Snake (a Stepbrother Romance)(53)

Then again, I had called him every name under the sun for turning me into the other woman.

I know he’s not fully to blame, I thought as I rocked George to sleep. Maybe I had overreacted, flying to another state just to stay away, and hiding all of this from him; keeping my pregnancy a secret, coming to the decision that it was for the best solution for everyone involved.

But my father was right; I knew that deep down. Devan had every right to know he had a son and I’d deprived him of that for all these months, yet now, I had no idea how to tell him. It would be a difficult conversation, and I was already dreading having it. Would he hate me as surely he did Monique?

I went downstairs and made myself a cup of tea, hoping to calm down. Tension was bubbling under my skin, ready to burst. Knowing I couldn’t go on like that for much longer, I sighed heavily.

The doorbell interrupted my thoughts and I checked the time on the clock in the kitchen. Mid-morning - perhaps it was the postman delivering some packages.

Setting my steaming cup down on the counter, I headed for the door, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

I opened the door, saying, “I hope you have the newspaper today.”

“Nope, didn’t bring it,” a voice said quietly and I raised my eyes to see a very familiar gaze boring into mine. My breath caught in my throat and my eyes immediately watered as I stared and stared, his sparkling green eyes just as I remembered them.

It was Devan, right there on my doorstep. Dressed in a tantalizing black t-shirt and jeans. The t-shirt cut his frame, clinging to his muscles, and I noticed the sleeves covered and hid the head of his tattooed snake.

I opened my mouth, needing to say so many things, yet not a word came out at all. Besides, he was talking a mile a minute.

“Please, Mila - I know you’re tempted to close the door in my face, but give me a moment to speak?” he said quickly. Even if I wanted to tell him to leave - which I did not - I couldn’t have; I was glued to the spot, just staring at my stepbrother as he talked.

“I know you don’t want to see me, and that you’ve moved on with your life,” he said, and I could hear the pain in his voice. “I know you have a child now, a boyfriend…”

I tried to speak up, to correct his mistake, but he stopped me with a hand in the air. “Let me finish, please.”

Closing my mouth, I drank him in with my eyes, relishing every feature of his I’d missed so much. Even the winding length of the snake’s body around his arm.

There was no doubt about it.

Even one year after, I was still head over heels in love with my stepbrother.

“I couldn’t live my life one single moment longer without telling you how I feel,” he told me sincerely.

“I’ve battled with myself for a long time, Mila. I was so miserable, but I thought I was doing the right thing. I wanted to leave you alone to live your happy life with your boyfriend-”

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” I blurted out before I could stop myself, and his eyes filled with hope at my confession.

“Oh,” he smiled. I could see the relief and longing grow in his eyes and a smile appeared on my lips as I looked at him.

“Give me just a moment, would you? I’ll be right back,” he asked in a rush and I could only stare as he fled from the porch and disappeared around the corner.

You’ve said that to me before, I thought.

My heart started to ache right away, even though he was still visible down the street. He was getting something out of his truck, an enormous bulky object covered with a dustsheet and topped with blue bow. He got it to my doorstep finally, beaming as he presented me with a gift.

“For you,” he said shyly. “Will you open it?”

“Why don’t we do that inside?” I offered softly, giving him a sweet smile when I saw how excited my invitation made him.

He grabbed the object, his muscles flexing under the strain, and carried it inside. He looked around the house as we walked in. Dev set the gift down in the living room and I hovered over it, the anticipation growing. I flicked my eyes up to him nervously.

“Just yank the sheet off,” he encouraged.

As I did what he suggested, Devan fidgeted and waited for my reaction.

“I hope you like it,” he told me. “I made it myself.”

The covering came away and finally, his gift came to life in front of my eyes.

It was a crib, a gorgeous, white, hand-carved one, adorned with tiny wildlife animals on each upright corner. My eyes immediately watered, it was hard to see, and I clutched my chest as I got up, staring at it, admiring it from every angle. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“I thought it would be nice for the baby. I didn’t know if you had one already… I’ll take it away, obviously - if you don’t want it.”