“I won’t,” I say, holding in a giggle. “It looks good on you. I’m just not sure about the rest of the world.”
Asher’s eyes shine like the Paris sky outside the window. “Thank you. I’m sure Granny knows what she’s doing. She always seems to pull everything off.”
“If there’s anyone who can do it, she can.”
“You look ravishing this morning,” he murmurs, eyeing me.
I stand slowly and massage the kinks out of my shoulders. “Do I?” I’m still in my fluffy purple cat housecoat. I haven’t given it up because I love it.
“Do you know what purple puffiness does for me?”
I walk over to the coffee table in the expansive living room and set my coffee cup down. “No. Why don’t you tell me?”
“You’re the woman I love, and you’d look good in anything but the best in nothing. That sounds like a riddle.”
I snort as Asher closes the distance and wraps his arms around my waist. He leans in, which despite the massive bump between us, is still easy for him because he’s so tall. With a small satisfied sigh, I rest my hands on his shoulders and savor his kiss.
“I love you too. And I think that riddle also applies to you.”
People call us a rags to riches story. Okay, they call me that since I married Asher Paris, the billionaire. Then, I moved to Paris. I have this huge house, all the money in the world, and a thriving business we own. But most of all, I have the world’s actual best man as my partner. I personally think it’s slightly rude to call it rags to riches because, I mean, I never wore rags. I wore nice fair trade clothing from the company we still own, thank you very much. And the money, fame, and allure of Paris…none of it could have made up my mind. It was all Asher. From that first kiss on the sidewalk.
“Did your mom get back to you yet? About when they’re coming?”
“Next week, actually. We better have the guest room ready.”
My parents are going to come for a few months and help us after the baby is born. I know we could hire anyone, but no one is my mom. And I’d also like to see my dad. We still spend a lot of time in the States, and we make sure we visit my parents and my brothers’ families as often as we can, but still.
Asher’s mom and granny actually live close by, so we’ll have lots of support when our daughter arrives.
“Names,” Asher says seriously as he kisses me on the corner of the mouth again. “We better think of some because people have been asking me for months.”
“Yup. Since we made the announcement.”
“I guess that’s what we get for creating the world’s most adorable baby.”
“You haven’t even seen her yet!”
“I know. But I know she’ll look like you, so she’ll be beautiful in every way.”
“Oh geez.” I punch Asher on the shoulder playfully. “You’re going to help your granny today?”
“I am.” Asher works all around with his granny since he’s taken a more active role as head of the company.
“Okay, have fun.”
“You know I will. We’re getting ready to launch the new line, so Granny’s in a fit and flurry.”
“When is she not?”
“You’re right.” Asher kisses me on the mouth again. “She always is.”
“She has more energy than anyone I know.”
“She does. I sometimes feel like she could run a marathon if it’s what she decided to do. With zero training to boot. She’d just jump right in and probably still outrun everyone.”
I laugh. “God, she’s excited to be a great granny.” She wants us to name our daughter Monica after her own mother, and I like the name. I actually like it a lot.
“She is. And though my mom is less than excited to have the term grandmother, she’s still overjoyed to be one.”
Asher’s mom might have been wild back in the day, but she’s really settled down. She now lives in Paris full time and has been helping in the company. She’s loved me from the first, and she was overjoyed to hear we were going to have a baby. She said she wanted it to be a girl, though a boy would also have been acceptable and equally loved. Her exact words. Her smile was so big when she found out the baby was really a girl.
I give Asher two more kisses before pulling away. It’s weird for me not to be working on something or other, like some marketing or going over details with Asher. He’s been trying to ease me off of it since he doesn’t want me to get stressed out, but also because I want to be a full-time mom after I give birth. It’s getting closer and closer, so even I’ve been trying to cut back on work duties.