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“Not really,” she admitted, searching his eyes for a clue about his feelings. He cared, but did he love her? Another spasm shot pain down her legs. “My back is killing me.”
“I knew something was up. You didn’t sound yourself.” His gaze traveled over her in concern. “Any contractions?”
“My belly’s been tight, but no contractions.”
“The baby’s movements are normal?”
“His feet have played contact sport with my ribs all day.” Even now she wanted to take her hands and push downward near her ribs in the hope of repositioning the baby. Not that she could. There wasn’t room. “Help me?”
He took her hand, easing her out of the vehicle and into th
e house. He held her arm, slowly lowering her into an oversized chair. When she leaned back, he removed her shoes and propped her feet on a footstool. He treated her like she was a helpless child, but between her thoughts and the all too real pain in her back, she didn’t care.
“Better?” He rubbed the arches of her feet.
“Much.” Not really, but after a few minutes of relaxation, getting over that horrible drive, the pain would ease. Besides, the tender, concerned look in James’s eyes was enough to make her feel better regardless of her back.
She wanted to be with him. To sleep in his arms and to wake up to the feel, smell, and sight of him next to her.
And she had to tell him. Now.
“I wish I’d married you when I had the chance.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
JAMES’S fingers paused from working their magic on her aching feet.
When the silence stretched, she glanced at where he knelt on the floor. His face masked, he watched her with eyes gone midnight blue.
His thumbs pressed into the balls of her feet and rotated outwards. Although not painful, his touch changed, became strained, tense.
“We could remedy that.”
Her heart thudded to a halt. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? “You’d marry me?”
His grip on her foot tightened almost imperceptibly. “It would solve custody issues.”
Custody issues. For the breadth of a heartbeat, she’d thought he wanted her. How could she have forgotten the baby? The baby’s health and well-being were his number one priorities.
She wanted James in her life, but not at the expense of his happiness.
“What about Nashville?”
He frowned. “What about it?”
She leaned forward, meaning to place her hand over his and tell him she’d go anywhere in the world, just so long as she was with him, but her belly got in the way and a sharp pain slashed across her low back. A strangled cry tore from her lips.
Gripping the armrests with clammy palms, she breathed deeply. The pain would ease. She shut her eyes and concentrated on remaining calm, focusing on her breathing. In. Out.
Damp heat washed over her body and another stabbing pain hit. Had her body just split in two?
This pain was unlike any she’d ever had. Intense. Bone-breaking. Flesh-wrenching.
She opened her eyes, met James’s look of total disbelief. Laughter gurgled from her lips.
Laughter full of fear and on the verge of hysteria.
James stared at Melissa. Moisture beaded along her forehead. Her hands gripped the edge of the chair tightly. Her knuckles blanched a ghostly white and dug deeply into the knobby fabric.
