Tell Me a Desire (The Story Series Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

dismissively.
    Caleb stared into my eyes with an intensity I didn’t recognize. “You don’t need to say it. I have, Emma.”
    Now smiling, I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him on the mouth. I cupped his face in my hands and slipped my tongue between his lips. He chuckled.
    “Baby doll…” he murmured.
    That’s when it hit me: he had another birthday gift for me.
    Maybe it was a question.
----
    H ours later , after I was well-plied with organic champagne and the most delicious vegan-Caribbean fusion food I’d never heard of, I cornered my best friend Sarah in the kitchen.
    “Dude,” I hissed. “I need to tell you something.”
    She giggled. “You’re so cute when you’re tipsy.”
    “Shut up.” I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the walk-in pantry, so Jean, the Haitian-vegan chef from Miami, couldn’t hear us as he prepared my birthday dessert. I clicked on the light and wobbled as I leaned against the closed door.
    “Sarah. I think I might want a baby. I mean, not right this second, but sometime soon.”
    “Okay.” She shrugged, then flipped her long, chestnut hair in back of her shoulders. “Is this supposed to shock me?”
    “Yes. Jesus.” I rolled my eyes. “My doctor told me I don’t have a lot of time . Can you believe that shit?”
    “Well, you are thirty-five.”
    I snarled.
    “It doesn’t surprise me at all. Laura and I have been taking bets on when you and Caleb would procreate. She says her brother hasn’t been this in love with anyone ever.”
    “Okay,” I slurred. “Here’s the question. Why hasn’t he asked me to marry him?”
    “Christ, Em, I have no idea. Why don’t you ask him?”
    I screwed up my face. Was it so easy? Yeah, it probably was. Here I was, spilling my soul to Sarah before talking to Caleb. As usual.
    “Damn you for being practical. I was waiting until tonight. He said he had another present for me and I thought it was, you know, maybe…”
    Sarah fixed her huge dark eyes on me and didn’t blink. “A ring?”
    “Yeah.”
    She yawned. “Could be. I don’t know. Laura hasn’t mentioned anything, but maybe Caleb hasn’t told her. You know how she can’t keep a secret. But I do know you’re too much in your head. I can feel it. I can see it. Right there—” she tapped my forehead “—the little hamsters working overtime. Stop. Just tell him what you’re thinking.” Sarah took two long sips of wine. “Don’t tell me.”
    “Okay. Okay. I can do this. I like to talk it out first with you.”
    “You know, if you do have a child with him, you’re going to have to get a lot better at communicating.”
    I scowled at her. “Caleb and I communicate fine.”
    She snorted. “Yeah, in bed.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You two have a very physical kind of love. I mean, you’ve come a long way, opening up, since meeting him. But you need to dig deeper.”
    I squinted one eye at her. “Who the hell are you, Dr. Phil?”
    “My minor in psychology’s always come in handy with you. Em, you need to connect with him on some level other than sexual. Whenever you talk about him, it’s always about the physical.”
    “We bond over literature, too.” Even in my tipsy state, I knew I sounded defensive.
    “And that’s awesome. But if you’re going to be married, have a baby, you need to connect on an even deeper level. What are you going to tap into when you are sleep-deprived and the baby’s colicky and you two haven’t fucked or read in weeks?”
    “Hmm.” I didn’t know what to say. All my adult life, ever since I left college, I’d related to men on a physical level. Between flirtation, coquettish banter, and dating, men had been something of a hobby for me. Caleb was different, of course, because he was brilliant. And kind. I was no longer attracted to any other man.
    But now that Sarah mentioned it, had I truly connected with Caleb? And I hadn’t considered what life would be like with a baby and him.
    Did other women think about