LOVE ‘EM(117)
Back in the curtained space, Danny and I wait for the discharge papers. Rachel and Slade left a few minutes ago. I change into my clean clothes and sit next to Danny on the side of the bed.
He slides his arm around me. “So. We’re having a baby.”
His eyes hold my gaze as I nod. He lays his mouth against mine, kissing me fiercely.
When we break, I pull away. “I have to tell you something.”
His expression falls. “Okay. Go ahead.”
I run my fingers over his chest. “I’m scared, more than I’ve ever been in my life.”
Danny takes my hands and kisses them. “Me too. But I’m happy as fuck, Mo.”
“You have to know, I’m not trying to trap you. Or to make you stay with me. I don’t want you to feel that way.”
He shakes his head. “Aw, Babe. No. I don’t feel like that. I’ve wanted this. From the moment I thought it was a possibility, I’ve wanted it.”
The ache in my chest intensifies, but this has to be said. “You can still be this baby’s daddy, but you don’t have to be with me, if you don’t want to. I—I don’t want us to be together because of a baby.”
He rolls his eyes and chuckles. “Are you shitting me? Mo, I’ve loved you for so long. You have no idea. There’s nothing in the world I want more than you. Nothing.”
The pressure in my lungs eases a fraction and I let out the breath I’ve been holding. “Only if you’re sure.”
Danny slides to his knee in front of me. He lays his head in my lap and wraps his arms around my lower back. Then he looks up, his dimples showing, eyes shining. “I don’t have a ring yet, but Mona Lisa Clark, will you do me the honor of—”
Shit! My hand darts out and covers his mouth. “No. Don’t. Don’t do that. Not now.”
He pulls away and stands. “What? Why? You don’t want to marry me?”
I chew my thumbnail. How do I make him understand?
His shoulders droop and he plops down next to me. “I’m sorry. I hoped…”
“I’m not saying I won’t marry you. Or even that I don’t want to, Danny. I just...let’s make sure, you know? I want to be certain you and I will work. Right now, I’m scared. Let me be less scared when I make this decision. Okay?”
He nods and his eyes brighten once more. “Okay. But I’m not going to stop asking. I’m going to ask every day until you agree to be my wife.”
I bump his arm with my shoulder. “Every day? I doubt that. But whatever.”
He gives me one of his devilish grins. “You’ll see.”
CH. FIFTEEN
I stretch and push the covers off.
Danny drags a hand over my thigh. With his face still buried in his pillow, his voice is muffled. “Why are you up so early?”
“I don’t know. Just woke up.” I hop out of the bed and go to the kitchen to start the coffee for him.
I pass Danny coming out of the bathroom on my way in to take care of my morning routine. When I get back to the bed, Danny’s propped up on his pillows, his hair wild, his scruffy jaw sexy as hell.
He holds a hand out. “Come here.”
I take his hand and walk across the bed on my knees. “Coffee’ll be ready for you in a few seconds.”
I straddle his hips. He slides his hands under my short robe and cups my ass cheeks in his big palms.
I kiss the top of his head. “Rach and I are going to look at houses today. Want to come?”
“Sure.”
I close my eyes. Thank you, Mom, for not forgetting to plan for my future after all. It shocked the crap out of me when the attorney called to let me know I had a trust fund and would get it on my twenty-first birthday, apparently two years earlier than planned because Dave signed some papers releasing it. At least one good thing came out of his being a disgusting perv. And the money couldn’t have come at a better time, considering the baby and all.
Danny pulls me back to the here and now when he rubs his face against my not quite as flat belly and places a kiss just below my knotted belt. “Good morning, baby.”
I run my fingers through his hair and kiss his crown. “So, today’s the day.”
He looks up. “What day?”
“Sixteen weeks.”
He grins. “So it is.”
I pull him close. “You know what that means, right?”
“We have five months until we have our very own poop machine?”
I shake my head. “Well, that too, but not what I’m talking about.”
He grabs my hips and pushes me away enough to lean back so our eyes meet. “Then what?”
“It means you can stop treating me like I’m made of blown glass and might shatter any second.” I pull the belt at my waist, untying it.