Say It Again (First Wives, #5)(96)

Okay . . . so this was what looking at tomorrow was like.

She swallowed and felt equal parts fear and excitement. “I don’t know how to do that,” she told him, honestly.

“There’s nothing you have to do, you just don’t leave. Another guy realizes how hot you are, you tell him to buzz off and I break his arm. You know, what couples do.”

“I don’t think breaking arms is part of that.”

“It can be. We can set a new trend.”

Now she was smiling.

AJ swallowed hard and sat up. The blanket slid to his waist.

She followed his motion and his eyes landed on her chest. He leaned over, kissed one of her breasts, and lifted the blanket up to cover her. “Too distracting for what I have to say.”

Sasha held the cover in place and crossed her legs under her.

“I know this is new. We’ve been through some pretty serious stuff. But I’ve never felt for anyone the way I feel for you.”

“I like you, too, AJ.”

“Nope. This isn’t like. This isn’t ultra liking . . . max liking. This is that other L word I’m afraid to say because I think you might run in the opposite direction if I say it. And I don’t want to risk that.”

Her eyes felt heavy and she needed to blink several times to keep them from watering. “I don’t know what to do with that.”

“I know. But that’s okay, because I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to make love in front of the fireplace. Forage in the forest for firewood. Have a few snowball fights. Fight over who cooks the worst. And when we get tired of here, we’ll go somewhere else. We! Us.”

She wrapped her arms around her chest. Could she do that? Roots . . . even shallow ones were foreign.

“Try for me,” AJ said.

Her nod started slowly and grew. “Okay. Let’s do this us thing.”

AJ reached for the blanket, pulled it away. “Glad you see it my way.”

Laughter reached the snow outside before he pulled her under him and kissed away her fears.





Epilogue

Reed and Lori’s condo in a high building in downtown Los Angeles had been decorated with white lights and green garland. A beautiful flocked Christmas tree stood proud beside the floor to ceiling window. There were presents overflowing underneath, and holiday music filled the room.

AJ stood beside her, a cocktail in his hand. He wore a turtleneck sweater and slacks, while Sasha went with a festive red Oscar de la Renta. The home was filled with people. Every one of them Sasha knew.

And babies.

So many babies.

“Scary, isn’t it?” Claire looked around the room, waving a chocolate martini in the air. “Better not drink the water around here.”

AJ scowled. “I’m not ready for that.”

“Oh, thank God. Neither am I,” Sasha muttered.

He leaned over, kissed the side of her head.

Lori walked toward them, one of her baby girls in her arms. Once she moved closer, Sasha recognized which one. “Would you mind holding her? I need to get a few things in the kitchen.”

“Of course.”

Sasha took the infant in her arms and smiled at the cherub cheeks and bright blue eyes.

Claire chuckled and followed Lori as she walked away. “I’ll help.”

Holding a baby might have been foreign, but she was getting used to it. Much like the us and we thing she had going with AJ.

“You’re very adorable,” she said in Russian. “But I’m not ready.”

“Which one is that?” AJ asked.

“You can’t tell?”

“They’re twins. I’m not supposed to tell.”

“It’s Samantha. Sasha has a little attitude in her upper lip.” She didn’t think she’d ever get used to the fact that Reed and Lori had named one of their daughters after her. They’d heard the news two days after they arrived in Utah. Sasha had cried. Supersobbing ugly cry, and AJ held her while she did.

“How you doin’ over there?” Reed asked from several feet away, Sasha in his arms.

“You take care of that one, I have this one.”

The doorbell rang and Shannon and her husband, Victor, came into the room, a car seat in his hands.

“Another one?” AJ asked.

“I warned you.”

Sasha moved to the edge of the sofa and looked down. Samantha had closed her eyes, little pouty lips slightly open as she slept. It was one of the most adorable things she’d ever seen. “Still not ready,” she whispered.

Lori walked back over. “Here, let me put her to bed.”

Sasha handed over the eight-pound bundle and jumped up to find a drink.

“It’s really not contagious,” Trina said from across the room.

“It is with this group,” Avery said. She and her husband, Liam, were tag teaming their son during the party.

“So, Claire, how are you liking the new place?” Wade asked her once she came back into the room.

“It’s perfect. I already talked to Jax, and she’s coming as soon as she graduates in June.” Neil had set her up in a house in Encino that his sister-in-law had owned for years. It was ideal for Claire. Close enough to commute to work, which was with the security team, and UCLA, where she was taking classes to get her degree. “The two of us single and living in Southern California, I can’t believe this is my life.”