Chapter Seven
Piper
"Stop glaring at me," I hiss at Cortez, poking him in the ribs.
"You didn't tell me your doctor is a man, pretty baby," he complains for the tenth time in as many minutes, prompting me to roll my eyes. He's being ridiculous. My doctor is a man…a sixty-year-old man with a wife, four kids, and seven grandchildren. He's delivered hundreds of babies and seen God only knows how many hoo-has. Mine is not special.
"And you didn't tell me that you're a freaking billionaire," I remind him.
"Forgot," he mutters with a shrug.
The sad thing is…I'm pretty sure he's not lying. He grew up with money, so becoming a billionaire when he took over Blake Industries probably wasn't a big deal to him. He just casually slipped it into conversation the day after I told him I was pregnant when we were discussing why we weren't going to spend a small fortune to pay a moving company to pack my stuff for me.
"Why not? I'm a fucking billionaire." were his exact words. I nearly had a panic attack, though I'm not really sure why. I knew he was rich. I worked that out myself when I found out he was a Blake. He told me he was taking over his family's company, which should have clued me in to exactly how wealthy he is. But I guess I just didn't consider exactly what that entailed for him financially.
I'm in love with a freaking billionaire. A billionaire is in love with me. I don't care about his money. The thought of it is a little overwhelming, to be honest. I just want him. But I'll take him however he comes.
I feel like I went to sleep in my normal life and woke up in the Twilight Zone. I can't complain though. The last two weeks have been the best two weeks of my life. Every night, I fall asleep in Cortez's arms and wake up the same way. He's my dream…only he's somehow even better than the fairytale I always envisioned. He's so damn good to me. I feel like my feet never touch the ground because I spend every day floating ten feet in the air.
I don't ever want to come down.
"How's my baby?" he asks, pulling his stool closer to the bed to run his hand across my belly. "My boy doing okay in there?"
"Your daughter is fine."
He narrows his eyes on me. "You're not giving me a daughter, Piper."
"We'll see," I say, fighting a smile. We both know he wants a little girl. He was all for it until he realized she'd grow up. Then he flipped out and decided that I'm "not allowed" to give him girls. Like it's me who decides the sex of the baby. I love that he's already so overprotective. He's going to be an amazing daddy. I can't wait to see him with our baby.
We haven't told anyone yet. I know we can't keep it a secret forever, but we missed so much time already. We haven't wanted to share the news or each other with the rest of the world yet. We'll be doing that soon enough. I'm going to Nashville with him this weekend. I'll meet his family, and he'll meet mine. I know mine will love him. I hope his loves me. I hope they know I'm not interested in his company or his money or his name. I told him I'd sign whatever they want me to sign if that makes them happy, but he told me I wasn't signing a damn thing because everything he owns is mine and I'm never allowed to leave him.
"No girls," he growls, leaning down to kiss me.
"Whatever you say," I murmur against his lips. I don't care what we have. So long as the baby is healthy, I'll be happy. But I know he's going to be getting his girl whether he's ready or not. I feel it in my bones. Ever since I found out I'm pregnant, I've been sure it's a girl.
He kisses me until I'm completely lost in him, only pulling back when the exam room door opens and Dr. Bridges and his nurse, Dena, walk into the room.
"I love you," he whispers.
"I love you too."
He presses another kiss to my lips and then sits back on his stool to glare at the doctor.
I nudge him with my elbow, which he ignores. Naturally.
"Are you ready to find out what you're having?" Dr. Bridges asks, circling around the bed to take a seat beside the ultrasound machine.
"So ready," I whisper, reaching for Cortez's hand.
"We're ready," Cortez confirms, bringing my hand to his lips to feather kisses across my knuckles. He watches Dr. Bridges like a hawk as he and Dena prep everything for the ultrasound. I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing at the suspicious look on his face. It's completely ridiculous and adorable at the same time. I know I shouldn't encourage him, but part of me loves that he's so possessive. I feel the same way about him. The thought of another woman's hands on him makes me crazy.
"Are you comfortable, pretty baby?" he asks, playing with my fingers.
"I'm fine," I promise.
"You're beautiful." He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, running the back of his hand down the side of my face. "I don't know how I got so fucking lucky."
"Cortez," I whisper.
"Marry me."
"What?" I blink at him, sure I heard him wrong.
"Marry me," he says again. Only, this time, he lifts my hand and I realize he wasn't just playing with my fingers. He put a ring on me. Holy crap. He put a ring on me. A massive solitary diamond. "I bought this ring two months ago because I knew you were it for me. I knew you were the one I'd spend the rest of my life with. You and our baby belong with me."