Chapter 41

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

KATE

" W ant me to come upstairs and give Nina my best death glare?" Jensen playfully narrows his eyes at me as he pulls into my office parking lot.

I tap my chin. "Let me think about this…no?"

He laughs and reaches over, placing his palm behind my head and pulling me in for a kiss. His soft, full lips move over mine, reminding me of the way he made love to me all morning in our bed, and I feel myself begin to unravel again at the memory.

Now I'm thirty-two weeks pregnant, and I'm huge, so we've had to be more inventive with positions. Not that I'm complaining.

The more heavily pregnant I get with his babies, the hornier he becomes. It's to the point where he's feral. I thought he was going to leave the ice at last night's game, march up to the family box, and fuck me right there, and then when he realized I wore his jersey with "Mrs. Jones" stamped across the back…

Let's just say I got next to zero sleep last night.

There are downsides to being heavily pregnant with twins, though—pelvic girdle pain. Wow, it's intense. Half the time, I want to cry out when I take even a few steps, and the other half, I'm asking Jensen when I can have my next dose of pain meds.

He's done everything to try to ease my discomfort. At one point, he came home with two exercise balls—one for me and one for him so he could help show me the best ways to relieve the grinding. His entire home gym is now a pregnancy fitness and wellness center. I swear to God he worships every painful bone in my body.

But I finally gave in last week and conceded that I can't continue working. I'm exhausted and can barely focus on anything other than how many more weeks I have to endure. Being pregnant is a blessing I'll never take for granted, but that doesn't mean the pain gets any easier.

"You aren't having second thoughts about this, are you, Princess?" He pulls back from our make-out session and tucks a lock of hair behind my ear.

"No. I know I need to finish now. I just…I don't know what I'm going to do with myself for four weeks. The babies won't be here until then, and I?—"

He stops my rambling with another kiss.

Speaking against my lips, his breath fans my face, and my body tingles with need for him. Need for his proximity, need for him to be inside me all the time. "I'll tell you exactly what you're going to do while you're on maternity leave. Nothing. Relax, read, do your calligraphy shit, let your husband take you out." He kisses me again. "Speaking of, when can you finish today?"

I shrug. "As soon as I'm finished passing everything across to Nina, I guess. That shouldn't take long since we did the full handover a while back. It's just an opportunity for her to ask questions."

And my cases are watertight.

"Let me know a time. I have morning skate, but I can get you any time after that, and I'll be waiting."

"What do you have planned?" I ask suspiciously as I open the passenger door to climb out.

"Something fit for a Princess." He sees that I'm about to leave and quickly unclips his belt, pushing the driver door open and rounding the new silver Porsche Cayenne he bought me and decided I needed.

Helping me out of the SUV, he takes my hand and walks me to the elevator.

"Sure you don't want me to come up with you?"

I gently push him away with a palm to his chest as I enter and hit the button to my floor. "I'll see you later, crazy boy."

"I'm going to miss these." Felicity sidles up next to me in the kitchen as she pours herself her third coffee of the day.

Caffeine, how I miss you .

"You know there's always the option of stopping by our place and having a coffee there."

"Obviously, but you know I won't be stopping by to see you anymore. It'll be my bundles of joy. I've already made it clear to Luna that I will be your and her babies' favorite aunty."

I quirk a brow. "You're getting just as bad as he is, you know that?"

"Who?"

"See, you don't even notice it anymore. Your husband, Jon. So damn competitive with everything."

Her eyes go wide. "I am not! "

"You are."

She props a hand on her hip. "Yeah, well, all I'm saying is, I will miss you these next six months."

Pulling the smoothie Jensen made me from the fridge, I twist the cap and close the door with my hip.

Ouch.

"I'm thinking of taking longer than six months."

My best friend looks as shocked as I feel saying it. "What?"

"I've been thinking about it for a while, and I don't know if it's going to be enough time."

Setting down her coffee mug, she pulls me into her arms. Even in my flat boots and her in heels, she's still smaller than me. "I know how big a decision this is for you, babe. But I really think you're being smart, and I'm so proud of you for thinking about what you need, not your boss or clients."

I laugh. "It's not like I have Violet to keep happy anymore."

She scoffs. "I'm struggling to work out who I hate more: my ex-husband, your parents, or Amie. There's still a part of me that really wishes Jensen had punched your dad that night."

"Oh, no doubt! He was desperate to land one on him. When he got home, he was pacing the apartment for hours. He wanted to go back and finish the job, I think."

She smirks. "Have you heard much from them?"

Shaking my head, I take a sip of my smoothie. "Nada. East tells me he's not even allowed to mention my or JJ's name in conversation. So I guess I really am dead to them."

"I'm so, so sorry you have to go through this. A woman should have her mom and dad by her side right now, not against her."

"They've never been by my side, babe. Apart from when I opened my exam results." Replacing the cap on my smoothie, I offer my trademark unaffected smile.

"How much longer until you can officially say you're on leave?" Felicity checks her watch.

"Anytime. I've finished my final meeting with the wonderful Nina, and I'm all set. Feels kind of weird to be finally at this point."

Felicity takes a couple of steps backward and casts a quick glance out into the main office area. Turning back to me, she smiles. "Best we get you seen off then!"

I narrow my eyes and head towards her. "What are you hid?—"

As soon as I peek around the corner, I see it. Well, him.

With my box of desk items resting on his lap, he swings around in my chair, clearly waiting for me to get back.

Jensen doesn't often wear a baseball cap, but when he does, my knees go weak, and today he wears it backward. And that, combined with his post-practice training gear and sweats, has my mouth watering as I walk towards him.

Other than that time he turned up at my office and asked me to go to lunch, he hasn't been here. The way my colleagues all stare at him reminds me that my husband is super famous and our relationship is the object of everyone's interest.

"Princess." He offers me a smirk as he pushes up from the chair and holds my box under one arm. The other hand immediately tips my chin and plants a kiss on my lips.

I don't take my eyes off him as he pulls back, swiping his tongue across his bottom lip, clearly enjoying my taste.

"You know it's frowned upon to make out in your office, right?"

He shrugs and interlaces our fingers. "Come on now, Mrs. Jones, since when have I ever given a fuck about what anyone else thinks."

I giggle. Like a fucking schoolgirl.

"What are you doing up here? I said I'd call you," I say, picking up my bag and jacket.

"Here to carry your things and take you out like I promised." He indicates to the box he's holding. "Put them on here."

I don't argue as I balance my bag and jacket on top.

Pulling me by the hand, he leads me toward the reception area where Felicity's standing with Margo.

"I'm going to miss you so much. You know that?" Felicity throws her arms around my neck, her voice shaking.

"Babe. I'll probably see you more when I'm on leave than at work."

She smiles and then looks at Jensen, her grin turning mischievous. "Have a good afternoon."

Hmmm…

With a final goodbye to Margo, we head into the elevator and down to the parking lot. My thoughts are overcome with emotion.

This is it. One door is closing and another opening, and I know from this moment on, my life will never look or feel the same way again.

As if he knows exactly where my brain is, Jensen leans his head down towards me as the elevator descends. "This moment right here is where you start calling the shots on your life. This is your time, Princess."