Players, Bumps and Cocktail Sausages (Silence #3)(51)

She melted into my chest.

“Not many men in your situation would class it as lucky. Not many women would either.”

“Well we’re not like many men or women. What do you need from me, Holly?”

“I just want you to be there. I want you to attend the appointments, or as many as you can that don’t clash with work.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Fuck work. I’ll sort something out. What do you need?”

“I just answered that,” she replied, looking at me like I’d lost it.

“You answered for the baby, me being there is a given. I’m talking about you.”

“Oh.” Her cheeks reddened. “Um, I guess I need you too. I may have weird cravings in the middle of the night.”

I tightened my arms around her.

“Really, just for midnight craving runs, huh?”

I was flirting with the mother of my baby five minutes after she’d told me we were having a child. Only Holly could get me to do that. She was unlike any girl I’d known or been attracted to. I was quickly becoming addicted to her shy blushes.

Lowering my head, I raised my eyebrow, making my intentions clear and giving her the chance to stop me. She didn’t, so I kissed her.





Chapter Twenty-One


Holly




I sat beside Jasper on his sofa. Telling him went a lot easier than I thought it would. I loved that he was happy about it and planned to be there for our baby. My child deserved a dad and Jasper was going to be a fantastic one. It was such a relief that he wasn’t running.

I could still feel his lips against mine, kissing me tenderly. Right now I just wanted to kiss him again, but I’d just dropped the baby bomb and we had a lot to talk about.

“I really, really thought you’d freak out,” I admitted, pulling my legs up on the sofa.

“Why?”

“Because of everything that’s happened recently. I mean eight weeks ago you thought you were a year off having a baby with your wife. Then you thought she was having your baby only to find out it’s the man’s that she cheated on you with. Now this.”

His frown deepened. “Thank you for that lovely summary. And for making me sound like a prick.”

Okay, that was a lot. Jasper had crammed about a year’s worth of ups and downs, heartbreaks, one-night stands and drama into about seventy days.

“That’s not what I meant to do. Your marriage breakdown was Abby’s fault. She wrongfully made you believe you were one hundred per cent the father.”

“Still, doesn’t look that great, does it?”

Well, no.

“It doesn’t matter, Jasper. I’d just like to concentrate on the future, not the past.”

“This future,” he said, biting his lip and running his fingertips over my stomach. I stopped breathing. Why did his touch make me feel like I was floating? He was the wrong person for me. I didn’t go for cocky, womanising older guys. He was seven years my senior but sometimes seemed five years my junior!

It was the eyes. Those smouldering, grey eyes that pulled me in. He was painfully good-looking and cheeky too. No wonder he’d had so many women. Would that continue? There was no reason why not; he was single and just because he was a dad that didn’t mean he couldn’t still have a social life.

I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t do anything about it.

“What’re you thinking?” he asked. “Your eyes have glazed over.”

“Nothing,” I replied a little too quickly. “Just trying to get my head around the fact that I’m going to be a mum.”

“You’re gonna be a great mum.”

“I hope so. Me and Brad had a great childhood, and I really want our child to have the same.”

“She will. I’ll make sure of it,” he replied.

His eyes filled with a passionate determination that broke my heart. He would give our child what he had taken away from him. I couldn’t imagine finding out someone I loved so much was a monster and had hurt someone else I loved.

Jasper’s relationship with Oakley was so touching. I thought I was fairly close to Brad before I met them. I’d do anything for my brother but actually we weren’t really that close at all. So much of Jasper’s happiness was directly linked to Oakley’s, and I know he’d do anything for her. They had the relationship I hoped my child would have with a sibling – way, way, way into the future.

“This still seems like a dream. Actually, the last two and a half months of my life has.”

“I’m sorry, Jasper. I know things have been hard for you recently, and with the divorce still hanging over you, there’s a lot you still have to deal with. Guess this isn’t helping,” I said, placing my hand over our growing baby.

“Hey, this is the one thing keeping me together. I’d planned on getting smashed again tonight. For the past few weeks, I’ve been drifting from one bottle to the next, one woman to the next just trying to forget. My life was quickly going down the toilet, and I didn’t even care.”

He placed his hand over mine.

“This is my reason to get my life together. I don’t want to be a mess anymore. I want you and the baby to be able to rely on me. I promise you I’ll be that man, Holly. I won’t let either of you down.” The way your dad let you down.