Coldhearted Boss

“All finished?” he taunts, swooping in to steal my plate and finish off the last bite.

“Hey!” I protest, reaching up to try to take it back.

He holds it over my head and then leans down, kissing me.

He steps closer, forcing me to lean back in my barstool so the countertop hits my lower back. He reigns over me, slanting his mouth and deepening the kiss. I fist his shirt, wrinkling it in my palm, and then his hands find the spaghetti straps on my dress so he can slide his fingers underneath them and push the silky material down my shoulders.

A shiver racks through me.

Our kiss is sinful, yet sweet thanks to the buttercream frosting.

If I wasn’t already pregnant, we’d be fixing that tonight.

“Mommy?” a tired little voice says from down the hall. “Dad? Can I have some water?”

We break apart, half groaning, half laughing. It’s part of the territory. There’s very rarely a lazy session of lovemaking for us these days. More often than not, we’re throwing on a TV show and running to the bedroom for an afternoon quickie, or we’re locking the bathroom door and laughing as we collide against the tiled wall in the shower, hungry and rushed to have each other before parent duty calls again.

Ethan leans down and whispers a promise against the shell of my ear: “Later.”

And then he’s stepping back, walking over to the cabinet to get one of Andrew’s cups for water.

I walk over to find our little boy standing in the door of his room, looking guilty for being out of bed. His brown hair is in disarray and he has his scruffy teddy bear tucked under one arm. I scoop him up, secretly happy to have another moment to squeeze him close today.

“Is Dad coming too?”

“I’m right here, bud,” Ethan says, passing him the water cup over my shoulder.

“Will you guys tell me a story?”

“Didn’t Nana read to you already?” I ask, smiling.

He nuzzles his head against my neck. “Just a little,” he says, shattering my heart into a million pieces.

There’s no way we’re walking out of this room without telling him a story first. The boy has us wrapped around his finger.

“Okay, come lie down.”

Once we’re all settled on his bed with him tucked under the covers between us, Ethan starts us off.

“One time, there was a beautiful princess—”

Andrew cuts him off. “You’re supposed to say ‘Once upon a time’!”

“Ah.” Ethan nods reverently. “Of course. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Taylor.”

“That’s Mommy’s name!” Andrew says, eyes wide with wonder.

I smile and shake my head, resting my head beside Andrew’s on his pillow and closing my eyes as I listen to Ethan’s deep voice when he continues.

“She was smart and clever, but her kingdom had fallen on hard times and she was the only one who could save it.”

“What did she do?”

“She got a job so she could make money to help save the kingdom and all its people.”

Andrew cracks up. “Princesses can’t work, Dad!”

“Of course they can,” he insists.

“What was her job?”

“She helped build castles—at least she wanted to help, but there was an evil coldhearted dragon standing in her way.”

I chuckle, aware of where he’s going with this.

“Oh no,” Andrew gasps, fully invested.

“The evil dragon was mean to her and tried to stop her from saving her kingdom, but the princess didn’t let that deter her—”

“Deter?” Andrew asks.

“She didn’t let that stop her. She kept working hard, even when the dragon snarled and stomped and growled. And you know what happened?”

“What?!”

“Her bravery saved her kingdom after all, and on top of that, she managed to soften the heart of the dragon so much he fell in love with her.”

“But he’s a dragon!” Andrew protests. “Dragons can’t love princesses!”

Ethan’s hand gently strokes my hair as he replies, “This one did.”