Nanny Goat’s closed at five.
I’d fuckin’ love to go there.
“Sounds good.” I grinned. “Let’s go.”
Only after we were back home did I broach the subject.
“Umm.” I paused. “So the lawyer said something today.”
Her eyes were locked on me. “Okay. What?”
“She said that this all would be easier if I was married,” I blurted out. “And I told her that I was. In front of my father.”
She sat there silently for a few long seconds before saying, “Shit.”
Shit was right.
It was only a matter of time before her own parents heard.
“And here’s the thing. We need to have this look real. Meaning you should probably move in with me,” I continued.
Her eyes went wide as saucers.
“That… move in with you?” she squeaked.
I was already nodding my head. “Yes, move in with me.”
She was shaking her head as if the thought was abhorrent to her.
“I can’t marry—I mean move in with you!” she cried out. “What would my parents think?”
I looked at her blandly. “You’re already married, Reggie.”
She narrowed her eyes as if she would reach out and strangle me with her gaze alone.
“But they don’t know that!” she cried. “Oh my God. That’s the first thing your dad is going to do. Call my mom. Jesus Christ. Why are they best friends again?”
I would’ve laughed had she not been one hundred percent serious, which was honestly kind of pissing me off.
After we’d finished our meal, I drove back home, ready to fight it out if that was what it would come to.
It didn’t.
The moment that I parked and we headed inside, she was already speaking.
“You only have one bedroom. I have two. You move in with me,” she countered.
I was already shaking my head. “I’m not moving in there. That place is filled with shifty people. And look at it this way, at least you don’t have to pay rent anymore. All that money can go toward whatever you’re paying off that you’re trying not to let your parents know about.”
Her eyes gleamed.
“That is five hundred bucks a month,” she admitted. “Fine. For how long?”
That was the problem. I didn’t know how long. But I didn’t think anything about this process was going to be fast. I also didn’t delude myself into thinking that even if I won that Eerie wouldn’t keep fighting. And, seeing as her dad was a millionaire, I had no doubt in my mind that Eerie had the funds to fight me.
“I’m guessing a couple of years,” I admitted. “But we’ve already been married for a while, Reg. What’s a couple more years?”
She narrowed her eyes at me.
“Did you know that Sierra had herself artificially inseminated?”
My mouth dropped open as her left field comment took me completely by surprise. “Umm, no. That’s not something that Sammy told me about.”
The first smile since I’d arrived graced Reggie’s perfectly beautiful lips.
“That’s because her brother doesn’t know,” she admitted. “Nobody but me does. Sierra wanted to make sure it worked before she told anyone. She did it completely on her own.”
I had no clue where she was going with this.
None.
“I have three conditions,” she said formally.
My brows climbed up to my hair line.
I’d give her my left kidney if that was what she wanted.
The sad thing was, it wasn’t just the baby and the custody battle to come that had me so excited. I’d wanted Reggie since I’d first laid eyes on her when we were young kids.
I wanted her to be mine.
And I felt like if she was in my house, close to me, that she might be able to see past her annoyance to the man underneath.
I hoped, anyway.
God, I fucking wanted her.
“Name them,” I said seriously.
She fidgeted, looking as if she was seconds away from dropping something onto my plate that might be painful for me.
“One, I want you to know that if I help raise this baby, the baby will be mine, too,” she began, flicking up one finger. “I’m already kind of attached to him.”
My heart swelled. “Done.”
“Two.” She flicked up her second finger. “I want this to be a real marriage. No cheating on me. No doing things without me. Either you’re all in, or I’m all out. I’m not doing this in name only. I don’t want to be made to look like a fool.”
My dick hardened behind my jeans and a thrill went through me that I’d never felt before. It was pretty close to elation, I was thinking.
“Not name only,” I said carefully. “Does that mean you want…”
I left it hanging because I couldn’t physically force the words out. My throat had closed up in delight.
The glee pouring through my veins was starting to pick up speed.
“Yes,” she said simply. “Because that leads me to my next condition.”
I swallowed and nodded, knowing that I couldn’t get a word out without my voice cracking and giving me away.
“I want a baby. One of my own. One that has my DNA.” She paused. “I’m not saying that your baby with Eerie won’t also be mine, because he will, but I want to go through pregnancy. I want to experience that. I want… everything.”
“You want a real marriage,” I found myself saying. “You want this.”
I pointed at my heart.
She already had it, but she didn’t know it.
“Your heart?” she asked, eyes serious. “I’m not going to fool myself into thinking that you’d give that to me because I demanded it. But this is going to be serious business. I don’t want children growing up thinking that we’re pretend marriagging it.”
“I’m not sure marriagging is a word,” I admitted. “But you’re right. I don’t want that either.” I held out my hand. “Deal.”
I could also see the benefits of this.
With her here, I could convince her to fall in love with me.
Or, at least, I’d have more of a chance.
I knew she’d fight me every step of the way.
“Anything else?”
She swallowed hard, as if what she was about to say
