Bet Me Something (Something Series Book 3) (40 page)

She motioned me
down for a kiss. My lips met hers as her fingers threaded lovingly through my
hair. “I’m calm because you’re still my center. The world is about to tilt, but
right here, right now, it’s us. It keeps—oh, shit—”

I watched her
breathe through the next wave, grinning at the colorful language coming out of
her mouth until she was through it.

She was my
center too, and over the last three years of our relationship, there wasn’t a
day that I ever took her for granted. After she’d returned from Bali, we made
it a rule not to spend more than a week apart. It hadn’t been easy while she’d
been on the road touring that following summer, but we’d made it a priority,
with me meeting her on several of the stops. I’d proposed a year later by
taking her to Vegas and having the diamond engagement ring spin on the roulette
wheel instead of the ball when she’d placed a bet. By the time she’d realized
it and turned my way, I was down on one knee. She’d practically tackled me when
she said yes.

Now with one
year left in school before she became a certified music teacher, she’d found
her calling in working with the cancer foundation and taking her talents into
area hospitals where she could bring music to sick kids. Between her and my
sister-in-law, Haylee, they’d grown the organization to the point where it
supported several hospitals throughout the country, offering everything from
grants and scholarships to Kenzie’s favorite: musical performances that made
the children forget, at least for a moment, what they were going through.

The doctor came
in smiling. “Hi, Kenzie. Let’s check how you’re progressing. How far apart are
your contractions?”

Kenzie had to think
about it. “Every few minutes, I guess. My water hasn’t broken yet though.” She
turned towards me. “Thank god that didn’t happen during the ceremony.”

I chuckled
thinking that probably would’ve been a first for the Golden Globes.

Her doctor went
about examining her. “Sometimes we have to break it for you. Oh, my, you’re
dilated nine centimeters already. Were you opposed to natural childbirth?” she
asked, glancing up.

“Uh, I’d prefer
the drugs, actually. Why?”

I would’ve said
the same thing. My wife might be strong, but she wasn’t opposed to a pain-free
experience if given the option.

“The thing is, I
don’t think we’re going to be able to get an epidural in you in time now. It
would most likely take effect after you were done since you only have one more centimeter
before I’m having you start to push.”

“Holy shit,”
Kenz and I said at the same time. I knew there was a mix of panic and amusement
on both our faces.

“Alright guys,
I’ll return in a couple minutes and we’ll get started,” her doctor said, stepping
out.

“Guess I
shouldn’t have insisted on the drive-thru and eating in the parking lot, after
all,” Kenzie said with a sheepish smile.

“Or not telling
me you were in labor during the entire three hour awards show,” I gently
chastised.

A surge of
anxious expectation hit me. Once the doctor came back in, this was it. When I
leaned down to kiss Kenzie, I said a little prayer internally for her and for
our baby. Emotion clogged my vision for a second before she snapped me out of
it.

“Don’t you go
getting emotional. There’s only one girl in this relationship, and you aren’t
it. If you start tearing up, then you know I’ll cry.” She was already speaking
with a catch in her voice.

 “I don’t know
what you’re talking about,” I feigned, burying my face in her neck and
breathing deep.

“I love you,
Colby.”

Damn. Those
words were’nt making it any easier to keep it together. “I love you too, Kenz.”
I wiped the hair from her brow and kissed her forehead. And because she was
starting to look nervous, I added, “You have this, sweets. I know you do. And
think of it this way: The faster you do this, the sooner I can go down to the
snack shop and get you some Hostess snowballs.”

She squeezed my
hand. “You always know what to say.”

Kenzie winced
again in pain with another contraction. “Wow, that was a good one. I think your
baby girl is getting anxious to come into this world.”

Shaking my head,
I smiled at our familiar disagreement. “We’re not having a girl. I’m telling
you, it’s going to be a boy.”

We’d chosen to
let it be a surprise, and now each of us was convinced we were right in knowing
the gender.

Her face lit up.
“You wanna bet?”

Music to my
ears. “But, of course. Now then, if you lose, which you most surely will, I’m
naming our son Leonidas.”

She rolled her
eyes. “You’re such a dude. We are not naming him after the movie
300
.”

“That movie was
based on the King of Sparta. Besides, we could call him Leo for short.”

She looked to be
contemplating and then smirked. “When I win, after we have our daughter, you
will—oh, damn—”

She gripped my
hand with a strength that had me wincing.

“That one was
really close to the last one.”

“Yeah, I feel
like they’re getting stronger, too.” She no sooner uttered the words than the
doctor came back in.

With a smile,
the doctor looked under the sheet.

“Remember you’re
to keep your eyes up here on my face, mister,” Kenzie threatened with humor in
her eyes.

She had read
some book that said if a man watched the baby coming out, it could freak him
out enough to affect their sex life.

“No worries
about that.” If I was being honest, I didn’t want to take the chance of passing
the hell out at the sight of blood and whatever else, so I was good with
concentrating on her face.

“So, where was
I? When you lose this bet, and it’s a girl, you’re going to—”

Another
contraction seized her and was starting to freak me the fuck out a little. I
mean, I’m a guy. The thought of a human coming out of one of my favorite places
on my wife was hard enough to grasp, but watching the love of my life in severe
pain was rougher than I’d anticipated.

“Okay, Kenzie,
ready to start pushing?” her doctor asked.

“Wait—” I
interrupted, just remembering something.

Both she and the
doctor froze, along with the two nurses. They all looked at me expectantly as I
fumbled for my phone.

“If you take a
picture that’s not of the baby, you’re a dead man,” Kenzie threatened.

I smiled, aware
she wasn’t kidding while thumbing through until I found the link I was looking
for. “No pictures, but I forgot; I’m supposed to give you something called a
push
gift
. Josh didn’t offer up many details, but I’m assuming I give it to you
while you’re pushing?”

All the women in
the room burst out laughing before an amused Kenzie pulled me down to her.
“You’re adorable.”

“What did I
miss?”

She and the
doctor traded glances. “A
push gift
is a present a man gets the mother
of his child for giving birth, or so I’ve heard, but it doesn’t literally have
to be given while pushing.”

“Oh, huh. In
that case, they should’ve called something less specific.” I went to put my
phone away, but she shook her head.

“Hey, now you
have to show me.”

I chuckled at
her impatience before displaying a picture of the house I’d purchased in Cabo.
“See, we’ll always have our tropical vacations only a short flight away.”

“That was so
unbelievably thoughtful.” She cringed with another contraction. “I think that’s
my cue to start.”

Fifteen minutes
later, through a series of pushing and breathing, the effort yielded the most
beautiful baby girl in the whole wide world. And this time, neither Kenz nor I
bothered to hide the tears of joy streaming down our faces with this miracle.

“How did you
know it would be a girl?” I whispered, watching as the nurses got her cleaned
up.

She smirked.
“Aside from the fifty-fifty chance, I figured it was karma. Now instead of
worrying about one penis, you’ll have to worry about them all.”

I groaned,
thinking she was probably right. “She’s never dating.”

She shook her
head. “I’ll teach her the five-date rule, and she’ll be fine.”

“Okay, but only
if we change it to ten.” I happily took our beautiful little girl from the
nurses while the doctors finished up with the afterbirth details, something
that Kenzie made me promise to turn around and not pay attention to. She didn’t
have to tell me twice. “Is it terrible that I don’t want to share her with all
of our family coming to visit?”

“Probably up
there with the intense desire I have for you to fly me to Cabo right now to
avoid my mother. I can’t believe you bought me a house for my push gift. What
are you going to do for the next three?”

I turned around,
exchanging amused looks with the doctor “Four, huh?” We definitely wanted
multiples, but it was the first time I’d heard her mention a number.

“I figure I need
at least that many to form my family band.”

Grinning, I
thought three more sounded like a grand plan in this moment. “Four it is. But
in the meantime, we need to pick out a name for this beautiful girl.”

I brought her to
the bed, where we could both study her sweet face. We’d been on the fence about
several names, wanting to meet her first, but as soon as Kenzie said it aloud,
I knew it was the one.

“What do you
think about Grace Olivia Singer?”

“It’s
perfection.” I snapped a picture of her with my phone to send out to those
waiting on the news and handed her to Kenzie so she could attempt to feed her.

 “Don’t think
I’ll forget that you lost the bet. I haven’t figured out what I’d like as
payment, but you better believe it’s going to be something good.”

“I look forward
to it.”

“Oh, yeah. Why’s
that?”

I leaned down
and kissed her. “Because losing a bet to you has always turned out to be the
very best thing to happen to me.”

Thank
you so much for reading Bet Me Something. I’d love to hear what you thought
about Kenzie and Colby’s story. If you have a few minutes to leave a review,
I’d be incredibly grateful. It makes such a difference for a self-published
author. E-mail me a link to it at [email protected], and I’d love to thank
you with a personal note.

I’m
currently working on the fourth book in the series. It’s finally Catherine’s
turn this next time and I guarantee I’ve made her HEA worth the wait. Sign up
for my newsletter
here
to find out once I have a release date.

Sincerely,

Aubrey
Bondurant

First off I want to say thank you
to my readers. With so many books to choose from, the fact that you wanted to
spend time with my characters means the world! From tagging me on Facebook when
you recommend my books, to sending me notes, writing reviews and telling your
friends; I’m eternally grateful for your support!

Can you believe it’s been one
year since publishing my first book? To those readers who’ve been with me since
book one, so patiently waiting on the next one while I balance writing with
working full time, raising two kids and all the rest of life. I can’t tell you
how much I appreciate that! Much love for not forgetting about me!

To all of the book bloggers: Oh
my goodness, where would I be without you taking a chance on an Indie author?
And a newbie one at that. Thank you for taking the time to read, review, and
promote my books!

To my husband for tolerating a
little bit more chaos, fewer home cooked meals and a wife that suddenly needs
to send herself a text with something “I just thought of” in the middle of a
zoo trip. Thank you for being supportive this endeavor! To all of my other family
and friends who’ve been supportive of me-I can’t tell you how much I appreciate
it!

To my fellow author, Owen O’Neill
for your invaluable “male” insight and support throughout. My epilogue
especially wouldn’t have been as fun without your beta read thoughts to add to
it!

To my wonderful editor, Alyssa
Kress. My characters and story would not live up to its full potential without
you. I appreciate your guidance in helping me achieve my vision and bringing
this series to life!
www.alyssakressbookediting.com

Aubrey
Bondurant loves to read, write and travel. Her writing style is a combination
of chick lit and erotic romance or “smutty chick lit” as she calls it. If she
could create a new book genre classification it would be “Adult Contemporary
Erotic Romantic Comedy.”

When
she isn’t working full time or spending time with her family, she puts her
fingers to keyboard and crafts a story. As a former member of the military,
she’s passionate about veteran charities and giving back to the community.

The “Something Series” will consist of five
books in total.