Fall for Me (Danvers #3)(30)
A man to the core, Nick said, “Well, just pick another pair. You probably haven’t worn those in a while.”
The tears flowed harder and Beth gasped out, “I wore them a few weeks ago! I’m barely pregnant and can’t wear my clothes anymore. I might as well invest in some big dresses because regular pants aren’t going to cover this ass for long.”
Stepping up behind her, Nick playfully cupped the cheeks of her butt in his hands before saying, “You have one fine ass, princess, and a few extra pounds isn’t going to change that.” When she whirled around and threw her hands on her hips, she could tell he knew he had said the wrong thing.
“So now I’m carrying some extra pounds? Well, thanks so much for pointing that out. I thought maybe my body was just changing from the pregnancy, but now, thanks to you, I know that I’m just overweight!”
Nick threw his hands in the air as if trying to ward her off. “Princess . . . I didn’t mean it that way. I was just trying to say that you are beautiful no matter what size you are.”
“Get out, you big jerk!” Taking off the pants that wouldn’t zip, she hit him dead center in the back as he practically ran from the room.
When he reached the door, he risked a quick glance over his shoulder. “Are you riding to the office with me?”
My God, could he be more clueless? Did he honestly think she would get in the car with him this morning after all of his stupid comments? Deep down inside, she knew he had just been trying to make her feel better, but he had seriously botched it. Still, she needed some space. If she rode to work with him, she would probably force him to take her to McDonald’s and watch her while she ate her way through the breakfast menu. Luckily, she was saved from replying as he took her silence as no and mumbled that he would see her later.
Returning to her closet in disgust, she pulled on a soft jersey dress, which was both comfortable and flattering. She didn’t have the heart to try another pair of slacks. She took a few deep breaths, trying to fight the panic that had been with her since she tried to zip the pants earlier. No one who had never been seriously overweight could understand her paranoia over weight gain. She had worked so hard to get where she was today and being powerless to stop the pounds from piling on was enough to make her feel faint. Maybe she just needed to double her effort to watch what she ate. She wouldn’t let pregnancy be a reason to let herself go. She couldn’t go back to where she was before—she wouldn’t.
Chapter Sixteen
Nick walked into the lobby of Danvers International a few minutes ahead of schedule. He had a conference call at nine, which left him almost an hour to spare. He had been in such a rush to leave home this morning that he had missed breakfast. He was afraid that if he stayed, Beth might stab him with his fork.
He walked over to a private alcove in the spacious lobby and settled on a comfortable sofa. He picked up a copy of Newsweek and thumbed through it without reading the pages. His mind went back to the scene with Beth earlier. Could he have messed that one up any more? He couldn’t understand why she was so upset over her pants not buttoning. He had been trying to tell her how beautiful she was and damn if he didn’t keep sticking his foot in his mouth. What had happened to his magic touch with women? Beth always seemed to keep him off his mark. He could never be “Cool Nick” around her. She turned him into a clumsy schoolboy.
He almost jumped out of his seat when he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Boy, do I know that look,” drawled an amused voice. Nick looked up and cringed at the sympathy in Jason’s eyes. He sat in a chair next to the sofa and said, “So, what did you screw up?”
Jerking his head in surprise, Nick asked, “How do you know I screwed something up? Maybe I’m just relaxing for a few minutes.”
Jason laughed. “Yeah, right. I’ve had my ass in the sling too many times not to recognize the look on your face. I imagine I look the same way when I’m in the doghouse.”
Grimacing, Nick admitted, “It was about her weight gain.”
“Damn. Man, tell me you didn’t go there. You never, under any circumstances, admit to a woman, especially a pregnant one, that you think she has gained weight. That’s a rookie mistake and I never took you for one.”
“No,” Nick defended. “I didn’t tell her that she had gained weight. She was freaking out because her pants wouldn’t button and I tried to reassure her that she would be beautiful at any size. She completely went off the deep end. I thought women dreamed of a man who liked them just the way they are.”
Jason chuckled. “What kind of dream world are you in? You should have avoided the whole conversation. I’d have faked an urgent bathroom trip or whatever the hell it took to get me out of there pronto. You can’t win those conversations. You said, ‘You would look beautiful at any size.’ What she actually interpreted from that statement is: ‘Yeah, you’ve gained a lot of weight, but you have such a pretty face.’”
Nick shook his head in disbelief. “No shit? How do you know all of this stuff?”
“I’ve been there, man. And I have the battle scars to prove it. The first few months of Claire’s pregnancy were rough. She was sick all the time and miserable. I kept trying to cheer her up and just ended up making her cry. I refer to it as the first trimester from hell. When I wasn’t making her sad, I was pissing her off. She alternated crying on my shoulder and slamming the bedroom door in my face. Finally, one evening she asked me if she had a double chin. Just when I was about to give her what was probably another dumb answer, my cell phone rang and I answered it. By the time the call was finished, she had moved on to something else and I had avoided disaster. From that moment on, I used the distraction technique whenever I could. The Danvers household was back in harmony.”