Courage in the Kiss (26 page)

Looking down at her now, as Maxx held his hands behind his head, he couldn’t imagine ever being without Hadley. She was beautiful and special, and sweet and sexy all at the same time.

She was so much a part of him, he didn’t know how he’d survived so long without her. How could he have survived, every minute of every day, walking past her, looking at her, feeling those electric sparks blazing between them when they were in the same room, without doing anything about it?

How could he ever have spent five seconds with her and controlled those urges that seemed so impossible to hold back, now that he had finally found the courage to be with her?

He’d been such an idiot, waiting so long and convincing himself that Hadley couldn’t handle a fling, if he’d asked it of her years ago. He’d wasted so much time, but now they were in a place he’d never imagined.

Maxx ran his hand over Hadley’s baby bump. No matter what she said about putting on weight, she was barely showing to anyone who didn’t know their baby was there. But he noticed. He saw the changes in her, every day since she’d broken the news to him.

He saw the subdued happiness in her eyes that told him how scared and happy she was, and that she couldn’t always decide between the two. He saw the fatigue and the contentedness that spoke of pregnancy being both a gift and a burden; it took its toll on her, but he knew she wouldn’t want it any other way.

Suddenly, thinking about all the years that had passed them by, forever and always didn’t seem like such a long time. There was still so much he wanted to do with her, places he wanted to take her, things he wanted to show her, but so little time to do it.

Hadley had never been anywhere or done anything with her life. She’d lived in the same house, saw the same people, and had never once had an adventure or done something crazy or stupid.

Maxx had travelled the world and seen extraordinary things that he wasn’t even sure Hadley had dreamt of. And if anyone was going to show her, it would be him. But, with the baby on the way, they were short on time.

The doctor said she was around seven weeks along, so they had a good while to plan and travel, to see the world before they’d have to return home. He didn’t know much about babies, but he knew that there were times, during the last trimester, that being on a plane was a terrible idea.

He wouldn’t compromise Hadley’s health like that. They’d do all of their adventuring as soon as it could be arranged and be done before her last trimester even started.

“Are you asleep, or thinking?” Hadley asked, surprising him with the fact that
she
was awake.

“Somewhere in between, I think,” Maxx confessed. He was tired and felt like lying in bed with Hadley and not moving for at least a few hours. But, now that she’d brought it up, there were a few things on his mind. “What do you think you’re having?” he asked, thoughtfully.

“A baby,” Hadley replied with a giggle.

“Funny.” He sighed and rolled his eyes. “I mean, do you think it’s a boy or girl? What are you hoping for? Do you have dreams of a ballerina, or a rugby player...?” he wondered, curious over what she’d always imagined, for this moment in her life. He already knew that she’d harboured dreams of them getting married and having a family, so he was intrigued to know whether he was living up to them or not.

“Well,” Hadley sighed and turned to fold her arms on his chest, to rest her head on top, “I’ve never really thought about it that much. All I want is a happy, healthy family.”

“So...no preferences. Gotcha.” Maxx was happy to hear that. He wasn’t sure he could bear disappointing her. “What about Dad?” he asked, worried that they’d have different ideas about where and how to live after the baby arrived.

“What about him?” Hadley asked, as she traced a long nail over his chest. “He’s not harping on about the adoption anymore, so he’s back to his usual self,” she admitted, sending tingles up his spine as that fingernail traced patterns over his skin.

“That isn’t exactly going to win him any prizes,” he agreed. Emerson wasn’t a model citizen, even at his best.

Hadley shrugged and laughed to herself. “No. But he’s not going to change,” she confessed, as though resigned to his father’s methods. She had been putting up with him for years, but Maxx didn’t see how that was a good thing. “Besides, I thought you wanted to move out, once the baby came.”

“Only if that’s what you want. I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay or go. I just want what’s best for you,” he reassured her. He didn’t want her feeling pressured into moving out, if she really wanted to stay here. But he also didn’t see how staying was practical, with a new baby.

“I’m happy here,” Hadley admitted with a faraway look. “But I do understand what you mean, about leaving and getting a house of our own. I’m just…” She stalled and bit her lower lip before sighing and going on with sadness. “I’m afraid you won’t be happy. You didn’t exactly choose me, Maxx. And this whole marrying me because of the baby thing seems impractical. You can still be our baby’s father, without marrying me.”

Maxx put his hand over her mouth, smiling so that she knew he wasn’t angry. He didn’t want to hear how unworthy or unloved she was. “I’m not going to say this again...we’re getting married. We’re going to be a proper family. As long as that’s what you want...” he said in warning.

Hadley laughed and flushed furiously. “I’m totally okay with that.” She reached up and kissed him solidly on the lips, while fingertips curled against his chest, as though to hold on tight.

He loved that grasp; it always gave him shivers. “Good.” Maxx nodded and tried not to fall for that seductress look in her eyes. “I promise, Had...I won’t be like my dad. I won’t put you or the baby last, behind my work. I won’t be the crap, absent father my dad was, until my mother died,” he swore, refusing to be like his father.

Emerson had proved a great dad – after their mother died and he was left to raise him and Micah alone. Before that, Maxx couldn’t honestly remember one good memory with him. He hadn’t played with them, taught them anything, or even just hung around in the background. He hadn’t done that for Hadley either, until their mother died and there was no one else to do it for him.

“And our kid will go to school...a real school, like Micah. He’ll have the chance to make friends, to join groups...to really fit in.” Maxx made that a vow. He didn’t want his child being stuck at home their entire childhood, with only other siblings to play with. He’d been lucky in that Hadley was his age and they had similar interests, but eventually his studies had taken over and he’d had to give up on the fun.

“I know.” Hadley giggled and kissed him again, destroying his resolve.

He flipped her onto her back and reminded her who was the real seducer of their relationship. He’d started all of this, so he was going to be the one to finish it.

The next morning, Hadley woke with a smile, her body still entwined with Maxx’s. Lifting her head to look at the clock, her gaze fell over him. She stared at his face and traced her finger over the outline of his lips, thinking about the way he kissed her. His eyes opened slowly as he smiled at her, then stretched his arms with a yawn.

“Morning,” Hadley beamed as she bit her lip.

“Morning? I could think of better names for it.” He smiled as his eyelids flickered open and he leaned in to kiss her. “Last night was...particularly incredible,” he claimed with a cheeky wink.

Hadley blushed, as Maxx sat up, leaning against the headboard. He looked perfectly content to sit there all day, just looking at her. She couldn’t help but return the favour and watch him in admiration, as he ran his hand over her hair.

“What is it?” he asked, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Nothing.” She sighed, stretching her legs out as she sat up. She was so deliriously happy that it couldn’t be real. She had Maxx, she was having his baby, and they were getting married. It might not have been
how
she imagined it, but it was everything she’d ever wanted. And then there was the bonus of the hot sex.

Maxx wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed the side of her head, the movement sending the sheet to the mattress, exposing her still naked body. “You fight dirty,” he muttered under his breath. Then he raised his hand to trace his fingers over her flesh. “God, how I want you.” He kissed her shoulder, his mouth trailing down to her body to her thigh.

Hadley moaned softly as she felt the rhythm of his lips on her flesh. “Maxx…we can’t,” she protested, her voice barely audible as she struggled to fight against the heat that always flared between them. “I thought we were going to sort the nursery,” she reminded him, rushing her words as his lips touched the side of her thigh.

He looked up with a faint smile and kissed her softly. “How can you think of getting out of bed, at a time like this?” he asked mockingly.

“Um...because it’s a job that needs done and we won’t be alone forever,” Hadley reminded him, grudgingly.

Maxx grinned and kissed her, before throwing back the covers and slipping out of bed. “Alright. You win,” he agreed with a light grumble. “We’ll choose a nursery and do all the boring normal things...like eat and clean and decorate...but then we do what
I
want to do,” he bargained.

“I can’t even imagine what that might be,” she teased, rolling her eyes at him. For not being in love with her, he sure knew how to make a girl feel loved and wanted.

An hour later, Hadley nursed a cup of coffee, while Maxx took a business call in the study. They’d decided on her art room as a nursery, since she could easily do her art work in another room or pack up her things into a smaller space. Maxx’s compromise was to split the room in half, until they moved out.

Looking around at the room, she made a mental list of where they could start and what they would do with all the stuff. Some of it would have to be packed away and stored, at least until they got a house of their own, but some of it could stay, if they found the right storage solution. Probably a tall bookcase or an old apothecary’s desk would be perfect. Hadley had always wanted one.

“Sorry, baby,” Maxx apologised as he walked into the room, flipping his phone shut. “That one was actually important,” he admitted with a wry smile.

Hadley waved it off and got to her feet, setting her coffee cup on the table beside her. “I told you. I don’t mind if you have to work. We’re at the really early stages here,” she reminded him, though they’d had this conversation twice already. She didn’t care if he had to work the entire first two trimesters, as long as he was there for the big moments.

“No,” he argued, bluntly. “If I take the time off now, we can get the house organised, prepare my dad and Micah, and
then
, if you’re okay, I can go back to work. Yes, we have a long road ahead of us, but I want us to be prepared for that road,” he explained, with enough sense that she didn’t bother disagreeing.

“Fine.” Hadley swept her gaze across the room again and pointed to the window. “I figure that if we start furthest from the door, we’re less likely to create a space and then fill it with junk. If we start at the window and shove everything toward the door, we’ll eventually have to clean it all, if we want out of this room,” she said, explaining her theory.

“That’s if you want to get out,” Maxx commented, with that flirtatious tone that she was growing to love. He made his way to her side and put his hands on his hips.

“You’ve changed,” she noticed, eyeing up the faded jeans and T-shirt he was now wearing.

“If we’re going to get dirty, I may as well be dressed for the occasion,” he replied. And, looking around, she could agree. There were various paint pots and charcoal crafts lying around; it was inevitable that one of them was going to get covered in something or other. “But you, gorgeous,” he whistled low and looked her over from head to toe, “you don’t need to change a thing,” he promised, with a wink.

Hadley gave him a shove, too embarrassed by the praise to acknowledge it properly. In her eyes, she was a mess. Her hair wouldn’t sit right, though she’d piled it high onto her head in a messy chignon. Her clothes were ridiculous, because all she had that fastened were a pair of shorts and a tank top that barely covered the girls properly.

This extra weight was a pain in the ass, but she’d have to get used to it. Not to mention that she’d prepared for a lot of hard work by wearing something that would let her sweat without getting in the way or sticking in uncomfortable places.

“I prepared for the heat that’s going to build up in here once we start working,” Hadley explained, while looking over his impractical outfit. A titter of laughter escaped her before she could hold it back. “You, however, will need to have those jeans peeled off you by the time we’re done.”

“Only if you’re the one peeling them off,” Maxx countered, cheekily. Then he wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her into a kiss.

When he let go, he winked at her and walked away, as though he hadn’t done it.

Damn it! The man was all kinds of gorgeous, but when he looked at her like that, Hadley could feel her ovaries setting on fire. It was a good job she was already pregnant, because she now understood just what those women on TV meant when they said to watch out for their ovaries when a hot guy came along.

Maxx was the definition of a panty dropper. She wasn’t sure what the bigger crime was – that he was one, or that he didn’t even know it.

As if Hadley needed further proof that Maxx was a devastatingly good looking man, she got it that afternoon. In fact, she got it in nearly every store they ventured into after lunch.

It had taken the majority of the morning to clean a path from the door of the art room to the window, so that they could remove everything to be trashed and pack everything to be stored. When they stopped for lunch, Maxx discovered that they didn’t have enough packing boxes, so a trip out to the store was most definitely needed.

Two hours later, Hadley was getting fed up of the constant fluttering and smiling. When she walked into a shop ahead of Maxx, she was ignored and the sales assistants flocked to her fiancé. Men and women alike blatantly ignored her.

It was damned infuriating, but she’d learned to live with it over the years, especially being ignored by the upper classes once they knew she was just a ‘servant’ to Emerson. In their eyes, that’s all she’d ever be.

Maxx’s hand sat on the small of her back as he ushered her into another store. They hadn’t bought one item yet, because of his temper. Every store that had an employee who bypassed her to go straight to him, ended up disappointed, because the first thing Maxx did was leave.

It was supportive, ridiculous, overprotective, and completely spellbinding, all at the same time.

He’d stuck by her side at the last two stores, probably to see if proximity would change the result. It didn’t. He was simply too hot for anyone to resist, so they flocked his way the moment he walked into a room. He was magnetic and she couldn’t really blame any of the shop assistants. But Maxx did.

“Hello,” a teenage kid approached them, in the fifth baby store they’d ventured into. He looked barely old enough to work, but Hadley crossed her fingers and hoped for the best when he looked directly at her. “I’m Clay. How can I help you today?” he asked, with just the right amount of politeness and an extended hand toward her that seemed to please Maxx.

She felt his arm relax around her waist, as she shook the hand and then watched Clay offer it to Maxx. He got a curt nod in reply, as well as a swift handshake, which were all good signs.

“We’re really just browsing, because we haven’t got the first clue what we’ll need,” Hadley confessed, wondering if he would help with that or if they would just wing it. This whole thing was new to her and she felt out of her depth.

“Okay.” Clay turned and surveyed the showroom, before turning back and offering a warm smile. “Are you having the baby yourself, adopting, or perhaps using a surrogate?” he wondered, covering all bases in a way that came across caring and yet, without judgement.

“It’s in the oven,” Maxx explained, with a wink and a hand that slid from her hip to her stomach.

Clay laughed and nodded. “Great. So we’re starting fresh, from birth. If you’ll follow me, I can talk you through your options,” he explained as he turned and began walking through the displays. “Now, are you having a nursery or keeping the baby in your room?” he asked.

Hadley was a little stunned about how much she’d misjudged Clay. He might look young, but he knew what he was talking about.

Within half an hour, he had her so at ease that they were discussing nursery decorating ideas and plans for how to make the art room an effective dual purpose room.

All the while, Maxx not only supported her physically, but he was an active part of the discussion, giving his thoughts and views on everything they spoke about. He was really getting into this whole ‘baby daddy’ thing, and Hadley couldn’t have been prouder of him. He’d really stepped up.