The Bride’s Christmas Pregnancy Wish
Simone Rivers
freebook.simonerivers.com
Copyright © 2019 by Simone Rivers
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
1. Gabbie
2. Nick
3. Gabbie
4. Nick
5. Gabbie
6. Nick
7. Gabbie
8. Nick
9. Gabbie
10. Nick
11. Gabbie
12. Nick
13. Gabbie
14. Nick
Also by Simone Rivers
1
Gabbie
Loud, booming, laughter filled the living room. As if that wasn't enough of an answer to my question, the incredulous look Aspen was giving me more than solidified his stance on the matter. I frowned at him until he got himself under control. Eventually, he gave me a sheepish smile, then shrugged. "Sorry, but I am most definitely not the person to be asking that to."
I pouted at him, sticking out my bottom lip and batting my eyelashes. It was a look I'd perfected over the years, one that never failed to turn any of the brothers into putty in my hands. Except this time though. Aspen just sat there, eyebrow raised, until I threw up my hands in defeat. "Fine," I said with an exasperated sigh. "What good is having you for a friend if you can't help me out in my time of need?"
"Time of need?" Aspen parroted, his eyebrow still raised. "He's your husband. Not mine." Aspen shuddered at the thought. "God, that's almost as gross as thinking about the two of you together. He's my brother. You're practically my sister! I am most definitely not going to help you woo him. Don't you have girlfriends you can talk about that with? Or hell, go online and watch a porno!"
I snickered at the thought of trolling through porn websites until I found something that would help me win over Nicholas. He may have been my husband, but it was only in name. Heck, in some cultures, we wouldn't actually be married, since we'd never consummated the marriage. No matter how badly I'd wanted to, Nicholas had always kept me at arms length.
Well, that needs to end. He'd had the chance to bail on the marriage if he'd wanted to. Instead, he'd chosen to renew his vows with me. But still, he hadn't gone through with the whole physical aspect of loving me. So when Aspen had come over to have drinks with me, I'd figured he'd be the perfect person to help me break through the barriers Nicholas had put up. Who knew him better than his own brother?
But Aspen was not nearly as keen on the idea as I'd been. He was closer to repulsed than excited. Bastard.
Aspen let out a sigh and shook his head. He ran a hand through his shaggy hair, giving me a sad smile. "Sorry, Gabbie. If I could help you, I would. But even if I wasn't completely turned off by my brother having sex, I'm definitely not the guy to help you woo someone. I mean, look how my marriage turned out!"
Gabbie nodded and ceded the point. Aspen's marriage hadn't been much different than mine and Nicholas's. Except for him and his now ex-wife, there hadn't been the mutual love between them. At least Nicholas and I were close to each other from the beginning. Living together, being married to each other, had never seemed like a hardship.
"Honestly, I have no idea how the two of you have made it work for so long. Being married to she-who-shall-not-be-named.... It was just so stifling, like we were smothering each other." There was a sadness in Aspen's eyes as he looked at me. I wanted to hug him, to reassure him, but I had no idea how to do that. How did you comfort a man whose marriage had just fallen apart? I hadn't been able to help him before, how could I help him now?
Instead, I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. "It's not like that between me and Nick. We do well together. I guess it helps that we'd always been close. It kinda was like moving in with my brother, in a way." I hated to admit that, but it was the truth. Nick and I had always been comfortable around each other. But, I guess it wasn't like he was my brother. I'd had an infatuation with him since I was a little girl. I'd just figured I'd grow out of it, that it was just a puppy love. Marrying him though, moving in with him....
It just made everything worse.
"But he's more than that to me. At least, I want him to be. I want our marriage to be real, want him to understand how I really feel." I let out a breath. Closing my eyes, I leaned back in my chair and clutched the glass of wine in my hands. For the last couple years I've been trying to show Nick how I feel about him. When he'd talked about getting a divorce, since we'd been married long enough to fulfil the obligations required for me to inherit my portion of Dad's company, I'd talked him out of it. Instead, I'd gotten him to renew our vows.
You'd think that would be enough to convince the man I loved him, but the Frost men were known for their bullheadedness. Apparently, it would take me beating him over the head with a big purple dildo to get my point across. At least, that's how it felt.
It wasn't even like Nick was interested in another woman either. At least, not that I'd seen. He hadn't shown even the slightest inkling he wanted to divorce me so he could be with someone else. There weren't any signs of him seeing a woman on the side. No sneaking around, no mysterious calls or texts, nothing. And yet, it was looking like the only thing that gave him a hardon was work.
I let out another sigh, then opened my
