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“Wild, huh?”
His long fingers curled over the round curve of my middle, and the heat of his palm passed through my thin top to my skin. It dawned on me how incredibly intimate this was. Elliot kneeling at my feet, touching me in a way I hadn’t been touched…maybe ever, with reverence and wonderment…it was difficult not to let it affect me.
“Never heard anything crazier.” My words came out husky, and my cheeks immediately flamed. Thankfully, he wasn’t looking at my face.
He brought his other hand to my belly, cupping it from both sides. The position we were in was more proximate than suitable for a workplace, but there was no part of me that felt the urge to ask him to step away.
My breaths came in short pants, and Elliot’s warmed the parts of my belly he wasn’t touching.
“She’s been hearing my voice all this time,” he murmured.
“Yep. I’d say she’s formed an opinion of you.” My fingers twitched again, this time with the need to run them through his thick, dark hair and ruffle it up a little.
“Lucky for me, she won’t be able to tell me for a couple years.”
I laughed again, jouncing my belly. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. She won’t be hanging around the office too much.”
I hoped. If I didn’t figure out how to afford day care along with my house payments and the contractor, I might have to put Baby Girl in my drawer and cross my fingers Elliot didn’t notice.
Just like that, a bucket of cold reality splashed over me.
“Right.” He shook his head. “Right, of course.”
Like reality had fallen on him too, Elliot rose to his feet and circled to the other side of his desk. He stood there, focused on his screen, clicking his mouse.
His absence had been so sudden I found myself momentarily bereft.
I waited for him to say something, but he stayed quiet, so I shoved myself out of the chair and exited his office, the incredibly generous gift card I absolutely didn’t need clutched in my hand.
In a daze, I wandered to the break room. Davida was preparing Jeffrey’s morning smoothie. She did this every single day, cussing throughout the entire process. She absolutely despised being made to do this and had hinted more than once she was looking into where she could procure a little arsenic.
“Hi.” I lurched into the room with as much drama as I could put into my movements. “The strangest thing just happened.”
She stopped smashing berries and gave me her attention. “Do tell, darling.”
“Elliot and I had our morning meeting, and—” I had to cover my face. “Baby Girl started doing her crazy rolls, and she took my breath away. Elliot must have thought something was wrong with me. He rushed to my side, and then—”
“What?” Davida whispered with unguarded excitement.
“I let him touch my belly.”
“Elliot Levy?”
“The very one.” I peeked at her from between my fingers. “And it went on for a long time.”
She pushed her glasses on top of her head, staring at me with rounded eyes. “How long?”
Raymond wandered in. He didn’t have a reason to be in the break room other than gossip. “How long what?”
Davida’s glasses fell back down to her nose. “Elliot touched Kit’s bump.”
Raymond whirled on me. “No.”
I nodded, my face on fire. “He did. And it lasted…at least five minutes. In the end, he was holding my belly with both hands and—”
Raymond arched a brow. “And you liked it?”
Unbidden tears stung the back of my eyes. “I did. It’s just…I can’t remember the last time anyone even hugged me, and I’ve been to all my appointments alone—”
