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“I know,” Peter says. “I miss you, Ivy. I feel like we haven’t spent any time together recently.”
“I’ve been crazy busy with work. That part is true. My writing has been flowing, unlike in previous weeks when getting each word out was like squeezing water from a rock.
“I’m glad your writing’s going well. Can I take you out to lunch tomorrow?”
“Sure, that would be nice. I miss you too.”
The sound of a car takes me to the living room window. “That’s Alec. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I hurry out before Alec enters the house. I’m not in the mood for a confrontation between the two men. Peter has made it clear that he doesn’t like Alec and vice versa. Alec gets out of the car just as I reach it.
“Hi, beautiful,” he says.
“Hi, and you look very nice yourself.” He looks solemnly sexy in a black tuxedo and crispy white shirt.
His heated gaze ripples down the lines of my body and pauses momentarily on my cleavage. I feel like a sexy goddess.
“Breathtaking,” Alec murmurs. “I shall be the envy of every man at that dinner.”
I laugh, pleased by the compliment. “Somehow, I doubt that.”
Alec holds my gaze in a way that makes my heart beat crazy fast and my brain freeze.
“You really don’t know how beautiful you are, do you?”
I don’t know what to say to that.
“Let’s go, shall we?” he says and takes my hand.
My nerve endings explode at the contact. Raw need floods me. God, I want him. I’m ready to forgo the dinner and go to his place instead. Alec opens the car door and lets go of my hand. I slide in and use the time before he enters the car to get my raging hormones under control. It’s easy to blame my pregnancy hormones for the desire that comes over me when in Alec’s company. But the truth is that he is an extremely attractive man.
An easy-to-love man.
I almost jump at that thought. Where did that come from? Love?Don’t be stupid, Ivy,I scold myself. Entertaining such stupid fantasies is asking for trouble. There’s only space for one male in my life, and that’s the one in my belly. If it’s a boy.
“You’re frowning,” Alec says. His spicy aftershave fills the car.
I’d happily donate my smallest finger to have him kiss me right now. “Am I?”
He laughs and turns the key. The car roars to life, and he smoothly coasts it onto the road.
“Tell me about the fundraising dinner,” I tell him, wanting to hear the sound of his voice. When I first met Alec, I found his voice authoritative. I still think it is, but there’s a sexiness in his voice that I missed that first time. He tells me about the fundraiser and the people who benefit from the funds raised. I’m impressed, and I tell him so.
I didn’t know that the clinic did pro bono work. I note the pride in his voice when he talks about his family. His parents started the clinic and built it into what it is today. Alec also talks about his brothers a lot.
“You must be good friends with your brothers,” I say.
“We are. They are my closest friends.”
“That’s great. Molly’s my best friend too, and Peter, of course.”
“I’d like to meet your sister,” Alec says.
“She’d love to meet you too.”
My nerves kick in when we get closer to our destination. We join the queue of vehicles waiting to enter the driveway of the fancy hotel where the fundraiser is being held. Memories of my first and last encounter with Alec’s parents come to my mind. Nausea rises up my throat. How can two people who are obviously responsible and kind members of society speak to me the way they had? From where I’m standing, it’s difficult to believe they are good people, no matter what Alec says. They threatened to take me to court and have my baby taken away from me. A baby is still in my belly. They had judged and sentenced me without waiting to see what kind of mother I would be. Anger replaces the nervousness I feel, and regret fills me. I shouldn’t have agreed to be Alec’s date for the fundraiser.
“Are you okay?” Alec asks. “You have gone quiet all of a sudden.”
