It was whacked but he almost liked hearing her say that more than hearing her tell him she loved him.

Almost.

Then again, coming from his Emme, it meant the same thing.

He let out a breath and with it went the tightness he felt in his gut. After, he dropped his mouth to hers and gave her a brief kiss.

When he lifted his head, she asked, “You’re moving in with me?

His head tilted at the repeat in subject, and her baffled tone, and he replied, “Yeah, babe. Told you that. Not tomorrow or—”

She interrupted him. “What about your house?”

“We get to that time, I’ll sell it.”

This time, her head tilted. “You’ll sell your house?”

He felt his brows draw together. “Yeah.”

“But, don’t you like your house? I mean, it’s an awesome house.”

“Yeah, Emme, I love my house. I worked my ass off for that house. But do I love that house more than you love this heap?”

He felt her body still under his.

“No,” he answered when she didn’t. “So, when we’re at that place to make the change, I move here.”

She was silent.

Utterly.

Then she wasn’t. But she said something that made little sense.

“I have more bedrooms than you.”

“Yeah, you do,” he agreed unnecessarily.

“So our kids can have their own rooms, even if we have a bunch of them. Like, four. But, just saying, we’ll need to keep a guest room for when Mom and Dad or Rich and Karla visit.”

That was when Deck stilled.

“Though, I don’t want four kids, just to say,” Emme continued.

Deck had no reply.

This was because his blood felt like it was boiling, his heart pumping so hard in his chest, she had to feel it.

And Emme kept talking.

“Actually, I was thinking two. Girls.”

Deck replied to that.

“One has to be a boy so I can name him after Chace.”

“Chace?” she asked, then declared. “If we have a boy, we’re naming him after Dad.”

Had she lost her mind?

“I am not namin’ a kid Barnard,” he declared.

“We have to name him after Dad.”

“That isn’t happening, Emme.”

“Okay, I get you. It isn’t exactly a name in vogue right now so maybe we can use it as a middle name,” she compromised.

“Babe, no,” he refused her compromise.

Her voice was pitched higher, which meant more annoyed, when she asked, “Not even as a middle name?”

And it was then he realized they were there.

She’d been scared. She had logical reasons to be scared. She’d shared. They’d talked.

Now they were arguing about what to name their future son.

He wasn’t pulling her back as she was pushing away.

They were talking about what to name their future son.

So Deck didn’t even try to control it when he lifted his hands to frame her face and dipped his head so close to his girl, all he could smell was strawberries.

“You get the house we raise our kids in. I get to name our son Chace Richard,” he whispered, his voice thick.

Her voice husky in return, her hands gliding down his chest then around to link at his back, she replied, “That actually has a nice ring to it.”

He dropped closer and against her lips whispered, “Decided.”

“Yeah,” she whispered back.

“Love you, Emme.”

“Love you too, Jacob.”

When he got that, he took her mouth.

Then he gave back.

It took another two hours before Emme settled on top of him again.

And her voice stated plain she was almost gone when she sleepily said, “Your kaleidoscope will look awesome in this room. Maybe on the mantel.”

She was not wrong. It would look good in this room.

But it wasn’t going on the mantel.

“You feel the urge, baby, you can put it on my nightstand tomorrow.”

“I would if I had it,” she replied, her voice fading with each word then her body weight pressed into him as she fell asleep.

But Deck’s entire frame strung tight.

Due to what was happening, he hadn’t thought much about his missing kaleidoscope, which had gone missing during the time he was in Denver. Something that told him Emme, in a snit, had taken it.

And when he did think about it, he hadn’t brought it up in an effort not to argue because he loved her and he got she was in a rough place and had been for years, but it pissed him off she took it.

He also hadn’t seen it anywhere in her house.

Further, he remembered she’d looked confused when they’d been fighting and he told her he wanted it back.

Now she said she didn’t have it and she had no reason to lie.

And he had not moved it.

So where the f**k was it?

Chapter Nineteen

Everything to Me

A week and a half later…

Deck heard Emme’s whimper as he moved his mouth from between her legs to her belly.

Slowly, he slid his tongue up her body from navel, between her br**sts, to dip it in the indent of her collarbone before he buried his face in her neck.

She circled him with her arms, wrapped a leg around his thigh and lifted the other knee high, pressing it tight to his side.

An invitation.

He nipped her earlobe with his teeth.

He felt her lips press against his neck and her soft breaths there.

“Do you love me, Emme?” he whispered.

“Yes,” she breathed, writhing underneath him.

“Say it,” he ordered gruffly.

“Love you, Jacob.”

When he got the words, he slid in slowly, listening to her breaths become pants and feeling her limbs tighten around him.

She loved having him inside. All of him.

Fuck, every bit of her, sweet.

“Want you to kiss me, honey,” she murmured as he moved, sliding out slow, sliding in slower.

He lifted his head to look at her. “Taste of you, baby,” he reminded her.

“I don’t care,” she replied then lost patience. She bent her neck and took his mouth.

He let her taste him, and herself, then he took over, still moving inside and taking his time.

He kissed her as her hands moved on him.

He kept kissing her as he moved his hands on her.

It was when she broke her mouth from his, unable to take more of his tongue, that he knew she was close.

“Faster,” she gasped.

He gave her what she wanted, his fingers at her breast honing in, rolling her nipple.

“Oh God,” she whimpered, her h*ps jerking. “Faster, honey.”