the guest bedroom. Come on, I'll take you to her."
Reese held up the box with both hands, trailing after me.
I knocked on the door. "Is it okay if we come in?"
"Yes, please."
I opened the door, and Reese burst in. Bonnie was sitting on the bed, legs crossed. She looked absolutely gorgeous in the pink dress. Her dark hair was long enough to almost cover her breasts. Her eyes lit up at the sight of us.
"Hi, Bonnie. I’m Reese.” My cousins were amazing. They could make anyone feel comfortable.
"Reese, it's so nice to meet you.” Fortunately, Bonnie seemed comfortable with the ambush.
“I brought you cupcakes, as ordered," she said with a wink.
"Thank you so much.”
“Liz made a lot, but I assured her that I can help you finish them off.”
“I like you, Reese."
They laughed, obviously getting along. Good, it was important to me that Bonnie felt like a part of the family.
"My cousin told me you need to be on bed rest this weekend."
Bonnie rolled her eyes. "The doctor’s words were ‘limit movement.’ Travis is taking it very seriously."
"Oh, he's thorough, my cousin. Very thorough when he puts his mind to it. Can I sit on the other side of the bed?"
"Sure."
Reese immediately sat down, putting the box of cupcakes in the middle of the mattress and removing the lid.
"I've never had cupcakes with pineapple cream," she said. “Travis said they’re your favorite?”
Bonnie nodded. "I discovered them in Oceanwell Bay, and they’re great."
"I'm so glad that I got to meet you. Obviously I hoped it would've been under better circumstances. I had this dream where we went on a girls' night out and we both had guys lined up for us."
I stared at Reese. She glanced at me and seemed very, very pleased with herself. What exactly is she doing? Trying to drive me crazy?
“Travis, unless you want to partake in girl talk, I suggest you leave us alone,” Reese said sweetly.
I held up my hands in self-defense, taking a step back. I definitely didn’t want to hear more. But I was going to give my cousin a piece of my mind. Bonnie didn’t need any other men in her life.
“I really don’t. Talk away.” Turning back on my way out the door, I asked, “Bonnie, what do you want for dinner?”
“Veggie curry,” she said without hesitation. “Reese, are you staying too?”
“No, no. I only came by to see you.”
“I’ll order dinner,” I said, closing the door behind me. It was still early afternoon, but after we left Dr. Taylor’s office, Bonnie told me she hadn’t had lunch, and I wanted to make sure she was well-fed.
I’d planned to fill in the details on cash-flow projections in the spreadsheet this evening, but I couldn’t focus on any of that.
Part of me was still processing what happened today.
But I wanted to make some headway, no matter how small.
I took out my laptop, ordering veggie curry.
Then, instead of doing any work, I googled “pregnancy spotting.”
Instead of laying my worries to rest, it only multiplied them. Jesus, how many things can go wrong in a pregnancy?
I fell down the rabbit hole of research until dinner arrived. Reese decided to leave a few minutes later. I walked her to the door.
"Do you want to kill me? What was that about lining up guys for both of you?"
She flashed me a grin. "I was just testing out the theory.”
“Mind sharing it with me?”
“I made a bet with the brothers and Kimberly. We're not sure if you're going to get past this weekend without breaking your promise.”
“When did you even do that? I only told you that Bonnie is spending the weekend here before you came over.”
“I had plenty of time,” Reese said proudly.
"Who bet what?" I was curious.
"They’re all sure that you’re going to break it. I was adamant that you'll stick to it because you want to do your best, but after I saw your face when I made the guy comment, I'm 100 percent sure you'll break it too."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." She couldn’t look any happier with her observation, and I knew she was totally right. I had big plans this weekend. One: convince Bonnie to move in with me. Two: convince her to date me.
“Anytime.”