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And the thirty-minute dive had been spectacular. Every second of it.
But even her first scuba-dive in Bermuda couldn’t top the wonder of spending her nights and the long lazy mornings in bed with Coop. The man had skills in the bedroom that were quite simply phenomenal—making love to her with care and dedication one minute and hungry intensity the next.
Of course, during all the fun and frolics, she’d been careful to keep reminding herself that this trip wasn’t about her and Coop but about the baby—which hadn’t been all that hard to do, for the simple reason that she hadn’t made a lot of progress in that area at all.
He talked about their baby and the pregnancy, but only in very generic, impersonal ways. In fact, he was so guarded on the subject whenever it came up now, that she had begun to wonder if all the new activities, all the wonderful experiences hadn’t been arranged to distract her from any mention of why she was really here.
She hated herself for being suspicious of his motives, for doubting his sincerity in any way, but most of all she didn’t understand why he would even want to do that. What possible reason could he have to avoid the subject? When he’d invited her to his home specifically to talk about it? It didn’t make any sense.
‘You want to go back out tomorrow?’ he asked, brushing her hair back from her face.
The flutter of contentment pushed aside the foolish moment of doubt.
She was being ridiculous. How could he be avoiding talking to her, when they were together so much of the time? ‘Could we go out again today?’
He tapped her nose. ‘No way. Half an hour’s enough. You’re a beginner and...’ his gaze flicked to her abdomen and he took his hand from her waist ‘...you know.’
It was an oblique reference to the baby, but a reference nonetheless, so she decided to go with it. If she had concerns, maybe it was about time she voiced them. She knew she had a tendency to avoid confrontations. Probably a lay-over from her early childhood, when her parents had spent so much of the time arguing—and the hideous breakdown of her relationship with Randall.
But if the thought of the baby made Coop uncomfortable, the only way to get over that was to stop letting him avoid the subject. And when she’d Skyped Ruby the day before, her friend had told her in no uncertain terms to stop worrying and confront Coop about the issue.
‘I called the obstetrician this morning,’ she said as casually as she could manage. ‘The one you lined up for me. She said scuba-diving would be absolutely fine.’
‘Yeah, you told me. But it’s still not a good idea to push it.’
‘I didn’t know you’d heard me,’ she said, trying not to mind the abrupt dismissal as he set about hanging the air tanks on their frame. ‘I arranged to go in for a check-up on Monday, by the way,’ she added, but he didn’t look up, engrossed in checking the gauges. ‘If you want to come with me?’
That had got his attention, she thought, as his head shot up. ‘Why?’ There was no mistaking the flicker of panic. ‘Do I need to? Is there something wrong?’
‘No, of course not, but...’ While his concern warmed her, the panic was another matter. ‘I thought you might like to come—she might do a scan and you could see the baby.’
‘Right.’ He turned away, went back to concentrating on the equipment. ‘Why don’t you shimmy out of that wetsuit?’ He threw the request over his shoulder. ‘Then we can head back before you start to burn. It’s hot as hell out here.’
She inched the wetsuit down her legs, sat down on the boat’s bench seat to struggle out of the clinging black neoprene. ‘So you’ll come to the scan? On Monday?’
She handed him the suit and he draped it over the bench seat next to his.
‘Yeah, maybe, I don’t know. I’ll have to see how I’m fixed.’ He met her eyes at last, the ‘don’t get too excited’ tone in his voice loud and clear. ‘When’s your appointment?’
The lack of enthusiasm was almost palpable and she had the sudden premonition that he was only asking for the information so he had time to come up with a viable excuse.
‘Two-thirty.’
‘Damn, that’s a shame. I promised Sonny I’d come over that afternoon. I’ll have to miss it.’
Her heart stuttered. So now she knew for sure. She had not imagined his reluctance. She drew in a deep breath, determined not to back down again in the face of his stubbornness.
‘I see.’ She tugged her beach tunic on over her bikini, the ocean breeze making her shiver despite the heat. ‘I could rearrange the appointment for later. Why don’t I come with you to see Sonny? I’d love to meet him.’
The sides of his mouth pinched—making the strain to maintain the easy smile on his lips
more visible. ‘No need for that. I’m helping him strip an old motor. It’s not going to be any fun.’
She felt the dismissal like a slap that time. She’d asked before about his friends on the island. And he’d closed her down on that subject too. She’d been here for over a week and she hadn’t met anyone he knew. When she’d suggested going back to The Rum Runner the previous evening, he’d explained that he didn’t want Henry hitting on her again, then picked her up and dumped her in the pool. Once he’d dived in after her and then ‘helped’ her out of her wet clothes, the request had quickly been forgotten.
She watched as he began to pack the equipment into the box at the end of the boat. The panicked beat of her heart richocheted against her chest wall.
Stop freaking out and ask him. Avoidance isn’t the answer. You can’t handle this if you don’t know what’s going on.
