Chapter Three
The next morning Danny looked out his garage door as he wiped the sweat off his brow with the neck of his T-shirt. A seagull cawed from somewhere in the blue sky, and across the street pumpkins decorated his neighbors’ walkway. He took a minute to breathe in the ocean air before turning to run his hand over the side table he’d been sanding.
Most of the high-end furniture he worked on was at his workshop in town, but he kept a few pieces here for when the itch to get his hands dirty struck at odd hours. Last month his designs had caught the eye of a major Los Angeles interior designer. She’d ordered this table and three other custom pieces, telling him she planned to keep him busy with her A-list clients. The recognition and chance to leave a legacy behind fed his ambition, and his focus and time needed to stay devoted to work.
Olivia put a major wrench in that plan.
Olivia.
He’d tossed and turned all night thinking about her. Was she comfortable? Feeling okay? Thinking about Will?
Could he do this?
That was the million-dollar question sitting in the back of his mind with no plans to vacate anytime soon. He’d told Liv yes because that’s what best friends do. Help each other out, even if the game plan has the potential for serious fouls.
Danny wiped his hands on a rag. The antique clock on his workbench—a housewarming gift from Honor—read ten minutes after eleven. Liv had to be awake by now.
“There he is. White Strand’s newest bachelor officially off the market according to the gossip mill. And he’s got a baby on the way.”
Danny closed his eyes for a moment before turning to find Bryce and Zane standing at the top of his driveway wearing black rimmed sunglasses with the word “Team” on the left lens and the word “Groom” on the right. Stars decorated both lenses. They had their arms crossed over their chests and dubious grins on their faces.
“Not sure if we should congratulate you or do an intervention,” Bryce added.
“Could you take off those ridiculous shades?” Danny tossed the rag aside.
“We could,” Zane said.
“But what fun would that be?” Bryce did a quick adjustment of his sunglasses, keeping them firmly in place atop his nose.
“The fact that you two even have sunglasses like that worries me.”
“So it’s true?” Zane asked in disbelief.
“Yes and no.” Danny had been waiting for Zane and Bryce to show up. He’d probably have visitors and pies or something all day long thanks to Mrs. L. He sat on the end of the sawhorse and launched into the story. Or most of it. The guys didn’t need to know that for the minute Liv had cake on her face he’d imagined other places he could lick frosting off her body.
Danny had brought Liv into their fold when they were kids and Zane and Bryce thought of her like one of the guys. He wasn’t sharing anything she wouldn’t share herself. The three of them had talked about her before. But for some reason that eluded him, this time felt different. His chest tightened as he talked, like this discussion mattered more than any of the others.
Which just proved he had no clue what the hell he was doing. Liv wanted him to change his carefully planned present and future. But more than that, she was asking him to redesign their friendship, a relationship he liked exactly the way it was.
“Man, this goes way above and beyond friendship,” Bryce said with admiration—and doubt—in his tone.
“Dude, I know what Liv means to you,” Zane said, “but I don’t think you realize what’s in store for you. I just lived through nine months of pregnancy with Sophie. The emotional rollercoaster, the cravings, the being turned on all the time.”
“Bro, it’s Liv, I’m not—”
“I don’t mean you. Sophie was so horny I could barely keep up. She used that brain speak of hers to explain the change in her hormones and it made me so hot I—”
Danny held up his hand, palm flat. “We know what Sophie’s smarts do to you.”
“Seriously man, pregnant women cannot get it enough,” Zane added. Like sweat wasn’t already trickling down Danny’s back.
Olivia had mentioned she was sorry for interfering with his sex life, but he hadn’t for a second considered hers, not until the open marriage comment.
“Hang on a minute,” Bryce said, taking off the sunglasses. Finally. “You guys didn’t discuss sex during this marriage, did you?”
“There’s nothing to talk about. Sex would ruin our friendship.”
“But it’d save you from a severe case of blue balls.”
Danny rubbed the back of his neck to stave off the pinches accumulating there.
“And premature arthritis in your right hand.” A line creased Bryce’s forehead. “You jack off right handed, right?”
“Shut up,” Danny said.
“You need to talk about it, dude. Or, better yet, forget talking and just do it. Did I ever tell you guys I had a dream about Liv once where she—”
“Shut the fuck up.”
Bryce laughed. “Yeah, no talking necessary.”
“It’s not that simple,” Danny said. He clenched his jaw, all of a sudden mad at himself for agreeing to this unfair plan and mad at Liv for asking it of him.
“No, it’s not,” Zane agreed. “But given what I know about pregnancy, she’ll want it as much as you—”
“You both seriously want me to punch you in the faces.”
“There’s a much better way to work out that aggression.” Zane fought a smile, the ass.
Danny stood. “I’m glad this amuses you. You guys can go now.”
Last night he and Liv had decided to head to the courthouse to do the deed. Best friends with a marriage certificate, she’d said. A little piece of paper wouldn’t change who and what they were to each other. Right?
It just turned him into the two things he’d sworn off when he got his CHM diagnosis: a husband and a father.
“We should probably warn you that news travels fast in this town,” Bryce said.
“No shit.” Danny liked it a lot better when Bryce and Honor were the main topic of discussion.
Zane pulled off his shades. “And word has it—”
“Hi guys,” Olivia said from behind Danny. “I thought I heard voices out here.”
Danny watched both his friends’ eyes widen in surprise. He probably would have had the same reaction if Liv hadn’t had cake on her face the first time he saw her as a blonde.
With new curves.
And glowing skin. The shorter, lighter hair did something to her naturally darker complexion.
“Wow, Linc, you look great. It’s good to have you back.” Bryce opened his arms wide and Liv walked straight into them.
“Thanks. It’s good to be here.”
“My turn,” Zane said, nudging Bryce. Liv slid into his embrace with ease.
When she stepped back she looked over her shoulder at him and Danny hated seeing the uncertainty in her eyes. She had no idea what to do with him this morning. The feeling was mutual. She settled on, “Morning, Danny.”
“Morning. How’d you sleep?”
“Like a baby.” Her mouth twisted into a grimace. “I mean really well.” She sucked in a breath and her attention darted between the three of them before landing on Zane. “You guys know.”
“Congratulations,” Zane said, flashing her his new-dad grin.
“I just filled them in,” Danny said.
Liv twisted to face him fully and without his permission his gaze did a sweep down her body. She had on a purple T-shirt that fell mid-thigh with the word Love across the chest, and nothing else. Her legs were long and smooth and shapely and—Jesus Christ, he was checking out her legs. His eyes jumped back to her face.
She tilted her head. Danny could see the wheels turning before she looked away. “I hope you guys tried to talk him out of this mess I’ve dragged him into.”
“Hey,” Bryce said, “what are friends for but messes?”
“I think asking Danny to help me hide a body would be less painful.”
“You want to get rid of that jerk in London, you’ll have all three of us to help with that,” Zane said.
Olivia smiled. “Thanks. But the last thing Will wants is to be anywhere near me.” She looked down at the ground. She did that when she needed a minute to hide, to put her emotions in check.
“Congratulations to you and Sophie,” Liv said, eyes up and on Zane again. “I can’t wait to meet Hannah.”
Zane beamed brighter than a supernova explosion. “Thanks. Sophie is excited to see you again.”
“Honor is, too.” Bryce hung his sunglasses on the collar of his T-shirt.
“What is that?” Olivia plucked the glasses off Bryce. Mortification crossed her face. “How in the world…no one knew except Mrs. Landry.”
Without thought, Danny stepped beside her. “Welcome to small town life, Maybug.”
She gazed up at him with softhearted eyes. The use of her nickname always calmed her. He’d adopted the term of endearment the minute she’d told him her middle name was May. “I asked her to keep our secret.”
“There are no secrets in White Strand,” Bryce said. “And I’ve got to say I’m really happy the pressure will be off me and Honor for a while.”
“Pressure?” Liv asked, sounding confused.
“Marriage. Babies. It’s all on you two now. Thanks for that.” Bryce smiled. “And on that note, I’m going to head home to my beautiful girlfriend.”
“My gorgeous girls are waiting for me as well,” Zane said.
Danny remained next to a shocked Olivia and watched his friends leave. Both guys had given him the look that said, Dude, we’re here, but we’re glad we’re not in your shoes.
When Liv turned to bury her face against his chest, he wrapped his arms around her back and set his chin on top of her head. Her hair smelled like summer blossoms and lavender.
“This is bad,” she said, pressing back. “I’m so sorry.”
“Me, too.”
“Sorry we’re doing this?”
Yes. No. Her damn floral scent made it hard to think straight. He watched her bottom lip tremble. He could kiss her worry away, suck her lip between his own while she melted against him. Run his fingers through her hair, palm her nape and deepen the kiss until she moaned his name and asked him to kiss her in other places.
He took a giant step back. Holy hell, he had to get a grip. His idiot friends had him looking at her differently and he didn’t like it. “It’ll be fine. But we probably want to keep things to ourselves.”
She studied him for a long moment. “Got it.” Looking away first, she glanced at the table he’d been working on. “Wow, Danny. This is gorgeous.” She stepped around him, smoothed her hand across the dark wood. “Bubinga, right?”
“Good eye. I guess you do pay attention when I talk.”
“I take in everything you say and show me.”
She walked the length of the rectangular piece, her fingers never leaving the timber. He got a great view of the curve of her ass beneath her shirt. His gaze roamed lower, over her exposed skin and the smooth contours of legs he imagined wrapped around his…
He shook his head to trash that thought. He’d always been able to admire his best friend without it going south of his waist. Well, except for that one time, earlier in the year when they’d gone to a charity dinner honoring Bryce. She’d looked amazing in a light blue gown that hugged her generous figure. After dinner they’d gotten drinks and competed for the best accent. Hearing Liv sound very un-Liv like, and looking like a goddess sent down from heaven, he’d stirred behind his zipper. He blamed the unwelcome reaction on the booze and, being a typical guy, thinking with the wrong head for one stupid minute.
He’d also been under a lot of strain at the time, deciding to quit being a sports agent to focus on woodworking. Leaving his partnership with Bryce had been a risk and he’d been stressed out.
The same could be said for right now. He breathed a sigh of relief. Stress over coupling up with Liv was making him think like a sex-starved moron.
A stress you’re not going to be able to itch, dude.
“So Ellis Design is taking off, huh? I knew it would,” Liv said, saving him from any more inappropriate thoughts.
“Yeah, thanks. This table is going to some Hollywood bigwig.”
She gave a low whistle. “Impressive. Is this bigwig only buying one piece?”
“For now. But I’ve got other orders to fill.” He went on to tell her about the interior designer in Los Angeles.
“I’m so proud of you,” she said when he’d finished. The way she looked at him, with awe and joy, raised the temperature in the garage. She circled around the table, put her palm on his chest. “You followed your dream and it’s coming true. I think this calls for some celebratory French toast. Did you eat this morning?” She turned and headed toward the door to the house.
Danny looked down at his chest. He could still feel the warmth of her hand there.
“I’m going to take your silence as a negative and assume your mouth is too busy salivating over the thought of my cooking to respond,” she called out, her back to him.
He swallowed. He was salivating all right, but he wasn’t sure it had anything to do with food. “Sounds good.”
“You okay?” she asked over her shoulder.
“Just have a lot on my mind. The next few weeks are going to be insane with projects I need to work on. I’ll be in in a couple minutes.” She nodded and he forced himself to look at the table rather than catch one more glimpse of her legs before she disappeared inside.
Which meant he didn’t have near the control over these new urges as he thought he did, and one wrong move could ruin his friendship with the one person he couldn’t live without.
…
Olivia stared at the text message on her phone. Want to be sure you’re okay. Let me know. Please. It had been almost two weeks since she’d told Will about the baby and every single day she’d thought about him. She wanted his text to mean he was having second thoughts, but if she let herself think that, she’d lose the progress she’d made to get over him.
Her finger hovered over the screen on her cell. She didn’t know how to respond. She missed him. She hated him. She wanted to fly back to England to make sure he knew what he was giving up. His please made her want to cry. It meant he still cared, right?
Was she okay? Her head fell back against the couch cushion as she thought about the past several days with Danny. He’d given her the mental break she craved, keeping conversations light and easy between them. Her self-imposed hibernation hadn’t seemed to bother him, either. His understanding eyes said she could take as long as necessary to sort through the thoughts in her head.
“Hey, you’re up early,” Danny said, coming around the couch. He wore jeans with a gray T-shirt tucked in at one hip. His hair, about a week overdue for a trim, was damp and curled around his ears. He also smelled deliciously clean. Manly.
Deliciously?
“About time, don’t you think?” She dropped her phone next to her and pulled the blanket on her lap up higher.
“I think it’s okay to take some time to get your bearings.”
“Have I mentioned how smart you are?”
“It’s widely known I’m not all good looks.” He grinned, looking quite pleased with himself.
She cracked up. Conceit had never been one of Danny’s traits. If anything, he shied away from his awesomeness, especially since his CHM diagnosis. He’d convinced himself his eventual vision loss meant he had to put up walls. She didn’t agree, but being one of the few who knew about his disease, she didn’t want to add any barriers between them by arguing with him.
“It’s nice to see you laugh again.”
“You’re funny.” In her head, though, she thought, sexy. He hadn’t shaved this morning, probably not yesterday, either, and the scruff along his square jaw put his handsome face into the panty-dropping category. Combined with his sense of humor and kind words, who wouldn’t find that hot?
Whoa. Danny did not affect her this way. This was her brain on pregnancy talking. She’d done some research online and had learned that for many women, pregnancy made them crave…intimacy more often. That’s all this was. A temporary craving, like she got for chocolate. Only she could eat chocolate every day.
Stop. Stop right now. She could not think about sex while Danny stood a few feet away from her or she’d have to start avoiding him. And the whole point of her plan was to have him close.
“I’m also hungry. Thought I’d whip up an omelet this morning. You want one?”
Perfect. Food would distract her from…he turned and walked toward the kitchen. His faded jeans hung low on his narrow hips and she couldn’t help but check out his butt. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen it before.
But this time she felt the urge to squeeze her thighs together as she wondered what it would feel like to dig her fingernails into those fine gluteus maximus muscles while he thrust inside her. She jumped up. Her phone clattered on the hardwood floor. “I have to pee! And then, uh, get dressed. So, no omelet for me.”
She picked up her cell and hurried upstairs to her bedroom. To say her mind was a jumble of foreign thoughts would be putting it mildly. And really she had one person to blame for that. Will.
He’d hurt her more than she’d ever imagined. But that didn’t change the fact that he was her baby’s daddy. She reread his text, then sent him a message back. I’m good, thanks. How are you?
A couple of hours later, Liv walked out the front door on her way to her first doctor’s appointment. She hadn’t mentioned it to Danny, but now she wondered if she should have. They hadn’t tackled the whole pregnancy thing yet, and she didn’t want him to feel obligated to go with her, especially when work had him busy. But she wished he’d be there to calm her nerves.
“Olivia,” a woman said from over her shoulder, “I’m so glad to see you out and about.”
Liv spun around. “Hi, Mrs. Landry. How are you?”
“I’m well, thank you. Worried about you, though.” She linked her arm with Liv’s and escorted her down the stone walkway. Scattered puffy white clouds hung in the blue sky, palm trees swayed in the gentle breeze, and quiet filled the space around them. So different from what she’d experienced walking out her door in London.
“That’s sweet of you, but I’m fine. On my way to my first…” Shoot. She hadn’t meant to mention that.
“Your first doctor’s appointment?”
“Yes,” she said a little reluctantly, feeling guilty for not mentioning it to Danny first.
“I’ll just keep you a minute then.” Mrs. L. drew them to a stop. “I have something I want to discuss with you: your wedding.”
“My”—Liv choked on the words she’d just heard—“wedding?”
“I hope you don’t mind, but when Danny told me you two were going to marry at the courthouse, I told him absolutely not. You’ve got a beautiful house where you can get married and every girl deserves to walk down the aisle.”
“Wh-what did he say to that?”
“He looked at me like I’d sprouted horns and then mumbled something about you wanting it to be just the two of you.”
“Yes, that’s right.” Liv sighed in relief. Mrs. Landry wanted to butt her nose into their business a little, that’s all.
“I told him that was ridiculous and then Tuck told me to mind my own business, and well, that sealed the deal.”
“Tuck?”
“My friend with benefits.”
“Oh.” Liv suppressed her smile by pressing her lips together.
“Whatever he tells me to do, I do the opposite.”
“Oh?”
“Then Shirley, Midge, and Betty poked their heads into our conversation and they insisted we do this. By the way, how did you like the ginger spice muffins?”
“They were delicious. Thank you.” Liv wiped the perspiration off her forehead. “And what exactly is this?”
“Your wedding.” Mrs. L. looked at her like, Really? Are you not listening to a word I’m saying? “Didn’t Danny tell you any of this?”
“No.” Liv got a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. Were there other things Danny wasn’t telling her? Like that this was too much for him to deal with?
“Well, to be fair, I think he tuned out most of what we were saying. But oh, how his eyes lit up whenever we mentioned your name.”
Yeah, lit up with annoyance. “Mrs. Landry, this is very nice of you, but Danny and I really want to do this our own way.”
“I know you do, but…” Mrs. L.’s petite body deflated and Olivia hated that. “My daughter eloped, and I’d so wanted her to get married here in White Strand. This town has been my home for sixty years and it would mean the world to me to do something special here before I move away.”
Olivia took in every detail about Mrs. Landry’s face, from her light eyes and thin lips, to her wrinkled skin. But her best features were the warmth and sincerity Liv would have to be blind to miss. This is what motherly affection feels like. She hadn’t felt it since her nana was alive, and even then only sparingly because Liv’s mother had kept them apart more often than not.
“I asked Danny about your mother and he said she wasn’t quite on board yet.” Mrs. L. put her small, weathered hand on Liv’s arm. “We want to take your wedding dreams and make them a reality. Honor is all for it, too. She’s the party planner around here, after all.”
Olivia’s nerves relaxed a tiny bit at the mention of Honor. “This is an awful lot to take in.”
“That’s why we want to help.” Mrs. L. smiled sweetly and another piece of Liv’s defenses crumbled. Nana had passed away five years ago and talking with Mrs. L. brought back a wave of emotions. Nana had had the same spark Mrs. L. did. “How about we talk more about it this weekend?”
“O-okay,” Liv said, caving in to the kindness and memories. At the very least, Liv owed it to Mrs. L. to talk further after lying so horribly to her.
“Hey,” Danny said, taking Liv by surprise as he walked toward them.
“Hi!” Relief filled Liv at the interruption.
“I’ll let you two get going,” Mrs. Landry said. “See you later, Olivia. Bye, Danny.”
Danny narrowed his eyes. “What did she say to you?” he asked, his voice full of concern, but carrying a hint of unease, too. Yep, she’d gotten them into another pickle. “She brought up the wedding, didn’t she?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was hoping she’d forget about it.”
“I guarantee you that woman’s got a better memory than I do.”
“Why does she care so much?” His sunglasses hid his eyes, for which Liv was grateful. If she could see them right now, she might cry.
“Because her daughter eloped and”—she dropped her gaze to the ground—“it doesn’t matter. You don’t want a wedding.”
“You do?”
She glanced up at the sound of his genuinely baffled tone. “Of course not,” she lied. How dense could he be? Every girl wanted a wedding. Apparently even one very different from what she’d always imagined.
He waited a beat, his mouth set in a tight line before saying. “You’re lying.”
“Yes.”
“Liv, I don’t think…” he trailed off, looked somewhere past her.
“It’s okay. I get it.” She waved him away. “I’ll see you later. I’ve got an appointment to get to.”
“Right. Come on.”
Liv frowned at his back before following beside him. “What are you doing?”
“Taking you to see Dr. Silver. It seems when my fiancée made her appointment she included the home phone number and I heard the message confirming your appointment for today at eleven.” He opened the passenger door for her.
She paused. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it. I just figured—”
“No more figuring on your own, okay? We’re in this together.”
A giant knot of emotion lodged in her throat. He’d always given his unwavering support and now would be no different. She put her arms around him. “Thanks. I’m really glad you’re going with me.”
He hugged her back, and she could have stood like that all day. Reluctantly, she let go and climbed into the car.
When they walked into the doctor’s office ten minutes later, Danny garnered quite a bit of attention. From the other women sitting in the waiting room, from the receptionist, from the nurse when she called for a patient. In typical Danny fashion, he didn’t notice. He kept his nose buried in Architectural Digest.
After several minutes of his leg bouncing, though, she put her hand on his thigh. “Hey,” she whispered, “if you’re nervous you can wait outside. I promise I’ll tell you everything afterward.”
“I’m good.” He stopped the bouncing, and Liv quickly lifted her hand away.
“Miss Lincoln,” the nurse said.
Liv got to her feet. She couldn’t help but smile when Danny tossed the magazine onto the side table and jumped to his.
The pretty RN held the office door open. “Hi, Danny.”
“Hi, Sabrina.”
It was clear by the look that passed between Danny and the nurse that they knew each other. In that way. Liv’s muscles clenched in discomfort—and displeasure. It shouldn’t bother her, but it did. So much so that she wondered if she should find a different doctor so she didn’t have to see Sabrina on every visit.
Once inside the patient room, Sabrina motioned for Danny to take a seat in a chair by the window while Liv sat on the examination table. She wrote down Liv’s health history, then took her vitals and weight. Sabrina was warm and friendly, and Liv liked her. Of course she did. Danny didn’t choose standoffish women for his quick liaisons.
Sabrina motioned for Liv to follow her to the restroom so Liv could leave a urine sample. When Liv returned to the room, Sabrina pulled a paper gown and paper drape out of the cupboard underneath the sink and directed Liv to remove all of her clothing and put it on, open in the front. “The doctor will be in shortly,” Sabrina said as she left the room.
“I’ll step into the hallway,” Danny said. Not much ruffled him, but Liv was pretty sure if he had feathers they’d be mussed right now.
“No! I mean, you can’t. Supposedly you’ve seen me naked.” Liv did a Vanna White sweep toward her tummy. “Just turn around.”
Even with his back to her, and knowing he couldn’t see anything—and didn’t care to—it didn’t stop tiny sparks of awareness from flickering over her exposed skin. Danny sat a few feet away, yet she’d never been so acutely aware of him. His body, his strength, his appeal.
She’d loved him for a long time, as best friends do, but what she felt for him right this minute added a new layer to that affection. She told her hormonal brain to let it go, to look at things from a clinical standpoint. They were both mature adults who could handle some nakedness. Feelings and emotions were not required. In fact, they were better left forgotten, stuffed into a box and left in a waterproof vault at the bottom of the ocean.
“All set.”
Danny turned. His gaze went right to her bare legs before jumping up to her face. He and Zane had taught her to surf and they’d swam in the ocean together a hundred times, so he’d seen her in less than the paper robe, but something flashed in his eyes this time that she’d never noticed before.
“You nervous?” he asked.
“A little.” As always, he sensed her anxiety, but he didn’t know part of it was because of this new vibe between them. Did he feel the weirdness, too? “I’m sorry I’ve put you in an uncomfortable position. I forgot about the whole paper gown thing.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“But you didn’t sign up for it.”
“Don’t start thinking I’m not happy to be doing this, Liv. You’re stuck with me, so quit worrying.” He pushed his legs out and crossed them at the ankles, slouched against the chair back.
She appreciated his relaxed posture considering he was the one stuck, not her. “So, Sabrina, huh? Is that going to be a problem?”
“What? No.”
“Come on. She looked at you like she wanted to climb you like a stripper pole.”
He shook his head in confusion. “I don’t even know what that means, but no.”
Liv raised her eyebrows.
“We got together a couple of times, but I haven’t seen her in months.”
“Okay. Change of topic. Is there such a thing as a bacon and honey sandwich because I think I need one.” Danny made a face like he’d eaten something sour. “On toasted bread that’s been buttered.” Liv let out a sigh. “I think I’m having my first craving. I had no idea it would be so specific. Got a fix for me when we’re done here?”
“Absolutely.” His expression softened. A smile played at the corners of his lips.
“Awesome.”
“Always.”
Liv grinned. Years ago, she, Danny, and Bryce had taken a road trip up to Otter Creek, Oregon, to see Zane surf and they’d played the one-word-that-starts-with-the-same-letter game. Bryce had kicked their butts, but every now and then when he wasn’t around, she or Danny liked to toss the challenge out. The only catch? It had to make sense in the context of their conversation. “Admirable,” she tossed back.
“Accidental.”
“Agreed.”
He sat taller, put his elbows on his knees, and leaned forward. Being under his fixed gaze made her squirm. The paper under her bottom rustled.
“All right.”
She could call him on that. It was two words. Instead she said, “And.”
“And?” he repeated, letting her get another word in rather than call her out on the conjunction, which was a no-no.
“Annoying.”
A knock on the door and the doctor’s entrance ended their game. Dr. Silver introduced herself and went over Liv’s health history again before going into a detailed description of what to expect. She prescribed prenatal vitamins, went over weight gain, nutrition and exercise, and most importantly told her the baby’s due date. April 30th. Olivia was nine weeks pregnant.
“An increased sex drive during pregnancy is normal,” Dr. Silver continued, her attention bouncing between Liv and Danny. “And perfectly safe. So feel free to keep sex on the agenda.”
Liv had never blushed in front of Danny before, but her cheeks were currently on fire.
Dr. Silver asked if Liv had any questions and proceeded to answer them in a way that put Liv at ease. The look of horror on Danny’s face when Dr. Silver announced a breast and pelvic exam came next was priceless. He stood, not knowing what to do with himself. Before Liv could say anything, Dr. Silver put a reassuring hand on his arm and told him a lot of first-time dads were uncomfortable with this, so if he preferred to step outside the room, he could, no problem.
He declined the offer, instead finding something interesting to stare at outside the window. His staying in the room put stupid tears in the back of Liv’s eyes. Once finished, Dr. Silver apologized for being short on time—an emergency delivery had come up—and told them during the next visit they’d listen to the baby’s heartbeat. Liv’s heart pounded so hard at the thought she was sure Danny and Dr. Silver heard it. Danny stepped to her side and squeezed her hand. She squeezed back.
After a quick stop at the lab next door so Liv could give blood for several routine tests, Danny stood outside the passenger door of his truck while she belted herself in.
“I’ve ruined you for future appointments, haven’t I?” she asked before he could say whatever had him rooted to her side of the car. She’d asked a lot of him today and wouldn’t blame him if he wanted to back out of their bargain.
“I don’t ruin, especially where you’re concerned.”
Do not cry at his perfect words. “O-kay,” she choked out.
“But the dad thing is a lot to take in.”
“Agreed.”
“So forgive me if I don’t do all the right things while I process it.”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” she said, squeezing his arm.
“There will be.”
Olivia couldn’t read Danny’s expression so she didn’t know what had clouded his usual confidence. She started to ask, but he shut the car door with a loud thud, putting an end to their conversation.