Not Planning on You (Danvers #2)(29)
When Suzy pushed the end button on the cell phone and handed it back to Nick, he was making a gagging motion with his finger. Since she couldn’t take her hands from the crutches to hit him, she settled for sticking her tongue out to which she got nothing but laughter in return.
Soon Suzy was settled in the back seat and Beth was forced to the front beside Nick again. Claire had called Nick while they were in the doctor’s office to check on Suzy and he’d invited her to lunch with them. They were going to eat at the sandwich shop around the corner from Danvers.
Claire was waiting for them in the parking lot when Nick pulled up in his mini-van. Suzy had to admit that seeing a pregnant woman laugh that hard was almost scary. Nick gave them all a look of disgust and walked ahead to hold the door of the restaurant open.
After they were settled at a table, Suzy looked at Claire and bluntly asked, “When is that bun coming out of your oven? You look like you’re about to explode.” Claire choked on the drink of tea she’d just taken and Beth had to pat her on the back until she could catch her breath.
“By bun, I assume you’re referring to my baby, and he or she’s due in about three more months.” Rolling her eyes, Claire continued, “I’m sick of the swollen ankles, the fatigue and the hemorrhoids are a real pain in the butt.” As soon as the last word left her mouth, Claire seemed to remember Nick’s presence.
Suzy wasn’t sure whose face was redder at that point, Nick’s or Claire’s. They both looked like they wanted to climb under the table. Suzy jabbed her elbow in his ribs and said, “For heaven’s sake Nick, you have been around the block more than a few times, stop acting like a convent girl.”
Nick held his hands up, still refusing to make eye contact and said, “Ladies, I don’t have many rules, but I have to draw the line at talking about hemorrhoids, tampons or PMS. If you want to talk about sex, then I’m your guy, well unless it’s with my brother, but no talk of the female cycle or anything hanging out of your body, ok?”
They all laughed, and Suzy called the waiter over to order a beer for him. For such a ladies’ man, the guy really needed to loosen up. She had to appreciate the fact that although he didn’t know them all that well, he was still willing to spend his day taking her to a doctor’s appointment and then spend lunch with three women. From what she could tell, like his brother, Nick was a good man.
All too soon lunch was over and they dropped Claire back at the front doors of Danvers. Suzy tried to convince Nick to let her go into the office to pick up her mail, but he adamantly refused. He did offer to pick it up on Saturday and bring it to her. By the time they made it home, Suzy was exhausted and her body seemed to be aching all over. She didn’t want to admit it, but she’d overdone it a bit today. She was grateful when Beth suggested she rest on the couch for a while.
Nick offered to stay for a few hours so that Beth could go to the supermarket and pick up some of Suzy’s clothing. She’d refused to wear sweat pants for another day so Beth had caved to pressure and promised that she’d have her own clothing by tomorrow.
~~~
Gray sat on the bed in his hotel looking down at his cell phone. He’d wanted to hear Suzy’s voice, but according to Nick’s text, she was sound asleep on the couch. Disappointment stabbed through him even though he’d just talked to her a few hours earlier. Running his hand across his face, he admitted that Nick was right about him, he was a love-sick sap. Being away from her was tearing him apart. He knew that once she was his, he’d be able to breathe easier when they were apart. Right now with so much hanging in the balance, he was afraid of losing ground while he was away. He just couldn’t start over again with her. It had been hard before, but now that he’d finally established intimacy between them, even though they hadn’t had sex, the bond was there. He’d go to pieces if she walked away now. Giving someone this type of power scared the hell out of him. If he was smart, he’d probably run and never look back. He knew that he’d past the point of no return, his life was with Suzy and a life without her was nothing at all.
The one thing still stopping him from relaxing was Reva. He wasn’t naive enough to believe that the silence since changing phone numbers would last. She’d be back and it was high time he dealt with it. He couldn’t start a life with Suzy with something like that hanging over them. It was also time that he came clean with Suzy and told her what was going on. When she’d asked about him changing his cell phone number that morning, he’d been stumbling around like an idiot trying to find an explanation. Gray had always believed in being honest and he wasn’t going to continue keeping something like this from her. He didn’t want to tell her over the phone, but as soon as he got home, it was time to level with her and hope that it didn’t change anything.
He was surprised at how well things had progressed between them. The feel of her hand on his butt yesterday had both shocked him and almost brought him to his knees. He’d always desired her, even with the front she presented to him and the world. You couldn’t be a male and not immediately take notice when she walked into a room. Suzy was a drop-dead gorgeous woman and she didn’t dress to minimize it. It wasn’t that she dressed specifically to draw attention to it; she was just unique and her style represented that. He wouldn’t change anything about her. Just smelling the light fragrance of her perfume when she walked by him was enough to make him hard as a rock.