Rose In Bloom (8 page)

“Your breakfast feast will be ready shortly,” he teases, opening the shower door again.

“You are so mean!” I joke back at him.

“I’m not being mean! I’ve got to feed my baby momma, after all!”

I throw my loofa at him, and he ducks and closes the glass door.

“Just for that, I’m eating all your bacon!” I laugh and I can hear him chuckling as he closes the bathroom door.

Man, bacon sounds so freaking good right now!

He won’t tell me where we are going, but he is as excited as a kid at Christmas. The moment the jet is in the air, the weight on his chest seems to vanish completely. Finally, I have him back. I’d drifted off to sleep when we landed for a quick refueling and I must have been out of it, because I hadn’t woken up until his warm hands are on my bare feet, gently massaging them.

“Mmmm. If you keep this up, I’m going to get spoiled to this kind of pampering.”

“I’m going to spoil you and our daughter every day.”

“There you go with the girl thing again. And what if I were to say I think this is a boy? What then?”

“I’d say you were wrong, and that he’ll look awfully funny in the pink bow that I bought last week.”

I can’t help but throw my head back and laugh.

“You do know there is only one way to settle this. My ultrasound will be coming up next month and we can finally decide pink or blue.”

“Nope, I don’t need to know,” he replies with a serious face.

“Oh really? So does that mean I can find out and prove you’re wrong?”

“I’ve got a better idea.” He smiles that sexy as fuck smile at me and melts my heart.

“What’s that?” I manage to say, looking into his dreamy eyes. I swear the man hypnotizes me with those things. I’ve never seen anyone with eyes like his.

“Let’s be surprised. I don’t want us to find out until the baby is born.”

His pleading amber eyes dance with hope in them. I can’t say no, and if our child has his eyes, I will never be able to deny them a thing.

“Does it really mean that much to you?” I ask.

“Yes, it does,” he replies.

“Then, I guess we will be buying everything white for the nursery.”

“I love you.”

“You better!” I joke and kiss him. “Now, tell me where we are!” I exclaim, excitedly looking through the window for any signs.

“Welcome to Belize.”

I’m literally bouncing when I step off the plane. Sebastian won’t even let me carry my purse, so I can’t send Kylie or Sophie a message to show them where I am. Damn the man for being overprotective! Well, not really… but still! If pregnant women in other cultures can carry a toddler and a heavy bucket of water on their head, then a damn little purse isn’t going to hurt me.

Looking around, I’m amazed at the beauty that surrounds us.

“Well? What do you think, baby?”

“Oh, Sebastian, it’s so beautiful! Thank you so much for bringing me here!” I exclaim, throwing my arms around his neck.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet, kid,” he teases and kisses me on the lips before leading me to the silver convertible on the tarmac. Opening the passenger side door, he helps me in and then hurries to his side. It looks like he is just as excited to be here as I am. He pulls up and parks in a small lot, pointing to a group of beach cottages in front of us.

“That one is ours.” He points at the large one in the middle.

“They will deliver our bags shortly. Let’s check it out.”

The villa is breathtaking. With its high ceilings, the rooms are all open to one another. Each wall is made of braided bamboo. A huge bed sits on a platform off in the distance with doors that open to the outside. There is even our own private mini pool in the back.

“I’ll never want to leave this place. I’m in love,” I joke, while dreamily looking out at the back view.

“I’m in love, too. But not with this place.” He nuzzles into my neck, wrapping his arms around me.

“Want to go for a walk?” he offers, and I nod, grinning. Nothing sounds more wonderful than spending time with him.

Slipping off my sandals, I take his hand and we walk back outside. The minute my toes sink into the sand, it’s like I’m in heaven. We only walk a few steps before I hear that unique voice that I can never deny knowing. But how is that possible? Then I look up at Sebastian’s beaming face and I know exactly what he’s been doing. All things
are
possible with Sebastian Thorne.

“You are
such
an ass, Nik! Really?” Kylie’s voice grows closer.

“That guy had his hands all over you.” Nikolas says.

“And? What the fuck do you care? You’ve flirted with everything with a vagina since we left the fucking airport!”

“What? Are you jealous that I didn’t flirt with your vagina?”

“Fuck off, Nik.”

“That’s what it is, isn’t it? Well, sweetheart, if you want to ride this cowboy, all you gotta do is ask.”

“Lick it,” Kylie says, throwing up her middle finger and storming away. Her face flushes when she sees us standing there.

“Mmm. Anytime, baby. You know where to find me. I’ll be right next door to you,” he says, while following closely behind her.

“Ugh! I swear to fuck, I’m gonna kill him, Sebastian,” she fires at him, earning a giggle from me and a laugh from Sebastian.

Turning to face me, she frowns. “What are you laughing at, bitch? You know that I’m only here for you. I’d never be within bomb’s distance of this prick if I didn’t love you,” she says, throwing her arms around me to give me a hug. “Oh my God! Look at that belly.” She lays her hand on my stomach. Squatting down, she whispers, “With these two as your parents? Don’t worry, kid, I got your back.”

When I look up, I spot Nik staring. It’s so obvious how in love he is with her. But my damn friend is just too stubborn to see it for herself. The way he’s looking at her right now is about something far more than I thought. Nik’s eyes zone in on how her hand rests on my belly. When he glances at me, he catches me studying him and straightens his shoulders, trying to act unaffected.

“Sebastian, this place is off the charts! Our group has all four of these huts,” he says, changing the subject.

“Four? Why on earth would we need four? Are you planning on not staying with me?” I ask teasingly.

“The fourth one would be mine.” My sister’s sweet voice chimes in from behind me.

“SOPHIE!” I scream, yanking my sister to me.

“Easy there, sis! I’m not going anywhere.”

“I can’t believe you are here!” I exclaim and turn to face Sebastian.

“So you wanted a getaway with all the people I love?”

“You mean you love me?” Nik jokes, earning him a smack from Kylie and a hard glare from Sebastian.

“Yes and no,” he answers.

“See! He doesn’t love me! I knew it!” Nik jokes and Kylie turns to push him back. It catches him off guard enough that he falls back on his ass.

“Shut up, you asshole! You’re going to ruin everything!”

“Ruin what? What’s she talking about, Sebastian?” I ask confused.

“They’re here because I want us to get married.”

“Um, last time I checked we were,” I joke, showing him my ring on my finger.

Clutching my hand, his face grows serious. His fingers lace through mine as be brings them up to kiss.

“I don’t want to wait until after the baby is born, Skylar. You and I both know that there’s going to be a huge media circus over it. I don’t want that for our wedding day. All I want is to have you and the people that we care most about here to share the day with us.”

“But, I don’t have anything here. How-”

Kylie interrupts me before I can finish. “Oh yes, you do. I’ve already taken care of everything.”

“Please, baby, I don’t want to spend another day without you as my wife. So what do you say?” he pleads, pulling me close to him.

I’m speechless. When I see the deep emotion in his eyes, I melt once again. Other than being this baby’s mommy, there is nothing more I want than to be his wife.

“Yes,” I whisper against his lips and he lifts me up in the air to spin me around.

“HEY! Easy there! Don’t shake the kid up!” Kylie scolds him, but I don’t care. I’m too busy kissing my soon to be husband.

Sebastian

My heart pounds in my chest as I kiss her. In less than twenty-four hours, she will officially be my wife. When I sit her down, she looks up at me with her breathtaking eyes and I take her in. Pride washes over me. I want everyone to know she is mine.

“So, since you all seem to have this all planned out and covered, would you mind filling me in on when my wedding will take place?” Skylar jokes, winking at me.

“Tomorrow afternoon. I’ve already got everything taken care of.” I answer and watch her eyes widen.

“Tomorrow? So what would you do if I had said no?” she teases as she places her hands on her hips.

If she only knew how damn cute she looks right now.

“I have my ways of convincing you,” I reply, pulling her close to me and kissing her on the lips. “I wasn’t beyond torturing you if need be.”

“Oh really?” She laughs.

“Yeah, you see, I seem to have a tendency of getting what I want.”

Throwing her head back, she bursts out in laughter. That glorious sound is one that I will never hear enough.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed that about you.” She laughs and buries her head into my chest.

“Well, come on then, time’s a-wasting,” Kylie chimes in behind her.

“What do you mean?” Skylar asks.

“Well, this is your last day as a free woman, and we are going to have a girls’ day. So kiss your man, and say goodbye, because I’ve got the whole day planned out on Sebastian’s credit card.”

Laughing, I give my girl a long kiss and watch as Kylie and Sophie pull her towards our bungalow.

“Looks like it is just you and me, man,” I say to Nik, but he is too zoned in on Kylie walking away.

Slapping him on the arm, I urge him towards the nearby surf shack on the beach. He and I both loved to surf, but rarely have the opportunity to do so. I think this will be the perfect thing to help pass the day with and get our mind off our worries.

After we suit up, we head down to the beach with our boards in tow. There are plenty of hot women in bikinis everywhere around me, but my eyes zone in on the one wearing a white bikini and an adorable baseball cap. She looks so carefree, laughing and splashing her sister in the water. As she turns sideways, I see the bump and I smile. Her sexy as hell curves are making me hard as fuck in this wetsuit. God, I want her right now so bad. I bet I could take her out in the water just a bit and show her what wearing that damn bikini does to me.

Nik’s voice snaps me out of my dirty thoughts, and I run over to where he is waiting next to the water. I guess I am surprised he isn’t hitting on the girls around us, but then again, I know there is only one girl on his mind right now.

The water is fantastic, producing wave after perfect wave. It’s a surfer’s dream out here for sure. Before we know it, the sun is going down, and people are packing up to leave. The guy at the surf shack suggests a bar just down on the beach for us to grab a bite. After a quick shower and change, I meet Nik, and we walk on down to the place. We see a couple of spots open at the long bar, so we grab them and order us a round of drinks. A short blonde keeps flirting with him, but he doesn’t pay her much mind. I decide now is as good a time as any to try to talk some sense into my cousin.