The Dating Game (Alphalicious Billionaires 5)

Alex stepped forward and wrapped Muffy up in his arms. Her belly jutted in between them, but he’d grown used to that.

“Just one more month. Hang in there.”

“One more month of ugliness and then I’ll look like a hag forever after because I won’t get any sleep.”

“If you look like a hag, which isn’t possible, but even if you did, you’re still my hag.”

He took her chin in his hand and tilted her face up. When he kissed her, he lingered over her lips, leaving no doubt in her mind that he found her sexy.

“You’re not puffy.” He dropped a chaste kiss on her jaw. “Not at all. You’re beautiful. You’re carrying our baby. You’re sexy. You’re amazing. I don’t know how you put up with feeling sick all day and still get anything done. You’re incredible. You’ll be the best mother. Even if we don’t sleep for the rest of our lives, it will be worth it, and you’ll still always be the most beautiful woman in the world to me.”

Alex pulled back after he was certain that Muffy’s smile had changed from forced to genuine. Her eyes still glistened but at least they were dry.

“Now. Put on that black dress that you bought last month. It’s beautiful. Jay and Carla said this wasn’t supposed to be overly formal. I ditched the tie. Wear that and that yellow sweater. After we get home, I promise to take my time stripping them off of you.”

Muffy rolled her eyes, but there was no mistaking the flush of pleasure riding high on her cheeks. “What are you going to do when we’re not supposed to do this anymore? And then we can’t, for a few months?”

“Probably die,” he admitted, but he flashed her a grin. “I’m kidding. Don’t worry about that stuff. We’ll get through it, just like we’ve got through everything else.”

“Like our best friends deciding to marry each other after they both vowed they’d be single for life?”

“Yeah. Even that.”

Alex went to their shared closet and pulled the dress in question off the hanger. It was luckily still there, not rumpled on the floor. He didn’t exactly have a Plan B and even though the wedding was a tiny, intimate affair because that was just Carla and that was just Jay, he still wanted to get there on time.

“Don’t worry.” Muffy took the dress from him, dropped her robe, and deftly slid it over her head. She had to tug it over her belly, but once it was in place, it looked amazing. She could wear the old clichéd sack and she’d still look amazing. “I can always blame it on something to do with the pregnancy. Like… I was puking. Like… uh- my feet were swollen, and you had to carry me everywhere. Like… like I kept having to pee every five seconds. Oh wait. Those are all true.”

Alex grinned. “It’s Carla and it’s Jay. Don’t worry. We’re going to make it on time. They’ll understand if we’re five minutes late.”

“They’ll probably just try and find a bathroom at the building and get it on.”

“Probably.” Alex rolled his eyes. “So gross.”

“They’ve done it before.”

“Everywhere.”

“Pretty soon they’re going to be in the same boat as us. Married. Kids. All the things they pretty much gave up on.”

Alex stepped forward and pulled his wife in close. “And loving it. Just like we are. Even after three years. We’ve managed not to kill each other. I think we can keep up the streak, even with a bunch of kids running around the house.”

Muffy’s eyes bulged. “Kids? Like with an s? God. Let’s get this one out first before we talk about any more.”

“You’d seriously have more?” Alex actually seriously doubted it. He had just said it like that but Muffy had been really sick all through the pregnancy. She’d still gone to work, even though she was throwing up like ten times a day. That tapered off after three months, but he knew she felt constantly ill, even if the barfing phase was mostly over. She was tired too. Other than that, she was healthy, and the pregnancy was perfect. At least, their doctor said so. He privately thought that for his wife, it was torture, and he didn’t like to see her sick or in pain. It was hard for him too.

“Well, if we just have one, they’ll be seriously spoiled. Too spoiled.”

“If Jay and Carla have one, then technically, they’d be closer than siblings. Maybe that’s good enough.”

Muffy grinned. “She said she’s never having kids.”

“She also said she’d never get married.”

“Jay said he’d never date anyone normal.”

“No, I said that.”

“Let’s make a bet.” Muffy grinned deviously and Alex had to laugh. It wasn’t funny back then but now when they looked back on their first few weeks of dating, they could laugh about it all. “If they have a baby within two years, then we’re off the hook. If not… well- maybe by then they’ll have invented some better morning sickness medication.”