Inflame (Explosive) (22 page)

“Kale, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to speak to my daughter in private,” Mom says, gritting her teeth. I can hear the anger and frustration laced in her voice, and when I look at her, I notice her hands turning white as she grips the edge of the island.

“I mean no disrespect, Marcy, but yeah, I do mind,” he responds, his voice cool and collected but also determined. I hear Mom gasp, and as much as I know I should pull away from him and tell him that I’m fine, I can’t. I need his closeness right now before I break down.

“Excuse me?” she asks in an incredulous tone, as if she can’t believe he’d dare defy her in her own home in regards to her own daughter.

“Like I said, no disrespect, but as you now know, Lucy’s carrying my child, and her well-being means more than your acceptance of me. She’s exhausted all the time, and the last thing I want is for her to be upset, even if it’s from her own mother. Especially from her own mother. Look, I know this comes as a big shock. It was a shock to us, too. I know you just met me, but I can promise you, Marcy. There’s nothing I want more in this world than Lucy. Beyond that, there’s nothing I want more than my child, our child that’s growing inside her. I’ll do anything I can to protect them, even if it’s as simple as stopping unnecessary stress for her and the baby.”

Tears are flowing down my cheeks by the end of his little monologue, and in that moment, I decide that, whatever Mom thinks about Kale, she can think it. I know there’s no other person on this planet that I’d rather have a child with. Wrapping my arms around him, I bury my face in this chest until I calm down.

Once the tears stop, I turn and see Mom looking at us, and her face has softened. “Sorry. It’s the hormones,” I joke, trying to lighten the mood. I see tears in her eyes, and I leave Kale’s embrace and cross the room to give her a hug. “I’m sorry, Mom, for what I said, but it’s true. He’s nothing like Tim,” I whisper in her ear.

When I pull away, she sighs. “I’m sorry, too, sweetie. It was just…well, a big shock. I shouldn’t have said the things I did. No man who agrees to be the godfather to a little girl and spend all that time with her could ever be like Tim.”

Squeezing her hand, I smile. “Trust me, Mom. I like to think I have pretty good taste.”

“That you do, Lucy. That you do,” she confirms, glancing over at Kale, who’s watching us. My heart warms at his protectiveness, and I’m pretty sure that scene won him points with Mom, even if he wasn’t trying. “Holy crap. I’m going to be a grandma! When’s the due date? We have to plan a shower! Oh my gosh, I’m a grandma!!”

She and I both take the moment to burst into tears—happy ones this time. Mom grabs my hand, pulls me over to Kale, and proceeds to embrace us in some weird form of a group hug. He just chuckles and puts his arms around the two blubbering women who are holding him tight.

I hear Steve walk into the room and start to grumble at the sight. “Women.”

As she pulls away, Mom starts laughing even though she’s giving Steve a mocking glare. “It’s an emotional time, Stephen,” she tells him, using his full name.

He shakes his head at her. “You all good now?” he asks, looking between the three of us, and each one of us nods. “All right, then. Let’s get back to dinner. Lucy barely touched her food with, what I’m guessing, was her nerves about spilling the beans, and Kale didn’t get a chance to eat due to all the questions. Which, I’m now allowing Marcy to ask as many as she wants, seein’ as how you went and knocked her firstborn up. Sorry, man. The price you pay.”

Kale laughs it off like he couldn’t care less. “No problem, sir. It’s a small price and I’ll gladly pay it any day.”

Mom smiles at Kale in adoration, and I’m shocked at how quickly she seems to have changed her mind about him. Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. He did the same thing to me, even if it took me so long to admit it.

I
HAVE
to admit that it feels kind of weird lying in Lucy’s childhood bed, but Marcy was right. That couch would’ve been uncomfortable as hell. Not to mention I’d hate spending the night away from my girl. Since we became official, we’ve been alternating spending nights at each other’s places, which is just another reason she may as well already move in, but I haven’t mentioned it since the first time, not wanting her to think I’m pushing the issue too much.

The door creaks open and I see her slip inside, quietly closing it behind her. She tiptoes over to the bed and slowly slides in beside me. I groan when I take in her outfit. Tiny white shorts barely cover her ass, and an even smaller tank top hugs her breasts perfectly. Turning on her side, she frowns when she looks at me.

“Kale, why the hell do you still have clothes on?”

“Because. You’re far too tempting as it is, and if I feel you cuddle up against my bare skin, I might lose all control. I told your mom sleep only, so it’s sleep only, baby.”

She rolls her eyes then leans over to turn the lamp off before she settles back in beside me. “I’m pregnant. Pretty sure Mom knows we fool around. Now please, take off your clothes.”

I can’t help but grin at her whining tone. Deciding to work this to my advantage to see if I can get her to beg, I shake my head adamantly. “Nope. Not gonna happen. Just because you’re pregnant doesn’t mean I’m going to go against your mom’s house rules. Sorry, babe.”

I chuckle as she drops down on her pillow, huffing. “Whatever. I can resist you, even with your shirt off, but if you don’t think you can handle it, then no cuddling for you.”

And there it is. Lucy just brought out the big guns. Ever since I found out she was pregnant, we always fall asleep with me holding her, my hand pressed against her stomach. She knows exactly what she’s doing with that threat, and I immediately cave. Jumping up from the bed, I quickly pull my shirt off and then discard my jeans.

“Much better,” she assesses as I get back into bed with her.

Shaking my head, I position myself behind her and pull her into me. “Okay, you win. This is much better. But you’re not seducing me. That’s where I draw the line.”

She lets out a deep sigh, and as much as I’d love to give in, I’m sticking firm on this one. If her mom doesn’t want us to do anything but sleep, then I can respect that. Even if it’s going to be hard as hell. In more ways than one.

“Thanks for sticking up for me tonight. You didn’t have to do that, especially with having just met Mom. Most guys probably wouldn’t have,” she claims.

I tighten my hold on her and lean in to give her a kiss on her neck. She shivers underneath my touch, and I have to pull back before I go back on my promise to Marcy. “Haven’t you realized by now that I’m not like most guys?”

She turns in my arms, her eyes catching mine in the moonlight. A small hand comes up to caress my face, a slow, small smile spreads across hers. “Yeah, Kale. I’ve realized that, and I’m extremely thankful for it, too.”

I know I’m probably out of bounds, but talking in her bed with nothing but the moonlight to illuminate us feels intimate, and something I overheard her mom saying earlier has been bugging the shit out of me.

“Lucy, can we talk?”

Her smile fades, almost as if she’s expecting this to be a bad conversation, and I hope to hell it’s not. Her eyes fall away from mine as she takes in a deep breath. She slowly lets it out and finally raises her eyes back to mine.

“Of course. We can always talk. You know that.”

“Well, I’m just kind of curious about the dynamic of your family here. Even in all the time we’ve known each other, we haven’t ever really talked about it other than you telling me you had a stepdad, stepbrother and half-sister. But Marisa introduced herself as a Dawson. I don’t really know anything about your dad. Is that the Tim your mom was talking about in the kitchen?”

Silence descends over the room after my last question, and I swear I can almost hear the way my heart’s racing as I wonder if she’s going to open up to me. I know it may seem minor, but I want to share every part of our lives together now that we’re starting a family, but at the same time, I don’t want to push her because I know I’m still not ready to spill all my secrets.

I caress the skin on her back, trying to be patient. Her eyes don’t leave mine, and I’m searching them for something, anything to let me know I didn’t overstep my bounds. I’m not sure how long we lie there when she finally moves closer to me. She lightly pushes my shoulder so that I end up flat on my back, and she comes up and rests her head on my chest as she absentmindedly runs hers fingers over my abs.

“Do we have to talk about this right now?” she asks.

My hand moves up to play with her hair, and I decide to give her this out. No sense in ruining the holidays with conversations that can be saved for later. “Course not, babe. We don’t have to talk about it now. But maybe one of these days you can let me in, okay? It doesn’t have to be tonight.”

She turns her head to look up at me and gives me a glare. “You’re so annoying sometimes, you know that?”

Not sure what brought this on, I just shrug. “I’m sure my sisters have told me that plenty of times over the years, and I’m also pretty sure you’ve called me that at least once or twice a week since I met you.”

“Okay, so you’re not being annoying. It’s just annoying how you always know the perfect thing to say. That’s the annoying part, and I’m afraid one day you’ll get tired of being way too perfect for me.”

She glares at me when I roar with laughter. “That will absolutely never happen. I guarantee it.”

“You can’t guarantee that! No one can make that sort of guarantee.”

“Okay, maybe I can’t guarantee it, but I promise you that I’ll try every single day to be the best man I can be for you. As much as you want to say I’m perfect, I’m not, and striving to be would be unrealistic. But for you, and for Sprout, I’ll try my hardest.”

She lifts her head off my chest and catches my eyes just in time for me to see hers well up with tears. “Sprout?”

As I nod, I pull her up to me and wipe away the few tears that spilled over. “Yeah, Sprout. I figured since I planted the seed, you’ve got a little Kale in there. Sprout only seems fitting, and I don’t want to call it an ‘it’ anymore. So Sprout it is.”

Lucy leans in and presses her lips against mine in a hard closed-mouth kiss. Neither one of us deepens it as we both know this moment isn’t about that. It isn’t sexual. It’s not even sensual. It’s the bond of two parents sealing the deal on the nickname of their unborn child. It might not seem like a big deal, but as Lucy’s lips stay locked against mine, my world seems to shift. An overwhelming sense of love for my baby bursts through my heart, my soul, igniting an emotional flame that catches fires, and in that moment, I realize the love isn’t only for the baby. It’s for Lucy, too. Almost simultaneously, terror flows through me at the unfamiliar feelings I once vowed never to experience again, but it’s too late. Lucy’s in my heart. She is my heart, and nothing anyone says or does will ever be able to rip her away.

That’s what you said last time.

The thought exits my mind almost as quickly as it came, but the damage is done. Fortunately, Lucy interrupts my thoughts, and I try to beat it back, not letting the words take hold—at least not for now.

“Sprout. I love that, Kale. I really do. Even if you’re being cheesy as hell with your vegetable seed references. But if you suggest that we name our son Alfalfa, I will junk punch you. Or well, at least take naming suggestion privileges away from you.”

And just like that, Lucy Dawson shines the light in my life and my dark thoughts completely disappear. My hand moves down to cover my goods, and I look at her in mock horror.

“Do not speak that way around Alfalfa. He’s going to need brothers and sisters to torment when he’s older. If you junk punch me, you’ll jeopardize that, and he’ll be mad at you.”

She reaches down and pushes my hand aside, replacing it with her own. Her fingers begin to slide up and down the length, and I feel my cock stir to life. “Oh, trust me, baby. I have no intention of ever doing anything to hurt you down here,” she whispers seductively as she leans in and licks one of my nipples until it’s hard enough for her to bite.

I shudder under her touch, and I nearly lose my bearings when her hand begins to stroke me through the cotton material, her pace increasing. Her hand moves away from my now erection and I can finally regroup. She begins to peel down my boxers, but before she can unleash me, I grab her hand.

“Lucy…” I growl with warning. If she touches me again, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop her. As much as I want to respect the house rules, my willpower is quickly fading.

“Kale,” she responds in a breathy whisper, and just like that, I’m a goner. “You should know I always get my way. And when you say my name like that? All hot and growly? That turns me on even more. You took care of me earlier tonight. Let me take care of you.”

When I don’t respond, Lucy moves down the bed, where she slides my boxers all the way off before positioning herself between my legs. I watch as her tongue slowly licks the head of my cock, a groan escaping my lips at the sudden contact. At the sound, Lucy looks up at me, her lips curling into a devilish grin, and she knows she has me.