Page 41 of The Business of Love Box Set 1: Books 1 - 4

RHYS

I couldn’t believe it. She was coming to meet me.

I let my hand fall to my knee in the Porsche. The call was still on the air but I didn’t care who could hear. This was it. The final moment where we either said goodbye forever or we rallied and dove back in for one last try.

I prayed it was the latter.

The front door to the studio swung open and Vanny stepped out. She was bundled in a large shawl that she had wrapped around herself and thrown recklessly over one shoulder. She was wearing jeans and flats, and she walked a little funny as she marched down the sidewalk to meet me.

I got out of my car.

“Rhys, you dumbass. This is so unprofessional, I could—”

“Hush.”

She shut her mouth and stopped a foot away from me, glaring at me.

I reached out and took her hands in mine.

“We both deserve to have this conversation. We can’t keep avoiding each other.

” I turned her hand over to inspect her ring finger.

The ring I’d given her wasn’t there. It was wishful thinking to have hoped it would be.

“I think about you every day, Vanny. I can’t wrap my head around why we’re not together.

Because we’re made for each other. I know it and you know it.

And if you’re scared, I understand. I’m scared too.

But please. Don’t give up on us before we even had a chance to really see what we could be. ”

“Rhys, it’s more complicated than that. This isn’t just about us. It’s—it’s messy.”

“So what? Messy is my middle name.”

She rolled her eyes at me.

“Wait,” I said, wishing I could take back the joke. “Please. I need you. Or I need my heart back. But I’m not leaving without one. I can’t take it.”

“How do I give you your heart back?”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I don’t know. I hadn’t riddled that part out yet. I kind of hoped I wouldn’t have to explain and that you’d just say you wanted me back, too.”

She stared blankly at me.

I cleared my throat. “I’m in love with you, Vanny.

There it is. Plain and simple. I’ve loved you since we had pizza that night after Caprizee.

Maybe since I saw you in that velvet dress at the bar.

I was too dumb to see it then but I see it now.

And I haven’t stopped loving you since, and I haven’t seen you in six months.

How is that possible? This is the real deal.

Nessa Night would know this is the real deal.

She’d tell us to take the plunge. Wouldn’t she? ”

Vanny searched my eyes. “You’re crazy, Rhys Daniels. Absolutely fucking crazy.”

“Maybe I am. Are you telling me you’re not down for a little crazy in your life?”

“I… I have a lot that I need to tell you.”

“I’m listening. You can tell me anything.”

“It’s heavy,” she said.

“It’s been a rough six months. I think I can take anything at this point.”

Vanny glanced at my phone on the seat in my car. “Is that still on?”

“Uh. I don’t know.” I picked it up. “Yes.”

“Hang up.”

“You’re gonna do your callers dirty like that?”

“Hang. Up.”

“Okay.” I hung up. My stomach was in a tight knot as everything I wanted and needed hung in the balance. What was she going to say? Was she going to tell me no? Had she met someone else? Was she in love with someone else?

Fuck. I wouldn’t be able to take that.

“Rhys.” She took my hands.

She was going to tell me to leave. My heart constricted in my chest. “Talk to me, Vanny. What are you thinking?”

She refused to meet my eyes.

“Look,” I said, struggling to get each word out, “if this isn’t what you want I need to hear you say it. If you haven’t thought about me at all these last six months then-”

She shook her head. “Of course I’ve thought about you, Rhys.

” Vanny gnawed at her bottom lip. Then she slipped her hands free of mine and pulled her shawl to the side to pinch a silver chain necklace draped around her throat and pull it upward until it came free of her shirt.

She held it up. From the chain hung the ring I’d given her.

“No shit,” I breathed.

Vanny turned bright pink. “I think about us all the time, Rhys. And I feel bad about how things ended. But as time passed, it got harder and harder to get back to you, and I made mistakes, and I kept things from you that I can’t take back, and I’m sorry. I’m so damn sorry.”

“Vanny.” I gripped her shoulders. “You have nothing to be sorry about. Absolutely nothing.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Help me understand.”

Her bottom lip trembled. A tear rolled down her cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb.

Then she unwrapped her shawl. I didn’t understand.

She stepped back and held her arms up. “You see now? I kept this from you. I should have called you. I should have told you. But I was so scared and then I saw that your father passed away and I couldn’t…

” She trailed off and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

I still didn’t understand what I was supposed to be looking at.

Then she turned to the side.

And there it was.

A belly. A baby belly. A round, full, pregnant belly.

The breath rushed out of my lungs. “Hold on. Is that?”

She nodded.

“Mine?” I whispered.

She nodded again.

The world spun. I took a breath. It didn’t stop spinning.

“Rhys? Are you okay? Do you hate me?”

“Hate you?” I breathed. “How could I ever hate you? We’re… we’re going to have a baby.”

A smile touched her lips.

“Holy shit. We’re going to have a baby.” I grabbed her and pulled her in tightly.

She hugged me back. The hug felt right. It felt safe. It felt like it was my place to be. Her belly pressed into my stomach and I pulled away, not wanting to crush the baby. “Come back to my place with me. We need to talk. We need to—”

“I need to tell you something else first.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Was she going to tell me she didn’t want to raise this baby with me? Was she going to say our ship had sailed? Was she going to say she didn’t want this?

She didn’t want me?

She stretched to the tips of her toes and kissed me. It was like kissing a fairy. “I love you too, Rhys. Take me away from here.”

“Aren’t you in the middle of your show?”

She gave me a coy little smile. “The listeners won’t mind. Everybody likes a little drama. Right?”

Vanny struggled with the collar of my shirt. I tore it open. The buttons bounced and danced across my bedroom floor at the estate.

“Your grandmother,” Vanny whispered as she shrugged out of her sweater.

“Is eighty-nine years old and very hard of hearing, even though she denies it.” I pulled her shirt off over her head. “You can scream my name as loud as you like and she’ll be none the wiser.”

Vanny giggled.

“Fuck me, I missed that sound.” I held her face in my hands and kissed her like I was trying to consume her whole.

She pressed in tightly to me. Her belly was firm against my stomach and I tried to remember what she’d said before, that I couldn’t hurt the baby. That she and her belly were tougher than they looked.

She was radiant. She was full and supple and wonderful and even more beautiful than I ever remembered. She smelled like peppermint and sunshine and lavender. She tasted like vanilla and cinnamon. And she was carrying our child.

For a brief moment, I thought I was going to cry.

But there were important things to tend to. Like making love to the woman of my dreams.

I lowered her down to the bed. Vanny’s hands wandered across my shoulders and down my back and then back around to my stomach, where she traced the lines of my abs all the way back up to my chest. She giggled softly into our kiss and spread her legs for me to settle between as we finished undressing one another.

Her panties came off last and I trailed a finger between her folds.

She was wet and ready like I knew she would be.

I eased a finger inside her. Vanny bit her bottom lip and let out a moan so soft, I wondered if I’d imagined it. But then she moaned again, louder this time, and her back arched as I pushed in deeper. Then I pressed my tongue to her clit and sucked.

Vanny cooed my name at the ceiling and writhed upon the sheets.

She was mine. This was what our future looked like.

I gave her another finger. Vanny rolled her hips, fucking my fingers like the sexy little vixen she was. She bucked and gasped when she came, her juices slick on my fingers up to my knuckles, and I went to my knees between her legs.

She lifted her ass off the bed and her hips toward me in a silent plea.

I stroked my cock before pressing the tip against her pussy.

She whimpered.

I slid inside her. She pulled me in. She was tight as hell and slick as ever. I clenched my jaw and held on to a growl that threatened to leave me as I grabbed her wrists and pinned her hands above her head.

Vanny spread her legs wider.

I fucked her deeper.

“Yes, Rhys. Yes!”

She took all of me. Her eyes rolled back in her head and her lips parted in a silent cry as she came. I released her wrists and flipped her over so she was face down on the bed. Then I slid an arm under her hips and pulled her carefully up to her knees.

I entered her from behind.

Vanny gasped. Her fingers tightened in the sheets and she craned her head back. I gathered her hair off the back of her neck and pulled, forcing her head back farther. Her eyes were closed and she was smiling.

I nearly came right then and there at the sight of that coy little smile.

I pulled her up against me. Her shoulder blades were pressed to my chest. I released her hair and let my hands wander all over her body as I thrust my hips, pushing in and out of her, gliding effortlessly in her juices.

Her breasts were bigger than before. I cupped them in both hands.

She sighed sweetly and rested her head against my shoulder as I fondled her and pinched her nipples.

Her breathless giggles drove me wild and I had to pause my thrusts to stop myself from finishing.

As I waited, I reached down and rubbed my hands over her belly. She was getting round.

She rolled her hips and pushed her ass back.

I drove in deep.

Vanny whimpered. I sealed her cries with a hand over her mouth, just how she liked it.

I could feel her smiling under my palm as I quickened my speed.

She closed her eyes and moaned and pressed back, begging for more, and I gave it to her until she came.

My orgasm was quick to follow and I filled her up, leaving her quivering and gasping and writhing in my arms.

When we fell apart and collapsed on the bed, we both lay on our backs and stared at the ceiling while we caught our breath.

I admired the lines of her legs and the fullness of her breasts. I soaked in the sight of her hard nipples and the rise and fall of her chest. I got lost in the shadows her eyelashes cast on her cheeks and her pulse fluttering like a tiny bird at her throat.

The girl was mine. After all this, I finally had her back.

She turned to me and smiled a bright, wide smile. “You should know,” she said breathlessly, “my stamina is even higher now that I’m pregnant.”

I grinned. “Woman, are you trying to kill me?”

“Put your big boy pants on, champ. Your baby momma needs more of where that came from.”