He smiled, though the expression didn't reach his eyes, and came to her, wrapping his arm around her waist, much to her surprise. The gesture calmed her, though, and she leaned against him.
"So, how are things going out here?" he asked, his eyes focused on Marcus.
"Great," Marcus said. "Just getting reacquainted with the mother of my baby."
Leah glanced at him with a slight frown. That had sounded awfully possessive. And the weird tension between the two men was growing by the second.
Brooks's arm tightened around her. "I don't remember if I mentioned that Marcus and I went to school together."
"Yes-" Leah started but Marcus answered first.
"Yes, we did. We were quite the rivals back then, weren't we?" he said, his tone friendly, though there was a look in his eye that bugged Leah.
"Were you?" she asked, glancing up at Brooks. He hadn't taken his gaze from Marcus, but the line of his jaw looked as though he was gritting his teeth.
"Oh, yeah," Marcus said. "Had a couple competing projects. This big guy even lost a few girls to me, I think." He laughed, but Brooks's arm around her tensed.
"Ancient history," Brooks said, with a smile she could tell was forced, though to Marcus it probably looked normal.
"Of course, of course." He looked back at Leah. "I was only at school a couple years before I sold my first app and then I left for bigger and better things."
Brooks didn't answer, and before Marcus could say anything more, his phone beeped. He glanced at it. "Unfortunately, I need to run. But," he pulled a business card out of his pocket and handed it to Leah, "this has all my contact info on it, and I've written my personal cell phone number on the back. Let me know when your next appointment is and any baby related stuff that goes on. I want to be there for all of it."
"I will," Leah said, genuinely pleased he wanted to be so involved. The brooding presence of Brooks behind her certainly made everything a little more awkward, but having an involved father in the picture would only be good for the baby.
"And please call me if there is anything at all you need," he said. "Even a late-night run for ice cream."
"I think I can manage any ice-cream cravings," Brooks said.
"Of course. But no need to run yourself ragged. There are two of us in the picture now." Marcus laughed and then leaned in to kiss Leah on the cheek. "I'll talk to you soon." He pointed at Brooks. "Take care of our girl." He gave him a big, cheesy grin and waved on his way out.
Leah risked a glance at Brooks who still stood staring at the door.
"I take it the two of you weren't friends back in the day?"
Brooks glanced down at her and snorted. "We were, sort of. Until he sold the app we were working on out from under me."
She opened her mouth to ask more questions, but he said, "It was almost a decade ago," and then headed for the stairs. "It's late. I'm going to turn in." He took the stairs two at a time, leaving her standing in the middle of the loft.
"Well, that was interesting," she muttered.
It had never occurred to her that Brooks and Marcus would have issues getting along. It had never occurred to her they'd ever be in the same room, especially with Marcus taking so long to respond. And even more especially because the odds of her baby daddy and temporary husband knowing each other were beyond slim. Or so she'd thought.
Either way, stressing her out wasn't healthy for the baby and the baby was the only one who mattered here, so the boys were just going to have to kiss and make up. At least until the baby was born and the whole fake marriage thing was over and done with. Then she could figure out where Marcus would fit in with things. And where Brooks fit. If he wanted to fit, which seemed less and less likely.
She took a deep breath. No point in worrying about it now. They had a few months to get all the kinks worked out. Until then, her concern was getting her little peanut safely into a conflict-free world.
…
Brooks picked up two cards, biting back a smile at the full house staring back at him. But he must not have done it quick enough.
"Oh, better watch it," Cole said, picking up his own cards. "Looks like Brooks has a good hand over there."
"No, I don't think that's it," Harrison said, his soft British accent making him sound like Sherlock Holmes trying to solve a mystery. "I think something else is going on with him. What could it be?"
He stroked his chin like he was trying to puzzle it out and Brooks flipped him off as he tossed a few more chips into the pile. Harrison chuckled.
Chris looked back and forth between them. "What is it?"
"It's nothing," Brooks said.
Harrison shrugged. "Says you. But your opinion is a little biased, now, isn't it?"
Brooks glared at him, but that only made Harrison smile wider.
"What?" he finally asked.
Harrison shrugged. "Sorry, mate. Just never thought I'd see this side of you, that's all."
"And what side would that be?" He picked up his beer to chug it down.
"The whole domesticated-bliss-happy-monogamous thing. Don't get me wrong. It suits you. Just not something I ever expected, that's all."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Brooks said.
Except that was a lie. He knew exactly what Harrison meant. Leah had been living with him for two months now and she had completely changed his world. Turned it upside down in a tornado of domesticity that would put Martha Stewart to shame. There was floral-scented shampoo in the shower, makeup everywhere, soft pillows on every available sitting or sleeping surface, candles on every other available flat surface, even curtains on his windows for fuck's sake.
And don't even get him started on the books. The woman had stacks of them everywhere. She'd filled the two bookshelves in his apartment and still he swore every time she came home she had another stack. She was a total neat freak so it's not like they were all over the apartment. But she had begun to stack them up against his walls so it looked as if one whole room was wallpapered in a book motif. How she found the time to read any of them, he didn't know.
Somehow she managed to work a full day at the school, come home and cook dinner, and she couldn't seem to stop straightening up around the house. According to one of the books she'd left lying around, she was nesting, though instead of it being an end of the pregnancy thing, she was going full tilt all the way through. He wouldn't be surprised if his poor housekeeper quit out of sheer boredom.
He would never admit it to his friends, but he was happy, despite all of that. He hadn't had a date with another woman, let alone anything else, since the moment she walked into his life, and he didn't miss it. Oh, he had a massive list of things he wanted to do with her the moment the doctor cleared them, but other women hadn't even crossed his mind.
"See. There it is again," Harrison said.
Brooks looked back up at him.
"What?"
Cole chuckled. "You're grinning like a … how did you put it when you first met her? A twitterpated Disney princess?"
"I never said twitterpated," he grumbled. "And I was joking."
Harrison shrugged. "I don't think you're joking anymore, mate."
He sighed. "Okay, fine. Yes, it's nice to come home and have a home-cooked meal with a person who can hold an intelligent conversation. But other than that, the woman is driving me insane. I had the perfect bachelor pad and she is turning it into Mother Goose Central. I found a contraption the other day that I thought was supposed to be for some kinky game she wanted to play. Turned out the damn thing was a breast pump. I didn't know you could even pump a breast."
Cole was full out laughing at this point. Brooks glared at him and he held his hands up in defense.
"Sorry. I don't mean to laugh at your pain, but it's kind of nice to have someone else in the same boat for once. Just wait until she's further along. Then things start to get real interesting."
Brooks could only imagine. Then again … "I'm not sure she'll still be here by then."
Harrison frowned at him. "Why is that? You didn't cock it up already, did you?"
Brooks snorted. "Surprisingly, no. I don't think. But even if I haven't, this arrangement was never supposed to be permanent."
Cole frowned. "Have you two discussed her moving out?"
"No." He took another drink of his beer to hide his frown. The thought of her leaving filled him with emotions he didn't want to look at too closely. All he knew was that he didn't want her to go. "But we said we were only doing it to make sure she kept her job and things seem to be going well in that department. My place isn't set up for a baby. She's already almost halfway through her pregnancy. I'm sure she'll want to be settled in her own place before the baby comes."