“I probably should,” Nellie admitted, sounding exhausted. “I’m usually asleep by nine o’clock every night. This is late for me.”
“Well, let’s get you to bed then.” I stood, offering Nellie my hand to help her up. “Did you want one of the guestrooms, or did you want to sleep in my bed with me? I promise, I won’t try any funny business.”
Nellie tilted her head, considering my offer while she studied me. “Do you snore? Because if you keep me up snoring all night, I won’t be responsible for shoving a sock in your mouth.”
“I don’t actually know if I snore,” I answered. “Nobody’s ever complained, but it’s not like I’ve had regular sleepovers while sober.”
Nellie paused, as if thinking. “I don’t think I’m there yet, Noah. I want to be….”
“I understand,” I told her, and I meant it. While I was a little disappointed, I knew Nellie had her reasons for keeping her distance. I could tell she was falling for me; I could tell that some of her walls were weakening, but I knew it wouldn’t be an overnight thing.
Nellie squeezed my hand and stood on her tiptoes, pressing a kiss to my lips. “Thank you, Noah. I know I’m not easy to deal with, but I appreciate you trying.”
“Who said you weren’t easy to deal with?” I countered. “I find you very easy to deal with. It’s okay if you’re not there yet, I told you we’ll go as slow as you need.”
Nellie smiled, then went to get ready for bed.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Nellie
* * *
I awoke the next morning to the scent of breakfast and coffee, much like the last weekend I spent at Noah’s. Also like the last time, I awoke to a slew of text messages from Sage, wondering how dinner at Noah’s parents’ had gone.
I answered her before even getting out of bed, letting her know that it went okay. She texted back almost immediately.
Sage: and how did the rest of the night go? ;)
Me: Fine. Came back to Noah’s, hung out for a bit, then crashed.
Sage: With him or in the guestroom?
Me: Why does that matter?
Sage: So, in the guestroom. Sigh. I know you’ve always been weird about how intimate it is to sleep next to someone, but I think having a baby with them is more intimate.
Me: Shush.
I decided to stop replying because Sage was right, and that irked me.
I’d almost said yes when he asked me last night, but then I panicked. At least I wasn’t running too far. Just down the hall, to a guestroom. Old me would have grabbed my shit and left the premises.
Rooting through my overnight bag, I found my hairbrush and brushed the tangles out of my hair then getting dressed in a pair of my comfortable weekend clothes. Standing naked in Noah’s guest bedroom, I noted with surprise that my belly seemed to have grown overnight.
Once dressed, I walked down the hall toward the dining room and kitchen. Before I slipped into the bathroom, I saw Noah at the stove, flipping pancakes with his back to me. I did my business and brushed my teeth as quickly as I could, not wanting to keep Noah waiting too long.
I longed for a shower but felt weird about taking one without asking first.
When I came out of the bathroom, Noah was setting two heaping plates down on the island beside the tray of butter and a glass bottle of maple syrup. He glanced up at me, a radiant smile gracing his lips.
“Morning, gorgeous. Hope you slept well.”
“I did,” I answered, pulling a stool out and climbing up on it. The baby was awake and started doing somersaults in my belly, as if excited to hear Noah’s voice. That made two of us.
Noah’s grin widened, and he turned around long enough to grab me a glass of juice and flick on the kettle for a tea. He grabbed his coffee and then joined me at the island.
“I hope you like pancakes,” he said, settling in. “I probably should have asked, but I didn’t realize I was out of eggs until I started making breakfast.”
