21. Evgeny #3
“Yeah, you’re definitely hitting the jackpot with me,” she says, and even though I know she’s joking, I’m not when I look at her and say, “I am, yeah. I hope you don’t feel short-changed.”
Her eyes momentarily drift lower, settling on my crotch before she says, “No, definitely not feeling short-changed.”
I hook a finger under her chin and tilt her face up to mine again. “Glad you feel that way, Scoop.”
I laugh at the look she gives me. “What? I can’t call you Harps. That’s what you-know-who calls you. By the way, we’re having a serious talk about that later. I think I’ll be coming with you on your next coffee date. He needs to see with his own two eyes that you’re taken.”
“He’s taken too,” she says. “But I’d love for you to come and meet him. You also need to meet Jace. He’s going to flip when I tell him about you.”
“I imagine a lot of people are going to be surprised when we tell them about us.”
“Does that bother you?” she asks while searching my face. “I know you like to stay as private as possible. This is going to cause a stir and put you in the spotlight even more.”
“Yeah, but in a good way,” I say. “I don’t care if everyone knows I love you. That’s not something I ever want to hide again. Do you think your boss will be angry?”
“I think Arthur will think it’s great news, and he’ll be expecting insider info.”
“I don’t know,” I tell her. “It’s possible his star reporter could convince me to talk.”
“I’ll work on my interview skills,” she says. “Maybe try some new techniques that involve me on my knees. You can talk while I suck.”
I bite back the groan I want to give while I remind my cock that now is most definitely not the time. “You should definitely try that technique as soon as we get home. Who knows what secrets I might spill?”
She smiles up at me, lifting onto her tiptoes so she can kiss my chin. “Deal,” she whispers.
Later after we’ve both eaten our fill and visited with everyone, Yel pulls me aside. Before she can even say anything, I tell her, “It’s okay, Yel. I’m not upset that you talked to Harper.”
“You’re not?” She lets out a relieved breath. “You didn’t look like you were, but I just wanted to make sure. I wasn’t trying to overstep. I could just tell you were making a giant mistake, and I couldn’t sit back and let you do it.”
“Thank you for butting in,” I say, making her smile. “I didn’t want to lose her, and I thought I had, so thank you, Yel.”
She gives me a hug and tells me she loves me. When she pulls back, there’s a huge smile on her face. “I’m so excited that our kids will get to grow up together. Once you’re married, it won’t be unusual for you to take more time off. We’ll get to see you more.”
“It’ll be nice,” I agree, “but don’t rush things too quickly. I’m not married yet, or engaged, and she’s not pregnant.” I don’t add that I don’t think she is, because the truth is she might very well be pregnant with our first baby as we speak, and the possibility has me smiling.
Yel pats my arm. “Yeah, I have a feeling I’m not rushing anything.”
We go back to join the others, and now that Yel’s put it in my head, I can’t stop picturing a pregnant Harper.
As soon as I’m able to, I grab onto her and start to make our goodbyes.
Watson crashed on the couch over an hour ago, and Veya is snuggled up right next to him.
The two of them in a deep sleep despite all the noise around them.
“You’re going to need to adopt a greyhound,” I tell my sister as we work to untangle the two.
“I can give you the number to the rescue place where I got Watson,” Harper says. “They really are great dogs.”
“Please do,” Yel tells her. “I think the kids would love that, especially Veya.”
After promising to come back to visit soon, we finally step into the elevator, and when the doors close, I look down at her and ask, “You still happy you came back?”
She leans against me, snuggling in like she’s been doing it for years, and I’ve never been happier than I am in this exact moment—the woman I love against me, us going home after a dinner with my family, our dog at our side, and my baby most likely growing in her belly.
It’s perfect, and I’ll never forget how easily all this could’ve been taken from me.
Had Harper made a different choice this afternoon, none of this would’ve been possible.
“Thank you,” I say, making her lift her head to look up at me. “Thank you for choosing us today.”
She smiles up at me, and the sight makes me want to get her home as quickly as possible so I can slowly peel off all her clothes.
“I could’ve never chosen anything else,” she says. “I’m not saying this is going to be easy, but I don’t want a future that doesn’t have you in it, Ev. We can do this. We can make this work.”
“We can,” I agree. After a few seconds, I add, “Daphne.”
She groans. “You can’t call me another woman’s name.”
“But it’s from Scooby-Doo. You know, ‘cause she’s always trying to crack the case like you. I could call you Velma, if you’d prefer that.”
“Again, it’s another woman’s name,” she says, making me laugh.
“Okay, Shaggy.”
“Jesus,” she groans.
“What’s your middle name?” I ask, determined to find a nickname that’s just mine and mine alone.
“Love,” she says.
“Are you serious? How did I not know that?” The doors open and we step through as I say, “All right, Love. Let’s go home.”
She tries to roll her eyes at me, but she’s smiling too big to pull it off.
The name is perfect, and I’ll kill anyone else who ever tries to call her that.
I’m laying claim to it, just like I’m doing to her.
I help her and Watson into the car, already making plans to buy her a ring and ask her to marry me.
I’ll call the movers tomorrow and have all her stuff moved to my house, and I’m going to marry her as soon as she picks a date.
I will never sleep another night without her in my bed, and I never want to walk into our home and not have Watson’s slim rump stretched out on our couch be the first thing I see.
This is my family, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
My brilliant journalist and soon-to-be fiancée uncovered my biggest secret and turned my life completely upside down.
She’s given me everything I was too afraid to think I could have.
I’ll make sure she never regrets it. I’ve always devoted my life to my family, and now is no different.
Watching over Harper and Watson and however many babies she lets me put inside her feels like what I was put on this earth to do.
Keeping the people I love safe comes naturally to me, and Harper’s just put her cute butt right in the center of all that.
I have no doubt she’ll test my patience and drive me crazy in all the best ways, and I’m sure I’ll infuriate her with my overbearing ways and refusal to budge on anything that has to do with her safety, but I’m not worried about us.
I know we’ll be fine. Great, even. Because when I look at her, I see my future, and I see the only woman I’d ever want to spend it with.