Epilogue - Lainey

Three Years Later

“I can’t believe you made me carry this across town.”

I huffed out a laughed, opening the door to our house. I’d always loved Sam’s place, but I liked it so much more now that it was ours .

The funky velvet furniture I’d picked out blended beautifully with his leather couch. We’d expanded the patio to add a pair of chaise lounges that were just about my favorite thing in the world. We often laid out there together watching Conner, Jas, and their three boys, Eli, Xander, and baby Rupert (Ru, for short) run around the courtyard.

“We had a limo,” I answered, dumping my clutch on the kitchen countertop and grabbing a glass to fill with water. My husband needed it.

He, Conner, and Will had gotten a bit too into the wine while they were toasting my success. Sam took the glass, downing it in a few massive gulps, before setting my award next to my purse. The Golden Heart was heavy. I’d nearly dropped it when Cooper and I were giving our joint acceptance speech. We were one of the few surgeon pairs on record to be recognized by the American Heart Association. But, if I did say so myself, our joint work on mechanical transplants was pretty revolutionary.

Once Cooper jumped ship and joined me at Mercy a mere two weeks after I’d left Cedar, everything had come together. We worked better than ever in a hospital that trusted us to do our jobs. Plus, I had to say, watching the egotistical surgeon fall in love with his truly incredible wife was one of the more hilarious things I’d ever witnessed.

“Limo, sure, but we could have had a hotel ,” Sam whispered, grabbing around my waist. He’d been making excuses to do so all night, utterly entranced by the expanse of skin my backless dress bared to his touch.

“But here, we can be as loud as we want, ” I whispered back, pressing my lips into his. He groaned.

“Good call,” he muttered without taking his mouth from mine. I squeaked when he lifted me up, carrying me up the stairs to our bedroom. “So smart. Impressive, award-winning wife.”

I bounced on the mattress where he dumped me. By the time I sat up, his bowtie was already halfway undone. I scrambled to assist with his shirt buttons, running my hands up the smooth skin we revealed.

“You know we had a deal, right?” He lowered me back down, grabbing handfuls of my silk dress to pull it up my body. I did, in fact, remember our deal. Hard to forget when he found an excuse to bring it up every month or so.

Three years or until I won the Golden Heart. That had been his timeline for kids. They’d just happened to coincide. When we’d found out Cooper and I had won, Sam hadn’t stopped smiling for weeks. He’d started making many, not-so-subtle hints about making an appointment with my OBGYN. If he’d had his way, I’d have gotten my IUD out weeks ago.

Good thing I loved for my husband to have his way.

“Actually…” I gasped when his fingers found the crease between my legs. He uttered a ridiculous curse against my collarbone.

“You haven’t been wearing underwear tonight?”

“Panty lines, Sam,” I sighed. He groaned again, fingers working where I was already dampening. He sucked at my mouth, thrusting his tongue against mine. He tasted like champagne. “I have something to tell you about that, actually.”

“About your panties? I want to hear it. Tell me while I eat you out.”

I giggled so hard I snorted. Teeth exposed by his grin grazed the inside of my thigh. Oh, God, I needed to be quick about this. I could already feel the heat building between us, threatening to consume me.

“I just feel bad. You’ve done such a good job of keeping up your end of the bargain. Not keeping anything important from me. Me…I can’t say the same.”

I patted his cheek, enjoying the bewildered look that crossed his face.

“You’re keeping something important from me?” he rumbled, my skirt rucked up around his chin. “More important than you going commando all night?”

I couldn’t help the smile that took over my cheeks. “I've been keeping a secret. A kind of life-changing one. But I figured if you did it once, I got one chance, too.”

“Lainey…” He raised up on his hands. I pouted when his weight left me. “What are you talking about?”

“You know, I couldn’t have done this without you. You’ve been such a rock. Your support is one of the only reasons I got that award tonight.”

His fingers stroked over my hairline. “Your gorgeous brain might have had something to do with it.”

I ignored his mutterings, losing myself in the feel of his body above mine. “I thought you might deserve a little something, too; a thank you, so to speak.”

He looked down at me, waiting. The slight line between his brows the only hint of his impatience. My stoic, quiet husband.

“I got my IUD taken out three weeks ago.”

He blinked, looked down at my stomach, then back to my face. “We’ve had sex since three weeks ago.”

“Yeah. Lots of it.” I shimmied my hips.

“I….you… unprotected sex .” He sounded so scandalized, he should have been clutching his pearls. I burst out laughing.

“Yeah, that’s our favorite kind.”

His fingers skimmed down my belly. “Regular reproductive functionality can be restored almost immediately after an IUD removal.” A grin split his face. His fingers caressed, soft and reverent. “Honey, are you pregnant?”

My cheeks hurt from smiling so hard. “Maybe. Maybe not, but…I haven’t gotten my period yet. Could be a good sign.”

“Lainey.” He lowered his head to my abdomen, my name sounding practically like a prayer. He grinned up at me, his eyes suspiciously misty. “You might be pregnant.”

“I might be,” I agreed, pulling him back up over me. I wanted to be eye to eye for this. “If I’m not…”

He stroked my hair from my face. “Then you’re not. And we’ll keep trying.”

Our kisses were deep and sweet. The start of a brand new adventure together. His mouth quickly turned probing, burning.

“We should probably keep trying right now,” I whispered. “Just in case.”

“Good idea,” he murmured against my mouth, reaching down to fumble with his zipper. “Smart, brilliant, award-winning, pregnant wife.”

I swore I could feel his dick jump against my thigh at his declaration.

“ Possibly pregnant.”

“I’m going to do my best to turn that possibility into a definitely.”

“You think you’re up for it, Dr. Reese?”

“I know I am, baby.”