Page 150 of Icebound Hearts
Jake giggles and makes a face. “But, Mommy, I’m just a kid!”
My heart swells in my chest the same way it always does whenever he calls me that. I’ll never forget the way he shyly asked if he could call me Mommy shortly after I returned from LA. I had to blink back the tears that rose in my eyes, and the happy, proud look on Sawyer’s face as he gazed down at the two of us made something warm and sweet spread through my chest.
Jake’s birth mother may not have had much interest in the title, but as far as I’m concerned, being called “Mommy” by this sweet little boy is one of the highest honors of my life.
“I know, I know,” I tell him, gently tapping his nose. “You’ve got plenty of time and lots of growing up to do before then. But you do look very handsome, just like your dad.”
Jake beams at that, his chest puffing out proudly. “I hope Uncle Noah likes it.”
“Oh, I think he’s going to love it, just like everyone else.”
I mean it too. I’m actually a little worried that Jake’s going to upstage Noah at his own wedding. And I’m sure Margo will have someone there taking a thousand pictures of Jake and everyone else at the wedding for the Aces PR.
“What will it be like when you and Daddy get married? Will I have to wear this again?”
I chuckle at him as I finish with his tie and spin him around so he can see himself in the bathroom mirror. He puts his hands on his hips and puffs out his chest in a Superman pose, and we both laugh.
“You don’t have to wear the exact same thing if you don’t want to,” I tell him. “But I’m sure your dad won’t mind if you do. He won’t have to buy you another suit that way.”
“Okay. But you need a wedding dress, don’t you?” he asks, craning his neck to look up at me. “This dress is pretty, but it’s not like what the bride wears, right?”
“You’re right. The bride’s gown is usually white and pretty fancy.”
“Do you have one you like yet?” he asks, his eyes widening with excitement. “Can I help you pick it out?”
“I’ve seen a few I’ve liked, but nothing that’s really grabbed my heart yet. So maybe I do need a second pair of eyes.”
“I’ll help you find thebestone!”
“I’m sure you will, buddy, but we’d better get moving or we’re going to miss the whole thing,” Sawyer says as he steps into the bathroom to check on us.
He catches sight of me in my deep blue dress—Noah and Margo picked a great color theme for their wedding—and freezes. Awe and love play out on his face, and his eyes flash with heat.
“Why don’t you go grab your suit jacket from your room?” Sawyer suggests to Jake, and the little boy runs off at full speed.
As soon as we’re alone, Sawyer closes the bathroom door behind him and kisses me ravenously, like he’s trying to devour me. I kiss him back just as desperately, my hands wandering all over his body. He’s still recovering from his vasectomy reversal, so it’s been a few weeks since we’ve been able to have sex. Sawyer’s taken care of me in other ways, but he hasn’t let me return the favor, so I know he’s got to be going crazy.
“I think I’m finally healed up enough,” he whispers between kisses, but that just makes me want him more, so I press my lips against his again until he cups my face to hold me in place and stare me right in the eyes with his flaming. “Tonight is the night. I’m so fucking hungry for you.”
A knock on the bathroom door startles both of us. “Daddy! I can’t find it.”
Sawyer steals another quick kiss from me before he straightens my dress and opens the door for Jake. “Are you sure you looked?”
“Yes! I looked everywhere, it’s not there.”
“I think it might actually be hanging on one of the chairs in the kitchen,” I tell Sawyer, and Jake seizes on it.
“See! I told you,” he says smartly and rushes off to the kitchen to look.
“We’ll meet you at the door, buddy,” Sawyer calls after him and leads me out of the bathroom, my hand in his. We’ve just reached it when Jake comes clomping across the house toward us, his suit jacket flapping behind him as he carries it over his shoulder.
“Alright, let’s go,” Sawyer says when Jake reaches us and ruffles his hair as he opens the door.
He gets Jake settled in his booster seat and hangs his suit jacket from the little hook built into the ceiling of the back seatso it doesn’t get wrinkled, and we head out of the city toward where the wedding venue sits nestled among the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
When we arrive, most of the other guests are already there. The ceremony is being held outside behind the building, so we step through the building and drop off the wedding gifts we brought before joining the rest of the party outside. Pine trees stretch around the area with string lights dangling from their branches, giving the environment an almost fairytale feel. Rustic, polished wooden pews sit in neat rows spreading out from the stone altar where a matching, handcrafted wooden arch sits streaming with flowers and navy-blue lace.
“This is stunning,” I breathe as I turn in a slow circle, taking it all in.