Double The Love (BWWM Pregnancy Romance Novel) (12 page)

Jasmine kept her eyes steadied
on Liam's as he spoke, and her heartbeat quickened as she recalled the exact
moment he was referring to. Out of all the memories she'd built up over the
years, for some reason that one stood out as one of the clearest.

Liam awoke early the following
morning and decided to get a jump-start on his routine. He put on a pot of
coffee and went to get Maya, placing her playpen to watch Sesame Street while
he got dressed.

“Be good for mommy today
sweetheart,” Liam said as he knotted his tie and slid his case files into his
briefcase.

Jasmine groaned and shielded
her eyes from the light when she heard Liam enter her room. “What time is it?”
she questioned.

Liam glanced down at his Rolex.
“Just after seven. I should have left twenty minutes ago, but you looked so
peaceful. I didn’t want to wake you.”

Jasmine gave him a grateful
smile and stood up to take Maya from him. “Thanks,” she mumbled.

Liam nodded and slid on his
cufflinks. “I'll try to make it home earlier tonight,” he said as he made his
way over to the door. “I can't make any promises, but I’ll do my best.”

Jasmine nodded and waited until
he was gone before unsnapping her nursing bra to feed Maya. She became
distracted, however, when she caught sight of Liam's balled up t-shirt at the
end of her bed.

Apparently last night hadn’t
been a dream after all.

Chapter twenty

Jasmine was in the kitchen
preparing breakfast one morning when she overheard Liam talking to someone on
the phone. She set down the spatula she was holding and entered the hall to
eavesdrop, tensing when she heard him making plans with whoever was on the
other end of the line.

So much for him not having any interest in
dating.

Jasmine sighed and walked back
over to the stove to finish cooking, not bothering to turn around when she
heard Liam approach her from behind.

“Let's take Maya out today,” he
suggested. “Christmas is right around the corner. Shouldn’t we be taking her to
get overpriced pictures taken with Santa? That's like a right of passage isn't
it?”

Jasmine shrugged. “I don't
know. I've never really liked the idea of sitting on some random guys lap for
the sake of festivity.”

Liam rolled his eyes. “Okay
Scrooge,” he teased, snatching a piece of bacon from a plate and popping it
into his mouth. “Seriously, Jazz, what's with you these days?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh come on,” Liam said, giving
her a knowing look. “You've been in a bad mood for weeks. I thought Christmas
was your favorite holiday?”

Jasmine ignored him and shut
off the stove, turning to set a heaping plate of food down in front of him.

“You know what you need?” Liam
said as he grabbed his fork and dug in. “You need to get out of the house.
It’ll be good for you. Forget the Santa thing. Let's take Maya to the mall.
I’ll even buy you one of those pretzels you like.”

“Fine,” Jasmine said, giving in
to the idea. “But if I get mobbed by a bunch of screaming teenage girls, I’m
blaming you.”

Liam perked up when Jasmine
came to join him and Maya in the car shortly after breakfast. She was wearing a
blouse he'd never seen before, and she'd even put on a little make-up. It put
into perspective just how gorgeous she really was.

“Wait a minute,” Jasmine spoke
up as they made their way through the crowded mall. “I thought we were supposed
to be doing Christmas shopping?”

Liam raised an eyebrow and
turned away from the stand of 'As Seen on TV' items he was rummaging through to
look at her. “We are,” he remarked, grabbing up a remote controlled helicopter
and inspecting the packaging.

Jasmine rolled her eyes. “It's
just...don't you think Maya's a little young for this stuff?”

“Oh come on, she won’t be in
diapers forever,” Liam protested.

Jasmine shook her head and
continued walking. When she spotted an upscale baby boutique in the distance,
she parked Maya’s stroller near the entrance and entered to examine an outfit
that caught her eye in the window.

“I was thinking something more
like this,” Jasmine said when Liam approached her, holding it up for him to
see.

Liam took hold of it and
searched the fabric for a price tag before approaching the cash register “My
daughter, my money,” he called out when Jasmine started to protest.

Liam exited the store with his
purchase in hand a few minutes later, but he paused as soon as he saw the look
on Jasmine's face. It was obvious that he’d offended her.

“Jazz, I’m sorry, alright?”
Liam said, reaching for her hand. “I meant our money. What’s mine is yours. You
know that.”

Jasmine narrowed her eyes at
him and folded her arms over her chest. “Do I?” she questioned. “I mean...it’s
not like we’re married or something.”

“Only because you turned me
down,” Liam shot back.

“Of course I did.” Jasmine let
out a dry laugh and shook her head. “You and me...together? It’s a disaster in
the making.”

“Yeah, well, our daughter seems
to think otherwise.”

Jasmine followed Liam’s gaze
and failed to contain a smile when she saw that Maya was staring up at them adoringly.
It was all it took to make her let go of her anger. She started to say
something, but she heard a familiar voice shout out her name before she could.

Liam turned around and swore
under his breath.

“Eli,” Jasmine managed once
she'd gotten over some of her surprise, standing up straighter and giving him a
tight smile. They'd smoothed things over since their spat, but that still
didn’t mean she wanted to see him.

Eli smiled in return and nodded
at Maya's stroller. “Is that who I think it is?” he questioned, setting down
the bags in his hands to get a better look.

“Sure is,” Liam spoke up in a
protective tone, moving in closer to his daughter.

Eli gave him a sour look. “She
looks just like you,” he said to Jasmine, continuing to study Maya's face. “And
you too, I suppose,” he added, glancing up at Liam and rolling his eyes.

“Her names Maya,” Jasmine said,
cutting Liam off before he could make another snide remark.

Eli dropped his gaze to inspect
her hand. She was no longer wearing the ring, but Liam placed a protective hand
on her shoulder to keep him from getting any bright ideas, and they stared each
other down in a silent standoff.

“I’d better run,” Eli spoke up
after awhile, turning his attention back to Jasmine and nodding towards the
exit.

Jasmine nodded and mumbled out
a tense goodbye. When he was finally gone, she exhaled a deep breath and turned
back towards Liam. Just like he promised, he treated her to a pretzel from Aunt
Annie's and they went to take a seat at a table near a large fountain in the
middle of the mall.

“I love that you do that,” Liam
remarked, studying Jasmine as she adjusted Maya against her chest and tossed a
large burp cloth over her shoulder to avoid putting on a peep show.

“Do what?”

“Breastfeed. I read in one of those
baby books you gave me that most new mothers give up once they realize how
painful it is.”

Jasmine shrugged off the
compliment. “Yeah, well, it’s an important part of getting her to bond with me.
And it’s a lot better for her than formula, that's for sure.”

Liam tried his best not to
stare, but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that
Jasmine’s body was providing their daughter with all the most vital nutrients
for her development. “It's fascinating,” he said, taking another drink of his
hot cocoa.

Jasmine smirked at the
entranced expression on his face before looking back down at their daughter.
Part of her wished that she could freeze time and keep her this small and
precious forever, but she was also looking forward to her becoming
self-sufficient.

Liam continued casting discrete
glances at Jasmine as she worked at getting Maya to latch to her breast. He
still wasn’t sure if things would work out between them, but right now, his
life felt as close to perfect as it had ever been.

Chapter twenty-one

It was a tradition in the Davis
household to gather on Christmas morning, and this year wasn’t any different.
Jasmine looked forward to it every holiday season, but this year marked Maya's
first Christmas, which made it especially exciting.

Liam stole a glance at Jasmine
from across the room and smiled when he realized she was already looking at
him.

The first gift Maya received
from her grandparents was a large teddy bear that spoke when you squeezed it.
Jasmine demonstrated how it worked and exchanged a proud smile with Liam when
Maya mimicked her behavior. A pile of equally adorable toys piled up around her
as the morning progressed, and she and Liam had to make three trips out to the
car to take it all home at the end of the night.

Once all of the festivities had
died down, Jasmine joined Liam on their couch and was surprised when he handed
her a small gift wrapped in beautiful red paper. They'd made an agreement not
to buy each other anything, but it didn't surprise her that he hadn't held up
to his end of the bargain.

He rarely ever did.

“Go on then,” Liam said,
nodding for her to open it.

Jasmine gave him a skeptical
look before ripping into the paper, and she gasped when a beautiful
leather-bound journal fell into her lap. Her name was engraved on the cover in
delicate cursive, and there was a small note written on the front page.

Jazz,

You know how you’re always jotting your
lyrics down on napkins and random scraps of paper? Well now you don't have to.

You’ve got a beautiful mind. Don’t let it
go to waste.

Love always,

Liam.

Jasmine looked up at Liam at a
loss for words. She couldn't believe that he'd gotten her something so
heartfelt and personal.

“Well?” he questioned when she
failed to say anything. Her expression was impossible for him to read. “How’d I
do?”

Instead of replying, Jasmine
let her actions speak for themselves, gripping hold of Liam's shirt and pulling
him towards her. He took the hint and closed the distance between them,
gripping her waist as his lips latched eagerly onto hers.

Jasmine awoke the following
morning to an empty bed and made her way downstairs in search of Liam. She
found him in the kitchen putting on a pot of coffee.

“Is Maya still asleep?” he
questioned, pouring two glasses of orange juice and setting one down on the
table in front of her.

Jasmine nodded and folded her
legs up under herself. “Yeah, she’ll probably sleep in a little later than
usual today. She’s still pretty worn out from yesterday.”

Liam leaned back against the
counter and studied Jasmine's face. There was something off about her, but he
couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. “What about you?” he inquired.
“Are you feeling okay?"