Holding her close, I contemplated our circumstances. From a previous conversation, I knew she wasn’t on any type of birth control because of adverse reactions she’d experienced. I hadn’t intended to act on the chemistry between us, but now that I had, there was no fucking way I was going to let her go. I wanted this, having her in my bed every night, forever. I pictured her walking down a flower covered aisle in a white dress and felt nothing but need and want, whereas I expected to be in a panic. The image morphed into a picture of Ellison with a swollen belly, her smile bright, and I was infused with excitement.
This could actually be the silver bullet. I wanted a family, especially after spending time with my sister, her husband, and their twins. I’d begun to seriously consider settling down. After giving in to my body’s craving for Ellie, I realized I definitely wanted those things, but only with her. A baby would cement our commitment to each other. She was mine and everyone would know it.
The more I thought about it, the idea grew until I was determined to make it happen. Fuck the condoms, if Ellie wasn’t already pregnant, I’d make damn sure she was as soon as possible. Getting her moved in right away was the first step to tackle. Set on a course of action, I fell asleep with a smile on my face and dreamt of my perfect future.
The next morning, I woke slowly, contentment washing over me as I ran my hands down the soft flesh of my woman wrapped up in my arms. She stirred and I looked down to see her eyes flutter then widen as her head popped up, looking around with something akin to panic in them. I frowned, frustrated that she apparently wasn’t feeling the same level of satisfaction at waking up with me. She slowly went up onto an elbow and twisted to meet my gaze. The panic had eased, but it had been replaced with wariness.
“Good morning, beautiful,” I purred, the back of my hand running down her cheek before pushing her hair back behind her ear. My words seemed to melt some of the wariness away and the tension in her shoulders lessened. She smiled at me, almost shyly, and it was so adorable I had to kiss her. Putting my hands on her torso, I hauled her up to press my lips to hers.
My morning hard-on was suddenly hard as a baseball bat and I scowled when she pulled back. She smiled again and I softened at the sight, wondering if she would always have the same effect on me.
“Morning,” she whispered. She shifted and I saw a tiny wince, worrying me.
“Are you sore, baby? I probably shouldn’t have taken you so hard last night.”
Her cheeks became a sweet shade of pink. “Um, a little.” She winked at me. “That battering ram you call a dick is larger than I’m used to.” She mock glared at me. “Don’t let that go to your head, honey. You have a hard enough time getting through doors as it is.”
I laughed and enveloped her in a hug. I fucking loved her—what? I was glad she couldn’t see my face at the moment. I’m sure I looked like a deer in headlights. Holy fuck. When had it happened? I was so in love with her. I just needed to make her fall in love with me, too. There was no other option.
“Why don’t you hop in the shower, baby? I’ll make us some breakfast.”
She pouted at me, and I chortled. “If I take a shower with you, you’ll be even more sore.”
With a quick peck on her lips, I scooted to the edge of the bed and stood. Grabbing my cell phone, I checked my messages for news about Heather as I rooted around for my boxers and picked up all of our scattered clothes, throwing them in the hamper.
“Hey!” Ellie protested. “I don’t have any other clothes here, honey.”
I opened a drawer and tossed a T-shirt and clean boxers at her. She caught them and frowned. “I can’t go home in these.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Who said you were leaving?”
“I need to go home,” she huffed.
I didn’t reply until I was almost out the door then muttered loud enough for her to hear, “We’ll see.”
Chapter 4
Ellison
After a quick shower, I sniffed Jack’s shirt, drawing the scent of his laundry detergent deep into my lungs, before pulling it over my head. Stepping into his boxers, I couldn’t help but think I needed to detour to his laundry room to see what brand he used, so I could be surrounded by the smell every day. Then again, I wouldn’t be able to do my job because I’d be distracted by memories of the night we’d spent together. I guessed that plan was out the window. If only my job literally wasn’t life or death, the tradeoff might be worth it. Jack smelled that good.
I stopped in the foyer to grab my cell phone, unaccustomed to going more than a couple hours without checking it. Even when I wasn’t on call, it wasn’t rare for me to get calls with questions about my patients. A quick glance confirmed I’d only missed one call from the hospital, but they hadn’t left a message so it must not have been urgent. As I heaved a sigh of relief, my phone rang with an incoming call—not from the hospital, but from my date. The one I’d completely forgotten about and had apparently stood up this morning, since I was supposed to have met him five minutes ago.