Permanent Bliss (Bliss #3.5)(4)
Author: B.J. Harvey

I value my balls right where they are, thank you.

I don’t keep secrets from Mac. Ever. Surprises don’t count. But something like this? Never in a million years. I’m not a fan of f**king up, and I don’t plan on starting now. Tonight is Mac’s bachelorette party tonight—and once she’s recovered from her mammoth hangover that Kate has pre-warned me they all will have—then we’ll sit down like rational adults and discuss Noah’s request.

It’ll be fine. It has to be.

There isn’t any other option.

Chapter 2: “Faithfully”

Mac

I watch him from across the room, something I do more often than I care to admit.

He’s in our family room with Riley and Jared as they try to team up on him. For two little eighteen-month old terrorizers, they’ve mastered the art of attacking their parents. Watching him horse around with them is one of the hottest and most heart-warming things I will ever see; the man I love playing with his children.

Never one to miss an opportunity, I take stock of my life as it stands right now.

I’m in love with the most gorgeous superhero in Chicago. With his caramel-colored eyes, his dark brown hair that I’m forever running my fingers through, his perpetual smirk that captured my heart before my brain could even catch on, his body …

Shit, is it getting hot in here?

Then there are the things I love the most about him. The way he cherishes our two little menaces melts my heart on a daily basis. He is honestly the best father I could have ever chosen for my children, playful but firm, protective but open minded. The best man I have ever known other than my own father. And to sound super cheesy, it’s like he was made to be with me.

He treats me with respect, he listens to what I say and everything in our lives is discussed and agreed upon. We’re a true partnership, not just two people in a relationship. The only thing that I didn’t have a say in was our house. That was a Daniel surprise of epic proportions. We moved in about a month before the birth of the twins. He told me we were going to visit his parents for the weekend, but I knew something was up when we started driving in a completely different direction to their house. Then we were pulling up in front of a massive, yet quite understated brick family home in the suburb of Beverly and I knew that something was amiss.

He got out of the car and rounded the hood, coming around to my side and helping me out because, let’s be honest, I was fifty-nine weeks pregnant—or felt like it—and needed help getting vertical in all situations, including the toilet. Mortifying. Anyway, he put his hand in mine and walked right up to the door, pulling a key from his pocket and opening the door.

“Daniel … what’s going on?” I asked as he pulled away from me and gestured for me to enter.

“What do you think, gorgeous?” he closed the door behind us and there we were, standing in the foyer of a huge three-level house.

I took a step forward and ran my hand over the smooth wooden finish of the staircase’s handrail. Turning around to look at him, my eyes were wide as saucers he would later tell me. “It’s beautiful. Are we meeting a realtor here?”

He chuckled and walked toward me, placing one hand on my hip and the other on my protruding belly. “No, Mac. We don’t need a realtor anymore because this is ours. Our new house. Our home. It’s where we’ll raise our children. The threshold I will carry you over on our wedding night and the house that I’ll wake up to you in every morning, and go to sleep with you in every night.”

He rubbed his hand across the curve of my stomach and that was it, I was a blubbering mess. For a good thirty minutes, Daniel sat on the stairs laughing at me as I struggled to rein in the hormones.

What did I tell you, that man is one of a kind.

And he’s all mine.

Tonight is my bachelorette party. Kate says it’s my last night out on the town with the girls as a single woman. I’ve tried to tell her that I’m not really single when I have a huge rock on my hand and a mini-me and a mini-superman at home waiting for me, but she wouldn’t hear of it.

Daniel walks me to the door, wrapping his arms around my waist and pinning my body to his as soon as we reach the porch. “Should I be worried?”

I frown. “Worried about what? We’re just going to Kate’s to get ready and have a few drinks before the limo picks us up and drives us around for a bit. I don’t think I can get into too much trouble, hon.”

He offers a small smile, but I can feel the tension coursing through his body. “I’m not worried about that. Your mom and my sisters will be there. Trouble doesn’t stand a chance.”

I shake my head, wondering where the f**k this is coming from. He’s been distracted the last few days and if he were anyone other than Daniel Winters, I’d almost believe the temperature in his feet was dropping. I’m beginning to think some reassurance is in order. Although, you’d think my offering in bed this morning would have warmed every part of his body up, not just the fun parts.

“Superman, I’m not looking for anything or anyone other than you, Riley, and Jared. You know that, right?”

That earns a tightening of his arms as he squeezes me tight. “Thank you,” he murmurs roughly against my forehead as he plants a soft kiss against my skin, sending tingles throughout my body.

Always being one to make sure my message is heard loud and clear, I lift my head and move my arms up his body, capturing his groan as I claim his mouth, planting a long, satisfying and truly meaningful kiss on his lips. When his hands slide down to my ass, I wrap my legs around his waist as he lifts me up and walks backwards to pin me against the side of the house. Taking control of the kiss, he plunders my mouth, his hands massaging my ass cheeks as he rocks my core against his now hard length.

We pull our mouths apart, resting our foreheads against each other as we struggle to catch our breath. Looking him dead straight in the eyes, I pull his head back by his hair and pin him with a stare.

“YOU are who I’m coming home to. YOU are who I am marrying in two weeks’ time and it’s YOU who will get to enjoy the fruits of this day long celebration because it’s YOU who has my body, my heart and my soul.”

Not one to miss a chance to tease him, I lean forward so that my mouth is an inch away from his ear, my warm breath fanning across his skin earning a gratifying shudder. “And it’s you who I want buried eight inches inside me tonight when I’m feeling drunk and freaky.” Gently biting his earlobe, I release my legs and stand up straight.