Till Cupid Do Us Part (Snowbell Ridge #2)

Chapter 1

1

NIKO

Ivy buries her face into her pillow and groans. The messy hair falling around her tickles my nose as her grumbled words get eaten by the pillow. I push a chunk of it aside and kiss her cheek before leaning over her body to check the baby monitor.

Our daughter doesn’t give a shit what time it is as she cries loud enough to wake the entire neighbourhood. She’s more than ready to get up, and I’m not going to be the one to say no to her.

From what I’ve learned as a father these last five months, I’m pretty damn sure I’ll never be saying that to her.

“Go back to bed, angel. I’ve got her,” I whisper.

Another string of words muffled by silk.

“She’s an early riser.”

Ivy turns her head and cracks an eye open, flashing me with bright blue. She reaches out a hand and rubs my shoulder in thanks as her lips tip into a sleepy smile.

“I wonder where she got that from.”

“Always been an early riser.”

“I know. You’re the best,” she breathes out.

No. She is.

My girlfriend of over a year and the mother of my one and only daughter has become almost superhuman since Junie was born. I knew she would be a phenomenal mother, but she’s blown every one of my expectations out of the water.

While it wasn’t necessary, she continued to work until the month before Junie was due and then spent that last month waddling around the nursery nesting. She attempted to paint a mural of the ocean behind the crib, but after breaking down into tears and having a full-blown meltdown about how terrible it looked, we hired someone to redo it. Painting wasn’t her thing. The decorating was.

Now that Junie has transitioned from the bassinet in our room to the crib in hers, we can finally take advantage of how amazing of a job Ivy did.

I slip out of bed and mute the baby monitor before stepping into the hall. The nursery is right next to our bedroom, and the moment I open the door, Junie starts blabbering without a care in the world.

She’s on her back, her legs bouncing in the bottom of her sleep sack while she reaches up above her head to try and grab the crib bars.

“Do you know what time it is, June Bug? You’re goin’ to drive your mom to insanity,” I murmur, immediately unzipping her sleep sack and pulling her legs free.

She grins at me and blows a raspberry. The noise machine continues to hum while I scoop her up and bring her to the window.

I learned weeks ago how much she loves staring out at the street. It’s the snow. She’s still too small to play in it, but she really loves the way it looks. Not so much the cold, though. She’s like her mom in that sense.

The road has been plowed recently, and the snowman on the neighbour’s lawn is still standing. Our new house is nestled at the back side of Snowbell Ridge in a newer developed neighbourhood. We got lucky with finding it so quickly after deciding that living in the house where I raised Travis wasn’t going to work.

It was uncomfortable the very first time Ivy came over, but we pushed past it for a few weeks. A month later, we couldn’t take it anymore, and I listed my house. I didn’t blame Ivy for being on edge while having to wander the same halls her ex-boyfriend used to and sit on the same couch. It made me feel the same way.

After everything that happened that Christmas, I haven’t been able to look at a lot of things the way I used to. This house, my bar, my son. Nothing is the same.

I wouldn’t change a damn fucking thing, though. Even if it’s been a very tense thirteen months.

This house popped on the market a few weeks after listing my old house, and I put an offer in on it immediately. We moved in a month later.

It’s the perfect place for us. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a huge yard for the dog she keeps asking me to get. Junie has more than enough room to play and grow, and our family feels at peace here.

There’s a part of me that wishes Travis could play a part in that peace, which grows every day. Having Junie has brought a lot of old feelings to the surface when it comes to my son. The one who can’t stand me.

We’ve spoken a handful of times since the day he walked in on me and Ivy and we all fought in the bar. The progress of our relationship has been slow, though. Ivy’s open to more happening, telling me that she’s supportive of whatever I choose to do with my estranged relationship with my son.

It’s Travis who doesn’t seem to want to do all that much with us, and I don’t blame him for it. I just have to hope that Junie might be able to help convince him one day.

“What do you say we get changed and go downstairs to make Momma some breakfast?” I ask the girl in my arms.

She kicks her feet and continues to babble. I take that as a yes and get to work.

Her head is on a swivel as we head downstairs and into the kitchen. Ten minutes later, she’s in her high chair, chewing on a banana while I flip two pancakes. The coffee machine splutters before filling Ivy’s favourite mug.

My phone is pressed to my ear as I listen to the new manager of the Frosty Mug repeat back to me the schedule for next week. It’s still a fresh change. When Junie was born, I took a step back from my overbearing hovering of my bar in exchange for more time at home with my family.

Now, Jason handles the most time-consuming parts of running the place while I get a bit of a break for the first time since having the place handed to me decades ago.

“You’re gone from tomorrow . . . the twelfth . . . until the . . . fifteenth, right? I just want to make sure I have enough staff for Valentine’s Day,” Jason says.

“Yeah. We drop Junie off with Jill in the morning before hittin’ the road.”

“Alright.”

“You got the decorations up that Ivy brought over?”

“We put them set up last night.”

“Don’t forget about the drink. Make sure Matty knows how much cinnamon to add.”

Jason chuckles. “He knows, Niko.”

“Shit, yeah. I’ve never been gone for a holiday before.”

“It’s only Valentine’s Day. No offense, but I doubt we’re going to have a line outside.”

“I know.”

“Plus, you deserve the break. Take your woman out, and don’t bring her home without a ring on her finger, yeah?”

My stomach tightens. “You’re fuckin’ tellin’ me.”

“You got service out at the cabin?”

“Should have some. Ivy would lose her mind without having contact with Jill and video calls with our baby girl.”

“Don’t act like you wouldn’t be just as bad.”

“Fuck off and get back to work.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that. Let me know when you’re heading out tomorrow.”

I agree and hang up while sliding the pancakes from the pan to a plate. The next two I pour on the pan get chocolate chips.

“Are those chocolate chips? Is there strawberry syrup, too?” Ivy asks, appearing in the doorway.

I tighten my grip on the spatula and let my gaze wander down her body. Her nightgown is silk with lace around the tits. I grind my teeth together as my balls draw up tight.

The curves in front of me swell beneath the lingerie, and her legs are exposed beneath the mid-thigh laced hem. Thin straps at her shoulders hardly manage to hold up her heavy chest, and with the extra growth they’ve had since Junie was born, I’m not surprised.

“Niko?” she murmurs, coming to stand beside me at the stove. “You’re burning the pancakes.”

I don’t care.

The feel of her hip against my front as she takes my spot and slowly pulls the spatula from my grip is more than enough to have me on the edge of snapping.

We haven’t had sex since before Junie was born five months ago. Between work and the stress of having a new baby, more often than not, we’re falling asleep the moment our daughter does or stressing too much to think about anything but sleep. We haven’t had a weekend truly off in months, and if we do find some spare time, Ivy busies herself before I can initiate anything. I’ve wondered if there’s something wrong that’s keeping her from going there with me now, but I haven’t wanted to ask in case she tells me something that will hurt to hear.

I went years without having sex before Ivy stumbled back into my life. And now? Now, I’m fucking ruined.

She’s so gorgeous, so effortlessly sexy that having her this close, pressed against me . . .

My cock throbs as I grip the counter and groan, bringing my mouth to the side of her throat. “Did you wear this on purpose?”

“What purpose would that be?” she asks, flipping the pancakes and turning down the burner.

“I’m so close to takin’ you right here.”

She rubs her cheek to mine, humming. “Taking me where?”

Fitting myself to her back, I grind my cock against her plump ass and reach around to take her tit into my hand, kneading it gently. It’s hard and warm, full of the milk that’s built up overnight.

Her throaty moan shoots right to my balls. I have to squeeze my eyes shut as I count down from twenty.

“Don’t, Niko. I need to feed Junie. I’ll get milk all over you and this nightgown.”

“Been tellin’ you for five months that I wouldn’t mind that.”

Her cheeks flush hot as she drops the spatula on the counter and slips from my hold. The slight wetness left behind on my palm is nearly enough to have me coming in my briefs.

“You’re not doing that, Niko. I’m going to feed Junie while you finish up breakfast. I want to make sure we get everything done for tomorrow.”

“Okay, angel,” I relent, knowing better than to push.

I’ll be here when she decides to give me that part of herself again. Until then, I’m enjoying loving her every other way that I can. She’s far more to me than just someone to share a bed with.

The ring in the lining of my suitcase is proof of that.

Been carrying around the fucking thing for a year. I’m just too terrified of her saying no to have asked her yet. This trip to my old family cabin in the mountains is the last chance I’m offering myself.

We’ll be alone for three days. It isn’t as long as I’d like, but I think it will help get us back to who we were before we had Junie. Being a parent is a blessing that I didn’t think I’d get another shot at. Wanting something and struggling with it once you have it are two separate things that can coincide with one another.

I love my baby girl, and I love my angel. I’m just doing a lot more missing the latter than I anticipated. The first time I was in this position, I was missing an entire half of the equation. Ivy and I didn’t have enough time for just us before Junie was born, and I am struggling with that.

I’m too selfish with her not to. Time doesn’t always work in our favour, though. Especially not when I wasted too much of it watching her be with my son.

I’m ready for this break. And hopefully, we’ll come back home the same people we were before Junie was born, just more complete. Happier, if that’s even possible.