“They do like you baby, they just show it in a very weird way.” I kiss her head. “Whereas I show you I like you in a very obvious, natural way.”
She chuckles against my chest, bringing a smile to my face.
Her hands trace along my spine, making me shiver and I pull her face back with my hands.
“Just to be clear,” I say, very seriously. “I like you very much.” Kiss. “I like our baby very much.” Kiss. “And I’d very much like to never hear the words ‘just hormones’ again.”
Her grin tugs at her cheeks. “You’re not going to let that go are you?”
I shake my head. “My ego has taken a beating, I’ll tell you.”
“Well.” Her hands come to my wrists. “Just to be clear. I like you very much too.”
I let out a dramatic sigh of relief and swallow her laugh with a kiss. “Now, can I please go fuck my girlfriend?”
“Girlfriend, huh?”
“Glad you’ve caught up.”
She laughs as I tug her back toward the bedroom, where I show her just how much I like her.
21
ROSIE
It’s beentwo weeks since my disastrous family reunion and I still haven’t heard from my parents. Jackson and I have spent nearly every second not at work locked in my flat and when he suggested we go for a walk before our twenty week scan this afternoon, this was the only place I wanted to go.
I love this time of year and there’s nowhere better to spend it than in Richmond Park. The air is crisp and mild, and rust colored leaves crunch underfoot. Unlike Hyde Park which is always packed with crowds, we’ve barely seen a soul in the hour since we made it here.
We’ve been meandering through the lanes, but I’ve been discreetly shepherding Jackson to the coffee hut in the center of the park that sells the best hot chocolate.
Anya and I discovered it last year when we were in the throes of wedding planning and staying in her London house. We’d spend days sipping from reusable mugs as I teased her about her new jet setting lifestyle.
“Okay, so you’re being pulled two meters by one arm?” I ask, interrupting Jackson as he explains the stunt he’ll be working on this week.
He shakes his head. “That’s how it will look on camera, but I’ll be in a full rig to avoid any injury.”
I bite my lip and concentrate on the leaves crunching underfoot.
“Are you worried, girlfriend?” Jackson grins down at me with a wink.
I roll my eyes but can’t stop the way my heart lightens. He’s called me girlfriend almost as much as pretty girl in the past week and I feel like giggling like a schoolgirl every time. I’ve had a few boyfriends over the years, but none of them claimed me in the way Jackson has.
“It just sounds crazy,” I burst out. “It seems like every week you’re getting thrown into a table or suspended in midair or plunged underwater in a car crash?—”
“That’s not for a few weeks yet.”
I cut my eyes to his. “It’s just a lot, is all. Have you ever thought of doing a courthouse drama? Ooh, or animation! That’s literally just you in a padded room.”
Jackson frees my hand so he can wrap his arm around my shoulder and tug me closer to his side. “What can I say, pretty girl, your boyfriend is a daredevil.”
“Adrenaline junkie more like,” I mutter as he plants a kiss to my temple.
“Look, I’ve got a good team around me and they’ve never steered me wrong. I’ve done hundreds of these stunts over the years. You should have seen some of the stuff they had me doing for Starseeker.”
“Like that fight scene where you smashed through a window and fell three stories in Starseeker’s Vengeance? I remember.”
He gasps and I feel my cheeks burn. “Rosie Taylor, you didn’t tell me you’ve seen them.”
