And her, I added mentally. Carina wasn’t ready to hear that…yet.
“But we bicker all the time…”
“It’s who we are. It’s not out of malice or because we dislike each other.”
“Speak for yourself,” she muttered.
I scowled until she relented.
“Fine. You’re okay.” She rolled her eyes at my smile but was ready with more half-hearted arguments. “It’s bound to fall apart.”
“Then I’ll help you move when it does.”
“Ian…”
I was so close.
“I have a baby room ready, but we can trash it for what she already has if you don’t like it.” Wide eyes lifted to mine. “But I matched it pretty well to the stuff you got.”
“You have a baby room?” she almost whispered.
“Yeah. As soon as she was born, I set it up in case she ever stayed at my place.” She swallowed and, like a lawyer, I got ready to deliver my winning closing argument. “It’s about being practical, Carina. I have a guest room for you as well as Audrey’s room. There’s tons more space everywhere, and you can decorate however you want. No more cramming stuff between other pieces of furniture. And we’ve proven we can inhabit a single space without killing each other.”
She licked her lips and swallowed, and I swear, I heard the Jeopardy song playing somewhere as I held my breath and waited for her answer.
“Fine,” she said on a huff.
Victory surged through my veins and flooded my body with adrenaline. Holy shit, she agreed. Without thought, I lifted her in my arms and hugged her tight, standing, and swaying side to side. “I win. I actually won.”
She pushed off my shoulders and stood, doing her best to glare, but I saw the humor lurking behind those baby blues. “I may rescind so you don’t get a big head.”
“Too late, baby.”
She heaved a sigh and rested her hands on her hips, looking down at the scattered papers. “Well, not to interrupt your self-celebration, but I’m going to clean this up and head to bed. We can discuss the details in the morning.”
I helped her pick up and moved Audrey to the bedroom. Carina was in the kitchen, getting a glass of water when I grabbed my pillow and blanket. I was just getting ready to lay down when she stopped at the end.
“Oh, my god. Just come to my room. I can’t stand to watch you sleep on that tiny thing one more night.”
It wasn’t that tiny, but I was a big guy. A big guy who wasn’t going to argue with the offer to sleep next to the most beautiful woman I knew. I hopped up. “Hell, yes.”
“Calm down,” she warned. “Just to sleep.”
Walking past, I waggled my brows. “If you insist.” She slapped my back and narrowed her eyes. “Alright, alright. I’ll be on my best behavior.”
Standing across the bed from her as I stripped out of my clothes and she pulled her long hair up in a messy bun thing felt surreally natural—domestic. I had to stop and stare and take in that this was my life right now. It may only last a moment, but it was a moment I wanted to recreate again and again.
The more domestic moments we had, the more I realized how much I wanted it. My parents accused me of never wanting to settle down, but they were wrong. I did want a family of my own. One better than the one they gave me. I just never found anyone who made me want to try.
“What the hell, Ian?” Carina whisper-yelled.
“What?”
“Where are your clothes?”
“Umm, sorry, but I don’t have pajamas. I figured I was being a gentleman by leaving my underwear on.”
She tried not to, but her eyes kept bouncing down my body like she was in a battle with her mind over where her eyes should look. If she kept looking, I’d get an erection that would be impossible to hide behind these boxer briefs.
Her eyes slid down until they rested on my crotch. Heat built and burned its way to my cock. I knew making me hard wasn’t what she wanted, so I broke the moment, rocking my hips Magic Mike style.
“Oh, my god.” Her hand shot up to cover her eyes, and I laughed.
“That’s the real reason you invited me in. You just wanted a show.”
She glared between her fingers, and I linked my fingers behind my head, exaggerating my dance moves, even humming a song.
She shook her head but laughed. “God, get in bed, you perv.”
She may have given me shit about what I slept in, but the way her breasts swayed under that thin cami and her thighs flexed in her short shorts as she got in bed was damn near indecent.
I quickly got under the covers before she could catch my semi. She flicked off the light and moved around about seven million times before settling on her back. She didn’t even have to speak for me to know her mind was going a thousand different places. I closed my eyes and counted, making it to seventeen before she finally spoke.