Chapter 22

22

She was watching him like she was afraid he was going to erupt at any minute. She was worried about his reaction to something. He racked his brain, trying to figure out what it could possibly be. Right before his eyes, Powell did that little nervous hop thing she did when something was really bothering her.

He crossed his arms over his chest and watched her. She half paced and hopped in a little circle again. "What's going on in that head of yours, Powell Melissa?"

She stopped pacing and just stood there. Watching him like she was trying to figure him out. Gunnar just watched her back.

He found this woman fascinating. Probably because he couldn't figure her out. She made a man think. And she made this man want to touch her. To hold her. All damned night.

"Powell? What's wrong?"

She just looked at him, then spun. Walked over to her suitcase and pulled something out. He followed her across the room instinctively.

They were alone. In a hotel room. The same damned hotel where they had done something he would never forget. And he wanted her more than he could breathe.

"This."

She handed him something. Something small and white and showing two pink lines. Gunnar just stared. He'd seen one of those before, of course. In a different lifetime.

The woman watching him now was different. But the moment was just as impactful now as it had been then. More.

Because he had lost before.

His throat closed. He didn't know what to say. "You're pregnant."

Holy shit.

He never would…

Hell. What was he supposed to think now?

Powell was pregnant.

Pregnant .

"Yes. I…my doctor's appointment. The day before Haldyn was…hurt. I have been meaning to tell you, but the timing, and with everything that happened, your case…I…" She crossed her arms over her chest. Just looked at him, all wide-eyed and beautiful. "Well? What do you have to say? I really need you to say something here."

Gunnar didn't have a damned thing to say at all. He just sank to the foot of the bed. Pregnant. Powell was pregnant. With a baby. Their baby.

He didn't even think to question that the baby was his. He had relived that night many times since in his memories. But he never expected… "I'm not certain what to say actually. I need to…think. But first…"

He looked at her, staring at him—anxiety on her face. Hell. She was scared of what he was going to think, wasn't she? "Are you okay? Sick or anything? Healthy?"

Fear that something could happen to her threatened to bring him to his knees. Brought him crashing out of the shock back into reality.

"Yes. The tests I had in radiology. It was an ultrasound. The baby is healthy and the right size and everything."

He remembered the day, of course. It had been one he hadn't been able to be with her. Because of the damned TSP.

He'd had to be in court. She'd been guarded by Lila Dodson that day. He'd been told she was getting a checkup for an ulcer she'd had years ago. He hadn't thought anything more about it. "I…knew exactly when…I mean…it wasn't hard to figure out a due date. Mid-September."

They were going to have a baby. Together. A baby. A family. That baby would be the only living soul on earth Gunnar shared close DNA with.

And all he could think about for a moment was Jamie and the baby she had carried. The baby and wife he had lost before. The hurt.

He…couldn't lose this woman in front of him. Gunnar just couldn't. She meant too much to him. Powell, the baby, they meant everything.

Everything.

Just how much she meant to him slammed him right in the gut. Gunnar just went with instinct. He reached out and pulled her closer. Until she was sitting on his lap. His hand spread over her stomach. "Our kid is in here. Ours."

She nodded. "Yes. I…didn't mean it to happen. It just?—"

He covered her lips with one finger, stilling the words. "It happened because it was meant to happen. I used protection. We both know that. We weren't irresponsible or reckless. And we're not young, unprepared kids. We'll figure this out, I promise. Long before the kid makes his or her entrance into this world."

Gunnar just sat there and held her for as long as he could.

They were having a baby. Yet nothing had changed between them at all. Not at heart. They weren't together. Not the way he wanted them to be.

He wasn't going to pressure her into being with him. He knew she feared that more than anything. Being pressured, forced to fall in line with cultural or familial expectations. It was why he hadn't pushed, even though he'd been her shadow for weeks. He'd wanted everything with the TSP finished before he'd pushed for more. He had told himself he had to go slow.

But that wasn't an option now. Not at all.

This woman was having his baby. This woman already mattered more to him than anyone on the planet. He wasn't going to let her get away. Especially now.

She deserved for him to do this right. He had to remember that—no rushing her. She just wasn't ready. "We'll figure this out. I promise."

Her arms slipped around his neck and she let him hold her. Just let him.

"We'll figure this out, Powell Melissa. No matter what. For you, me, and the kid we made together." He held his entire world in his arms right now.

Gunnar would never take that for granted.

Gunnar couldn't stop himself. He covered her lips with his own.

He never wanted to let her go.