Jonnas rested both hands lightly against her thighs. “Look at me.” She did immediately. “There’s gonna come a point,” he said quietly, “where you have to stop treating happiness like a temporary condition.”
Jonnas brushed his thumb along her knee slowly. “I’m not here because you got pregnant.” Emotion flickered across her face instantly. “I’m here because somewhere along the way, you became important to me.” His voice roughened slightly. “The baby just made me realize how fast it happened.”
Dani looked completely wrecked by that confession. That worked for him because he needed her to understand this wasn’t about obligation. It was a choice, and one that he’d make all overagain. “You know what scares me?” she whispered after a long silence. “That I believe you.”
Something fierce and warm moved through his chest at the same time. Jonnas leaned down slowly until his forehead rested lightly against hers. “Good,” he murmured softly. “You should.”
Dani
Dani should’ve known peace wouldn’t last—not for her. She knew better than to trust when things finally started feeling too good to be true. The morning with Jonnas had been dangerously perfect after that. He had made her pancakes, and she sat on his lap, letting him feed her. She loved the way that he fussed over her and whether she drank enough water. It was the kind of domestic intimacy that made her chest ache every time she looked at him, and maybe that was why the universe decided to ruin it, because happiness always came with consequences eventually.
Dani was halfway through her shift two days later when she walked into the break room, and the conversation stopped—completely stopped, and her stomach dropped instantly. Three nurses stood near the coffee maker whispering together. One of them looked away too fast when Dani walked in, and another gave her an awkward smile. Dani’s pulse started pounding in her chest when she realized that they were all probably talking about her—and Jonnas.
“What’s going on?” she asked quietly. Nobody answered, which was answer enough for her.
One of the older nurses, Jan, sighed heavily. “Honey?—”
Every survival instinct inside Dani went rigid. “What happened?”
Jan looked deeply uncomfortable. “Someone filed a complaint with HR.”
The floor felt like it had disappeared beneath her feet. “A complaint about what?”
“You and Mr. Black,” Jan dramatically whispered. It was loud enough for everyone in the lounge to hear her. Ice flooded Dani’s veins instantly. Someone had complained about her and Jonnas. Somehow, hearing the news from Jan made this feel colder, because everyone knew that she was a gossip. Why hadn’t HR come directly to her? If they had, she would have shut down the rumors before they even started.
Dani laughed nervously. “That’s ridiculous. Jonnas and I aren’t together.” Jan winced as though she could tell that Dani was lying.
“Everyone knows, hun,” Jan whispered loudly again.
“What kind of complaint?” Dani asked.
This time, another nurse answered quietly. “They’re saying he abused his position with you.” Dani felt as though she had stopped breathing. The room blurred around the edges, and she felt lightheaded.
“No,” she whispered instantly. “No, that’s not what happened.”
“We know that,” Jan said gently. But her expression said something worse—that not everyone believed that Jonnas hadn’t taken advantage of her. Humiliation crashed over Dani so hard it physically hurt. Of course, people would think that after a young nurse got pregnant by an older hospital administrator. God. She suddenly saw herself through everyone else’s eyes and wanted to crawl out of her own skin.
“Who filed the complaint?” she whispered. Jan hesitated, and that told her everything she needed to know.
“It was Jessica,” Jan said, confirming Dani’s suspicions.
“The COO?” she asked weakly. Jonnas’s boss filed the complaint against them, and that meant that his job was in jeopardy. Shit. This was all going sideways quickly.
Jan nodded slowly. “She apparently reported it to protect the hospital before rumors spiraled.” The room felt as though it had tilted off-axis. Jessica was the woman who had smiled at her whenever they passed each other in the hallway. She was Jonnas’s boss, and he considered her to be a friend. Jessica saw them together in his office, and that made Dani’s stomach roll violently. Maybe she had done it to protect the hospital, but that meant that lawyers were going to have to get involved. There would be an investigation into her and Jonnas’s relationship—when it started, and even when she got pregnant. But worst of all, there would be whispers about the two of them around the hospital. Dani knew exactly what that could cost Jonnas. His reputation would be ruined, along with his career. He’d lose everything because of her, and that made her chest tighten so painfully she could barely breathe around it.
“He’s gonna hate me,” she whispered.
Jan’s face softened immediately. “Honey, no?—”
“He should.” Dani stepped backward quickly. “This is my fault.” Because she should’ve known better than to get involved with him. She should’ve kept her distance and remembered that men like Jonnas had more to lose than she did.
Tears burned behind her eyes instantly. God, not here. She couldn’t start crying in front of everyone. Dani turned and left the break room before anyone could stop her, and by the time she reached the stairwell, she was shaking. Humiliation clawed through her chest viciously as every insecurity she’d tried to bury came rushing back all at once. She was stupid to believe that any of this was going to be all right. She was young, pregnant, andan idiot. She was a nurse sleeping with a hospital administrator—which was a big red flag around the hospital.
People probably thought she trapped him, or worse—that he preyed on her, and somehow both possibilities made her sick. Dani pressed a trembling hand against her mouth as panic climbed higher and higher. This was why she’d been scared, because nothing this good ever stayed good for long.
Her phone buzzed in her scrub pocket, and she pulled it out to check the screen. It was Jonnas. Just seeing his name nearly broke her completely. She couldn’t talk to him right now. She couldn’t hear that calm, steady voice while her entire world caved in around her.
The phone buzzed again immediately when she didn’t answer.
