32. Epilogue

Talia smoothed down her skirt, second-guessing herself. She'd teamed a knee-length black pleated skirt with a pastel pink blouse, but now she was worrying about whether she was overdressed. What if the rest of them were all in jeans? What if she looked like a total bellen—?

"Well don't you clean up well?" a dark voice purred from behind her.

She threw a look over her shoulder, a soft smile coming to her face. "Do you think I'll be overdressed?"

Jensen shook his head, resting his hands on her hips and his lips on her neck. "Everyone will want to make a good impression on their first day. And if you're that worried, we'll take a change of clothes, get there early, and then you can watch everyone else walk in and see what they're wearing."

Her nerves settled almost instantly. Why hadn't she thought of that? Talia turned, winding her hands around his neck. "You always know what to say."

"Not always. Do you not remember my jaw hitting the floor when I found out about Felix?"

"To be fair, I think most people would have been dumbfounded," she countered.

Jensen's lip curled into a decadent slant. "One way to put it. Do you want me to go pack a change of clothes for you?"

She waved her hand. "I'll do it while you get Felix ready."

In the end, Talia decided she didn't need to pack a full outfit change. She settled on bringing a pair of jeans and trainers instead. Her blouse looked fine with either, and would still give a semi-professional vibe even if she paired it with a pair of tracksuit bottoms.

"Mumma!" Felix waved, watching her come down the stairs.

Talia very nearly died of a cuteness overload. Jensen had dressed their son in a suit romper, complete with matching blazer. She swept him up in her arms, holding him above her head and then quickly changing her mind and resting him on her hip. He was getting far too big to be doing that these days.

"Look at how smart you look for your day at the office with Dadda and Bampi!" she exclaimed, giving him a peck on the nose.

"The company's biggest shareholder has to dress up for his big day, doesn't he?" Jensen leant against the wall with a content smile on his face, the sharply pressed lines of his own suit drawing her eyes to his thighs.

Talia shot him a wry grin. Dad had asked to re-join the joint venture between him and Jensen—on one condition: that the shares be split three ways. Dad and Jensen would have a quarter each, with the remaining half belonging to Felix.

Jensen had shaken his hand on the spot, and Talia loved him for it.

On the way to the college, she listened to Felix talking to himself in the back seat. Most of it was incomprehensible, but there were the beginnings of words there, along with the rustling and rattling of his sensory toys.

She opened up her phone to see a barrage of ‘good luck' messages from their family and friends, and each filled her with more confidence than the last, until she was dying to get in the classroom and learn.

As they pulled up in the college's car park, Talia side-eyed Jensen's movements. His large hand on the gearstick. His muscular arm on the back of her seat as he reversed into the space. All she'd have needed was for him to pull up on the parking brake and she'd be ready for him to take her back home and carry her to bed.

Instead, he pressed the parking brake button, and Talia threw a mental middle finger up at it.

Fucking car manufacturers.Clearly none of them were run by thirsty women.

A trickle of smartly-dressed women did, however, begin to make their way into the college, until Talia was more than satisfied her clothes were appropriate. "I think it's time for me to go in," she said, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice.

Jensen's arm was still slung across the back of her seat. His other hand came up to lift her chin, and he leant across the centre console to part his lips over hers. She let out a tiny moan at the soft, sensuous slide.

Felix interrupted them with a shout, lobbing a toy across the backseat.

She grinned, losing herself in Jensen's sapphire gaze. "Good luck with him at the office, if he's in one of those sorts of moods."

"He has fewer tantrums than most middle managers I come across," Jensen shrugged.

Talia believed that. Some of the stories Dad had told her over the years were eye-opening. Mia had been better behaved when pushing out an eight pound baby.

"I'd better go," she whispered, her nerves building once more. The downside of waiting for everyone else to go in first was that she'd now be walking in to a room full of people. "I don't want to be late. I'll be shouted at on my first day."

He took her hand, his lips brushing the diamond ring on her finger with a smirk. "I'm always here if you need me—but you won't. You're brilliant all on your own."

Her stomach flip-flopped between excitement and anxiety as she stepped out of the car, looking out for flying shrapnel before opening the back door to say goodbye to Felix.

When he saw her, Felix flashed his milk teeth in a grin. "Mummy."

"Mummy's going bye-bye," Talia bent in to press a kiss to his forehead, narrowly missing being smacked in the head with a rattle. "Have fun with Daddy at the office. I love you!"

Jensen lazily watched her as she came to his window, cupping her nape and angling her head to take her lips in a teasing kiss. She fisted her hand in his lapel, feeling the tension building beneath her navel.

"If you find yourself feeling nervous, then know that all of the other students on that course are just as nervous as you," he said, his voice gravelly with need. "Remember you've already done this with Mia, Talia. You were fantastic throughout the entire thing. You already have more hands-on experience than they do. You can do this. And if you still find yourself feeling nervous, then think about what a good girl you're going to be for me tonight. I'll take it all off your shoulders."

Her eyelids fluttered—and her chest along with it.

Well shit, now she couldn't wait for tonight.

"Then I'll see you tonight," she smirked, a flirty twinkle in her eye.

Jensen waved her off, looking effortlessly handsome—as always. "I'll see you tonight, baby girl."

Thank you so much for reading Jensen and Talia's book – I really hope you enjoyed it.!