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Grace’s words were like a screech of brakes in Daisy’s mind, and her entire body stiffened in reaction. Did Aiden expect her to quit work? When had that idea come about and why hadn’t she been a part of the conversation? And what other ideas had he come up with that she had no clue about?
Daisy felt sick to her stomach but met the other woman’s gaze to set her straight. “Grace . . . I don’t plan on quitting work once the baby is born.” She didn’t want Aiden’s mother to think that was the plan when it wasn’t.
“Oh,” Grace said quietly.
The disappointment threading the other woman’s voice was also visible on her face. Daisy hated that it made her feel like she was being selfish for wanting a career, and she couldn’t help but wonder if that’s how Aiden saw things, too—that it would be a self-centered choice to hire a nanny while she worked. For as much as they’d connected over the past month, how had she not known this?
The silent questions bombarded her, but she had no answers, just a knot of dread that was tightening in her chest at the thought of giving up important things in her life because it was expected of her because of the baby—her career, her independence, and then what else would come next?
The sliding glass door to the patio opened, and Leo stuck his head inside. “Hey, Ma, we’re ready for the chicken,” he announced.
Daisy was grateful for the interruption, because it broke up the sudden awkwardness between her and Grace. It wasn’t the other woman’s fault for relaying something Aiden had said to her, and Daisy wasn’t quite sure what she was going to do with the information now that she had it.
Chapter Thirteen
Aiden glanced at the quiet woman sitting in the passenger seat of his car as he drove back toward Daisy’s apartment. Something was up with her, and Aiden couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but it was beginning to concern him. All he knew was that he’d left a cheerful Daisy in the kitchen with his mother while he went outside to hang with the guys, and by the time dinner was served, he’d felt a palpable tension in her.
Oh, she’d smiled and responded to all the conversations and questions that came her way, but her demeanor had definitely changed. She was back to being guarded when he’d worked so damn hard the past month to tear those walls down.
“Everything okay?” he finally asked, because he hated the silence between them.
She nodded and looked at him, her expression unreadable in the dark interior of his vehicle. “Your family is great. Very warm and welcoming.”
It was such a pat comment, as if she’d just said what she thought he expected to hear. Frustration twisted through him, and he tried again. “They all like you a lot, and my mom, well, I’m sure she told you how thrilled she is to be having a grandchild.”
She glanced back out the passenger-side window. “Yes, she did.”
End of conversation.
What the hell? Aiden gripped the steering wheel tighter, and he wasn’t sure where to go from here. Were her pregnancy hormones acting up? He didn’t have a fucking clue, but this wasn’t how he’d envisioned this night ending with her. No, he’d been hoping to nudge their relationship to the next level, which for him was asking her to move in with him.
Yeah, it was a huge leap, but it made sense. She was looking for a bigger place, and well, he had a house that would easily accommodate her and the baby . . . even if she wanted her own room rather than sleep in his bed with him. Because that wasn’t what the offer was about. Well, eventually he was hoping it would be, because there was no doubt in his mind that this amazing, beautiful, sexy woman owned his heart in a way that no other ever had, and he wanted it all with her. The baby, marriage, and a life and future together.
The past month with Daisy had solidified his feelings. He loved her, and the realization didn’t send him into a panic. Maybe because the beginning of that headlong fall had started that night together in San Francisco, which was why he hadn’t been able to move on after Daisy. Because she was the one.
Baby or no baby, she’d always be the one.
He let the silence between them remain as he continued toward her place. When they finally arrived, he walked with Daisy to her apartment, very aware of the fact that she’d kept her hand out of his reach so he couldn’t hold it like he normally did. Once they were inside her tiny space, she rubbed her forehead and turned toward him.
“Aiden, I’m really tired tonight . . . ”
He knew it was an excuse, and he was just about to call it a night and leave her alone, which was what she seemed to want, when he noticed a few open and empty packing boxes in the kitchenette and near the bathroom.
He glanced back at her curiously. “You’re already packing up to move?”
“Yeah, I found a bigger apartment that was within my budget,” she said, setting her purse down and kicking off her shoes, her gaze averted. “The manager contacted me this morning to let me know they had an opening for a two-bedroom, and I decided to break my lease a month early here to make sure I’d get the new place.”
He set his hands on his hips, his frustration growing all over again, because after the last month together, he thought she would have shared something like this with him. “How come you didn’t tell me?”
She shrugged. “It literally just happened, and I was going to tell you when we got home tonight. I still have another two and a half weeks before I have to move.”
She was trying to be nonchalant about the situation, but her body language was anything but casual or relaxed. And goddamnit, she wouldn’t meet his gaze.
“Daisy, look at me, please,” he said firmly.
She finally did, but she wasn’t giving anything away emotion-wise. With all the tension in the air, it wasn’t an ideal time to put out the offer to move in with him, but it made no sense for her to lug all her stuff into another apartment, then eventually move again into his place. And if he didn’t ask her now, she’d risk losing a deposit on the new apartment.
“I’d really like for you to move in with me,” he said on a rush of breath to get it out there in the open. “I have plenty of room for both you and the baby in separate rooms if that’s what you prefer. I’d really like to be a part of this pregnancy, and not just on a part-time basis, and living together would make it so much easier to help you and be there for the baby.”
