LITMIR.BIZ

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in where it doesn’t belong? Hugh Newman may be the father of your child, but he is not the right man for you.”

      “Story of my life,” Bia murmured.

      “Make no mistake, there is someone out there for you. He is already in your life. You simply must learn to see what is right in front of you.”

      * * *

      Thursday afternoon, Aiden was leaning against his car, which was parked in the lot of Bia’s doctor, waiting for her to arrive.

      When she finally did, she got out of her car and said, “Aiden, you’re here? I told you not to come.”

      Her words said one thing, but the way she said them confirmed that he’d been right to not let her face her first doctor’s appointment alone.

      “I thought you might want some moral support.”

      She smiled. “I’m a big girl, Aiden. I can handle this.” Then she hugged him and whispered, “Thanks for being here. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

      He put his arm around her as they walked from the parking lot into the lobby. To the untrained eye, they probably looked like a happy couple eager to get the lowdown on their first child. He could play that role, especially if Hugh wasn’t going to.

      “Have you heard from Hugh?”

      She stiffened, pulled away ever so slightly. “No. But he knows. And he knows how to reach me and where to find me.”

      “Ball’s in his court, then,” Aiden said as he opened the office door and stood back so Bia could enter.

      Two other women, both obviously further along in their pregnancies than Bia, waited. Both had men with them, and Aiden was instantly reassured that he’d made the right decision to come along. No doubt Bia would’ve soldiered through on her own, but she shouldn’t have to face this alone.

      “I’m going to go sign in,” she said. “Go ahead and sit down and I’ll be right back...with mountains of paperwork, no doubt.”

      He sat down in a chair across from one of the couples. The woman looked as if she were smuggling a basketball under her dress. Aiden looked away, trying to imagine what Bia would look like that far along. She’d be gorgeous.

      “Is this your first child?” the woman asked.

      “Uhh...” Obviously, she’d caught him staring. But she didn’t seem annoyed or put off. Her husband was reading the newspaper and didn’t seem to notice that Aiden had been scoping out his wife’s belly. Good thing.

      Rather than dive headlong into an explanation, he simply said, “Yes. It is.” After all, he hadn’t been party to another pregnancy before. She hadn’t asked him if he was the father.

      “Congratulations to you and your wife.” She beamed at him and clasped her hands over her belly. “You have some exciting months ahead of you. Years actually. Kids will change your life.”

      Yep. So I’ve heard.

      He nodded. Pondering the thought of Bia as his wife as she walked toward him, clipboard in hand. She stirred in him a feeling that was equal parts primal lust and Cro-Magnon protective. He’d always been attracted to her. Hell, if he were honest with himself, he’d admit that he’d always been in love with Bia Anderson.

      He just hadn’t been able to admit it to himself until his roommate Duane had taken an interest in her at that party their freshman year of college. He couldn’t remember who threw the party or what the occasion was, but he would never forget what she looked like standing there kissing Duane. At that moment, something inside him shifted and snapped into place. By the time he finally woke up and realized what had been under his nose all his life, she was off-limits. So, Aiden had settled for a friendship because it was better to have her in his life under restricted terms than not at all.

      Duane never had treated her right. He used to think Aiden was joking when he said things like, “Too bad you saw her first, man,” and “If you don’t treat her right, I’m going to take her away from you.” They would all laugh and then Aiden would try to get interested in some other girl. Inevitably, those relationships never worked out. Bia thought he was the world’s biggest player. And he would laugh it off and say, “None of them compare to you.”

      And she thought he was joking.

      He’d come here, taken the Catering to Dallas gig, to be near her. Things had been going well between them. The best way to describe them was platonic with chemistry. They were solid, and he wanted to take things slowly, let the relationship develop naturally. And then Hugh Newman came to town, proving it had been a dumb idea to take things slowly. It had been a grave miscalculation to not move at the speed of Hugh.

      As Bia sat down in the chair next to him, the nurse called back the woman who had been talking to him—Sandra something...he hadn’t caught her last name.

      “Good luck, you two,” she said as she and her husband walked toward the waiting nurse. “This truly is the beginning of the happiest time of your lives.”

      “Thanks,” he said. “Nice talking to you.”

      “Making friends, already?” Bia murmured. “You are such a flirt.”

      “I wasn’t flirting,” he said. “I was just being cordial. They think we’re married.”

      Bia rolled her eyes at him. “Obviously they don’t know who they’re dealing with. You, with your commitment allergy. I’m surprised that you didn’t run screaming for the door after she said that.”

      “That hurts, B. Like a stab right through the heart. You know I’m committed to you. You’re the only woman in the world for me.”

      She made a tsking sound and gave his arm a little shove and muttered, “Spare me.” Then she refocused on her paperwork, but she was smiling as she wrote. He noticed that she had left the spot on the form that asked for the name of the child’s father blank. He thought about asking her what, if anything, she was going to tell the doctor, but he decided to wait until after the appointment.

      “Obviously, we make a good couple,” he said. “We fooled them.”

      “Yeah, well, welcome to the grand illusion. When a man and a woman come to an OB-GYN office together, they’re usually involved. We just happen to be part of the slim minority who aren’t.”

      “We should stop pretending and get married, Bia.”

      She didn’t look up from her paperwork, but she laughed. “Says he who is allergic to monogamy. Don’t joke about marriage, Aiden. Some things are sacred.”

      “Who says I’m joking?”

      This time she pierced him with an exasperated look. “Settle down and quit distracting me. I have to finish filling out this paperwork before they call me back.” She started writing again. “Besides, you don’t have a ring. You can’t propose to a woman without a ring.”

      He pretended to pat down his pockets, looking for a ring. “Touché. You got me there.”

      She did have him. Heart and soul. He’d never realized just how deep his feelings for her ran until recently. If only he could tell her without the comedy routine. Easier said than done.

      A few minutes later, the nurse called Bia back.

      Aiden followed her to the door. “I haven’t finished my paperwork,” she said.

      “That’s not a problem,” the nurse said. “Maybe your husband could finish filling it out for you while we’re getting you ready to see the doctor?”

      “He’s not my husband,” Bia said.

      The nurse smiled, and she looked from Bia to Aiden. “Well, okay. Do you want him to come back with you?”

      She asked the question as if he would be entering a restricted-access area.

      “Oh...”

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