She smiled. “Most of the time. I'm sure he's on his best behavior. He was very excited to meet you. He knows his dad loves you.”

  “How do you feel about it?” I asked.

  She crossed the kitchen and rested her hand on my shoulder. “Joe loves you. This isn't too soon. It's been months now, and it's not like you two are new to each other. You're the first woman he's introduced to Joey, so I hope you understand how much that means.”

  Holy hell. No pressure or anything. I nodded. “I do.”

  She gave my shoulder another squeeze before stepping back, and I helped her prep the salad. I started to relax until she commented, “Joey has been wanting a little brother or sister. Maybe after you and Joe move on to getting married first. That'll be exciting for him.”

  She said this the way people who could have children spoke, calmly and as if it was an expectation.

  Fuck. I hoped my expression didn't show my panic. My stomach tightened into a painful knot instantly, and I took a breath, managing to nod and make a noncommittal noise.

  “Do you want children?” she pressed.

  “Oh, yes,” I said quickly because that was the truth. I just had no idea how she would feel if she knew I couldn't have children.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Joe

  One month later

  * * *

  I stared at the ring, turning it over in my hand. Even though I had already told Thea I planned to ask her to marry me, I was really going to do it this weekend. I'd taken Joey with me to pick out the ring, and he was sworn to secrecy. However, I promised him I'd ask her soon. He was spending tonight with my parents, which he did on occasion anyway. My dad was going to take him out fishing early tomorrow, so it was easier if he was staying there.

  Now came the hard part. We were going to have dinner at Bay Bistro. After that, I planned to take her for a walk on the beach. Way back when, in high school, we used to walk on the beach a lot. It was a great place to make out.

  I returned to my en-suite bathroom and glanced in the mirror to check my appearance before chuckling to myself. I wasn't worried about Thea being attracted to me, but here I was anxious about asking her to marry me.

  An hour later, Thea was seated across from me at a table in Bay Bistro. I felt her foot nudge my calf. “Look.”

  When I glanced out the windows, the sun was setting, casting a shimmer of orange and gold across the ocean’s surface. “It’s so pretty. Makes me want to go for a swim,” she commented.

  “Uh, do you remember how cold the water is here?” I asked.

  “I do, but I also remember how awesome it feels to dive in the ocean on really hot days.”

  Memories flashed through my mind of summer afternoons on the beach with her. I reached over to catch her hand in mine. She bit her lip. “You look beautiful.”

  “Really?”

  “That's not the kind of thing I lie about,” I said, completely serious.

  “I had a busy day at work. After the train ride, I was feeling kind of frumpy when I got here.”

  “I can't tell.”

  “You're good to me, Joe.” Her lips curled in a warm smile.

  “And you're good to me.”

  The server arrived to clear our plates, asking if we wanted dessert. Thea waggled her eyebrows. “Do we want the chocolate thing?”

  “We can take it home.”

  “Perfect.”

  She smiled up at the server. “I forgot what it's called, but we want that ridiculous chocolate thing to go with extra syrup.”

  Our server grinned. “That would be the chocolate mousse with a brownie center. I'll be back with that and the check in a few minutes.”

  “What's our plan this weekend?” she asked after he departed. “I thought Joey was with you.”

  “He'll be here tomorrow. He's spending the night with my parents. He does that sometimes.”

  A major bonus to easing Thea into meeting my son was we didn't have to alternate weekends anymore. For the first time since I'd been a father, I was getting a sense of what it felt like to expand my little family bubble. It wasn’t that I didn't feel like Joey and I were a family. We were, and that included my parents as well, but I hadn't been able to share parenting with anyone in my day-to-day life. Of late, his mother had also been busier than usual and even asked me to take him some during her weeks. I kept meaning to make time to talk to her, but my life was as busy as ever.

  “So, I have you all to myself tonight?” Thea teased a few minutes later as we walked out of the restaurant.

  “Absolutely. You also get me all to yourself when I come down there for the weekends.”

  “I've been thinking,” she began once we were in my SUV.

  “You're always thinking,” I teased lightly.

  She rolled her eyes. “Joe, I'm serious.”

  “Okay. What are you serious about?”

  I had just started the vehicle, but I didn't put it in gear and turned to face her.

  “What do you think about me moving up here?”

  My heart thudded hard as though pumping a fist in joy, but I kept my expression neutral. This was a loaded topic, especially for Thea.

  “I want you to know this is not an expectation for me,” I said carefully.

  “I know it’s not,” she said, her cheeks flushing slightly. “But while I like Boston and I like being near my friends, the more time I spend here, the more I just can’t wait until I can come here. Even on the weekends when you come to Boston, I'd rather us be up here. It won't be easy, but I could just start my own small law practice here.”

  “Are you serious?”

  She nodded quickly. “Absolutely. I’ve looked into my options. It’d be really hard to start my own law practice in Boston because so many large firms are already there. I don't love working for a big firm. I enjoy my work, but my job can feel like being in one of those revolving doors where I just spin around and around from one case to the next. Money would be tight, but I think I could do it here. What do you think about that?”

  My heart was punching both fists in the air now, but I forced myself to stay measured. “I think that'd be great, but it's really important to me that you know I don't expect this.”

  “I know, Joe. That's why I can think about it. My lease runs out next January. I could see where things are at by then around work. With that timing, we wouldn't be rushing anything with Joey.”

  I wanted Thea to move in yesterday, but I had to consider my son, so I wouldn’t rush it. I leaned over, cupping her chin lightly before I pressed a lingering kiss on her lips.

  “I love that idea,” I murmured as I lifted my head. “I absolutely love it. We've got plenty of time, and that gives you time to plan.”

  We smiled at each other, and for a split second, I felt like the giddy teenager I'd been after our first kiss.

  “All right, you promised me a walk on the beach tonight,” she said.

  Chapter Twenty

  Thea

  Summers in Maine meant warm days and cool nights. A soft breeze gusted off Haven’s Bay as we walked along the beach. The dark gray sand was scattered with rocks. We’d frequented this stretch of beach between Joe's new house and my old family home when we were together. We didn't have much spending money back then, so we'd often go for walks.

  “Do you think our place is still there?” I asked just as the wind caught my hair and spun it in a swirl. I lifted my free hand, brushing it back.

  “Of course, it's still there. The rocky ledges aren’t likely to go anywhere soon.”

  I grinned. “Do you think anybody else has found it?”

  Joe shrugged. “Maybe not, but I’d guess so. I'm not up for chasing off teenagers tonight, so I hope we have it to ourselves.”

  “Oh, are we planning to make out?” I teased.

  A giddy sense of joy rose inside my chest, and a sense of lightness gusted like a soft breeze through me. Finally telling Joe that I'd been thinking about moving up here was such a relief and felt so freeing. It felt right. He was so careful to make sure I understood he didn’t expect me to. He’d gone out of his way to make it seem like it would be no big deal if we got married and I commuted to Boston forever. That wasn’t what I wanted, though. I wanted a life with Joe.

  This was the right move for me, and it felt really good. Now that I'd voiced my plans aloud, I was almost annoyed that my lease didn't run out until after Christmas. That said, it probably was for the best. I didn't want to rush too much as far as Joey was concerned. While I could move up here and bang around my family’s home by myself, it would be nice to move right in with Joe.

  A few minutes later, the shoreline curved, and we approached the edge of a cliff. Joe's hand was warm around mine as we walked around a cluster of rocks with the sand damp under our shoes. The tide was out and wouldn't come in for hours. A moment later, a sheltered outcropping of rocks was revealed. It was still there, just as he assured me.

  I squealed. “It's here!”

  He smiled down at me, stopping and pressing a fierce kiss to my lips. “I thought it would be.”

  I leaned back to peer up at him. “We can kiss, but it has to be standing up. We're not sixteen anymore, and we don't need to deal with the sand.”

  Joe's laughter sent a blazing shiver through me. “Making out on the sand isn’t what I’m after.”

  I glanced around, my eyes scanning until I found the spot. Along the outer edge where the ledge hung over the rocks, we'd scratched our initials.

  Joe grinned. “Still there. It's probably more permanent than carving them on a tree.”

  “Definitely. I never thought I'd come back here,” I said, glancing up at him.

  “No?” he pressed, his tone low and soft.

  I took a deep breath when my chest tightened with a sting of pain. “No, this was our place, and it hurt that we broke up.”

  Still holding his hand, I turned to look out at the ocean, breathing in the crisp salty air. Seagulls were calling in the distance, and a crow was somewhere nearby, chattering right back at them. The wind blew my hair back from my face, and I watched as a wave broke on the shoreline. The sun was a golden ball of fire in the sky, just about to disappear behind the horizon.

  When I looked back at Joe, his eyes were waiting for mine, and he held something in his free hand.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  He began to move as if to bend down on one knee, and I squeezed his hand tightly. “Are you…?”

  He kneeled before uncurling his hand. A beautiful white gold band with an emerald-cut diamond in a solitaire setting lay there. I slapped my palm to my chest, my lungs seizing as my heart sputtered to a stop and then lunged, my pulse speeding so hard and fast my entire body was reverberating.

  “I love you. I already told you I was going to ask you to marry me. I thought this was the perfect place because it is our place. This is actually the first time I've walked back since the last time I was here with you,” he explained.

  I didn't realize I was crying until I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I brushed it away with my knuckles.

  “Will you marry me?” Joe asked. “I want it all with you—the good, the boring, and the not so easy. I know we can do it.”

  I didn’t even have to think. “Yes, yes,” I whispered hoarsely.

  He slid the ring on my shaky finger as I held it out before standing and looping his arms around my waist. I took a deep breath, pressing my lips at the base of his throat before looking up at him.

  “I love you, and we already have a plan.”

  “A plan for what?” he prompted, a smile teasing at the corners of his mouth.

  “I'm coming back home.”

  His smile was sunlight shining down into my heart. “I love you,” he murmured before bending low to kiss me.

  By the time he lifted his head, I was breathless. He’d copped a feel of my bottom and slid his other hand up under my shirt. I giggled. “We're not doing it here.” I gestured to the sand below our feet.

  “Let's go home.”

  We walked back along the beach as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, and the stars began to appear in the dusky sky as darkness came to claim it. We made good use of Joe's bed that night.

  The next morning, I looked over at him enjoying waffles because that was definitely his breakfast specialty, and asked, “Did Joey know?”

  “Know what?”

  I rolled my eyes. “That you were going to ask me to marry you this weekend.”

  “He didn't know it was going to be last night because if I told him, I wouldn't have been able to persuade him to go with my parents. He knew it was coming because I took him with me to help pick out the ring.”

  “Are you serious?” I sputtered.

  He shrugged. “Totally. It's very important to him. Honestly, if you're really into the big wedding planning thing, he's going to be heartbroken if you don't include him.”

  I threw my head back with a laugh as joy rose inside. “I'm kind of probably in the middle on that. I really don't want to go crazy like some people do, but I would like to have something. I feel like we waited a long time to get here. Joey can help me plan it all.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Thea

  Joey looked at me solemnly. His feet didn't even touch the floor where he sat on a bench at the wedding planner’s office. He was very excited. The woman helping us had stepped out to get some samples for color schemes and flowers.

  Meanwhile, Joey looked over at me. “When do I get a brother or a sister?”

  I had just taken a swallow of water, and I choked on it, sputtering inelegantly and getting water all over my knees and the bottom of my shirt. I cleared my throat and grabbed a napkin on the table, quickly dabbing at my shirt and knees and scanning around to discover I hadn't gotten water on anything but myself.

  “Excuse me?” I finally said when I looked back at Joey.

  “Now that you and Dad are getting married, you can have a baby next, right?”

  Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. My stomach turned sickly, and I took a deep breath as a shaft of pain sliced through my heart. “Um, I don't know. Things don't always happen in order like that.”

  Joe and I had talked several times about this, and he kept assuring me that he was completely on board with adoption, but how did I explain this to Joey? I sure as hell didn't want to do it here in the wedding planner’s office.

  Joey stared over at me expectantly. “When your dad and I figure out what's going to happen next, it may or may not involve a brother or sister. No matter what, you'll be the first to know.”

  Joey was no dummy, and he eyed me skeptically. I was beyond relieved when the wedding planner returned to the room at that moment. She effectively distracted him by asking for his assistance in planning the children’s menu.

  Later that night at Joe's house, Joey was sound asleep, and we were in bed.

  Joe's palm swept down my back, and he cupped my bottom, giving it a dirty squeeze. “Come on, sweetheart, ride me,” he murmured.

  I needed no further instruction and shimmied closer, rising up as he positioned himself at my entrance. I let out a satisfied moan as I sank down over his thick length, wiggling my hips for good measure once he was seated fully inside me.

  His head thumped against the wall. “Fuck, Thea. You feel so good,” he rasped.

  God, I didn't think I'd ever get tired of how good it was with us. It was just easy, and the sex was this incredible combination of sexy, dirty, sometimes filthy, but also sensual and sweet. It was everything I needed. Joe made me feel like the most womanly woman I'd ever felt. It was only minutes later that I was crying out as my release wracked me. I rippled around his cock, savoring the sound of his own ragged cry and the feel of his release filling me.

  I fell against him, tucking my head into his neck and lazily dropping a kiss right there as I caught my breath.

  “Do we really have to wait until January?” he asked a few minutes later.

  I lifted my head, smiling. “Well, that's when my notice ends. I timed it with my lease. I might be willing to skip out on my lease, but I don't feel right about leaving my job in a lurch. I have to finish up that one case.”

  “God, I hate that you're so responsible,” he teased.

  “As if you aren’t,” I countered with a grin.

  Just then, as if to prove my point, his emergency phone buzzed on the table beside the bed. He was covering the emergency call service for the weekend.

  “You're right. In fact, I'm so responsible that right now, I'm going to take that call, and I might have to leave.”

  “I know. I hate that you're so responsible, but I also love it,” I said with a smile.

  I shimmied off his lap, walking into the bathroom to clean up. He was on my heels seconds later, taking what he called a thirty-second shower. The man was out the door within five minutes after his phone rang. I plunked down on his couch and turned on the television. That was usually my habit when he got a call, unless I somehow slept through it, which was rare. As I waited for him to return, my mind kept replaying that conversation with Joey at the wedding planner’s office.

  I needed to tell Joe about it, and I knew I needed to find a way to explain to Joey that I could not have children. And, hell, I was anxious even talking to Joe about it because that tiny doubt in the back of my mind still wondered if he was just appeasing me on this issue.

  A week later, the paper crinkled under my legs as I sat up on the examining table at my gynecologist’s office. She was peeling the latex gloves off her hands and putting them in the trash receptacle. She looked over at me.

  I took a breath and rolled my shoulders back.

  “I'm just your doctor, but I'm going to tell you this because it is so much the truth. Love is love is love is love. Some people have biological children who never should, there are people who adopt and create amazing families for their children, and some people never have children and are very happy with that. IVF isn’t an option for you. I mentioned it before, but I'm going to remind you again. You can call that therapist we talked about.”