"Excuse me," she said, searching for a way to break up the imminent pissing contest. "But my feet are killing me. I think I'd like to go home now."
"Absolutely." Brooks handed their glasses to another waiter.
Marcus took her hand. "Please don't leave on our account." He jerked his head at Brooks. "It's just a little friendly rivalry. We don't mean anything by it."
Judging from the tense look on Brooks's face, that wasn't quite the truth, but she didn't want to debate it right then.
She smiled and squeezed his hand. "It's not that at all. Or not totally that. I'm tired."
"Then let's get you home," Brooks said, wrapping his arm around her waist.
"I'll call you tomorrow," Marcus said, raising her hand to his lips.
Leah forced a smile. Marcus really was sweet, but having him in the same room as Brooks was a bit much.
Brooks gave him a tense nod and led her from the room and out of the building.
"You were wonderful tonight, thank you," he said as he helped her into the car.
She gave him a small smile. She hoped she'd been a help. She really did. But she couldn't help but be grateful that she didn't have to go to those parties every month. There was no way she could stand dealing with those people regularly. And she wasn't sure how great a help she'd been in any case. Certainly not with the wives.
A room full of models, tech giants, celebrities, business moguls, and other masters of the universe didn't seem all that impressed with a high school teacher, no matter how prestigious her school. And she didn't want to spend her life trying to impress them.
But for Brooks's sake, she hoped she had done enough. It would be nice, when all this was over, to know that being in his life had made it a little better.
"What's the deal with you and Marcus?" she asked.
He sighed. "Nothing. Just some old school rivalry. No big deal."
"Is this going to be a problem?" she asked. "Because he is the baby's father. I can't exactly tell him to get lost."
"No. Really, don't worry about it. Just guys being guys." He threaded his fingers through hers and kissed her hand.
Now, why did that make her even more worried?
Chapter Sixteen
They were back in one of the most uncomfortable rooms Brooks had ever been in, only this time Leah was fully clothed. He tried to talk her into one of those flimsy paper gowns, but apparently one wasn't necessary. And she couldn't be talked into doing it anyway just for fun … or easy access. She also nixed the idea of him wearing one. Which was totally unfair. He'd rock the shit out of it.
She sat on the table lightly swinging her feet. A small thing, really, that she probably didn't even notice, but it had to be one of the most adorable things he'd ever seen in his life. Of course there was nothing adorable about the metal arms that were attached to the table. Those looked ominous.
"What the hell are those things?" he asked, pointing at them. "It looks like some weird alien dissection lab."
"You aren't too far off. Those are the stirrups."
"You mean like giddy-up-horsey stirrups?"
"Kind of. I put my feet in those and they hold my legs up so the doctor can examine me."
Brooks looked at how far apart they were and envisioned the position that would put her in. Under normal circumstances, it might intrigue him. In the sterile medical environment they were in, it was nothing short of terrifying.
"Does it hurt?"
"Well, it's not the most comfortable thing I've ever done, but it's not that bad."
He stared at them a moment longer. "Nope, gotta try it. Scootch."
"What?" she asked.
But he was already nudging her off the table. He hopped up, put his feet in the stirrups, and stared at the ceiling.
"Okay, this is brutal."
"Well, I do try to be gentle," a voice said.
Brooks craned his neck up. "Oh, hey, doc." He gave him a little wave.
"I've found I usually get the best results when I examine the mother in these cases."
Total deadpan. Nice. "Sorry," he said, disentangling his legs from the weird metal torture devices and jumping down.
Dr. Petrosky waited while Leah climbed back on the table. "How are we feeling today?"
"Pretty good," Brooks said. "Had a bit of a big lunch so my stomach is hurting a little."
The doctor laughed. "I meant Mrs. Larson."
"Ah, right. I'll let her answer."
Leah shook her head, though she had that smile on her lips that she had when she thought he was being adorable.
"I'm doing fine, doctor."
"Good, good. No more spotting? A small amount after intercourse should be fine, but remember if it's bright red or you're bleeding through a pad, you need to come in right away."
"No," she said, her cheeks flashing crimson. "No problems."
She avoided his gaze. As well she should. They were cleared for sex? Oh, they so needed to have a talk when they got home.
"Well, let's take a look here." He got out the bottle of gel and pulled her shirt up enough to expose her belly. Brooks looked at it in fascination. He'd seen pregnant bellies before of course, but none up so close or as personal to him. Leah had been doing a good job of keeping covered up when he was near. For apparently no reason, at least not a medical one.
The doctor squirted the goo all over her belly and brought the little mouse-looking thing over. Brooks had been in the room the first time they'd done this, but he had been so stressed over the situation that he hadn't really paid attention to what was going on. The doctor moved the mouse over her belly and flipped a switch on the machine next to him. A weird whomping sound filled the room.
"Wow. Is that … " Brooks said in wonder.
Leah smiled and took his hand, drawing him closer to the bed so he could see the screen.
"That's the baby's heartbeat," the doctor said. "Nice and strong."
Brooks watched in awe for a moment as the doctor took various pictures of the baby, measuring its length, head circumference, and pointed out all the various body parts that they could see.
"And it looks like the baby is in a great position if you want to know the sex," the doctor said.
Brooks looked at Leah who stared back at him. He was dying of curiosity. He was the type who opened his Christmas presents early and then put them back under the tree, and who read the last page of a book first. He hated waiting, but it wasn't his decision to make. He shrugged at her with a smile.
She turned to the doctor. "Yes, I think I do want to know."
"It looks like you're going to have a little girl," the doctor said.
Brooks's heart punched through his chest. The rational part of his brain told him that this baby wasn't his. Leah wasn't really his wife. And in a few months, the whole charade would be over, but the rest of him wasn't really listening. It was listening to the magical whomp whomp whomp sound of the baby's heartbeat. It was watching the way Leah stared at the screen as if she could make out every feature of her baby. It was watching the intent way she absorbed everything the doctor said, soaking up every bit of information that she could.
It didn't matter if it wasn't really real because at that moment there was nothing else in the world that was more real to him.
The doctor gave them a few more instructions that Brooks didn't really hear, but before he left there was one thing he wanted to make triple sure of.
"So, we are fine to resume marital relations, correct?"
"Of course," the doctor said.
"You're sure it won't hurt the baby? She'll be okay?" Brooks was taking no chances of a repeat of last time.
"She'll be just fine. The baby is strong and healthy and so is her mother."
Brooks grabbed the doctor's hand and shook it on the doctor's way out. "That's wonderful news, thanks, doc."
Leah snorted from the table as she sat up and wiped a bit more goo off her belly. "Well that perked you right up," she said.
Brooks grinned and leaned over her with one hand on each side of the table so she couldn't escape. She looked up at him.
"Oh, you have no idea," he said. "Any particular reason you didn't tell me you had been cleared already?"
She chewed her lip. "I was nervous."
"Of hurting the baby?"
"Yes. A little. The doctor assured me all was fine, but still."
"And? Something else? Nervous about getting attached to me?"
He said it jokingly, though he found he meant it more than he'd intended.
"Yes," she said, raising her chin in the air. "This is supposed to be temporary and we agreed no sex for a reason. It complicates the hell out of everything. And we've already done it once. And it was … " Her cheeks flushed. "It was more than I expected. Doing it again … "
Would be incredible. Trying to keep from carrying her off right then and there took a lot more willpower than he thought he had. He got a grip and focused on Leah.
"I get it, really. But this relationship is already beyond complicated. Sex is kind of the major perk of being married, or so I've always been told. So why not make the most of it?"