Waking Up Pregnant(27)

                She swallowed and looked up at Jeff.

                The man who was all laughter and easy good times hadn’t shown up at her bedside. This Jeff was serious. No-nonsense. And he was here because the woman responsible for protecting his child hadn’t even realized she was at risk of failing.

                This Jeff had every reason for making an appearance. If the tables were turned, she’d be looking at him the same way.

                “Jeff, I’m sorry.”

                He nodded, but the look in his eyes was hard. “Here’s the deal, Darcy. I know you’re tough and I know you’re independent. But I’m uncomfortable with you alone like this. From what I understand, it was a fluke your boss happened to be walking by when you passed out. You work in isolation for hours at a stretch. Take public transportation home alone to the apartment you don’t share with anyone else. You don’t have anyone here looking out for you, so what I’m asking, is does it really make sense for you to still be up here?”

                She looked down at her hands, at the plastic tube snaking its way up her arm, feeling more alone in that moment than she could ever remember feeling before.

                “I’ve got a job here, Jeff.”

                He stepped closer to the bed, and after a pause, dropped into the chair beside her. His hand moved to her belly and rested there for a beat. “You’ve got our baby in here. And he’s kicking your butt. Come back with me and I’ll take care of you. We’ll get through this together. You don’t have to be on your own.”

                Darcy couldn’t take her eyes off the sight of his hand against her stomach, couldn’t think about anything but the heat radiating from his touch and how good it felt, when nothing had felt good, since the last time—the first time—he’d put his hands on her.

                Which she couldn’t think about. Not like this. Not with him touching her in a way that was so totally not about her at all, but about the child they shared together. About his concern.

                Jeff cleared his throat. “We could get married.”

                Darcy stiffened. “We don’t even know each other.”

                “I don’t mean permanently. Just until the baby is born, so he’d be legitimate.”

                The breath leaked from her lungs, as she shook her head, trying to ignore that pinch of disappointment there was no justification for. “Legitimacy isn’t any reason to get married, Jeff.”

                “I know. Forget it.” Jeff let out an impatient growl, pulled his hand away and then ran it through the mess of his hair going on as if he hadn’t dropped that bomb. “You’re determined to work?”

                He couldn’t understand, but he needed to accept it. “Yes.”

                “Fine.” He stood, stared down at the spot where his hand had been and nodded.

                Then heading for the door, he looked back with a frown. “I actually know of a position that might be the perfect fit.”





                                      EIGHT

                “You low-down, dirty liar,” Darcy accused, her color looking better than Jeff had seen it since Vegas.

                Catching the finger she was jabbing into his chest with a gentle hand, he eased her back into the deep leather seat of the limo and clarified. “I never lied.”