Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

JENSEN

N ight after night on this couch is killing my back. It's in pieces.

Trying to stretch out in the tiny space, I hit accept on my usual early morning call from Mom. I didn't get a chance to break the news of me being an expectant dad before I raced back to Seattle, so they're still in the dark. My plan is to tell them face to face and after the wedding. Hollie and Ed, her fiancé, really don't need their day overshadowed by my bombshell.

"Bright and early as per," I say, keeping my voice low so I don't wake Kate. Yesterday was the first day without any sickness. Thank fuck. But she's lost visible weight.

"T-minus two weeks until the big day!"

"That's what you called to tell me at six in the morning?"

"No, I called you to tell you your dad and I are coming to town this weekend. We're staying with Chloe's parents and going to watch a show. Will you be around?"

"What day do you want to meet?"

"We were thinking on Friday, lunchtime."

It might be a good time to tell them about my news… "Yeah, it should be fine." The temptation to invite Kate to meet them opens my mouth, but I quickly clamp it shut. Mom, especially, is going to have so many questions about us, mainly if we're together.

Yeah, me too, Mom.

"Great. Make a reservation at that cute Italian place for us, will you?"

"Yeah, sure." I wince, my back cracking when I stretch again. This fucking couch.

"Everything okay?" she enquires, not missing a beat.

"Yeah. Just not sleeping well."

"Hmm. You sound preoccupied."

"I'm fine. Just got a lot on my mind, that's all."

"In the offseason?"

"Yeah."

"Jensen. Don't bullshit a bullshitter."

I bark out a laugh. "Mom!" Leaning back, I look down the hallway and wince. She's already about to kill me for moving in, never mind waking her, too.

"Are you seeing someone?"

"How in the hell did you guess that?"

"So you are?"

"No ." Un-fucking-fortunately. "What have I said or done in the last sixty seconds that's brought you to that conclusion?"

"You're tired. You don't sound like you're at home since your voice is echoing, and your bedroom doesn't echo. And you're clearly trying not to wake someone."

Fuck me, she's good.

"I'm staying at a friend's place."

"Friend being a girl?" Her voice raises with undeniable excitement.

"It's a girl, yeah, but she isn't my girlfriend."

"Do you want her to be?"

"Why are you talking to me like I'm sixteen?"

"Because you're hiding things like a teenager."

I groan. "I'll fill you in on Friday."

"Why not now?"

"Because she's down the other end of the hallway!"

"Ah-hah! Wait, you aren't in bed together?"

"Yeah, this is my cue to end the call. Bye, Mom, see you on Friday!"

"Hang on a min?—"

I throw my phone down on the comforter in front of me.

"I would pay good money to hear that all again."

Kate stands at the entryway to her bedroom, dressed in a fitted black suit. Her hair is up in a bun this morning.

Striding into the kitchen, she hunts through the fridge and pulls out the morning smoothie I've started preparing for her, packed with all the vitamins she needs. "You're making my place messy. It looks like shit."

"My back feels like shit." Rising from the couch, I straighten out and feel another crack. "I'm going to order an airbed."

She goes to speak, but I hold up a hand. "Before you say no, I'll take it down every day."

"That wasn't what I was going to say." Her gaze lingers just long enough on my bare chest before she snaps her head away and turns to the cupboard, pulling out some cereal.

"What were you going to say? And are you feeling well enough to go to work?"

She turns back to the counter and sets the cereal box down.

Lucky Charms? Just pour yourself a bowl of gestational diabetes, Katherine.

"Yes, I'm taking the chance while I don't want to puke my guts up. The longer I can put off telling work, the better. Also…" She pauses while pouring the cereal into her bowl. "If you want, we can share a bed. Mine is huge, and we can form some sort of pillow barrier."

She looks up nervously at me, and my dick twitches in the athletic shorts I'm wearing.

Walking towards the kitchen, I come to stand right next to her, and instantly, I'm hit with her familiar fruity scent. "I'm not getting in your bed, Kate."

I begin inspecting the nutritional facts on the back of the box. I have no intention of stopping her from eating what she wants, but I know it'll rile her up.

"Why not?" She grabs the box from me and sets it back down on the other side of her.

As I lean, I see the way her skin reacts to my proximity. "Because I want you and not your pity."

Her breath snags in her throat, and I see the way her chest moves up and down more rapidly. "You know that's not happening."

"Your body tells me differently." Moving behind her, I stand with my bare chest to her back, and I swear she moves back to press into my fully aroused cock. Picking up the milk, my hands work either side of her as I unscrew the carton and begin pouring it into her cereal. "Silly, traitorous body telling me everything you don't with your words."

Once I'm finished pouring, my hand moves lower, and I spread my left palm across her stomach. "When is your first scan?"

She's breathless when she whispers. "This Friday at three. I was going to tell you today; I got the email confirmation late last night."

Quick lunch with Mom and Dad, then .

"Do you want to find out what we're having?" I whisper into the shell of her ear.

"I guess it makes it easier to plan everything, but I haven't decided yet. Do you?"

Yes. "I do. But this is your call, Mommy."

She doesn't fight to move away from me, and warmth floods my chest.

Only a matter of time, Katherine.

"When you want me in your bed again, and not just because of my back, just say the word. But until then, it's the air mattress."

Her chest continues to rise and fall rapidly. "I need to eat this and get to work."

"I'll take you."

KATE

The level of tired I am as I walk through the front door and mindlessly pull off my heels is staggering.

Is this normal? If so, snaps to any woman who goes through pregnancy more than once because I'm approaching only seven weeks and already a mess.

"Hey." Jensen walks out of the bathroom and strides toward me. He's still in the gym wear he dropped me off in earlier and has spent most of today at his place working out. "I was going to pick you up, remember?" He takes my laptop bag from my shoulder and sets it down by the front door.

"Final meeting got canceled, so I took an Uber."

"You could've called me." He narrows his brows, "No, you should've called me. But since you're back now, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah, sure." I stand there waiting for him to begin.

Reaching out, he takes my left hand in his. The feel of his palm against mine sparks tingles throughout my body. He guides me toward the couch, his blanket neatly folded over the arm and pillow to one side.

I look around. "Did you get an air bed?"

"Yeah, but I told you, I'll set up right before bed and take it down each morning."

"Jensen, just come and sleep in my bed. Or I can clear out the mess in the spare room and set you up a bed if you insist on staying here. Which you don't need to, by the way. I'm feeling better."

"Are you Kate? Or are you just pretending like you aren't exhausted and constantly nauseous?"

God, I hate it when he's right. Which is all the fucking time.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

Looking down at his sneakers, he scuffs the floor lightly. "My sister, Hollie, is getting married in a couple of weeks. I want you to come with me. It'll be a chance to meet my family."

"I don't think I can. I have a crazy month in August. With all the time I've taken off with sickness, I'm so far behind with my clients."

"You can't fly out on the Friday and then home on the Sunday?"

I shake my head. "I can't take any time off."

I watch the way his jaw ticks, and I can tell what he's thinking—I'm avoiding meeting his family, and I'm keeping him and his loved ones at arm's length. "Is this really about work, because in around seven months, you're going to be off for a year."

A year? Unlikely . "All the more reason for me to push on with work now."

"You're going to run yourself into the ground."

"I can handle it," I reply.

"At least let me take you out for your birthday. It's a couple of days before I have to leave town for the wedding. When I get back, I'll be straight into preseason conditioning."

I pull back. "Like as part of the group or just us?"

He turns to me on the couch, and he's so freakin' handsome. "Just us."

"Not a date, though, right?"

He blows out a breath, sounding frustrated. "No, Princess, not a date. I couldn't possibly subject you to one of those with me. But maybe as your friend? If you'll consider me as that now."

I think back to all Felicity said a few days ago and how he's told me he wants us to be more. I've just come out of one relationship with a guy who wanted more, and now I find myself pregnant with the baby of another. It's too much, too soon. But equally, the more I get to know the man sitting next to me, the more he surprises me with his loyalty. He didn't run. He's standing by me, and that earns a lot of respect in my book.

"Yeah." I smile at him and take his hand back in mine. "Sure, as friends, why not. Just…nowhere that serves meat."