Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 55769 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55769 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 279(@200wpm)___ 223(@250wpm)___ 186(@300wpm)
The unshed tears in her eyes that were shining in the moonlight glimmered at him as she whispered, “Your heart doesn’t beat right without me?”
“Does yours without me?”
Her whisper was even quieter when she gave him the answer he knew.
“No.”
“So we doin’ this?”
“Yes.”
He kissed her. He did it a long time.
And when he was done, they were face-to-face, heads on the pillows, bathed in moonlight.
Boo came up and settled by draping himself across their ankles.
“You don’t need me to teach you to be a good dad, Vance. You’re very patient.”
“We’ll see.”
“You are. You’re great with Roam and Sniff. They love you.”
They loved her. He just came with the bargain.
She cupped his cheek. “They love you, Crowe.”
“Whatever you say, Princess.”
She grinned at him. “And my baby pug loves you too. He thinks you’re the shit.”
Vance chuckled.
“Not to mention,” she went on. “You’ve kinda stolen Boo.”
“Not true,” he negated. “He’s all yours. He’s just accepted me as an official minion.”
That was when she chuckled.
She stopped doing it to say, “I want your mom at our wedding.”
“I’m sure she’ll be happy to come.”
And he was more than sure she would.
“Something simple. Not a big deal. That’s not us,” she decreed.
He was totally down with that.
He’d heard of Tod’s wedding planner book. He wanted no part in that shit.
“You’re right. That’s not us.”
“Justice of the peace?” she suggested.
He grinned at her.
“Perfect.”
The next morning, Jules was off to the shelter by the time Vance, with Boo tucked in his arm, moved across the back room to Nick’s door.
He knocked.
Nick opened it, looking about ready to head off to face the day.
“Hey, Vance, everything good?”
“Yeah, got a second?”
Nick nodded and stepped back.
Vance and Boo walked in.
“You two have really bonded, hunh?” Nick said, smiling at Vance and his cargo.
“Until there was no pain, and she was getting around a lot better, he didn’t step on her. Not once. Never had a pet, don’t know if they sense that kind of shit. But yeah. He gave her the space she needed, we bonded.”
Nick was still smiling, and maybe reading between the lines, though he couldn’t know that the only true comfort Vance had in those early days was a clumsy, talkative black cat who curled up in his lap and kept him company in the dawn after his darkest hour.
“You had coffee?” Nick asked.
“Yep.”
His eyes twinkled behind his glasses, already knowing the answer when he asked, “Breakfast?”
“I’ll pick something up on the way to the office. And I know you’re heading out, so I’ll do this quick. I already asked her. She said yes. But I want to do this right. For both of you. For all of us.”
Nick leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms on his chest, never taking his gaze from Vance. “What’s up?”
“I’d like to know you’re good with me and Jules getting married.”
He watched Nick’s body start, then he watched his eyes get wet.
Vance scratched Boo’s head, giving Nick a minute.
After that minute, Nick cleared his throat and answered gruffly, “I’m honored you’re gonna be an official member of the family.”
Vance jerked up his chin.
“She’s pregnant, isn’t she?” Nick whispered.
Vance said nothing, just held his gaze.
Nick explained. “I went over the other day. Let myself in. Heard her puking in the bathroom.”
His felt his spine snap straight. “Jules was puking?”
Nick’s brows went up. “She hasn’t told you?”
“No,” Vance grunted.
“Well, I didn’t either.”
Vance nodded to affirm he got what Nick was saying.
“She’s worried,” Nick told him.
“She would be,” Vance replied.
“She’s also worried that you’ll be worried.”
Fuck.
Nick pushed from the counter, approached, clapped him on the arm then clasped him there.
“It’s gonna be okay. It’s gonna be amazing. She’s not going to be able to hide getting sick forever. She’ll settle in. It’s all gonna be as it’s supposed to be.”
Yes. It absolutely fucking was.
“Yeah,” Vance agreed.
Nick clapped him on the arm again.
Vance headed to the door, saying, “I’ll let you get on with your day.”
“Vance?” Nick called when he was standing in the open door.
He turned back.
Nick’s voice was back to gruff when he said, “I’m so damned happy for you. For you and Jules. Damned happy.”
Nick swallowed.
Then he finished.
“And Reba would be too.”
“Thanks, man,” Vance said quietly.
Nick nodded.
Vance and Boo went out the door.
And he took his little furry boy home.
They were back in moonlight, Jules lying on her back, Vance stretched down her side, his hand on her belly.
“You gonna rest your hand on my stomach every night for the next seven and a half months?” she teased.
He looked from her belly to her. “Yes.”
She stared at him.
Then she did an ab curl to touch her mouth to his before settling again.
“You got any symptoms yet?” he asked.
“Throwing up,” she said without hiding or hesitation. “That’s why I took the test. It’s a weird kind of nausea. I’ve never felt anything like it before. And since we went off birth control…” She shrugged against the sheets and let that lie.