NICOLA WAS LYING on the cold table, her nerves in knots, clammy hands clasped together on her stomach. Why had she let Kaleb come in the room with her? Or thought it a good idea for him to come with her at all?
She’d needed moral support, that’s why.
The door opened, and Bill came in, letting it swing closed behind him. “Dr. Banks has been called to do an emergency C-section. So sorry, Nic. You’re stuck with me. This time, anyway.”
“It’s okay.” She swiveled her head to look at Kaleb. “This is Dr. Sabat—Kaleb. He’s...a friend. He agreed to come with me.”
“That was nice of you, Kaleb. Nic could use a friend right now, I’m sure. I’m Bill. I’m one of her friends, too. From a ways back.”
“Sorry,” she said. “I should have introduced you, too.”
A frown came over Kaleb’s face. Had he not wanted her to tell Bill his name? Well, what was she supposed to do? Just pretend he didn’t exist?
Like that first night they were together?
Looking back, it seemed kind of silly. But she’d been mortified over what had happened—had been afraid that he’d judge her for having a one-night stand.
But what about him? She could have just as easily judged him for sleeping with her.
Bill glanced at the chart. “So it looks like you’re starting week nine. We should be able to get a look at that heartbeat today on the ultrasound.”
Nicola hadn’t even thought about that. She’d be able to see her baby’s heart?
Kaleb cleared his throat. “You’re going to do the exam, then?”
“Yep. Just the ultrasound part, though. Don’t worry.” He smiled at Nic. “I take it he knows about us.”
“He does. But it doesn’t matter. I just want to make sure everything is okay with the baby.”
Bill nodded. “Well, then, let’s get started.”
Nicola unzipped her jeans and parted them, then glanced at Kaleb and was surprised to see his face had taken on a dull red hue that she’d never seen before. At least not on him. Surely he wasn’t embarrassed. Not after what they’d done together.
She didn’t have much time to think about it as icy lubricant plopped onto the bare skin of her belly. “Yikes, could that be any colder?”
Bill laughed. “Sorry about that.”
Dipping the wand of the ultrasound machine in the stuff, he drew the instrument over her stomach. The machine came to life in a series of dark-and-light images that she couldn’t make heads or tails of. She thought 3D was supposed to be clearer than the older versions.
“Okay, here we go, so pay attention, Nic.”
She stared at the screen, not sure what she was looking at. Then she saw it. A tiny C-shaped object. She could make out a head, a chest...
“There it is. We have a beating heart.”
She caught sight of a flickering on the screen and realized that was it. Her baby’s heart was pulsing inside of her. “Oh, God.”
All of a sudden the cold table and the even colder lubricant were forgotten.
This was real. Very real. Her baby’s image was on that screen.
Up until now, the readings on those pregnancy sticks had been some abstract thing that she knew existed, but couldn’t see. That couldn’t affect her, except for the brief bouts of nausea she’d experienced. But to see it. To see that steady flickering light in the object’s chest.
“Kaleb...”
“I know. I see it.” Something in his voice dragged her attention from the screen, and she caught him leaning forward in his chair, his gaze intent on what was happening on the screen in front of them. It reminded her of how he’d been as he’d operated on baby Trey.
He was invested. Truly invested in this child’s life. She wasn’t sure it would be as real for him as it was for her when the time came. But it definitely was.
A lump formed in her throat, and she turned her attention back to the monitor. “Is the baby’s heart rate normal?”
“A little quick, but stress can do that. Probably feeding off some of his or her mama’s energy.”
Energy was right. Her nerves were jumping here and there and there was no way she could calm them. Nor did she want to. She wanted to savor this moment, to commit it to memory forever.
Kaleb’s voice came through. “How much is ‘a little quick’?”
“Only about five beats a minute faster than the norm. It’s perfectly okay. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re as nervous as a new fath...” Bill’s voice trailed off, and he looked at her, asking a question with his eyes.
He knew. He’d always been intuitive. She gave him a nod.
“Wow, congratulations, then. To both of you.” Bill did something with the screen and then pushed some buttons. A paper slid from a slot on the side of the machine. “Just a little something to take home with you. Do you have a name picked out yet?”
“No. I... We haven’t even talked about that part yet.”
“Well, there’s still plenty of time for that,” he said.
Kaleb had been oddly silent. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“Just not what I expected to see.”
What wasn’t? A baby? His baby?
She wanted to take his hand and squeeze it. To feel his fingers in hers letting her know everything was going to be okay, but that wasn’t appropriate. They weren’t a couple, despite what Bill might be thinking. They were just two people who happened to have exchanged some DNA and mixed up a child in the process.
Bill nodded. “It can be overwhelming the first time.”
Said as if she and Kaleb were going to have other times. Other babies. But they weren’t. This was it. The only baby the two of them would ever make together. And that gave her a funny, queasy sensation that was very different from her light bouts of morning sickness. This had a more permanent feel to it. There was a finality that didn’t go down as easy as it should.
After retrieving the piece of paper from the ultrasound machine, Bill handed it to her.
She stared at the first picture of her baby and took in the tiny precious features. And, yes, they were precious. Already. “So he or she does look okay, right?”
“Yes, like I said, so far, so good. We’ll keep an eye on that heart rate, just in case, but I suspect it’s just a one-off thing. Just take care of yourself. Don’t overdo the caffeine and no alcohol. But then you know all of this.”
“I do, but thanks. When do I need to come back?”
“Let’s see you in a couple of weeks. Hopefully you’ll be able to meet Dr. Banks next time.”
Kaleb had gone quiet. Lord, she hoped he wasn’t regretting coming, or worse, everything that went along with it. Well, if he was, she would make it clear that he could back out at any time. At least up until the baby was born. If he didn’t want to do this, he needed to speak up. And soon. Because the last thing she wanted was for her baby to have a dad for three or four years and then have him disappear once he found someone he loved and they started a family of their own.
She swallowed as a shot of reality made its way through her system.
She hadn’t thought about what would happen if Kaleb fell in love with someone. But maybe she should. Because the odds were very good that he would, eventually. Kaleb was a gorgeous man that any woman in her right mind would be lucky to have.
Well, any woman except for her. She wasn’t in the market for a man, whether it was Kaleb or someone else. She had too much on her plate right now.
They said their goodbyes and made their way out to Kaleb’s car. Once he got in, she turned to him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t give me that, Kaleb. If you want to opt out, just say so, and it will be fine.”
He stared out of the windshield for a moment before glancing over at her. “Is my being here with you upsetting you?”
“Upsetting me? What do you mean?”
“The baby’s heart rate. Bill said it’s higher than it should be, and it made me wonder if it’s because I was there with you. He talked about stress and—”
“No. It’s not that.” She stopped to think about how to put it. His presence had made her nervous, but not in a bad way. It was more of a feeling of guilt for him having to come at all. “Bill also said it was probably nothing. I was nervous. I admit it. But more because this was my first appointment, and I was afraid maybe something would be wrong with the baby. What if my brother’s illness is somehow bound up in this baby’s genetic code? So, yes, there were plenty of things for me to be nervous about. But your being here is not one of them. At least not in the way you’re thinking. I just don’t want you to feel trapped.”
He reached over and gripped her hand for a long second, the way she’d wanted him to in the exam room. “I don’t feel trapped. I feel...a sense of awe. I can’t believe that baby is something we did together. I mean, what we did was great—more than great, don’t get me wrong—but I never dreamed it would result in... A baby. A tiny human being.”
“I know. I felt the same way.”
“I want to be at your next appointment. And all the rest of them.”
She smiled. “Thank you. It helps me to feel like I’m not so alone in all of this.”
“You’re not alone. And you won’t be through any of this.”
For the first time since her brother’s death, she actually believed those words—believed that maybe this time she wouldn’t have to be the one who left.
“My parents want to meet you.” The words were said hesitantly, softly, as if they’d been dragged from her.
They were standing outside of the hospital entrance, off to the side, speaking in hushed tones.
“I thought you were going to wait a couple of weeks to tell them.”
“I was. But then my mom saw Bill in the grocery store, and he congratulated her on becoming a grandma, without realizing she didn’t know. He clammed up immediately when she questioned him on it, but it was too late. The damage was done. So then, I had to field a call—on speakerphone, of all things—from my mom and dad demanding to know why they had to hear about the baby from Bill. Why hadn’t I at least called them to tell them personally.” She rolled her eyes. “This was so not the way I wanted this to happen.”
He could imagine. Because it wasn’t the way he’d imagine this would go, either. He hadn’t expected them to want to meet him. But, honestly, his parents were going to do the same as soon as they found out. And how could they not? They were going to want to be involved in the baby’s life, just like he did. How much easier would it have been if they were a couple?
But they weren’t, and pretending to be just for their parents’ sake was far beyond the scope of what he was willing to do. Because it would come crashing down around his ears. There was no way around that.
Best just to make the introductions and then just keep things low-key after that. Nicola wouldn’t be with him on days he kept the baby. They could just do a pass-off at a supermarket or something. He’d put the baby in his vehicle on his days and hand him or her back when it was Nicola’s turn.
And if that seemed complicated and a little cold-blooded, well...it was. But there was no way around it. And it was how it had to be if he wanted to be involved in his child’s life.
“I can understand them wanting to meet me. Do they know the situation?”
“They know we’re coworkers and that it just...happened. I didn’t have the heart to tell my mom I’d gotten pregnant as the result of a one-night stand with a man I met at a bar. And that my grief over Danny precipitated it.”
It would be pretty hard to face her dad and look him in the eye, if she had. Somehow that ideal no-commitment ritual he’d built in to his dating habits didn’t look quite as appealing as it once had.
Don’t spend the night? Ever? It actually seemed pretty selfish looking back at it from where he now stood.
But to try to change now would be to risk falling into another relationship and trying to make it work. Something he wasn’t quite willing to do. Not yet, at least.
“So other than surprise, how was their reaction to the news?” He could imagine his parents might be a little disappointed in him. And maybe he was a little disappointed in himself. But even Nicola had said she didn’t want marriage. She’d said it before he even had a chance to bring it up.
“It was awkward. And I think they were in shock. But once that wears off, I hope they’ll be happy for us. I mean as far as the baby goes.”
“Any idea when they want this meeting to take place?”
She rolled her eyes. “They want me to invite you to dinner. Soon.” She touched his sleeve. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to. My parents will just have to understand that while you want to be in their grandchild’s life, you don’t necessarily want to be in theirs.”
He could understand their concern. This was their grandbaby. They felt protective and wanted to check out the baby’s father for themselves. His parents were probably going to want to do the same with her, although he was definitely going to put that off for a while, if he could. Especially since he was still a little worried about stress hormones and Nicola’s health, despite her reassurances.
By refusing to go to dinner, would he be opening her up to more stress? Or would he be relieving stress? Maybe that was the question to ask.
“Would my going make it easier or harder on you and your relationship with them?”
“Do you want my honest answer?”
“I really do.”
She bit the corner of her lip. His insides immediately took notice. “I think it would relieve some of their worry that you’re...say, a sex predator or something. I—” she smiled “—vouched for you, like you did for me once upon a time, but I think they want to see it with their own eyes.”
It was pretty much what he’d thought. “Well, then I’ll go to dinner. How hard could it be?”
“You haven’t met my parents.” She batted her eyes at him. “So now that we have that out of the way, what are you doing tonight? Inquiring moms want to know.”
“Tonight? You said soon, but wow.” He laughed. “She’s not letting any grass grow under her feet—or mine—is she?”
“My mom is pretty much always ready for company. She keeps a freezer full of entrées that she’s cooked ahead of time, so it’s just a matter of pulling one out and whipping up a salad to go with it.”
His eyebrows went up. “I think I see where you get your organizational skills.”
“If you think I’m organized... My mom is over the top. But you’ll like her. You’ll like them both. They’re not going to grill you or make snap judgments. They just want to meet you. No pressure, okay?”
“I’ll take your word for it. So what time does she want us there? I’m off at six.”
“I’m off early, so I can meet you at their house.” She pulled a slip of paper from her purse and scribbled something on it. “This is their address. And, like I said, don’t worry. It will be a snap.”
It wasn’t a snap. From the moment he put their address into his GPS and started heading for the Bradley household, his nerves were pretty much toast. She might think they’d be nonjudgmental, but when he looked at it from the standpoint of his own upbringing, he was pretty sure his parents would be asking him some hard questions. Not about the pregnancy, since those things happen, but over the fact that he’d slept with her with no intention of ever seeing her again.
Hadn’t Nicola said she left out that part of her explanation to her parents. So it wasn’t just his mom and dad who’d look askance at that. Of course, his parents had been disappointed over his two broken engagements, too. Especially since his sister was, by all accounts, very happy in her marriage. Her second child was due in about a month.
How did they do it? How did his parents, his sister, make that kind of commitment?
Maybe the same way he was making a commitment to be there for his child. No matter what happened. The thought rolled around in his head for a while looking for someplace to lodge.
He crossed the Jersey line at about six thirty. They didn’t live very far from the place where Nicola and her brother used to work, so he had five or six more minutes before he arrived. Dinner was planned for six forty-five, so he should be right on time.
Grace Central was on his right-hand side. Was Nicola’s ex working tonight? He wondered what her parents had thought of him. The man was like a saint compared to Kaleb.
And he really needed to stop thinking about this or he was going to take the next exit out of town.
Commitment, remember? It’s not always going to be easy.
Another two minutes and he was on their street looking for the house number. He saw a brick two-story structure with two rocking chairs on the porch. Red pillows were propped perfectly on each one. He pulled into their driveway and turned off the car.
As soon as he did, the door burst open and a woman stood there, her dark red locks almost the exact same shade as Nicola’s. Speaking of Nicola, he didn’t see her car here. Hopefully she was inside.
He climbed out of his vehicle and started up the walk, carrying a box containing her parents’ favorite wine, according to Nicola.
“Hello. You must be Kaleb. I’m Margaret. Dan is cooking steaks on the grill.” She pulled him into a quick embrace, then let him go.
Dan. Nicola’s brother must have been named after his father. That had to make things even harder. Something else she said caught at his attention. Didn’t Nicola say her mom would just pull a premade meal out of the freezer and heat it up? “You didn’t have to go to any trouble.”
“No trouble, of course. And a good excuse for Dan to use his grill.”
“I brought some wine.”
“Why, thank you. Come on in.”
She stepped aside to let him in to the house. Walking across the threshold, the scent of freshly baked bread tickled his nostrils. “Is Nicola here yet?”
“She’s helping her dad, so yes. She’s around back. Her car is parked in the garage.”
That’s why he hadn’t seen it.
Following Margaret as she led the way through a living area that had an airy and open feel, he glanced around at the interior. Unlike Nicola, they evidently didn’t have a problem with having their son’s pictures displayed on the walls, since there were family portraits in several different places. Danny and Nicola looked a lot alike. If he didn’t know better, he’d think they were twins. Continuing to follow Margaret’s lead, they arrived in the kitchen. It was large and sprawling without losing that inviting feel that the rest of the house had. “It smells wonderful in here.”
“Thank you.” She glanced over at him. “So you work with Nicola?”
He hadn’t expected the question, and it took him a minute to shift gears and think of a suitable reply. “We don’t always work directly together, but we do work at the same hospital, yes.” He decided to explain further, and added, “I’ve consulted with her on a case or two. She’s very good at what she does.”
“She is thorough. Always has been.”
Margaret pulled the wine from the box and stooped to put it in a wine cooler under the cabinet. “Let’s join the others outside.”
Actually, Kaleb was glad to oblige, since if any questions got awkward, he’d have an excuse for sweating. When he went through the sliding glass door, however, he saw that her idea of outside and his were two different things. While they were technically out on a patio, they were under a covered pergola, where a lazy ceiling fan spun in circles. Sweeping layers of mosquito netting were artfully gathered around the supporting poles and tied with white ribbon. The grill was no metal prefab deal, either, but had been constructed from bricks that matched the ones on the house. It was vented through a chimney that went through the top of the pergola.
Nicola came over and nudged his arm. “Everything okay?”
“Yep, just fine.”
“No trouble finding it?”
“Nope.”
“Good.”
The rapid questions made it hard to gauge her mood. But she didn’t seem nervous or irritated.
She smiled at her mom. “It looks like you two introduced yourselves.”
“We did,” Margaret said. “Why don’t you take Kaleb over to meet your dad, while I get the bread out of the oven.”
“Okay.”
He leaned closer to her ear. “I thought you said dinner would be something simple.”
“I thought it would be. It’s the way she normally does things. I guess they decided to go all out today. Sorry.” She went around to the side of the grill. “Daddy, I want you to meet Kaleb Sabat. Kaleb, this is my father, Dan.”
Dan laid his tongs across the grill’s grate and reached out to shake his hand. “Nice to meet you, Kaleb. We’re hearing a lot about you.”
Was there a finally implied in that phrase?
“You as well, sir.”
“You’re just in time, because I think these are about done.” He forked up thick steaks and laid them on a platter. “Not sure if you’re a medium guy or a well-done guy, but medium will be on the left and well is on the right.”
Right about now, Kaleb was feeling pretty well-done, and dinner—and the questions—hadn’t even started yet.
Dan set the food on the table in the middle of the patio and hit a switch on the wall. Tiny white lights flickered to life all around the space.
“Is there anything I can help with?” Kaleb said.
“Nope, you’re our guest. And I think we’re about ready. I told Nic not to let you come too early, for that very reason.”
Soon plates of food were being passed around amid the conversation that was as light and easy as the fan overhead. Most of it revolved around Dan’s position as an architect at a prestigious firm. It explained why their home was so fastidiously designed.
If he ever had a family, maybe Dan could...
Scratch that. There was no way he was going to ask Nicola’s father to design a house that he lived in with someone other than his daughter.
Except the person he’d just pictured in front of this imaginary house had been Nicola, standing outside in bare feet with a white straw hat on her head and a flowing white dress. She was cradling the swell of a baby bump and smiling.
At him.
“Kaleb?”
He glanced up and realized everyone was looking at him. “Sorry. Did I miss something?”
Margaret smiled. “No. I was just congratulating you and Nic on your upcoming arrival.”
“Thank you. It was a surprise, but a good one.”
And it was a good one. Once the shock had worn off, he realized he was happy—in a way that felt strange and yet very right. Things were changing, and surprisingly it wasn’t the disaster he’d imagined when Nic first told him about the baby.
“I guess so. Nic said she was going to wait a little longer to tell us, but a mutual friend spilled the beans.”
Mutual friend. That was one way to put it. Were they unhappy that Nicola’s ex wasn’t the one who’d fathered her child?
He decided to let them know that he wasn’t going to abandon her. “Her first prenatal exam went well. The baby had a slightly elevated heart rate...” When he glanced at Nic, she was staring at him in a way that... Okay, so he evidently wasn’t supposed to have told them that. He tried to fix it. “Bill said it wasn’t far out of the normal range, though. And probably due to excitement.”
Or stress.
“Bill did her exam?” Dan chimed in this time, and lo and behold, Nicola was giving him that look again. One he had no problem reading. He’d intercepted the same kind of looks between his parents and realized they had a secret language where no words were needed.
Was that what they were doing?
“My obstetrician was doing an emergency C-section, Dad. She couldn’t be there.”
“How’s he doing? Bill, I mean?”
Margaret spoke up. “Dan...” Her voice held a warning note.
“He’s fine. We don’t really talk very much anymore, for obvious reasons.”
Dan evidently liked Bill. Maybe his earlier thought about them wishing Dan had fathered this child wasn’t so far from the truth after all.
Kaleb cut into his steak, and as he did felt pressure against his thigh. He glanced over at Nicola and realized she’d put her leg against his. This time not to chastise him, but to reassure him. And it did.
“So, Kaleb and I were in Central Park a little while ago and actually had to help a boy who’d gotten hurt on a hoverboard.”
“Oh, wow,” Margaret said. “Is he going to be okay?”
“He is, but he fell pretty hard.”
“Good thing you were there.” She smiled. “Nic said you’re going to be involved with the baby’s life. That makes us so happy.”
The quick change in subject threw him for a minute, but Margaret’s voice rang with a sincerity that washed away the discomfort he’d been feeling over being here.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Well—” she reached out and took her husband’s hand “we want you to know that you’re welcome in our home anytime. Nic speaks very highly of you.”
“She told me she’d vouched for me.” He sent Nicola a smile that carried hidden meaning. Her leg pressed against his again, letting him know that she’d gotten it.
He liked it. This secret communication that went on between two people. He’d never done this with either of his exes or with anyone else he’d dated.
The mood was warm and festive, and Nicola’s parents helped carry most of the conversation, which took the burden off of Kaleb and Nic. He could just sit back and enjoy the evening, which was a far cry from how he’d expected this night to go. He glanced over and caught Nicola laughing at something her dad had said about a client who wanted a house shaped like the international space station. “You’re kidding!”
“Nope. I told him that was beyond my skill set and referred him to my least favorite competitor.”
They all laughed.
Nic’s eyes met his and an urge to take her hand came over him. He made a fist in his lap to keep from acting on the impulse. He’d told her the truth in his office. She was beautiful. And it wasn’t just on the outside. The woman’s beauty went clear down to her bones. What he’d once thought abrasive, he now realized was passion. A passion for her patients. A passion for finding out the truth.
“What?” she asked.
He realized he’d been staring at her. “Nothing.”
Dan and Margaret shared a look, Dan giving her a quick wink. He wasn’t sure what that was about, but the warmth in his chest spread. These two were going to make wonderful grandparents. Their love for each other was plain to see even after all these years. Much like his own parents. They seemed to be in the minority nowadays, which was one of the reasons he’d discounted marriage for so long. After striking out twice, he just assumed he didn’t have it in him to stick around for the long haul, since he was the one who’d broken off both of those engagements.
But Nicola was different. She was who she seemed. No hints of subterfuge in her manner. And he’d looked for it. Expected to find it. And was dumbfounded when it wasn’t there.
When she said something, he could trust that she meant it. Even the way she dealt with patients was honest. She didn’t make fun of them behind their backs or show impatience. Instead, she listened. Really listened.
Just like she’d done with him.
Maybe Snowden was wrong. Hell, maybe Kaleb himself was wrong. Maybe relationships could weather the hard times. His own parents and Nicola’s had.
They’d just needed the right partner in life.
Could it be done? Well, looking at Nicola, he wondered. Her last relationship hadn’t lasted, but he’d watched her treat Bill with respect, and he’d responded in kind. He smiled. His last ex had stolen half of his furniture and made no apologies for it. And he’d been okay with it, because it meant she had cleared out of there. And the one before that? Well, her wish of having a baby had come true. A few months after they broke up. Only it hadn’t been with him.
And here he was about to father a child with someone else. But he was more settled now than he’d been back then. He’d thought maybe he wasn’t cut out to be a father or a husband, and yet seeing that heart beating on the ultrasound had made him realize he did. The timing just had to be right.
And the woman?
While her parents continued to talk, he used Nicola’s tactic and nudged her leg with his. She smiled at him, a tiny dimple appearing at the corner of her mouth. Making her smile was a heady thing. He nudged again.
She responded back, this time using more of her upper thigh. It brushed along his, awakening nerve endings that weren’t in his chest, this time.
Secret communications. Oh, yes. He liked them.
He then pressed his whole leg against hers, his foot hooking around her ankle and exerting slow pressure, until her legs parted slightly. Then he smiled at her. A smile that carried a completely different meaning from his earlier ones.
The tip of her tongue came out to moisten her lips. Then she blinked and sat upright. “I think I just heard my phone ping. I’ll be right back.” Pulling free, she pushed her chair away from the table and headed for the other side of the patio, where her purse was.
Hell, he guessed he’d gone too far. Of course he had. They were at her parents’ house, for God’s sake, and here he was trying to seduce her right there at their dinner table.
Nicola pulled out her phone and glanced at the screen. “Oh, no, Kaleb. We need to go. There’s been an emergency.”
That was weird. He couldn’t remember being texted about a hospital emergency before. It normally came in the form of phone call.
So maybe she hadn’t been trying to get away from him after all. Maybe something really was wrong at the hospital.
“Okay.” He glanced at her parents. “I’m sorry to leave like this.”
“It’s fine. Go ahead,” Dan said. “I hope you can come back again. Before the baby arrives.”
He smiled. “You can count on it.”
And he meant it. The evening had been entirely different than he’d imagined it.
He waited while Nicola got her stuff together, and they headed out the door.
“What’s the emergency? Did they say?”
“Who’s they?”
He blinked at her. “Whoever texted you.”
“I didn’t actually say the text said there was an emergency. That was spam. I get it all the time.”
“What? I don’t understand. What’s the emergency, then?” Had she not wanted him to stay?
“The emergency was that your leg tugging on mine was starting to elicit some dangerous reactions. Those reactions were soon going to make themselves painfully known. And I don’t think my parents would have appreciated me slamming you down on the table next to the bread basket and having my way with you.”
Relief poured over him. “So I’m not the only one it was affecting.” What had started out as something playful had taken on a life of its own. He’d heated himself up, but he hadn’t been sure about her. “So what are we going to do about this so-called emergency?”
“We’re going to figure out whose place is closer, and we’re going to put out a fire.”
He leaned over to kiss her, right there in the front yard of Nicola’s childhood home. “What if I want to start a few more fires, before I put any out?”
“I know of at least one fire that is already burning. And there’s only one thing that can put it out. And that’s you.”