Page 133 of Broken Silence
Cole picked me up the same way he did when we’d got the keys to this place, when he carried me across the threshold. He placed me in bed and pulled the cover over me. Then he slipped into bed beside me.
I was never safer than when I was in his arms.
Pressing his lips against my temple, he whispered, “You need to slow down.”
“I know.”
Looked like I didn’t have a choice now. If that ultrasound tomorrow showed that I was pregnant, I’d have to make some changes.
Right before I opened a freaking business…
Talk about bad timing.
But Cole and I would make it work.
I couldn’t help feeling a little zap of excitement along with the worry. A mini-Cole.
Mum and Jasper would help. She was here with Miles. He decided that long-distance wasn’t going to work and moved here. They don’t work together anymore, but they’re happy and come home to each other every evening. Jasper… well, he lived close by, nearer the city, and I was absolutely certain that he was seeing Abby.
Not something that he’d admit to us yet, though.
He was scared because she’d cheated. But that was five years ago when they were still teens. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen there, but if she ever hurt him again, I was going to kill her.
“What’s the plan for tomorrow?” Cole asked.
My body was heavy, sinking into the mattress. My head, resting over his heart, felt dazed—dizzy, almost. I was floating, closer to sleep, but I didn’t want to just yet. Not when he was talking to me.
“Lots of plans for tomorrow.” I covered a yawn with the back of my hand. “The electricians are coming at one. The mirrors are being installed in the ballet room at two thirty. There’s a huge delivery of football and rugby balls coming sometime in the morning, and I have to call some companies about vending machines and a cleaning service. Oh, and we really need to get those liability insurance forms signed.”
As much as I loved every room we had, the recreation rooms for socialising and the gyms were my favourite. Those were also the rooms that would, hopefully, make money.
Marcus had grand ideas to rent the outside space for outdoor sports, too. Anything that could bring in a revenue and keep us helping as many children as possible.
“You have a list, right?” Cole asked.
“I have about a thousand lists,” I said, yawning.
“Don’t stress over it. We’ll get it all done. I can come after work if you’re going to be there late?”
“No way. I’ll be home before you.” I bloody hoped. “And I was promised a date night. Cheese and crackers in front of the fire. I need that.”
“You’ve got it, baby. Now, sleep.”
He didn’t need to tell me twice. His steady heartbeat was a lullaby, and I quickly drifted off in his arms.
I couldn’t remember a single time when I’d been as nervous before.
And I’d been in some anxiety-inducing situations in my life.
This was totally different. This was a new life. This was huge and scary.
“All right, Oakley, if you’d raise your top, we’ll check on your baby.”
Baby. Because there was one. In my bag was a test that very blatantly told me so. Pregnant, it said in black and white.
I was having Cole’s baby.
The cold gel on my stomach made me wince.
