Page 55

“I guess,” I mutter, eyeing him warily. There is a gleam in his eyes that makes me suspicious as hell but I don’t think I really have the energy to go toe-to-toe with him right now. “Get your errands done?”

He nods, a smile stretching across his face. “I did and I have a surprise for you.”

I arch a brow. “What?”

The smile on his face grows but there is a hint of nervousness peeking through as he pulls a gift bag out from behind his back. I watch him, unable to take my gaze off of him as he walks across the room and sets the bag down in front of me before sitting across from me on the mattress.

“What’s this for?”

“To cheer you up,” he answers, shrugging his shoulders like it’s no big deal and my heart hammers as I stare at the bag. He went out and bought me a present just to make me feel better? No other man has ever done something like this for me, which is absolutely ridiculous but that didn’t make it any less true. I suppose when all you do is fuck men and then write them off before they can get too close to you, they don’t really have an opportunity to go out and buy you presents. Looking up, I meet his eyes and a sensation slams into me, unfamiliar and completely unwelcome. I can’t seem to stop it though. There is a fist around my heart, squeezing, as my mind races over the time and planning that he put into this just to make me feel better after the past week.

“I… you…” I shake my head at him, unable to form coherent words. There is a part of me that wants to throw my arms around him and thank him for the incredibly sweet gesture but the other part wants to shove the bag back in his direction and tell him it’s too much. This is clearly crossing a line here, right? Just because presents go way beyond the casual hook-up nature of our relationship and the fact that it’s affecting me this much can only be a sign that we’re getting too close.

But he’s the father of my child.

So, naturally, and despite the fact that we’re screwing like a couple of horny teenagers, our relationship already goes beyond casual. Is this appropriate? Do other guys buy their baby mamas gifts just to cheer them up after they’ve had a hellish week? I want to say no but I have no experience in the matter so I don’t have a clue if that’s true or not.

“Isabelle,” he whispers, shaking his head as he scoots closer to me and grabs my hand. “It’s a gift, not a bomb. Don’t overthink this.”

I nod, my mind still scrambled. “Right.”

Don’t overthink it.

I could do that… right?

Sucking in a breath, I grab the handles of the gift bag and pull it closer - my belly doing little flips and my heart racing as I open it and peek inside. There is a small box sitting on top of some tissue paper that looks suspiciously like it contains jewelry. With a shaky hand, I reach into the bag and pull out the long, thin box. I meet his eyes again as I take a deep breath and place my thumbs on either side of the seam on the long side of the box, prying it open.

“Oh,” I gasp as I stare down at the necklace nestled in the box. There is a cluster of diamonds in the middle, forming a perfect circle as they glitter under the light. Around the middle is another ring of diamonds, also in a perfect circle, and the entire pendant is no bigger than a quarter but it feels like a damn boulder in my hand. “This is… You can’t….”

He shoots me a look. “Stop. Like I said, I just wanted to get you something to cheer you up and I got the baby’s due date engraved on the side.”

Gently grabbing the pendant, I turn it to the side so I can see our baby’s due date etched into the metal just like he said and tears well up in my eyes. “Diego… this is…”

He scoots across the bed, closing the distance between us, and using his thumb to wipe a tear as it streaks down my cheek. I grab his hand and meet his eyes. Leaning in, he presses a kiss to my cheek, lingering there for a moment and I close my eyes, soaking it up. His lips are warm against my skin and a deep feeling of contentment washes over me as more tears fall. God, something about the way he touches me is just so right that I can’t fight against it or push it away. Not that I even want to in this moment. He is exactly what I need to forget this shitstorm of a week.

“Diego,” I whisper, need creeping into my voice and he groans, pulling back just enough for his lips to find mine. He takes my breath away as he slips his hand around to support the back of my neck and I melt into him, gripping his cut and pulling him closer. The kiss becomes more insistent and every single cell in my body sings in relief but it’s cut short when he pulls back, chuckling.

“You’re so damn distracting but there is something else in there for you.”

I shake my head, leaning in to kiss him again. “I don’t care.”

“Izzy,” he groans, planting a few more quick but hot kisses against my lips before he pulls back and shakes his head. “I got a whole plan here and you’re kind of throwing a wrench in the works.”

“More surprises?” I ask, pinning him with a glare that makes him laugh as he nods his head. His gaze darts to the bag, ordering me to keep opening my present with just a look and I let out a huff of annoyance as I go back to the bag. After peeling the tissue paper back, I frown and pull a pile of fabric out of the bag. It’s deep blue with a dainty flower pattern in whites and pinks and I glance up at him, my brows knitted together. I turn back to the fabric and unfold it, holding it up in front of me as my eyes widen.

“You got me a dress?”

He nods. “The lady at the maternity store helped me pick it out but I think it’ll fit.”

I study the dress in front of me and I’m surprised that I actually really like it. It’s made of a light fabric that will keep me from getting too hot in the Louisiana summer and the neckline is in the shape of a “V” which will allow me to show off my new necklace, too. There are short sleeves that have little ruffles at the end that match the ruffles at the hem of the dress. It looks like it will hit me mid-thigh and in my mind, I pair it with my white wedge sandals that Diego packed three weeks ago when he took clothes from my house. They will match perfectly and I kind of can’t believe that he put all of this together.

“Thank you.” I drop the dress to my lap and meet his eyes, hoping he can see just how grateful I am. In the past fourteen years, I’ve been on more dates than I could even begin to count and slept with my fair share of men but I’ve never felt this special, this cherished. I can’t even blame them though. If a guy had even tried to do something like this for me, I would have deemed it as him getting too close and I would have cut things off right there but with Diego… there is no cutting this off. He’s in my life for the next eighteen years, whether I like it or not, and right now, my mind and my heart are at war.

“You like it?”

I blink, dragged from my thoughts by his voice and I shake my head. “I love it. Thank you so much for doing this for me. I’m shocked but I really do feel better.”

There is a proud smile on his face as he leans in and claims my lips again, branding me with his kiss and I moan. I toss the dress to the bed beside me and crawl over to him, settling myself in his lap. A groan is pulled from his lips as he wraps his arms around my waist, dragging me even closer to his body. Heat rolls off him and I desperately want to feel it against my bare skin as his fingers tangle in my hair and his lips drag down the side of my neck.