Daphne Vs. Daddy
“You woke up with a random guy that morning?” he asks, laughter in his voice.
“Yes.” I hate admitting this too. “To this day, I have no idea what his name is.”
Apollo just laughs and pulls me tighter. “I didn’t know I’d fallen in love with a girl who gets around like that,” he says in a teasing voice. “Do you remember my name?”
“Only to yell it when you’re in trouble,” I say primly. Revenge will be mine.
“Or scream it when I’m fucking you, long and hard,” he whispers in my ear.
Okay, that was true too. I grin despite myself.
He flips me around in his arms as easily as he’d flip a baby. Despite my best intentions and what I want to do, I find myself looking him in the eye. So damn embarrassing. Who has a mental breakdown over an ugly vase?
“I’ve been thinking,” Apollo whispers, his eyes dark and full of boundless love in the moonlight and streetlights streaming into the room. “I don’t know if you know this, but I’m the Wolf of New York.”
“Oh really? I hadn’t noticed,” I say teasingly. Revenge will be mine, dammit.
He mock glares at me for a moment and then says seriously, “I don’t need to work as much as I am. I’m doing it because it’s all I’ve ever done. It’s who I am. But I’m starting to realize that I’m a lot more than just the name on the signature line of a check. I’m your fiancé, and in five months, I’m going to be your husband.
“I could stop working tomorrow and we could live the rest of our lives as comfortable as clams on a beach.”
“Clams on a—” I can’t finish, I’m laughing so hard.
“It’s my analogy. Roll with it. Anyway, if me being gone is affecting you this much, I will meet with my lawyers and start working out the paperwork to sell off some of my business holdings. I don’t need more money. I need more Ashley.” He kisses me on the nose and then whispers, “I need more baby Ashleys.”
I freeze in his arms. We’d never discussed having a baby, not seriously anyway. It was something we’d do “later,” right about the time I actually got around to cleaning out my closet and donating unwanted clothes to Goodwill.
You know, someday.
“A baby?” I push out past the knot in my throat the size of a baseball. Maybe a basketball. It’s a damn big knot, okay?
“Yeah. You know, those little things that cry and poop their diapers and bang on pots? We can hire a live-in nanny to take some of the stress off us but dammit, we’re going to be hands-on parents. I will change diapers. Speaking of stress removal, you have a lot on your plate at work – have you thought about hiring an assistant? Not just another employee, but an assistant to be there to do whatever you need during the day.”
“I was looking at financial projections and I’m not sure the company can afford the cos—”
“Send me the bill,” Apollo says, and I can tell he means it. “She can be your personal assistant, there to do whatever you want. If you want to send her out to go lingerie shopping every day, then do that.”
“Lingerie shopping every day?” I can’t hold in my laugh. True to form, the one thing Apollo can think of that I’d need help with is buying lingerie. I’m surprised he didn’t bring up vibes and nipple clamps.
“Well, we need to get you prego, you know. I think lingerie could never hurt in that pursuit.”
“So practical,” I say dryly, flipping him over onto his back and straddling his chest, running my fingers up him and to his jaw. “What else could we do to help this process along?”
“I’m sure I could think of a few things,” he says modestly, running his hands up my thighs and to my waist. “But before we get too far into this project, Ash, you know that vase was a joke, right? I saw it and it reminded me of that day when I made you stand on one foot for fucking ever, just to be a dick. I didn’t expect you to actually like it.”
“Oh thank god!” I say in a rush. “Because it is quite possibly the ugliest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
It is only minutes later and I find myself repeating “Oh god,” but this time? It is in a much more breathy tone of voice.
After all, we need to get started on that baby project right away.
174
Christine
I stare down at the pregnancy test in my hands.
No, no, no, no…