When she stiffened, he raised his head. “What’s wrong?”
“I need to tell you something.”
“Anything. Well, as long as it isn’t something like you’re not coming home with me tonight.”
“I’m pregnant,” she blurted.
The air wheezed out of him, and he felt like he had been kicked in the groin. “Okay, that’s not quite what I was expecting.”
“I found out a week ago, but I wanted to wait until you got back to tell you. I thought it would mean more in person.”
Now he knew why she appeared so different. Pregnancy had her absolutely glowing with pure happiness. A sense of immense pride radiated through him that he had a part in making that happiness. His lips curved in a genuine smile. “That’s wonderful news, Em. I’m thrilled for you.”
Happy tears sparkled in her eyes. “Oh Aidan, I can never thank you enough for making this dream possible!” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck again. She squeezed him tight. “I still can’t believe it happened after only two months of trying. Do you know how blessed and lucky we are? Some people have to try for months and months—even years.”
“Yeah, that would have been miserable,” he joked.
A girlish giggle escaped her lips. “I am sorry that we didn’t get to…well, you know, have sex as much as you would have liked.”
Just the mention of that word on her luscious lips made him squirm in the booth. “So am I, especially since I’ve practically been a monk the last few weeks.”
Her eyes widened. “You mean you kept up with the boxers and no activity of any kind?”
“Well, I might have taken care of business once or twice,” he replied, sheepishly. “But I abstained all last week in preparation.” Now after all that work, he was going home, tail between his legs, and extremely frustrated. It was truly going to be just him and his hand that night.
Emma cupped his face in her hands. “Oh, you poor baby! You’ve really gone above and beyond for me through this whole thing.”
When she brushed her fingers over his lips, he grabbed her hand. “Please, Em, don’t. I’m way too fucking frustrated for shit like that.”
A smile that was both teasing and sweet spread on her face. “I tell you what. Since you’ve made me the happiest woman in the world, I think I more than owe you a round or two to put a smile on your face.”
For the second time that night, Aidan felt like he had been kicked in the groin. “You can’t be serious.”
Her brows furrowed. “Don’t you want me to be serious?”
“Of course I do! I want to push your dress up over your thighs, rip off the lacy thong I imagine that you’re wearing, and fuck you senseless right here in the booth.”
Emma sucked in a breath and widened her eyes. “I take that as a yes.”
Aidan grinned. “Hey, it’s been four weeks babe. You’re lucky I’m not dragging you into the bathroom for a quickie.” When her nose wrinkled in disgust, he couldn’t hold back his laughter. “Don’t worry, Em. I’ll control myself.” Running his hand under her dress, he squeezed her thigh. “At least while we’re in public.”
He was surprised when she didn’t smack his hand away. Instead, she merely smiled invitingly up at him. “Can we at least eat first?”
“Of course we can. You’re eating for two now, right?”
Emma snorted. “Supposedly yes. But the way I’ve been packing it in lately, you would think I was having triplets or something.”
Aidan waved the waiter over. After Emma finished rattling off all that she wanted, Aidan couldn’t hide his amusement. “You’re seriously going to eat all that?”
She bobbed her head as the waiter left. “It won’t matter as much this time since I assume I’ll be burning a lot of calories later, right?”
He chuckled. “Hell yes!”
For the rest of dinner, he behaved himself. Instead, he focused on how joyfully animated Emma became as she talked about the baby and the pregnancy. He had never seen her talk a mile a minute or smile so much. He began to wonder how her cheeks couldn’t hurt. He momentarily stiffened when she mentioned that both Casey and Connor had accompanied her to her first doctor’s appointment. “So now he’s all about you having a baby as long as he didn’t father it?”
Emma’s fork froze in mid-air while her face crumpled. “He just wanted to come and support me since you were out of town.”
“That was nice of him,” Aidan said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of his tone.