“Babies sleep, April. If you missed her, you’ll just have to wait until the next visit.”
“Less talking, more driving.”
Twenty minutes later, we pull up at Spencer and Charlotte’s, and I practically run inside.
“Is she asleep?” I ask as soon as the door opens.
“I kept her up for you.” Charlotte laughs and passes the perfectly pink little bundle to me.
“Oh.” I stare down at her.
Sebastian walks in and puts his arm over my shoulder, staring down at her with me. “Isn’t she perfect?” I whisper.
He smiles. “She is.”
“Well, she is my child. What would you expect?” Spencer says when he walks into the room and kisses my cheek. “Hey, baby.”
I drop to sit on the couch and smile down at the beautiful baby in my arms.
She’s the epitome of wonderful.
Everyone chats and talks while Spencer makes us tea, but I just stare down at Hazel. I glance up to see Sebastian sitting opposite me, watching. “You’re creepy,” he mouths.
“I don’t care,” I mouth back.
I wipe off the last of my face cleaner and throw the cotton ball in the waste bin before I stare in the mirror. I look at the small wrinkles around my eyes. Hmm, I need some new turbo charged eye cream or something.
I turn the shower on and undress.
“Seb?” I call.
He stays silent, so I poke my head around the bedroom door to see he’s engrossed in the news on the television.
“Are you getting in with me, babe?”
“No.” His arm is above his head, and his eyes stay fixed on the screen.
“Okay.” I shrug and get in under the hot water. He must be tired. He’s been really quiet all afternoon. I wet my hair, pour shampoo into my hand, and I begin to lather it up. Is there anything better than hot water therapy? I really don’t think so.
“Do you want a baby?”
My eyes spring open. “What?”
“I said…” Sebastian is standing in the steam-filled room. “Do you want a baby?”
My mouth falls open in surprise. “Um.” I hesitate. Oh, jeez. “Well…”
Sebastian raises an eyebrow and waits for my answer. “It’s a yes or no question, April.”
“Well… mine’s not really a yes or no answer.”
“Meaning what?”
“It’s a complex question.”
He puts his hands on his hips. “How?”
“I don’t want a baby.” I pause before feeling brave enough to say the rest. “I want your baby.”
His eyes search mine.
I exhale. “I mean, I know—”
He cuts me off by stepping forward into the water, still fully clothed, and he takes me into his arms.
“What are you doing?” I frown.
“Marry me.”
30
April
I stare up at him. What?
“Why not?” he asks. “We both know that this is it for us. You love me and I love you.”
My mouth falls open. “You’re serious?”
“Deadly.” He smiles down at me before leaning in and kissing my lips.
“Seb.”
“Say yes, April.” His tongue sweeps through my parted lips,
I smile against him. “This is—”
“Say yes.”
“Yes.”
He pulls back to look at me. “Friday.”
I frown. “Friday, what?”
“We marry on Friday.”
“Friday?” I gasp.
“You said we could elope.”
“When did I say that?”
“When we started dating.”
“That was a flippant comment.” I shake my head in disbelief. Is this conversation really happening? “I’m working on Friday, anyway.”
“All right… next Friday.”
I blink in surprise as shampoo begins to run down my face. “Next week?” I tip my head back to wash this stupid shampoo out of my hair before I’m blinded.
“No point dragging it out.” He takes his wet T-shirt over his shoulders and throws it on the floor. He drags his pants down and kicks them to the side. “Kiss me.”
“Sebastian, let me wash this damn shampoo out.”
He brings his hands up to do it for me. I open my eyes to see him smiling down at me.
I smirk.
“Friday,” he mouths.
“Next Friday,” I remind him.
“In secret, in Spain.”
“Spain?” I squeak.
Hell on a cracker, this man is full of surprises tonight.
He takes me into his arms. “I want to marry the woman I love in the country I come from. The land where my ancestors roamed.”
Oh, my heart.
I don’t know if I can even take time off from work, but seriously, who fucking cares? “Okay.” I smile, “Next Friday, in Spain, just you and me.”
He smiles as his lips meet mine. “Mrs. Garcia.”
My stomach somersaults. Did that really just happen?
I can’t even…
“Sebastian, are you high?”
“Next Friday.” His hands slide down to my behind. “I will be.”
Cloud nine is a great place to be.
I sit in my office and stare into space wearing the goofiest of all goofy grins. I keep envisioning Seb in the shower last night, under the water in his clothes, asking me to marry him. The way he was so hopeful and gorgeous.
It was unexpected, and yet it was perfect at the same time. It wasn’t romantic but it was madly romantic. There was no ring, but I don’t even think I want an engagement ring.