I broached the topic almost immediately after I was off the phone with my mom. I sat down at the kitchen table. Adam set a plate of pancakes down in front of me, and instead of saying what I meant to say— “This smells delicious”—I found myself saying, “I need to go back to my apartment soon.”
Adam looked stricken. He laughed weakly. “If you hate my pancakes that much…”
I grinned and shook my head. God, he was way too cute. No man should be able to be both that cute and that sexy, all rolled up into one. I tried to focus.
I started with what I had originally intended to say. “These smell amazing,” I said. “It’s more that I’m having a hard time keeping my hands off of you when you’re looking so good in the kitchen and being so kind to me at the same time.”
Those weren’t the words that I’d initially meant to say, and even though they were infinitely true, I felt a little embarrassed that they’d actually come out of my mouth. Adam looked amused, though, and I supposed that counted for something.
“I guess that’s fair,” Adam sighed. Almost to himself, he added, “Three more months.” He looked quickly over at me after he said it. “Not that I’m trying to pressure you or anything. We’ll talk about it all then. I don’t want to jump into anything.”
“Adam, it’s okay,” I said immediately, before either of us could say something we didn’t mean. Either for good or bad.
Adam looked a little relieved and went back to the stove to plate his own breakfast. He sat down across from me. “How did your parents take the news?” he asked.
“Mom wasn’t too happy about it, and she’s definitely coming to visit me at some point, but she said she’s grateful that you’re taking care of me.”
Adam raised an eyebrow at me. “You told her about me?” he asked, sounding nervous.
“Not exactly,” I admitted. “I just told her that a friend was helping me out.” I bit my lower lip. “Should I have told her about you? I guess she’s probably going to meet you at some point, but I wasn’t sure… I mean, I just don’t know…” I trailed off, stammering.
Adam smiled reassuringly at me and thankfully changed the subject. “Sounds like you and your mom must be close,” he said. “I can hear it in your voice when you talk about her.”
I smiled. “Yeah, I know a lot of girls don’t get along with their moms especially when they’re teenagers, but Mom and I have always been close.” My hand dropped automatically to my belly. “I hope I get to have something similar with this little one.”
“It’s crazy to think about, isn’t it?” Adam commented, looking thoughtful.
“What about you?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking. “Are you close to your parents?”
Adam nodded. “My dad and I are really close,” he said, and it warmed something inside of me to hear him say that. Family was so important to me, and I wanted this little one to grow up into a network of people who loved it, whatever our relationships might end up looking like.
“Actually,” Adam continued, “my dad was really there for me when things went sideways with Kelly. He lives right here in the city.”
“Maybe I’ll get to meet him sometime,” I said quietly.
“I’d like that,” Adam said, and when I looked up, his gaze was unreadable.
We finished eating and moved into the living room, sitting on the couch and putting a movie on. We were only a small part of the way through it when I realized that he was watching me. I couldn’t help but feeling turned on by the heat of his gaze. I glanced over, wishing I knew what he was thinking.
“Come here,” he suddenly said, opening his arms to me. I wiggled around so that I was nestled in his arms. He kissed my temple, and we settled back down to watching the movie. It was almost impossible for me to focus, though, with the heat of his body just behind me. My whole body felt like it was twitching with the need to react to his touch, to his nearness, to his sexiness.
His hand suddenly landed on my stomach, making me jump as though I’d been electrified. That was our baby growing there in my belly. Fuck.
I twisted in his arms at the same moment that he moved his mouth to meet mine. It was only a second before we were making out passionately on the couch. All sorts of warning bells were going off in the back of my mind, but I couldn’t focus on the reasons why we shouldn’t be doing this. My whole body was consumed with molten desire, and I couldn’t keep my hands off him.
I didn’t know who it was that started stripping down the other one first, but the next thing I knew, we were both naked on the couch. His hands felt cool on my skin as he rolled me around so that I was beneath him.
He kissed his way down my body and then laid his tongue along the edge of my entrance, dipping the very tip inside, teasing me. I moaned, my hands drifting above my head, clutching at the arm of the couch as pleasure coursed through me. He continued to stimulate me with just his mouth and the lightest brushes of his fingertips, until I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Adam, please,” I whimpered. He chuckled, and I shivered at the breath that stroked against my twitching folds.
He eased himself up on the couch, his hand cupping my cheek seriously. “Tell me if anything hurts,” he said seriously.
Adam slowly pressed into me, as he smiled crookedly down at me. He pulled nearly all the way out before thrusting back inside, setting a gentle, rolling pace that had me arching against him, my fingers finding purchase in the back of the couch again, using that to rock into him in the same way he was moving against me.
Something warm bubbled in my chest. He had been such a good guy over the past few days. Even having an unexpected pregnancy dropped on him while I was at the hospital hadn’t made him angry. He had been nothing but caring. I didn’t know how to tell him how much I appreciated that, but I tried my best to show him in my actions, my fingers tender as they stroked across his skin.
We both came quickly, as though the past few days together had been all the foreplay we needed. We collapsed, sticky and sated, on the couch, Adam careful not to put too much pressure on my still-aching body. He kissed my cheek gently and then stroked my hair. Suddenly, he sighed, and I could tell he was about to say something that would ruin the moment.
There was still plenty that we needed to talk about, after all.
For now, though, I put a finger over his lips. “Shh,” I murmured. “Not now.”
Adam was quiet for a moment, his eyes searching mine. Finally, he nodded. “Not now,” he agreed. Then, almost like a challenge, “But soon.”
There was nothing I could say to argue against that. He was right. We would need to talk about all of this soon. I didn’t really want to get lawyers involved the way he seemed to want, but that didn’t mean we could quit brushing all of this under the rug. Hell, we had just agreed that we would wait the three months until I was no longer an intern for the company before we did this again, and yet here we were, tangled naked together on the couch.
What did I want from this in the long run? It was so hard to think about it with his gloriously toned body pressed against my own bare curves.
26
Adam
I wished I could put my finger on what felt different about Thursday morning. Or rather, I wished I could pretend that it was just the fact that the holidays were apparently here, Christmas trees and twinkling lights having popped up around the city seemingly overnight.
I knew that wasn’t exactly the truth, though. What felt different was the way that things were with Mindy, the fact that I couldn’t get her out of my head. It was almost the way that I had felt the last time we had slept together, only the feeling was even stronger this time. Last time, the continuing saga with Kelly had managed to distract me from how much I wanted Mindy. This time, it felt as though nothing could, not even if the earth had been ending.
She was going back to her own apartment today. I had helped her into a car with Risa that morning before I came into the office. Mindy wouldn’t be back at Designed by You until Monday
. It gave me a few days to sort out my thoughts about her, but I knew that was hopeless.
Part of the trouble was that there was no “sorting out” to do. I wanted her; I knew that. There was no changing my mind about it.
I couldn’t help but feel worried about her, even though I knew that Risa had the day off from work and would take just as good care of Mindy as I would have. There was a part of me that wished I had insisted on Mindy staying another day at my place. Surely I could work from home for another day.
Except that things had quickly turned into something else the previous day. Mindy was right. For the sake of both of us, she needed to go back to her own place. There wasn’t supposed to be any more hanky-panky until her internship at the company was over. Yet neither of us seemed capable of keeping our hands off one another.
Still, I’d had the chance to hold her sleeping form in my arms the previous afternoon as a movie played on the television. Mindy had fallen asleep in my arms pretty quickly. I hadn’t had the heart to wake her up and move her to a bed, and she hadn’t seemed to mind when she finally did wake up.
I hoped the amount she was sleeping was normal given her injuries. I was still worried about her. She had still looked tired that morning. Then again, the baby was taking up a lot of her energy. And the doctor had said that she would need lots of rest in order for her body to heal up.
My hand hovered over my phone. There was a part of me that wanted to text her right now and just make sure that she was all right. I didn’t want to seem overbearing, though. This whole thing was still so new to both of us. New enough that we hadn’t even put labels on things. She knew that I wanted to be there for her during the pregnancy, and there for the child. What she didn’t know, though, was that I wanted to be with her in all the ways that mattered. That I wanted her health and well-being to be my business.
Three more months. It was so hard to think about the fact that I couldn’t be with her for at least that long. I couldn’t imagine going home to my empty apartment again that evening, knowing that she wasn’t there. There was definitely a part of me that wanted her to stay there for the whole pregnancy and beyond. How much was I going to miss by keeping my distance from her for the next three months? I’d miss the first time the baby kicked. I’d miss her pregnancy cravings. I’d miss all those things that you were supposed to do for the expecting mama like rubbing her swollen ankles.
Suddenly, I wanted all of that with Mindy. I wanted to be there for her, whatever she needed, whenever she needed it.
The intensity of my feelings surprised me. I had been so angry and bitter and jaded after my divorce that I thought I could never care deeply about another woman. But there I was, wanting to hand Mindy the world on a silver platter.
Still, I could tell that Mindy really wanted to keep her job. She was passionate about her work here, and I appreciated that. I couldn’t do anything to jeopardize that. Which meant that until her internship was up, I couldn’t go near her outside of work.
There was a knock on my door. I looked up to see Vera and frowned, glancing over at my calendar. “Did we have a meeting that I forgot about?” I asked her, suddenly worried.
If you had told me a year ago that I was going to be this disorganized and behind in my work, I wouldn’t have believed it. Suddenly, my work seemed to have taken second place to pretty much everything. I felt terrible for letting that happen, but then again, I would have felt terrible if I hadn’t been there for Mindy because I was too focused on my work.
“No meeting,” Vera said. “Just wanted to check in and see how Mindy was doing. I assume she’s alright if you’re here?”
“Yeah,” I said. “She headed back to her place with Risa this morning. She seems to be doing a lot better.”
“That’s great,” Vera said, sounding relieved.
I found myself smiling suddenly. It was funny how close I had gotten to her and Risa both through this whole mess. It was like adopting two grown sisters.
“Well, I’m sure she’s fine with Risa, but if you guys need someone else to pitch in a hand, I’m always here to help,” Vera added.
“Sure thing, I’ll let you know,” I promised her. “Thanks, Vera.”
She nodded and disappeared. I got to work on a proposal I’d been drafting for a company that we were trying to work with. I hadn’t been at it for long before there was another knock on the door. Wendell poked his head inside. “There’s a, uh, delivery,” he said, sounding amused.
I frowned, wondering what that could mean. I flat out stared as Wendell brought in a bouquet of flowers. “Um,” I said stupidly. From Mindy? No, why would she send flowers? Or Risa? She probably still wasn’t happy that I had taken care of Mindy instead of letting her. Vera?
Wendell brought them over and set them down on the edge of the desk. I pulled out the card.
Thanks for taking care of our baby girl. Hurt her, we hurt you. — Mindy’s parents
I burst out laughing, unable to help it, and passed the card to Wendell. He joined me in laughter.
“So they know?” Wendell asked when we had both managed to control ourselves again.
“I guess so,” I said.
And knowing that she had told her parents about me made a warm flush go through me. I wanted to start a family, a real family, with their daughter and I would do anything to make sure she never hurt again.
27
Mindy
Bit by bit, things were starting to go back to normal, starting with me returning to the apartment that I shared with Risa. I didn’t want to admit to her how much it hurt to go up those stairs the first day I was back, but I was feeling tons better now, just a couple of days later.
That was partly to do with the visit from the cops the previous afternoon. They had managed to catch the asshole who had caused the accident. Apparently, the guy had admitted to driving while under the influence of alcohol, so he was definitely going to jail. Not only that, but the cops told me to expect a call from a lawyer about a settlement of some sort.
I had also gone in to see the doctor the previous day, and he had shaken his head in amazement at how well I was doing. “Could have been a lot worse” was his prognosis. I walked out of there feeling yet again like I had gotten very lucky. I was doing fine, and the baby was as well. That was all that mattered to me at the moment.
That and actually preparing for the baby. I was going to be keeping my internship for the time being, apparently, but that didn’t mean it was all smooth sailing financially. The bill for the ambulance was ridiculous, and even after insurance, I owed a lot for the hospital bills. That had me a bit more worried about how I was going to afford to have a baby.
At least the doctor had signed off on my ability to work, and the coffee shop had agreed to schedule me that Saturday in spite of what had happened the previous week. Another one of those things that felt just like normal was getting back to work. Risa had protested, and I had to admit, I was trying my best not to do too much walking around the shop, but at the end of the day, it felt good to have something to do again.
It kept me from overanalyzing how my time with Adam had gone, and thinking ahead to what things would be like on Monday when we were both back at Designed by You.
Of course, realistically, I knew that nothing was going to change at work. We weren’t going to tell people about the relationship, and I didn’t plan on telling anyone about the baby until I started showing. Still, my brain kept spinning through hundreds of scenarios of what might happen when Adam and I saw one another again.
I had the unfortunate feeling that we were going to have to avoid one another. We were both adults and we should be able to handle ourselves, but on the other hand, we hadn’t been able to keep from having sex again even though we knew we shouldn’t.
I was so focused on the possibility of seeing him at work on Monday that it shocked me to have a text from him flash across my phone toward the end of my shift. I frowned down at it.
Was hoping to see you again befo
re Monday—up to anything this afternoon?
I bit my lower lip. On the one hand, I knew that seeing him again outside of work could lead to more things that we shouldn’t be doing. Except that we still needed to talk about a few things, and anyway, I wanted to see him. There was a part of me that missed him, even though it had only been a few days.
So instead of doing the logical thing and reminding him what a terrible idea it would be to meet up that afternoon, I texted him back to make plans for after I was done with work.
I spent the next two hours bouncing around the shop, humming along to the Christmas music that was playing on the radio. I still felt a twinge of pain here and there, but for the most part, I was doing okay.
I was running the cash register when a petite blonde came up and ordered a latte. I rang her up and put together her order. But even after I gave her the drink and her change, the woman didn’t leave. I raised an eyebrow at her. “Can I help you with something else?” I asked, wondering if I had missed something.
The woman sneered at me. “I hear you’re sleeping with my husband,” she said, narrowing her eyes.
I stared at her for a moment and suddenly became aware of the fact that everyone in the vicinity was staring at us. I hastily took off my apron and went around the counter, catching the woman’s arm and all but dragging her outside and out of earshot of the customers and staff. I spun to face her on the sidewalk, putting my hands on my hips.
“I don’t know who you are or what your problem is, but you don’t pull shit like that,” I snapped. “I work here, and the last thing I need is you spreading lies about me.”
“They’re not lies,” the woman snapped. “You’re sleeping with Adam, aren’t you? He’s my husband.”
I felt my blood run cold. Was this the infamous Kelly?
“Let me tell you about my husband,” she went on. “I’ve done my absolute best to be the perfect wife for him. I’ve always done everything that he wanted me to do. He’s the one who’s been sleeping around on me, whoring it out nearly every night at that bar near his work. I’m surprised there are any women left in Chicago to go home with him.”
Boss’s Secret Baby for Christmas Page 14