“You’re upright,” he said. “And you don’t look like oatmeal anymore.”
“Don’t get used to it,” she said. “I could turn green again at any moment.”
He poured her coffee and watched her over the rim of his mug.
“I thought I had a virus. How stupid could I be? Especially when some days I was puking. I just didn’t connect the dots.”
“Not stupid, but maybe preoccupied due to the employment situation you were facing and the fact that you have that condition.”
“Polycystic ovary syndrome,” she qualified.
“Right, that.”
She was scanning the room now and taking in his chrome appliances and how spotless everything looked.
“You really are a neat freak aren’t you, Jay?”
“In some ways yes, and in others no,” he conceded.
Her gaze kept moving around his space.
“How is the rest of your family going to react when they realize you’re here?” he asked. “Should I stock up on ice packs?”
Her eyes flicked to the fading bruise on his jaw. “I am sorry, Jay. My brothers are idiots.”
“Who love you,” he added.
“Maybe, but they’ve never understood that I don’t need them to fight my battles. They constantly interfere in my life, which is why I chose to live in New York, as far away from them as possible.”
“It must have been a hell of a change from here.”
“It was, and it took me a while to adjust, but I loved it. Plus, Phoebe and her brother were there too.”
“I’m glad you and Pheebs had each other, then, especially considering what she went through.”
She nodded, pain flashing briefly across her face as she recalled when a crazed person attacked Phoebe in the classroom.
“You hungry yet?” he asked.
“You don’t have to look after me, Jay. I’ve put you out by coming here. I don’t expect you to?—”
“Blue.” He set his cup down and braced his hands on the island. “I love food. I can cook. If I’m cooking, I’m cooking for you. You’re in my house. And you’re pregnant with our child. So I don’t want this”—he gestured between them—“every time I offer to do something. Understood?”
“I’m independent,” she shot back.
“Congratulations. So am I.”
Her mouth twitched.
“You look pale,” he added. “Sit, breathe, and get your strength back, Blue, and you can cook me something soon. If you cook, that is?”
“I can cook.”
“Good because those Dukes come here and expect me to wait on them, so it will make a change having someone do that for me.”
“And I bet you go to their place and do the same?” she said.
He just smiled at that. “Did you sleep okay?”
