He kissed her slowly. “I promise.”
Nina melted. “Thank you.” She hugged him tightly.
“I’ll do whatever to make you smile, baby girl,” he said to her, and this time… she believed him.
η
A few more weeks had passed, and her stomach was doing somersaults again.
At first, she thought it was the combination of too much champagne and seafood but yesterday, she ate nothing the night before and still felt this way so something else was happening.
Jio stood instantly. “Bookie?”
Nina rushed down the hallway to the nearest bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet before her body betrayed her.
“Damn,” she groaned once it passed.
Jio was behind her within seconds, one hand gathering her hair and the other rubbing slow circles down her back.
“You sick?”
“Noooooooo!” she fussed, wishing he would’ve stayed his ass in the kitchen.
“You throwing up for fun then?”
“I drank last night.”
“You didn’t drink enough to be throwing up like this.”
She snapped. “You don’t know my body.”
Now, Nina knew like he did…that he absolutely knew her body. In and out.
Nina flushed the toilet and sat back on her heels. She was embarrassed and annoyed and she hated throwing up. She hated being watched by Jio while she threw up too. The look on his face told her that he was very worried about her, and secretly, she was too.
It was obvious what was going on, but she wanted to be in denial so bad.
“I’m fine,” she said before he could start.
He reached under the sink, grabbed a washcloth and ran it under cool water. After wringing it out, he crouched in front of her and wiped her mouth gently.
“Jio…”
“What?”
“You’re ignoring me.”
“I heard you, Nina.”
“Don’t call me that. Why are you calling me by my name?”
He looked at her like she was crazy.
She gave him a look that warned him to revert back to baby or babe, and the one that he shot her way told her,“I’m not playing with you right now.”
“Brush your teeth,” he said before standing. He left her alone to handle her business.
By the time she returned to the kitchen, her plate had been covered to keep warm and a glass of ginger ale sat beside it.
