“So tell me,” he said, pulling away slightly, “How does daddy put another baby in mommy’s tummy?”

Laughter burst free from my mouth, and Reid smiled indulgently at me. He was so silly sometimes, and so very mine that squelching the enormity of what I felt for him – the way he wholly owned me – wasn’t possible.

“You’re impossible,” I giggled, lifting my head for another kiss. Reid held the back of my head, and deepened our kiss until my lungs were left bereft of oxygen.

He pulled away, and stared at me, his green eyes alight with wonder, and love, and unadulterated devotion.

“What about Daniela Sofia?” He asked in a whisper, throwing me off for a second. I recovered, and realized with wide eyes what he was suggesting.

“Sofia, as in - ”

“Your grandmother.”

Just like that my heart stuttered, and my throat tightened.

“You wouldn’t mind?” I asked quietly.

Reid shook his head. “Not at all. It’s the least we could do to honor the blessing our baby girl is. Besides, it’s a beautiful name for a beautiful baby.”

“I agree,” – I turned my head, and had my hands resting on my belly – “Daniela Sofia Cole.”

Reid kissed my temple and reverently placed his larger hands on either side of mine. We were both nervous about our impending parenthood, and despite the dark, heavy feeling still hovering over me, I trusted that as long as we faced it together, we’d overcome anything.

Me and Reid and our Daniela Sofia.

Chapter 18

Jade

31 weeks

I slipped my white sundress over my head, and then groaned when it got stuck. I stood impishly in the center of mine and Reid’s walk in closet with my arms in the air, showing off my thong-clad ass, and my already too-big baby belly. How this baby grew so much in two weeks was beyond me.

I heard Reid snicker from the doorway, and turned in the direction of his voice. I couldn’t see him, thanks to the material covering my eyes, but I knew without a doubt that he was smirking at me.

Jackass.

“What are you doing, Jade?” He chuckled. His feet padded across the thick carpeting, and he came to a stop in front of me.

“Trying to get dressed,” I replied haughtily, rolling my eyes even though he couldn’t see them. “But I got stuck.”

“I see that,” he laughed, clearly amused. I on the other hand was not.

“Let me help you,” he said, turning me so that my back was to him. He lowered the zip – which, I admit, I’d completely forgotten about in my irritated state – and helped me slide the dress on. I patted it down over my belly as he zipped it back up, and when I turned around I saw the amusement in his eyes.

“Thank you,” I mumbled, feeling less than appreciative. After two weeks of being bored, and alone at our new house, I was more than ready to step out, and get some sun. It was already mid-June, and hotter than Hades outside, but I was starting to get cabin fever.

Reid’s playful disposition transformed with a scowl, and his eyes traveled down my body, and back up.

“What?” I asked, looking down.

“That dress is too short,” he said. “And why aren’t you wearing a bra?”

I folded my arms across my chest, which only seemed to make Reid angrier. “This is the only dress I have right now that fits me, and wearing a bra is uncomfortable.”

“Is there nothing else you can wear?” He asked dubiously with raised brows.

“No. I have to go shopping.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, and sighed while grumbling something unintelligible under his breath.

“You are not keeping me at home just because of this dress,” I told him. “Are you ashamed of how I look?”

Apparently my emotions were dialed towards snarky today, and Reid was going to have to bear the brunt of it.

“Jesus,” he muttered, throwing his hands up. “No, Jade, I’m not ashamed. It’s just...”

“It’s just what?” I glowered.

Reid stepped forward, and when he gently pushed me against the cupboard, I hastily dropped my arms. I looked up, but couldn’t quite read his face.

“I have no problem with you in that dress,” he growled. “In fact,” – he placed his hands on my exposed thighs, and slid them up until he touched my butt cheeks – “You look sexy as fuck, with your curvy ass, and round stomach, but that doesn’t mean I want anyone else to see you like this.”

When Reid’s knee parted my legs, and moved up, I sucked in a breath, and took hold of his arms for support. Sure, I was grumpy, but Reid knew how insatiable I was when it came to sex, and the ratbastard used it to his every advantage.

Not this time, I thought.

I gave him a wicked smile, and looked up at him from beneath my lashes. “But you’re the only one who gets to take it off,” I countered. His eyes darkened infinitesimally, but the rest of his face remained stoic.

I brushed my hand over his obvious hard-on, and fought a triumphant grin when his nostrils flared with a sharp inhalation.

“So I’m not taking it off.”

“Yes you are,” he said, raising his knee higher. His thigh connected with the apex of my thighs, and he started rubbing until my eyes fluttered shut.

Fucker didn’t play fair.

“Noooo,” I sighed. “I’m not.”

His hand lifted from my butt cheek, and came down again with a resounding smack.

My eyes flew open, and my mouth dropped open in shock. I wasn’t sure what surprised me more, the fact that he slapped my butt, or that I enjoyed it, despite my crappy mood.

“You’re going to pay for that,” I said.

THIRTY MINUTES LATER I hopped up into Reid’s Range Rover wearing an orgasm-induced smile, and my white sundress. My mood had improved considerably – for obvious reasons – but I couldn’t say the same for Reid. Poor man was disheveled, and scrambling around like a headless chicken trying to gather his keys, and his training bag. It was a stunning Saturday afternoon, and Reid and the rest of the football team were having a football clinic at the University’s football stadium for the local high school kids.

I laughed into my hand when he stormed towards the car, his hair messy, and his grey t-shirt inside out. You think he’d look happier after our little tryst in the closet, but I suspected he was upset because we were running late.

I said nothing when he climbed in and slammed his door, but when he sped away and grimaced with narrowed eyes, I lost it. I doubled over, and laughed at how ridiculous he looked, all the while doing a victory dance on the inside.

Note to all men: Never say no to your pregnant girlfriend. She will suck you better than a Hoover and leave you for dead.

“Care to tell me what’s so funny?” Reid looked between me and the road, and back again, and I noticed the smile tugging at his lips.

“You are,” I laughed. I sat back, and leaned my head against the headrest. “You look...” I trailed off, unable to find the right word for Reid’s state of dishevelment.

“Like I was just played by my pregnant girlfriend?” He suggested.

“That will teach you,” I said with a nod.

He shook his head, and finally smiled as we made our way to the football stadium located next to the University campus.