Love You, Baby (Must Love Diamonds 3)

Dragging her dress lower, he kissed his way to the exposed curve of her breast. “That’s not what you said though.”

“Merit.” Teasing warning sounded in her voice. “What exactly is it you want to run by me?”

“I’m going to sell my house.”

She paused with her hands inside his pants. “What?”

He cursed himself for bringing this up now, but there was no going back. “I can’t afford my house without my trust fund, so I’m selling it.”

“Why would you have to run that by me?” She drew back with a strange look on her face. “Are you…asking to move in?”

Whoa. “No, of course not.” His stomach lurched with the realization he would if she asked. He propped up on his elbow, head on his hand. “I’m buying Asher’s house. Or, you can buy his house, and I can buy this one from you.”

Her eyes went wide. “What?”

“I talked to him yesterday, and we agreed on a price. I thought since you’ll need more room when the baby comes, you and Ian could move in there, and I could move in here.”

She stared at him with an unreadable expression. Each second that ticked by aggravated his nerves. What seemed like a perfect solution suddenly had him sweating bullets. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Her lashes lowered as a frown creased her brow. “I can’t afford Asher’s house.”

“Then I’ll buy that one, and you keep making payments on this house, but we can still switch.” And once he got himself a decent job, or he turned thirty, he’d pay off this one for her, too. “You get more room, and I get a place I can afford.”

Her gaze lifted to his, full of disbelief. “You’re serious about this?”

“I am.”

Oh no—his stomach sank as her eyes filled with tears. “You know what? Forget it. I’m sorry I said anything. Honestly, I’m fine if you don’t want to do it. I have to move either way, and I thought—”

“Merit. Stop.” She smiled, then gave an embarrassed laugh when a blink sent tears cascading down her cheeks. “It’s fine. It’s amazing, actually. You just caught me totally by surprise, and I already warned you about the crying, remember?”

“They’re good tears?”

“Astounded, happy tears,” she assured him.

He leaned forward to kiss the salty moisture away. “Then you’d be okay with the switch?”

“Thrilled. Truly ecstatic.” She reached up to shove his shirt off his shoulders. “Now I have to say thank you after I apologize.”

“You don’t have to do either one,” he protested.

She pushed him onto his back and swung her leg over to straddle his hips.

“Mae...”

Her weight settled over his still-confined erection while she leaned forward to brace both hands flat on his chest. “What did I tell you about being quiet?”

He took a breath to speak, but she placed her finger on his lips. He held her gaze for a heart-stuttering moment, then opened his mouth and bit her finger. When her pupils dilated, he lifted his head to take the digit all the way into his mouth, curling his tongue around it as he sucked hard.

Her breath went shallow, and a low whimper parted her lips. He reached up to peel her dress down to her waist, then urged her forward so he could undo her light blue bra while ravishing her mouth.

As the heat built, they quickly removed the rest of their clothes, then came back together with matching, breathless grins. He’d loved sex from his very first time, but he’d never fully enjoyed a partner the way he enjoyed Mae. There was an absolute connection between them each and every time, no matter if it was fast and furious, or slow and sensual.

With her tight heat surrounding him, he felt complete in a way that eluded him except when he held a paintbrush in his hand and every stroke was perfection. With her, he finally understood the fundamental concept of making love.

She was perfection, her hair a wavy, golden halo on the tan sheets with each slow, deep thrust he made, his steady rhythm driving them both higher and higher. When her inner muscles clenched around him, he dipped down to stifle her scream with a kiss. Her release dragged him over the edge with her, and he smothered his own hoarse cry against her neck.

He shifted his weight to the side so he wouldn’t crush her or the baby, and when he could form a coherent thought again, the first three words his mind strung together were I love you.