She ordered a chocolate milkshake, and he ordered vanilla.
“You said you were thinking about something?” Though he’d thought it was a little unusual at the time, he now found the little swirl of lavender highlights in her hair quite charming.
He liked the way her eyes lit up when she had a new idea.
“I feel better today. I haven’t thrown up at all. Maybe I don’t need to go to the doctor.”
“Oh no.” This was not one of her good new ideas. “The way you’ve been sick all week, you should get checked out. Just to make sure.”
She wrinkled her nose. Then sighed. “All right. But only because you’re going in with me.”
Samuel coughed as the Coke he was swallowing went down the wrong way. Oh no! This was not going to backfire on him like this.
There was no way he was going to go in with her to see the gynecologist.
“Are you okay?” She reached out and touched his hand as regained his composure.
He held up his hand. “I’m good.”
The waiter brought their milkshakes.
She sipped. Wrinkled her nose again. “I think this one is yours.” She pushed her glass to him and traded.
Samuel picked up the glass and stared at the straw a moment. Her lips had just been on this straw. He had a rule. Never drink after anyone unless he was willing to kiss them. Sucking on this straw was going to be almost like kissing her. They’d shared a soda during the movie, and that had led to him thinking about kissing he even more.
Without thinking about it any further, he took a deep sip of the milkshake.
“Do you like it?” She asked.
He closed his eyes and let his breath out slowly. When he opened his eyes and looked into hers, he knew he was in more trouble than he’d thought.
Chapter 13
As Danielle sipped her milkshake, she studied Samuel over the top of her glass. He had suddenly started squirming.
“Are you okay?” She watched his eyes dart to hers, then to the traffic outside the window.
“Yeah.” He looked back at her. “I’m good.”
“I’m glad you’re going in with me,” she said.
He scrubbed a hand across his chin. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” She was curious now. What was making this guy uncomfortable? Ever since she mentioned him going in with her, he’d avoided eye contact.
“That might not be a good idea.”
“Why not?” She asked.
“I don’t know you all that well.”
She scoffed. “We’ve had lunch together almost every day this week. I think we know each other well enough. I mean…” She set her glass down and realized with a measure of embarrassment that she’d already drank half of it. “’Besides… I’ve thrown up in front of you. I don’t think it gets much more intimate than that.”
He coughed again. Then managed to look into her eyes again. “I think it can get much more intimate.”
Now it was her turn to squirm. Well… when he put it like that…
“It’s not like I have to get undressed or anything.”
He was studying the traffic again. Sipping his milkshake. “You never know,” he muttered against his straw.
He glanced at his phone. “Speaking of appointments, I think we better get going.”
“We haven’t finished our milkshakes,” she pointed out.
“We’ll get them to go.” He motioned for the server and within minutes, they had fresh milkshakes in paper cups.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said against her straw. “I don’t normally eat desserts.”
“We’ll see what the doctor says,” he said, ushering her toward the front door.
“I have to make a quick stop,” she said before she darted into the restroom.
Staring at her reflection as she washed her hands, she wondered what a mess he must think of her. She threw up all the time. She ate like a bird one minute, then a starving person the next, and she went to the bathroom all the time.
A thought darted at the edge of her consciousness, but she pushed it away. A virus. That’s all it was.
Chapter 14
The minute she walked through the door, Danielle knew the Houston Women’s Clinic was not a doctor’s office for colds and viruses. It was a female clinic in every sense of the word.
Samuel hadn’t said much on the drive over. He knew. He knew he was bringing her to a gynecologist. Surely, he didn’t think she was seeing a primary care doctor here? If he did, he was desperately misinformed.
“Have you been here before?” She stepped into the elevator and waited while he pressed the button. With his lack of hesitation in guiding them to the fourth floor, she already knew the answer to her question.
“Yes.” He glanced at her, then stared at the elevator door. “My younger sister got divorced shortly after becoming pregnant, so I came with her to all her appointments.
“Ah-ha!”
He turned and looked at her quizzically. “Ah-ha what?”
Danielle got in line to check in. “You knew,” she hissed. She took the clipboard from the clerk, and he followed her to a secluded area of the waiting room.
“I knew what?” He nudged her elbow when she quietly began writing in her name.
She looked up beneath her lashes. His gaze locked onto hers now. She squinted, unsure how she felt about the fact that he had brought her to a gynecologist when she’d thought he’d made an appointment for her with a family doctor.
“Samuel.” She stood the clipboard on her knees. Nodded toward the waiting room. There were no one but females, and two of them were clearly pregnant. She leaned toward him. Whispered. “Do you think I’m pregnant?”
He ran his hands along his thighs, keeping his eyes straight ahead. “I don’t know.”
She lowered her head and focused on the paperwork, letting her hair cascade around her face. She bit her lip as she filled in her address and date of birth.
He turned back to her. “Is it possible?”
She bit her lip and focused on family history. Nothing to report. All were healthy.
Is it possible?
That was the question that had been darting around her mind all morning.
She had to admit that, yes, it was possible.
The other question was whether it was likely.
She turned the page and signed her name at the bottom of the form.
Without looking at Samuel, she stood up and took the clipboard to the reception desk. Then she turned and went back to sit next to Samuel and began digging in her handbag for her lip gloss.
She felt him staring at her. Waiting.
Waiting for her to reveal whether or not she’d been sexually active. And pregnant. If not pregnant, she had some kind of terrible disease. Even as she sat there, avoiding answering Samuel’s pointed question, she felt sick. Again.
She heaved a sigh. And turned to face him.
At least he was looking at her again. “I don’t know,” she shrugged.
He scowled. “How can you not know?” He sat back, a knowing expression forming on his face. “If you don’t know, that means it’s possible.”
“I don’t know can mean a lot of things,” Danielle said as her phone chimed, indicating a Facebook message. It was from Isabella Quinn, her author client who was waiting for a cover. Her only author client at the moment.
She read the message and rolled her eyes. “That’s never going to happen.”
“What?”
“The author wants the couple on her cover to be kissing.”
Samuel laughed. “So? It’s a romance cover.”
“Jacob and Avery can’t stand the sight of each other, much less to kiss.”
“You said they worked well together, they’ll just see it as a normal part of their job. Like any actor.”
“You’re right,” she said, messaging Isabella back. We have another shoot tomorrow. I’ll make it happen.
�
�Danielle Worthington.” A nurse called her name.
Danielle stood up and held out her hand to Samuel. “Come on,” she insisted.
He didn’t move.
“It’s okay,” the nurse said. “We welcome husbands.”
“I’m not…” Samuel began, but blew out his breath and took her hand.
Danielle smiled at the nurse as she went through the door and followed the nurse to the exam room.
Chapter 15
Samuel had been here before.
But it was not a place he wanted to be with Danielle.
His mother would call it improper. Danielle was about to take off her clothes and be examined.
For pregnancy.
And he’d only known her for four days. She was his boss’s daughter.
There were so many things wrong with this scenario, his flittering brain cells didn’t know which wrong to light upon.
He forced himself to listen as Danielle described her symptoms to the nurse. He’d brought her here after all. It was the least he could do.
She turned and smiled sweetly at him. “Did I miss anything?”
He shook his head and wondered if he looked as uncomfortable as he felt.
“Everything off,” the nurse said, slid the curtain closed, and stepped from the room. The curtain that separated Samuel from Danielle.
“Do you want me to step out?” Please say yes.
“Don’t you dare leave me,” Danielle said from the other side of the curtain.
He heard rustling as she began to undress. How long would it be before they had the results of the pregnancy test? She would have to do blood work. A couple of days?
She hadn’t answered his question. The paradox was, that by saying she didn’t know if she was pregnant, this told him that she could be.
There were many implications involved in this situation.
“Are you still here?” Danielle called as he heard her step onto the exam table.
“I’m right here,” he answered. The thought of her sitting on the other side of the curtain wearing nothing more than a paper dress nearly sent him into a tailspin.
I shouldn’t be thinking about her that way. She’s Noah’s daughter. My boss’s daughter.
“Samuel?”
He knew that tone. She was going to be sick. I shouldn’t know this.
“I’m going to be sick.”
The words spurred him into action. He looked around for a trash can, but didn’t see one. He only had seconds. Walking backwards, he went to the other side of the curtain.
And found the trash can. He slid it next to her and used his foot to open the lid.
He had made it in time.
He held her hair while keeping his gaze on the wall. Out of habit, he put a hand on her back and nearly jerked back as his fingers touched bare skin. So soft.
The doctor came in just at that moment.
“Oh my,” she said.
Grateful to have the distraction, Samuel looked at Dr. Neal. He recognized her from bringing in his sister. She was young, probably mid-thirties, and always had a smile on her face.
The doctor moistened a towel with water and handed it to Danielle to wipe her face. “Has this been happening a lot?” she asked.
“A little,” Danielle said.
“All the time,” Samuel said.
He looked at her then, wearing her paper gown, her hair flowing around her, one hand holding the wet paper towel. His heart tripped over itself. He took the towel from her and gently wiped her mouth.
“Thank you,” she whispered, when he finished.
“Let’s take a look,” Dr. Neal said.
Samuel ducked back behind the curtain and pulled out his phone. Their voices were muted, and he checked his email to distract himself from listening in to what they were saying.
“How’s your sister?” Dr. Neal asked, as she stepped out from behind the curtain.
“She’s great,” Samuel said, more than a little surprised that Dr. Neal remembered him.
“Take good care of this one.”
“I will,” Samuel said. “Thank you.”
“Only a couple more days before you know if you’re going to be a daddy.”
Chapter 16
Danielle pulled her shirt over her head. The door closed, and they were alone again.
“Are you okay?” Samuel asked from the other side of the curtain.
“Yeah,” she said. “I’ll just be a minute.” She hadn’t realized just how nervous she’d been. Even after the examination, she really didn’t know anything more than she had when she came in.
She could hear him pacing while she slipped into her sneakers and tied the shoelaces. “What now?” he asked.
“Bloodwork.”
“Right.”
Fully dressed, she stepped from behind the curtain. He stopped pacing and faced her. His hair was all over the place and his shirt was… crooked. She laughed. “You look like a mess.”
“Thanks.” He straightened his shirt. “You look… beautiful.”
She bit her lip and tried to ignore the little thrill that shot through her at his unexpected words. “I guess I don’t have a virus.”
“Did she say anything?”
Danielle shrugged. “She’ll call with the bloodwork results.”
“Good. Hey. Why did she say that?” He opened the door and held it while she walked through.
“Why she said what?”
He shook his head. “Never mind.”
Danielle hadn’t corrected Dr. Neal’s assumption that Samuel was the father of her possible baby.
She took the prescription for prenatal vitamins and shoved it into her handbag. She hadn’t answered Samuel’s question, but, yes, it was possible that she was pregnant.
The fact that she and Joey had been intimate the very night before she walked in on him with that girl was like running sandpaper over a paper cut. It hurt like hell, and she didn’t want to even think about it.
They got on the elevator and went downstairs to the packed lab area.
If she was pregnant with Joey’s child, he would never know it. She wanted nothing to do with him. And she was pretty sure he would want nothing to do with the child… or with her.
“Danielle?” Samuel touched her arm. “They called your name.”
She stood up, but instead of going to the lab door, she waited for him. When he didn’t stand up, she tugged on his elbow.
He chuckled and followed her to where the nurse waited. “I don’t think I’m supposed to go back there,” he said.
The nurse shook her head. “They try to get out of it all the time.”
“It’s good to know it’s not just me.”
She sat in the chair, pulled up her sleeve, held her other hand out to Samuel, who stood next to her. She scrunched up her face. “Ouch!”
The nurse chuckled. “I haven’t even started.”
“I know,” Danielle said. “But I don’t like needles.”
“Not many do.”
As the nurse stuck the needle in her arm, she clenched Samuel’s hand.
“This is going to be fun. If, you know…” he said.
She glanced down at her arm to the blood flowing through the tube. He followed her gaze.
Then Samuel passed out on the floor.
Chapter 17
Samuel was fairly certain he would never live it down.
He pulled the blanket over his head and decided it was a good day to sleep in. It was Saturday, and he had nothing to do. No plans. Not even with Danielle.
Danielle.
She was working today.
He groaned.
How was she going to get to the photo shoot location?
She would ride the bus. Like she always did.
Or use Uber.
He hated the thought of her riding the bus or even using Uber. It was supposed to be safe, but still…
He threw off the blanket and made his way to the shower. He stood under the hot water until it began
to cool.
Who was he kidding? He wasn’t about to stay away from her today. He smiled to himself. Not even the embarrassment of literally passing out at the sight of blood could keep him from wanting to see her.
She hadn’t laughed at him. She’d done nothing but show concern. Nonetheless, it had been embarrassing to wake up on the floor after passing out.
That wasn’t exactly the image he wanted to portray. He heated a cup of coffee and sent her a text. Need a ride to the park?
Two minutes later, his phone chimed with a response. Already there.
Did you take your car? He added a smiley face emoticon.
Ha. Yes. The one in L.A.?
He ran a hand through his still-damp hair. She was exasperating. Probably a lot like her father. He hadn’t considered it until now, but with the exception of yesterday when he’d taken her to the doctor, most of their time together had been spent doing her work.
Samuel hadn’t known very many women quite so driven to achieve.
Impressive.
He popped two pieces of bread in the toaster while he tied his boots. He couldn’t very well leave her stranded out there. Not when he had a perfectly good truck.
As he maneuvered through the Saturday morning traffic, it occurred to him that he hadn’t set foot in an airplane in over a week. He hadn’t gone that long without being off the ground since… well… ever. At least not since he’d gotten his pilot’s license.
And he’d barely even thought about it.
In fact, he’d thought about little other than Danielle since he’d met her.
He parked his car and walked to the little white house where he knew she’d be. It was a perfect day to be outside. The temperature had just enough of a nip that he was glad he wore his blue jean jacket. Red and gold leaves from an oak tree skittered about his feet. Fall was hands-down his favorite time of year. The new school year brought new beginnings. Anything was possible.
He knew something was wrong before he could even hear what they were saying.
The male model, Samuel couldn’t remember his name, was pacing.
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