Chapter Three
CROW
N ot on your life.
I wanted her more than my next breath, but we still had things to figure out. Grabbing her hips, I tried to halt her movements, but P had ideas of her own.
“P,” I grunted, hoping I wasn’t about to come in my jeans like a kid who couldn’t control himself. “Baby,” I tried again. Her writhing on my dick wasn’t something I expected, although if she didn’t stop soon, I was going to have her screaming for a whole other reason.
“Nathan,” she groaned.
I was just about to haul her into her bedroom when she lifted her head and stilled. “Did you hear that?”
“What?” I froze, listening closely.
“Oh!” she squealed, her eyes lighting up like a kid at Christmas. “My food’s here.”
Then, like she hadn’t just been grinding her hot pussy on me, she shimmied out from under me and left me wondering what the hell just happened.
“Do you want some of this?” she asked, puttering back into the living room and spreading out her loot across the coffee table.
I sat there in stunned silence, completely blown away at how fast her mood changed.
“Nathan?”
“Uh, yeah. What do you have?”
“Tacos,” she smiled.
“What’s with the backpack?” she asked, nodding to my bag.
“I’m staying with you tonight.” Paisley’s eyes widened, her food hovering in front of her mouth. Guess I should have mentioned that.
“You’re staying?” she asked carefully.
Reaching over, I grabbed two tacos from the bag. “Yep. We have things to discuss, but I’ll be sleeping on your couch — for now.” I arched a brow, wondering if she’d put up a fight.
“Okay,” she shrugged, taking a bite, seemingly resolved to the fact I was invading her space.
“Okay,” I repeated, happy she was being agreeable.
“You can go with me to my doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning.”
“It’s a date.”
While we ate in comfortable silence, I thought about the things we needed to talk about. At the top of that list was the secret I’d been keeping that I was dying to get off my chest.
Unfortunately, after P finished her tacos, she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Resigned to get the rest of our shit handled the next day, I sent her off to bed and made myself comfortable on her couch. That night, I slept soundly, knowing my woman was safe and sound down the hall.
The next morning P and I walked into Bonnie’s Diner hand in hand, a huge contrast to the last time we’d come in together. It was hard to believe that’d only been a few weeks ago.
Thinking about the asshole that’d had her pressed up against her car had me feeling twitchy.
“Are you okay?” she asked, squeezing my fingers.
“Fine,” I lied, holding up two fingers when the hostess approached.
I didn’t want to ruin the calm morning. We were making strides in the right direction, but sleeping on her couch had been harder than I’d thought.
“Right this way.”
P slid into the booth and followed in behind her. She looked at me funny, probably wondering why I hadn’t sat across from her. I couldn’t explain it, but the more time I spent with her, the closer I wanted to be.
Thankfully, before she could question the move, our waitress appeared. Armed with a pot of coffee, she filled our cups.
Thank the Gods. Knowing my horny wife was just down the hall had been a true test of my control.
“Good morning, little momma. Who’s this tall drink of water you brought in today?” our waitress chirped, pulling out a pad of paper.
Paisley smiled softly at the older woman. “Bonnie, I’d like you to meet Nathan Crow. My baby daddy.”
Bonnie’s eyes grew to the size of saucers. “So, this is him, huh?” Her eyes went to Paisley’s belly, to me, then back to P.
“Yep,” she giggled.
“You gonna do right by her, I hope.”
“I am,” I challenged.
She watched me closely, then smiled. “Good. This one,” she nodded at P, “needs someone looking after her.”
I shook my head. “Two breakfast specials.” Maybe it was a shit move, but things were getting awkward, and all I wanted was to have a nice breakfast with P before we went to her appointment. Thankfully, our waitress picked up what I was putting down and went to put our order in.
Paisley stirred her coffee, a smirk on her face as her gaze drifting to the clock on the wall. As the minutes ticked by, I wondered if she was nervous about me tagging along to her appointment. I was also curious what she’d told people when asked about the father of her child. There was sure to be more awkward conversations when she had to tell people who I was.
“Here you guys go,” our waitress said, sliding our plates down in front of us.
“Thank you,” we said together.
My eyes flicking to P, then down to my plate. "How are you feeling about all of this?”
“The food?” she asked, stirring milk into her coffee.
“No,” I grinned, “about me coming to your appointment with you.” I’d learned during the night that P’s mind revolved around her next snack, and I was loving every second of it.
Paisley’s eyes dropped to her hand resting atop her growing belly. “A little nervous, but mostly excited for you to get to see her.”
Her admission put me at ease. “Me too.” It was amazing how I hadn't even met her, but knew I’d lay down my life to keep her safe.
The rest of our breakfast passed in comfortable silence.
P was picking at the food on her plate, when all of the sudden she reached out, grabbed my hand, and placed it on her belly.
I was slightly caught off guard until it happened.There, with my hand on P’s belly, I felt my daughter move. “P,” I croaked. In that one single moment, my whole world changed.
Paisley softly ran her thumb back and forth across my hand. “She’s always more active in the mornings.”
“Does it hurt?” I could see the outline of my daughter’s foot pushing out from inside P’s belly and was in complete awe at all her body was able to do.
“No,” P assured me. “I start to freak out a little when she goes too long without moving. I know it sounds crazy, but when she’s active, it’s soothing.” I didn’t think it sounded crazy at all.
“She’s tough like her momma. Nothing’s going to happen to her.”
“Why are you looking at me like that?” A pink hue spread across her cheeks, and she started to fidget.
I didn’t know how to make her understand how grateful I was. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I said, “Never thought about babies or pregnancies before. I’m truly fucking humbled is all. The way you’re able to nourish and protect our daughter.”
Her lips turned up on the end as her face softened. She got it.
“Finish eating, babe.” Not needing to be told twice, P picked up her fork and dug into her stack of pancakes with vigor.
Guess my girls were hungry.