He smiled. “I wish I could, but do you really want to share a room with me and JT?”

She shuddered as she shook her head quickly. “Hell, no. Not with Sir-Masturbates-A-Lot.”

He chuckled as he collected her up in his arms, running his lips along hers. “Then I guess we will have to resort to FaceTime.”

“Yup, and then we will be the ones masturbating,” she joked with an exaggerated wink.

He nodded, holding his grin in. “Yes, we will. How will we survive?”

“One orgasm at a time,” she said, her grin taking over her sweet face.

That had them both laughing as he squeezed her tightly to him. As their laughter subsided, he met her gaze and kissed her nose. He wasn’t going to make it without her. He really couldn’t get enough of her, and the thought of two long weeks without her had his stomach churning. He wasn’t ready to leave yet. He’d probably never be ready; he needed more Lacey. He always needed more.

After kissing her lips softly, he whispered, “I haven’t even left yet and I miss you.”

Her eyes clouded a tad as she nodded. “It’s going to be hell.”

“But we will get through it,” he said with a nod. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Let’s keep telling ourselves that. Maybe it will work,” she said sadly and he hated that.

“I wouldn’t leave if I didn’t have to,” he said, hoping to ease some of her anxiety. Or maybe his.

“I know, Karson, and this is your job. I knew that from the beginning,” she said, cupping his face. She kissed his lips, her lips moving ever so softly against his and curling his toes as he held her tight. Pulling back, she met his gaze and said, “And when you get home, I’ll be waiting.”

“Naked?”

“Naked,” she agreed with a grin, kissing his lips again.

“Okay, let’s get inside before I take you back home,” he teased and she grinned, her cheeks coloring sweetly.

“Okay,” she agreed as he took her hand and started for the house.

As they reached the door, he looked over at her and smiled. “Warning, there are like a billion kids. Each of them has an average of like three kids,” he said with a chuckle. The Assassins men were fertile. “But you like kids, right?”

“Yeah, love them,” she said, returning the grin.

“Good,” he said with a nod. Looking deep into her eyes, he squeezed her hand and said, “You know, we should talk about having some soon, don’t you think?”

Her grin was gone within seconds and soon replaced with a straight line. Her eyes went dull as she looked away, bringing her lip into her teeth. Cocking his head to the side, he asked, “What’s that look about?”

“Nothing,” she said with a shake of her head. “It’s just, um—”

“Hey, y’all!”

Karson looked over to see his boss standing in front of him in all her beautiful glory. His boss was not only a knockout but also the greatest person alive. She would do anything for anyone, and everyone loved Elli. You had to; it was a rule or something. One that if you broke would bring Shea Adler after you. And no one wanted Shea Adler after them.

Glancing from Elli to Lacey, he saw that she had changed her worried expression to a bright grin that only he knew was fake. One he didn’t like nor understand the need for. He didn’t know what he had said. He asked if she wanted to talk about having kids. What was wrong with that?

What the hell just happened?

Lacey’s heart was slamming against her ribs harder than a wrecking ball.

Cue the Miley Cyrus song.

Her hands were clammy as she twirled her ring around her fingers, but she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t sit still for anything. As she stood in the middle of the room, all Karson’s friends staring at her and introducing themselves, all she could do was think about what he said:

You know, we should talk about having some soon, don’t you think?

As Elli talked about loving her shoes, Lacey’s head was swimming with her own panicked thoughts. There was a reason why people dated before they got married, and while yes, they’d dated as kids, they weren’t the people now they were then. She loved Karson. She loved who he was now; he was a great man. But from that single question, Lacey knew one thing that she wished she would have known before she’d married him.

That he wanted kids.

But the problem was, she didn’t.

To say she was internally freaking out was an understatement. She was more like having a full-out anxiety attack. People got divorced over the issue of kids. It was a deal-breaker. Lacey had completely invested herself into their relationship, and now it could all come to a crumbling end. She had left her home, her family, her business all behind for him, and now that could be for nothing. She wasn’t sure how hell-bent Karson was, but she saw the yearning in his eyes when he said it. When they were back in Chicago, he had been in heaven as they cuddled with her nephews. He loved kids.

He wanted them.

And shit, his parents wanted grandchildren, and he was all about pleasing his parents. She then remembered hearing him say to the Realtor that the house was big enough for a least three kids, but she’d paid him no mind. She was too busy looking at the sinks. Why didn’t she pay attention! The signs were all there. But they never talked about it, and now…now she could lose everything.

“Menfolk, let’s go to the deck for a beer. Let the beautiful women get to know our newest addition to the Assassins family,” Shea called out, making Lacey jump.