The Best Friend Bargain(20)

“Sorry?”

“You said my first baby.”

He stared at Liv, cataloguing every feature of her pretty face. When he couldn’t see her anymore he wanted to pull up this image to remember her by. The one where she looked at him like he was the air that she needed to keep breathing.

After this morning’s visit with the doctor, it was pretty hard not to get caught up in her pregnancy, and he could only imagine how much his feelings would intensify in the coming months. Despite his doubts, he couldn’t deny the tug on his heartstrings.

“I did?”

She gave a small, slow nod of her head.

“No matter what, Maybug, I’m going to care for this baby because it’s yours. And I guess I’m already feeling territorial. This morning made it real. I never thought I’d get to be part of something like this.”

She wiped at the corner of her eye. Shit. He hadn’t meant to make her cry. He reached for her hand, but she waved him away. “I’m okay. Just emotional. And I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse.”

“Sucks for me.”

Her laughter was the exact reaction he’d hoped for. She turned in the stool. Their knees touched and a jolt of familiarity banded with unexplored lust surged through his blood. She drew in a breath.

“Danny?” she murmured. “Are…are we okay?”

“More than okay,” he lied. He’d fight the unwelcome current between them no matter what. Preparing for the emotional impact of fatherhood and marriage was all he could handle—and he was barely able to manage that. To add intimacy would be asking for trouble he couldn’t risk. Not with her.

…

“Everything you ever want or need to know is in that book,” Sophie said, sitting next to Liv on the couch. Sunlight slanted through the living room shutters and illuminated her and baby Hannah asleep in her arms. Liv could barely take her eyes off them to appreciate the thoughtful gift.

“Thank you.” The title of the book was What To Expect When You’re Expecting. Liv planned to read it tonight until her eyes grew so heavy she fell asleep with it in her hands. Then maybe she wouldn’t think about a certain best friend who had her stomach tied up in knots.

The only lump in her belly was supposed to belong to Baby Lincoln.

“And if there’s anything you’re not sure of, please don’t think twice about calling me or stopping by.”

Liv silently debated on whether or not to ask about the avalanche of emotions troubling her. Sophie had a background in brain research and knew a thing or two about thought processes. She also knew the truth about her situation with Danny. “Actually,” Liv half whispered, “can I ask you something that doesn’t have to do with my pregnancy?”

“Sure.”

“I’m having some new and confusing thoughts about Danny that I’m afraid are going to impact our friendship in a bad way, and I don’t ever want that to happen.”

The other night in the kitchen when he’d come in from surfing and for the millionth time said the right words, her heart had barely been able to contain itself, knocking against her ribs so hard she worried she’d wake up with a sore chest. And when she’d leaned in to kiss his cheek and somehow gotten the corner of his mouth, too, her entire body had responded with unimaginable tingles. She’d wanted to kiss him again, only full on, with her lips and tongue and teeth. The idea scared her as much as it turned her on.

“I’m not sure what your question is,” Sophie said.

“Is that normal?” She couldn’t let herself think she really had romantic feelings for her best friend. “It’s just because of the situation I’ve put us in, right?” She bit her fingernail.

“You’re thinking about him…”

“Naked,” Liv admitted.

“And if you had to pick one word to describe how that makes you feel, what would it be?”

Liv didn’t answer right away. Sophie must have a good reason for asking so she wanted to respond with as close to the truth as she could figure out. “Guilty.”

Sophie’s brow knit together. “Because of Will?”

It hadn’t been crystal clear why until right then, but Sophie was absolutely right. Liv had thought it was because she and Danny were best friends and it would kill her to ruin their friendship, but it went deeper than that.

She’d gotten another text from Will, this time with a picture of Kensington Gardens, with the words, Thought of you today. The message had hurt as much as it made her happy. He was thinking of her while at one of their favorite spots. She didn’t know what that meant exactly.