"I was awake and waiting for it." She covered a yawn. "It is the curse of pregnancy that I can only sleep when I do not want to."
Adelaide turned to walk in the same direction as the other woman. In the distance, she saw a shirtless Gervais running toward them.
"Well, you look fantastic for someone who didn't sleep well."
"Maybe it is the pregnancy glow," Erika said wryly. "Or else just plain happiness. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have Gervais in my life. I told him how beignets settle my stomach in the morning, and now he has fresh, warm beignets for me every day."
"How thoughtful. And romantic." Adelaide wondered if Dempsey would do things like that for the mother of his child one day. She paused to pick up a piece of driftwood with an interesting shape, thinking she might find a spot for it in one of the gardens.
"True. Although that is why I have taken to walking in the mornings. I will need the exercise to bear the many, many pounds I plan to gain over the next months."
Adelaide laughed. "You must have so many plans to make to prepare for your baby."
"Babies, actually. Did you not hear that I am having twins?" Erika rested a hand on Adelaide's forearm, a friendly touch that made her realize how few close female friends she had in her life.
Of course, she'd been living and breathing work and football these past four years.
"Oh, Erika." Adelaide's chest ached with a longing for the kind of happiness this woman had found. "How incredible. Congratulations." She hugged her gently. "Please, please let me know if there's anything I can do to help."
"Gervais already treats me as though I am carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders." Her good humor was contagious. "I have to tell him I am a healthy, strong woman. I do not need to put my feet up every moment of the day." She leaned close to lower her voice. "I am telling him that an active sex life will lead to happier babies."
"Well, it must have worked." She pointed to where Gervais had paused to do a cycle of push-ups along the path. "He looks as if he's in training for a marathon."
"As I said, I am a lucky woman." Erika winked and shared her plans for decorating a nursery as they walked.
Adelaide listened attentively, all the while wondering what it would be like to be expecting a first child. She had never stopped to think much about babies, since she had never come close to finding a lasting love relationship and, of course, that needed to happen first.
But all the talk of babies and parenting tugged at her heart. She couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she were to become pregnant. Would Dempsey be excited? More likely he would not be pleased. He'd made it clear their relationship would have boundaries. For years, they had just been friends. Then, she'd been his assistant.
Now she was his lover.
After that? She feared she would be very much alone.
* * *
When Dempsey left the house that morning, he spotted Adelaide down by lake, walking with Gervais's future wife. For all that Adelaide had resisted getting close with his family, she looked comfortable enough, pausing in her walk to give the other woman a hug.
The sight did something peculiar to his insides. She was so naturally warmhearted and caring. Of course she would befriend the pregnant foreign princess who must be struggling to adjust to life in New Orleans as she prepared to be a mother.
Dempsey crossed the driveway to reach the detached garage when he caught sight of a familiar figure jogging toward him, his only neighbor right now while Henri spent the season in the Garden District house with his wife.
"Gervais." Dempsey lifted a hand in greeting.
The eldest Reynaud brother, like Dempsey, had walked away from football after college because of injuries. He still ran every day, though, and Dempsey had caught sight of him in the players' gym after-hours some nights, working out to the point of exhaustion. Dempsey had never fully understood his brother's demons, since Gervais had always been the heir to a billion-dollar corporation and he'd been born with the innate business sense to run it well. But then, Gervais had always been the most coolly controlled one of them.
"Congratulations on your engagement." Sweating and shirtless, he slowed his pace to run in place. "Sorry I haven't been by to welcome Adelaide to the family. It's been a busy week in the front office while we prepare for the regular season to start."
"I wouldn't have chosen the week of our home opener for the engagement announcement if it hadn't been necessary." If Addy hadn't decided to quit on him, that is. Although it was tough to regret her decision now, knowing it had led to the most incredible night of his life.
Gervais raised a brow. "Necessary? As in, I won't be the only one trying to navigate the challenges of fatherhood next spring?"
"No." Dempsey hit the remote to raise the door to the farthest right bay in the garage. "You're on your own with that-double dose. Adelaide and I got engaged for different reasons, but the timing was unavoidable."
"Spoken like the romantic soul you've always been," Gervais said drily, clapping him on the shoulder. "But at least Adelaide understands you well. You two want to come up to the house for dinner tonight? Erika is used to having her sisters around. I know she would be glad to get to know her future sister-in-law."
"I'll check with Adelaide, but given how they seem to be enjoying their conversation on the beach now, I think that'll be a good plan." Surprised at the invitation-they'd never extended such invites to one another as bachelors-Dempsey wondered for a split second how family dynamics would change with women around. But then, that wasn't really a concern for now, since Adelaide wouldn't be under his roof for long. He would return to his usual role as the Reynaud black sheep then.
"Good. We can sneak away to watch some game film after dessert." Gervais started jogging again, backward. "You can let me in on the highlights of Sunday's game plan."
"Of course." So it would be a working dinner. Still, he appreciated the offer. "I'll text you once I speak to Adelaide."
Since the four Reynaud brothers had gone off to college, they hadn't spent much time together outside of family gatherings that their grandfather insisted on. Even now, Leon was the most likely to bring them together. Dempsey hated to think that their grandfather's decline in health would be the next thing to put Gervais, Dempsey, Henri and Jean-Pierre in the same room together.
Maybe tonight would be a step toward having a stronger relationship with Gervais-they had a working partnership to protect in the Hurricanes if nothing else. The only drawback would be that Dempsey would have to share Adelaide for a few hours, and with their time together limited, he didn't like the idea of giving up any of it.
They'd been together intimately for less than twenty-four hours and already Adelaide had gotten under his skin deeper than any other woman he'd ever known.
* * *
"I love your earrings." Erika lifted a hand toward Adelaide's ear as they sat outside by the pool behind Gervais's breathtaking home that evening. "May I?"
They were sipping virgin margaritas under a pergola heavy with bright pink bougainvillea. Adelaide had mixed feelings about the evening, since getting closer to Dempsey's family would only make their breakup more difficult when it happened. But visiting with Gervais's fiancée this morning and this evening had been surprisingly fun. There was nothing pretentious about this Vikingesque princess who, apparently, was one of five daughters in a family of deposed royalty from a tiny kingdom near Norway.
Their casual outdoor dinner had made Adelaide all the more committed to building a business and a life for herself outside the male-dominated world of football. She craved more girl time.
"Of course." She scooted closer on the massive side-by-side lounger they shared, since Erika had wanted to put her feet up and insisted Adelaide should, too. "These are a sample from an accessory collection I hope to design for female sports fans."
"Sports fans?" Erika frowned, a pout that didn't come close to diminishing her stunning good looks. "They do not look like sports paraphernalia."
Close up, Adelaide marveled at the other woman's skin tone. But then, maybe living so far north the sun couldn't wreak the same kind of havoc. She'd rather take the freckles, she decided, than live for months in the cold.