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“Nova, come on. What’s going on?”
She finally gave in, the awkward position they were both in and the way they had to lean toward each other over the center console forcing the issue. “It’s the angle I’m sitting in. I’m twisted just enough that the baby has easy access to my ribs.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“It wasn’t a problem until the cute little alien woke up.”
“Calisthenics time?”
“Apparently.”
The baby kicked again and she finally gave in, twisting so that she faced forward. At the same time she shifted the little one just enough so that the kicks met something other than bone.
“Can I?” She looked to her left and saw the eagerness that painted his face. “Can I feel?”
“Sure.” She took his hand and placed it against her stomach, the baby actively performing for its audience.
“That is amazing.”
“An amazing mood killer.” She didn’t want to be resentful. She was well aware parenthood came with a lifetime of moment killers. It was the price you paid for the amazing little human entrusted to your care.
But did it have to start already?
Something flickered in Nikolas’s eyes, now a deep green as they reflected back at her inside the darkened car. She couldn’t quite name the emotion, but she saw something. It was only when he leaned in closer, contorting himself so that he had to move his body completely over the center console, that she sensed his intention. Once again his mouth met hers, his tongue a hot brand against her own.
And once again she responded in kind, her body shockingly sensitive to his touch.
They stayed like that for several long moments, mouths fused as the kiss played out in glorious, vivid color, his palm still pressed against her fetal soccer player.
Long minutes later, when they were both breathless, he finally lifted his head. “I don’t think the mood was killed at all. Do you?”
* * *
A few hours later, Nikolas couldn’t sleep and had opened his laptop for company. It had been late when they’d arrived home, and despite wanting to spend more time kissing Nova, he’d figured retreat was the better option.
Especially because it was killing him to think about her, asleep just down the hall. Not that he’d act on it, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t thinking about it.
Damn, but what a roller coaster. She had been thrown several significant curve balls over the past forty-eight hours and had managed to dodge, bob, weave and all around field them like a pro. He was awed by her and not just because he was attracted to her.
A fact he was increasingly coming to grips with because there seemed to be no other alternative.
The light knock on his home office door pulled his attention and, as if he’d conjured her up, Nova stood in the doorway. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Me, either.” He gestured to the small love seat up against the wall beside the desk. “Have a seat.”
She was still wearing the same outfit she’d worn to the Triple R, suggesting she’d spent the past hour in her room, as wide awake as he was. “What are you working on?”
“I wanted to look a bit more into Micheline Anderson and the AAG.”
“That creepy place.”
“Yes.”
“Is it wrong to realize that while I wanted to know my birth family, if that place is part of it I think I might have been better off not knowing?”
“Unfortunately, all I have for you is my good ol’ special brand of honesty. Homegrown and easily dispensed.”
He got the requisite smile out of her at that before she added, “Lay it on me.”
