Chapter 14
Katana
After finally getting a good night’s sleep, I woke up feeling refreshed and better than I had in a very long time. I heard noise coming from the bathroom and knew Nixon had gotten up before me. When I sat up and stretched, I saw something hanging on the hook on the closet door, and saw a brand-new pair of black flats sitting at the bottom of a garment bag.
A smile curled my lips, realizing Nix had already had something sent up for me to wear since my clothes had been pretty much destroyed. He really knew how to take care of a girl. I had to count myself lucky that I’d gotten myself knocked up by him and not some low-life.
The bathroom door opened and steam poured out of it, shrouding a hulking figure. Nixon stood there with a towel wrapped around his waist as he used another one to dry his hair, rubbing his head. “Hey, pretty lady. Glad to see you up. Wanna go grab some breakfast?” He jerked his head toward the garment bag. “I got you something to wear.”
Climbing out of bed, I took the sheet with me to wrap around myself. The weight loss had me feeling self-conscious about my thin body. “I’ll get showered and dressed so we can head out.”
He stepped out of my way but reached out to me, grabbing the top of the sheet. “Why are you hiding behind that?”
Ducking my head, I mumbled, “I’m not hiding.”
He let the sheet go and took me by the chin. “You’re not happy with your weight, are you?”
I shook my head. “Not really.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re well taken care of now. We’ll find a doctor in Los Angeles to help you feel better.” He kissed my forehead. “I’ve got you. Don’t worry about a thing.”
“I already feel a lot better,” I admitted, looking into his green eyes. “Your support means the world to me. I know this wasn’t planned …”
He put his finger to my lips. “Hush. I want you to know something. It doesn’t matter that this wasn’t planned. I’m over the moon about this baby, and I can’t thank you enough for making this all so easy.”
I couldn’t believe what I heard coming out of his mouth. He was over the moon? “You’re a surprising man, Nixon Slaughter. It’s been less than a day since you found out about this baby, and already you’re stepping up to the plate much faster than I’d ever thought possible.”
“Yeah, well, what’s done is done. Why fight it? Might as well enjoy this as much as a real couple would, right?” he asked, then walked away from me.
“That’s a great attitude to have,” I said as I went into the bathroom.
As great as his attitude was, what he’d said hit me harder than it should have. Maybe it was the hormones, I couldn’t tell, but I felt tears welling up in my eyes, and they fell down my cheeks.
We weren’t a couple. We were hardly more than strangers. And we had been pushed together by this pregnancy. How’d I ever gotten myself into such an awkward situation?
How would a child fare with parents who didn’t even love one another?
I stepped into the shower, letting the water wash my tears away. My hands trembled as I moved them over my flat stomach. There was something growing inside of me, a tiny human that would grow bigger and bigger with each passing day. And the father and I barely knew one another.
Trying my best to pull myself together, I tried to stop thinking such thoughts and concentrate on the fact that I had someone who’d be by my side through all of this. Granted, I had no real idea how helpful Nixon would prove to be, but what he’d said told me he’d be great. Having him would be a hell of a lot better than doing this all on my own.
A knock on the door jolted me out of my internal thoughts. “Hey, if you don’t feel up to going out, I can order room service. It’s all up to you.”
“If you want to order in then you can do that,” I called out, and then finished rinsing my hair.
He opened the door and stepped inside. “I want you to decide, Katana.”
“It doesn’t matter to me.” I moved back a bit, hoping the water hitting the clear glass shower door would distort my image somewhat. My hipbones jutted out, and I hated the way they looked.
“Pick,” he said, undeterred by my lack of an answer. “There’s a breakfast buffet going on in one of the cafés downstairs. Doesn’t that sound good?”
I could see he wasn’t going to make the decision so I made one. “Yeah, let’s do that. I’m getting out now.”
“K.” He walked back out, leaving the door wide open.
As I dried off, I thought about how nice Nix was. Things might really work out with us. Not that I expected him to fall in love with me or anything like that, but it would be nice to get along well with him. I might be living with the guy for the next eighteen years or so, and getting along would make that easier.
Wrapping the towel around myself, I went to grab the garment bag and saw him watching television. “How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good,” I said, taking the bag of clothes and heading back to the bathroom to get dressed. I found another very expensive dress in the bag and pulled on the dark blue knee-length dress. It zipped up the back, and I couldn’t seem to get it all the way up.
Doing the best I could, I headed out and asked him to zip me the rest of the way up. I slipped on the flats and we headed out. His hand on the small of my back felt nice. The way people looked at us as we came into the breakfast area had me smiling as they gave us polite nods and morning greetings.
It was very unlike the way people had looked at us when we’d come to the same place nearly a month ago. Now we were seen differently than we’d been before—something closer to a couple than a dirty one-night stand. And it made me feel even better.
A hostess told us to sit anywhere we liked after letting us know that the cost of the buffet would be added to the hotel room bill. The food was decadent, and everything looked and smelled terrific.
Nixon led me to a table near the window. “Like this? Or want to sit somewhere else?”
“This is fine, Nix.” I placed my purse on the chair, and we headed to the buffet.
He stood close to me as we filled our plates, pointing out healthy things like the fresh fruits and telling me they’d be great for the baby and me. A smile stayed on my face as he doted on me and our little unborn baby already.
When we sat down to eat, he reached across the table, taking my hand. “Thanks again for letting me know about this so early on. I doubt most women would be as nice as you are about this. Would you like me to set up a moving service to get your things to my place today?”
“Today?” I asked, just before I put a piece of delicious hickory smoked bacon into my mouth.
“Sure, why not today?” he asked and then cut his stack of pancakes, taking a bite.
“Well, I have to let my landlord know I’m moving. I have a lease. He might not let me out of it.” I took a drink of apple juice and waited to see what he thought about that.
“I’ll pay to get you out of the lease. Should we go see him today and get that taken care of?” he asked, putting his fork down and looking at me. “I want to take you home with me.”
Flattered, I had no idea what to say. There were things I had to take care of. Not a ton of things, but there were some. I had laundry I had to get done, and I’d need to pack my things. I’d have to get boxes to do that. “Nix, I’ll need about a week to get things done.”
“A week?” He looked stunned as he shook his head. “That’s too long. I want to get you to a doctor.”
“I don’t think this is an emergency,” I said with a laugh. “And I don’t think we’ll get an appointment that quickly anyway. A week’s not that long.”
He looked at his plate then picked up a piece of bacon, munching on it as he thought about what I’d said. His brow furrowed, probably thinking about what he could say to speed me up. “I can stay with you then; help you get everything done.”
My apartment was a complete wreck. Being sick—or pregnant, I guess—had left me too tired to do much of anything. In no way did I want him to see the mess the place had become. “Nix, can I be honest with you?”
“Please do,” he said then reached out and took my hand. “You can always be honest with me, Katana.”
“Great,” I sighed as I readied myself to come clean with him. “My place is a wreck right now. I don’t want you to see it. Since I’ve been so sick…”
He gave my hand a squeeze as he interrupted me. “Stop right there. If you think I’m going to judge you about the state of your apartment, you’re dead wrong. As a matter of fact, let me hire a maid service to get things cleaned up for you. Let me take care of you.” He shook his head before changing his mind about what he’d said. “No—scratch that. I am going to take care of you. I’m hiring a maid service to clean your place. I’m hiring movers to pack your things and bring them to Malibu. And I’m going to go with you to talk to your landlord to settle any money owed for breaking the lease. No discussion.”
I didn’t know what to think or say to all that. But then my mouth opened and out came the words I’d had no idea would come. “No, I’ll take care of those things myself, Nix. I’ll be at your place in a week. And I’ll take care of any money my landlord says I owe. Thank you, but I can do this part on my own.”
Now where did that come from?