“No, I think that’s a good idea to start the flow.It’s a wonderful idea.”He puts his arm around my waist, pulling me against his body.Leaning down, he gently kisses my lips, and I snake my arms around his neck, opening my mouth to him.“Mmm…nice.”
“Mmhmm, wait, it gets better.I’m pulling out all the stops.”I laugh, and he glides his tongue over the roof of my mouth, setting off tingling sensations in me.Keeping his mouth against mine he says, “I think the flow is turning into a steady rush.”
I agree, smiling, and as he’s about to kiss me again my phone rings.Breaking the contact between us, I hold up a finger moving back to answer my phone without looking.“Hello.”
“Hey, what’s up?I haven’t heard from you in a few days.I wanted to make sure you’re okay.How’s the morning sickness?”
Oh dammit, Nick.Awkward feeling.“Hi, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure, you sound a little…I don’t know?”
Geez.“I was actually about to step out.I’ll call you later, okay?Bye.”
“Wait!What’s going on?Where are you going on a weeknight at this time?”
I give a strained smile to Matt and turn away from him.“I’ll call you later, I have to go,” I say, trying to dodge his questions and get off the phone.
“Are you going on a date?With him?”
“Yes, I’ll call you later, bye.”I hang up before he has a chance to say anything else.I turn around giving Matt an apologetic smile.
He shakes his head and smiles back.“Let me guess—Nick.He sure knows how to ruin a good time.You’re talking to him again?”
“We’ve come to an understanding, and he knows we’re dating.”
I see the skepticism all over his face.“And he’s fine with this?”
I didn’t saythat.“He’s respecting my choice.Shoes—two minutes and I’ll be ready to go,” I tell him, effectively ending an uncomfortable topic.
The date was great; we laughed and talked like we always do, but I was waiting for that feeling one gets when the proverbial stars align and becomes all aflutter with anticipation at the end of the night.I didn’t get it, but the kisses were good…it wasn’t the I-want-to-slap-you-but-still-kiss-you-at-the-same-time feeling most people would be a bit puzzled by—except for me it seems.
Two days later, I got a surprise at my door.I was expecting Chloe, and Isabelle with Conner, but it was Nick.“What are you doing here?”
“I felt bad about your morning sickness.”He holds up a bag and hands it to me.
I take the bag and look inside.A box of saltines, ginger ale, and two kinds of seltzer water.I smile, putting the bag down.“Thank you, but don’t just show up like this.You can’t do that.”So not good if Matt was here.
With sad puppy dog eyes and a pout he says, “You’re going to make this often brash but well-meaning, pigheaded ass of a man dissolve into a puddle of tears, with my tail between my legs, all because I was concerned?Concerned about you and brought you a care package.”
I stare at him, unmoved, and out of nowhere he drops to the floor on one knee, pulling me toward him with his hands on my hips.“What are you doing!”I take a quick look around to make sure no one is coming down the hall.
“Catherine Reed, I will be down here groveling at your perfect dainty feet until the day you decide to forgive me for being such a screwed-up, insensitive jackass.How dare I show up at your door uninvited and worried about you.”During his speech, I try to unglue his hands off me until I finally give in and say, “Yes, yes, fine, I forgive you.Get up.”He instantly releases my hips and pops up, kissing me on the cheek, and I can’t stop myself from smiling at his antics.
“Sorry I had to pull out the big guns, groveling and all that.I’m pleased to see you’re not immune to it.I’ll call next time.”
“Thank you.”I watch him lean against the doorframe, not trying to talk his way inside.
“I was really concerned.How’s the morning sickness?”
I rest the bag on the floor and answer him.“It’s off and on during the day.At the moment it’s off.”
“Tired?”
I smile, thinking about my day and the nap I had to take on my lunch break.“Yes, but I’m managing to get a few well-timed naps in here and there.”
His eyes move up and down my body, assessing for himself, stopping at my face.“Good, I don’t want anything to happen to you and the baby.I don’t know what I would do.”
Always looking out for me…nothing’s changed there.We stand there for a while in silence, and I contemplate what he means as the old familiar feelings stir inside me.If I could feel more of this with Matt it would solve a lot of problems.
