“Yeah, that was definitely something.” I placed a series of butterfly kisses on his shoulder before nuzzling his neck. “Or do you prefer the other way?”
“As long as it’s with you, I’m in,” he mumbled, his fingers drawing patterns on the bare skin of my sides. His touch was too light to be ticklish, but I smiled anyway.
The sun had dipped below on the horizon while we’d been in here, its fading light faint and disappearing fast. The ambient light was enough for me to see his thoughtful expression.
Marco was still buried deep inside me, and it didn’t look like he planned on moving anytime soon, but there was obviously something on his mind. “What’s up with you?”
Dragging the tip of his nose over my skin, he placed feathery kisses in its wake. Goosebumps raised the fine hairs on my arms. I shivered, cuddling back up against him.
“I was wondering how you felt about family names.”
“You’re thinking about baby names right now?” I chuckled, but I could feel how much he needed me right now. And not in the way he’d had me a minute ago.
“Is that weird?” He ran the backs of his fingers over my cheeks. “Actually, I don’t care if it’s weird. Yes, I was. I’m inside you without any protection, but then I remembered…”
“It’s not weird,” I reassured him when he trailed off. Maybe it was weird, but I didn’t really care. “To be honest, I haven’t thought about names at all. What did you have in mind?”
“Nothing in particular. I haven’t given it much thought, either. But I thought it might be a nice tribute if we included our dads’ names somehow if it’s a boy, and your mom’s if it’s a girl.”
“From baby names to dead parents. You’re on a roll.” I smiled, but Marco grimaced.
“I didn’t think about it like that. Fuck. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” I rested against his chest and looked up into his eyes, at his long lashes resting on his cheeks. “I’m desperately, madly in love with you. I love that you’re thinking about baby names, and I think it’s sweet you want to honor our parents. You have a beautiful heart, Marco.”
“So you’re not going to leave me for getting emotional after making love to you?” He smirked, but there was so much depth in his eyes that I knew it was for show.
“No, I’m not.” I pressed a kiss on the skin over his heart. We lapsed into a comfortable silence for a while, but then reality started creeping into my brain again. “Do you think your mother is ever going to accept me?”
He groaned. “And now we’re talking about my mother.”
I gave his shoulder a playful shove. “Hey, now. Don’t forget who brought all this up.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Brushing my hair out of my face, he angled me so I could see the sincerity shining in his eyes. “She already has.”
“She has? When did this happen?”
“When she told me to move to the States to be with you.”
My eyes widened, and I felt dizzy with shock. “You’ve been holding out on me.”
He shrugged. “Not really. Let’s go downstairs. I’ll cook some dinner while I tell you the finer details of the hours leading up to me showing up at your brother’s house.”
I didn’t really want to leave this little bubble of ours, but I nodded. This sounded like a story I really needed to hear.
Chapter 39
Marco
“Are you sure you’re feeling up to this?” I asked Addy as I helped her out my car. “You’re five months pregnant and we just got off the jet an hour ago.”
Her swollen ankles emerged from the cab first, followed by her round belly and full breasts. Finally, her gorgeous head popped out. I caught the edge of an eye roll as she wobbled to find her footing on the cobblestones.
“It’s been too long since we’ve seen your mother. We have to do this.” She flicked her hand toward the house, then twisted around and leaned over to gather her purse and some gifts from the car.
I gave myself a second to admire her ass before I reached past her, moving fast to grab everything she needed before she could. She turned her head to scowl at me. “I’m pregnant, not infirm. Give me that.”
Tempted to hold it up over my head, I remembered just in time that reaching up was potentially dangerous to the pregnancy. Yeah, I’ve learned a lot over the last few months.
“You might not be infirm, but we had a seven-hour flight and came right over. I can’t carry the precious cargo you’re growing, but I can carry your damn purse.”
Addy grumbled at me but relented when I held out my hand. “Thank you.”
Tucking her under my arm, I bent to kiss her temple. “Thank you for not arguing with me about it.”
“That was one time,” she protested. “And my luggage has wheels. I’m perfectly capable of pulling my own bag.”
“But I’m perfectly capable of doing it for you.” Maybe I was taking the protectiveness a step too far, but I couldn’t help it. Besides, with the heavy load she was already carrying, I wanted to do whatever I could to help.
I wasn’t just talking about the pregnancy, either. The weight of her belly alone would have been enough, but she’d also insisted on helping me complete my annual company review.
Both of us wanted it done before the birth, but getting it done was a different thing to wanting it done. It meant long flights and longer hours. Each of our branches around the world had to be visited. Ports, planes, and fleets had to be inspected. It was hard work, but it was something I was adamant about doing once a year.
Most of my people were scattered across the globe. Only a small handful worked in the offices here, which meant only a handful of a staff of thousands saw me in person on a regular basis.
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