She shook her head. "Not anymore though. I just hope his father leaves him alone."
"He will," Caleb said, his voice hardening, but the anger wasn't directed at her. "Trust me."
She nodded and then took his hand, running her fingertips over the scrapes that resulted from Caleb's confrontation with Peter's father. If Caleb said that he wouldn't be bothering Peter, then she believed him.
She pressed her lips to his knuckles and watched as something lit up in his eyes, although she couldn't figure out what exactly.
"Caleb?"
"Yes, princess?" he murmured, voice gone all husky.
"You're going to be a great father."
* * *
Caleb sighed, scrubbing a hand down his face. He'd only been at work a couple hours and he couldn't get focused. Every time he allowed his thoughts to wander, he thought of Maddie, and trying not to think about her only made him want to think about her even more.
Leaving for work after their shower together had been one of the greatest tests of willpower he'd ever experienced. All he'd wanted to do was wrap her legs around his waist and take her against the wall of the shower until he brought them both release, but two things had stopped him. One being that she was probably too sensitive from the night before. The second was that she'd shaken him to the core and he couldn't even pinpoint why.
No, he thought, blowing out a long breath. He knew why. It was the way she'd looked up at him with those earnest, soft eyes, like she saw every part of him-the good and the bad and every little corner where darkness festered-and she still accepted it all. And that was something that he couldn't wrap his head around. Complete acceptance.
Focus, he commanded himself, forcing himself to stare back at his computer screen, like that alone would make him work. He was in the process of setting up another restoration with some tech millionaire in Silicon Valley who had a thing for old cars. He'd heard that Montgomery Restoration & Repair was the best in the Bay Area … and he was right. But Caleb would have to hire a couple of guys for the job since the client wanted a quick turnaround. Caleb usually handled most of the restoration jobs, just at a slower pace, but the pay that the millionaire was offering was more than enough for Caleb to justify hiring more men.
More than enough, he thought, looking at the multiple zeros. It would be enough to pay off the remainder of Maddie's school debt, pay for a nursery for the baby, and then some.
And even though he knew that he should be on the phone right now with the millionaire, sealing the deal, his eyes kept straying to his cell phone, wondering what Maddie was doing and whether she liked what they'd done last night.
You're going to be a great father, she'd said and those words would be branded onto his brain forever. He hadn't realized how much he feared he'd make a terrible father until Maddie voiced her faith in him. It meant more to him than she probably realized.
Before he knew what he was doing, he was reaching for his phone. He might as well call her or else he wouldn't get any work done. He told himself that he'd done it more than enough times these past few months, that he called her all the time to check up on her while he was at work. But for some reason, this felt different. After the intimacy of last night and what happened in the shower this morning, this felt like he was writing her a fucking love letter or something.
"Hi," she murmured when she answered and Caleb swore that his heart skipped a beat. He could hear the smile in her voice.
Frowning and rubbing his chest, he grumbled, "What are you doing?"
Smooth, Montgomery. Real smooth.
"I see it's my afternoon check-up call already," she teased. Then she ran through her list, which she seemed to spout off just because she liked to poke fun at him and his overbearing ways when it came to her health. "I'm walking back to campus after lunch with Kyra. No nausea today, my water consumption is optimal, I had a sandwich, an apple, and two brownies, and I don't have a temperature. Would you like to know anything else?"
"Smart ass," he mumbled, but he couldn't stop the smile from spreading over his face. He'd found himself smiling more in the past couple months than he probably had in his entire life. Before he realized it, he was admitting, "I just worry about you."
Maddie's voice softened. "I know."
Clearing his throat, he leaned forward in his office chair, elbows coming down hard on his desk. He was at a loss for words and he didn't like it.
"You know what I read today?" she said after a brief pause. "That at sixteen weeks, the baby is the size of an avocado. An avocado, Caleb. Can you believe that?"
Something fluttered in his chest. Yes, he had already known that. Every week, he researched online what to expect, so he was always prepared. Not only was the baby the size of an avocado, but he-or she-could begin making facial expressions. Caleb didn't know what to think about that, but after he'd read it, he'd simply stared at the screen of his computer, in awe.