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She swayed on her feet and stumbled a step to the side. When she started to tip, he lunged forward to catch her before she collapsed on the flagstone entryway. His heart thumped hard against his ribs as he held her petite frame against his chest. She felt small and fragile in his arms, and still her fruity, floral perfume that haunted his memories registered on his senses.
“Mae? Talk to me. You okay?” Alarm raised his voice an octave as his pulse raced fast enough to steal his breath.
She lifted a shaky hand to her temple. “Dizzy spell,” she whispered. “I just…need to sit…”
He swept her up into his arms and turned for the door.
Her sm
all palm flattened against his bare chest. “Put me down. I can walk.”
Ignoring the weak order, he carried her inside, kicking the door shut on the way to the couch in his living room. She didn’t protest again until he gently laid her on the leather cushion and grabbed a pillow to put under her head.
“Merit—”
“Shh.” He kept her from sitting up. “I’m going to get you some water. Just lay here for a moment. I’ll be right back.”
He hurried around the partial wall into the kitchen to pull a glass down from the cupboard. Setting it on the counter, he took a second to brace his hands on the edge, then hung his head while sucking a huge gulp of air into his tight lungs. The oxygen kick-started his brain and brought everything back into focus—
“I’m pregnant.”
Sharp, shocking, terrifying focus.
Merit straightened as his breath shortened all over again. He raised his arms to fist his hands in his hair, his clenched fingers pulling hard at his scalp as he stared at the water dispenser on his stainless steel refrigerator.
Holy fuck.
Was it his?
Dumb question. She would not have come to tell him she was pregnant if it wasn’t his—would she? A tiny spark of hope lit. Maybe she just needed to tell someone, and he was an impartial party to test out his reaction.
Keep dreaming, dipshit. She’d tell Honor, not you.
He jerked his hands down and spun around. Honor was pregnant, too. Did she know about Mae? If so, she hadn’t said one word about it at brunch.
On the heels of that thought, another hit him hard. Had the two of them planned this somehow? Or Mae, at the least? Outrage carried him forward a couple steps, but he caught himself and backtracked to fill the glass with water while he concentrated on taking measured, calming breaths. He had to make sure she was okay first.
When he returned to the living room, Mae was sitting up, her elbows braced on her knees, head in her hands. She straightened as he moved in front of her and held out the glass.
Her hand trembled slightly when she took it from him. “Thank you.”
“Yep.”
At his clipped response, her gaze met his for a brief moment. She looked away as she took a sip.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“You sure? I can call someone if you need me to. An ambulance or—”
“No,” she quickly denied. “I’m fine. I’ve had a couple spells since, um, since I found out, but it passes. Usually I can feel it coming on and sit down. This one came on faster than usual, that’s all.”
He nodded, moved to sit on the coffee table in front of her, then shot back to his feet to pace across the floor. When he reached the fireplace hearth, he pivoted on the ball of his foot and paced back. He tried to figure out exactly what to say while he made another trip back and forth.
“Will you please stop that?”
The slight irritation in her voice made him halt and pivot to face her. Taking in her pale features as she sat on his black leather couch, he was struck again by how delicate she appeared. He’d never guess she was the CEO of a successful women’s construction company.
