Page 89 of The Sweetest Mistake

“You feel so good,” he whispered against her belly, his warm breath fluttering against her damp skin.

Why was it that whenever one was supposed to be quiet, there was an overwhelming urge to cry out? She did her best to stifle her moans in her hand as Connor urged her on.

“I can feel you getting close,” he said and then nipped the underside of her breast.

And that was all it took. Gripping his shoulder tightly, she saw a burst of light behind her eyes, and she came repeatedly, all while trying to remain quiet. Just when she thought her knees might give out, he gently rolled her onto her back and slipped off her panties while she attempted to catch her breath.

Still in a daze, she heard him open the drawer of his nightstand, remove his underwear, and then rip open a condom packet before coming back over her. Supporting his weight on one strong forearm, he took hold of his erection and slowly immersed himself, her legs opening wide to accommodate him. Winding her arms around his neck, she pulled him down and kissed him deeply.

Moaning against her mouth, he lowered one hand to grip her hip as he thrust into her. Even though she’d just climaxed, she was still aroused, and as the friction built between them, she felt on the verge of another orgasm.

Abandoning her mouth, he buried his head in her neck, where he nipped the sensitive skin and then licked it, sending a spark of desire straight to her core.

Running her hands over his back, she reveled in the feel of his muscles contracting as he pounded into her while trying to remain as quiet as possible.

When she cupped his buttocks to pull him in even further, they both lost it—first him and then her. Afterward, they stayed connected until their breathing came down, and then Connor kissed her on the tip of her nose and whispered, “Be right back.”

While he was in the bathroom, Julia found his T-shirt, slipped it back on, and padded over to the crib to check on Ava. She was still sleeping soundly, her thumb partway in her mouth and one arm flung out to the side.

Julia tiptoed back to the bed and slid beneath the covers. It was then that she realized they’d never finished their conversation from earlier, the one about Barbara wanting more grandkids. How she’d love to give Ava a half-brother, half-sister, or both someday. But is that what Connor had been alluding to? She shook her head. Maybe he’d been joking around or speaking hypothetically.

She convinced herself that she’d misunderstood, because why would he be talking about having more kids when they hadn’t even exchanged I love yous yet?

Chapter Twenty-Six

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of activity. The summer season had finally descended on Michigan, and Connor and his brothers were busy from sunup until sundown with hardly a moment’s rest. Their client list had expanded since they’d opened a storefront in downtown Brandon, and they were gaining more clients every day.

In the meantime, Connor and Cam had agreed that Ava would stay with him three nights a week, plus every other weekend. While he would have liked it to be more, he felt like the arrangement was fair.

He looked forward to his time with Ava more than he’d ever thought possible, and he always felt a letdown when Cam came to pick her up. But on the bright side, he and Cam were cooperating, and for that he was grateful.

Julia had been a huge help too, first, by transforming the spare room into a nursery for Ava, and second, by staying over on the nights that Ava was there. She’d taken great pleasure in choosing the theme for the nursery, and he’d let her decorate it to her heart’s content. If it had been left up to him, he’d have bought a crib and a dresser and called it good.

But now, when he went into Ava’s room, it was like stepping into a Walt Disney film. There were princesses everywhere: on the wallpaper border, the crib bedding, and even the lamp. Julia had been trying unsuccessfully to teach him the names of all the Disney princesses, insisting that this information would somehow be useful to him. Now, in addition to his action movies, he had a collection of Disney DVDs. He was beginning to wonder if this obsession had less to do with Ava and more to do with Julia. But Julia seemed happy, and that was all that mattered.

He wasn’t sure if it was good or bad that he’d started humming Disney tunes when he was at work, but according to Liam, it was the latter.

“Dude? What are you singing?” Liam had said one day.

Connor hadn’t realized that he was singing the theme song from Frozen, until Liam had stared at him with a look of irritation and amusement.

“Get your head out of your ass. Even I know that song!” Finn had said.

Luckily, that had brought an end to the conversation, but after that, Connor had tried not to sing Disney songs in front of his brothers.

He’d also noticed that his house had been inundated with the color pink. It was everywhere—on blankets, toys, and clothes—but he couldn’t blame it all on Julia. His mom, Harper, McKayla, and Cam were also at fault. The closet in Ava’s room was already full, and she was under one year old! Not to mention the dresser drawers that were bulging with clothes, many of which still had tags on them. His little girl couldn’t even walk, yet she owned more clothes than he did.

“Babies outgrow things quickly,” Julia had said when he’d questioned her about it. “Plus, they stain things, so they need a lot of changes of clothes.”

Knowing his mom and the other women in his life would probably agree, he’d let the matter drop. Besides, Ava always looked adorable thanks to these same women.

Julia wasn’t the only one who had jumped in to help. Barbara had offered to babysit Ava a few days a week while Cam was at work. At first, he hadn’t been sure Cam would go for it, but she didn’t have a lot of other options, so she’d agreed to it on a trial basis. But when Barbara agreed to babysit Ava at Cam’s apartment, it had erased any reservations she’d had. And if for some reason Barbara wasn’t available, his other family members would pitch in in a heartbeat.

Yes, his little princess now had everyone he knew wrapped around her little finger. The only people she hadn’t met yet were Julia’s parents, but that would change soon. Julia had arranged for her parents to come over to his house next Sunday so they could finally meet Ava. While he was still skeptical about Dr. Lee’s opinion of him, Julia had assured him that once they met Ava, that would all change. He had no choice but to take her word for it.

Words. Between work and spending time with Ava, he’d been so busy that he hadn’t found the right time to tell Julia how he felt. That he loved her.

He thought about it often enough, and it had been right on the tip of his tongue several times, but they’d either been interrupted or he’d chickened out. He hated to admit that he was scared, even to himself. While he considered himself assertive and confident in most things, he felt like a novice when it came to love.