Back to Me (Book Three ✓)

thirty-two

EMMA

Still unnerved by the mysterious phone call, calmed somewhat and only because I'm with Beau, I try to shake off my fears and focus on whatever he has in store for me.

Beau pushes the door to the tiny guest room open, smacking my butt as I walk past and I blush hotly. Eyes hurriedly scanning the room for the surprise, I try not to look too disappointed.

It's the same as it was the last time I'd seen it: a relatively bare room. Piles of laundry probably, on the futon, concealed with a blanket to appear neater than it is. Some of Beau's guitars. Boxes. A few of Beau's favorite awards hanging on the walls in clear glass frames.

"What is it?" I ask, peering up at him curiously.

"Move the blanket, Em." He chuckles as if it's obvious, rolling his eyes as he leans against the doorframe and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Okay," I bite my bottom lip. If it is laundry, as I suspect, he really needs to be more on top of it.

And I certainly don't feel up to it at the moment.

Trying to downplay my excitement, I carefully remove the sheet, my breath hitching in my throat once I see what's underneath.

Not laundry at all. Well, some laundry atop the pile to disguise the rest: a large box, containing what appears to be a sleek, white baby-crib, pictured on the outside of box, a chubby baby smiling inside, arms raised above its head. Beside the crib, a few different gallons of paint.

I turn to Beau slowly, an apprehensive grin on my lips.

"I don't know how we'll do things when the baby gets here, and I figured you want to do most of the decorating and stuff..." he rubs the back of his neck. "But I figured I might need a spot here, so... This is a start."

My belly swarms with butterflies. Approaching the package, I scan it quickly, fingers tracing the edges as each detail gets me more excited.

My eyes trail to the paint cans and I examine them carefully, reading the labels, visions of our nursery already coming alive in my mind.

Garden Fern. Sweet Clementine. Cool Mint.

My gaze rests on the last one.

Sunshine Yellow.

"It's perfect," I murmur, turning to Beau slowly, both impressed and proud of him for the selections.

"It had good reviews," Beau rushes, drumming his fingers along the packaging. "Sturdy railings, durable, easy to build, all that."

"Good," I nod, wrapping my arms around his waist, the set-up process of the crib one of the last things on my mind at the moment. Tilting my head back to see his face, I scrunch my nose. "But it'll look even better in the lake house."

"I don't know, Em. I don't want to stay there by myself. It's your place." He glances around the small room, the discontentment pretty clear in the firm set of his lips.

If he felt guilty about bringing Zeus here, I can imagine he isn't super happy about having the baby in the apartment, either. It's not a bad place - but definitely not like what the old Beau Lewis would have provided his kid. I know it's what he's thinking.

I peer up at him, his face even more ruggedly handsome than the first time I'd seen him. More mature, healthier, but still deviously seductive. I stand on my toes, placing a gentle kiss to his lips, the spark it sends straight to my heart just as electric as when our lips met for the first time.