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It was Thursday before I finally made it over to his house, and I insisted on taking an Uber because he had a busy morning getting Clancy off to school. I wanted to be there as soon as he was alone, though, because now that I’d had time to think, this couldn’t wait any longer.
When I arrived, his car was parked out front. My pulse sped up as I knocked on the door.
“Perfect timing,” Archie said as he moved aside to let me in. “I just got back from dropping her off.”
“I would’ve waited.”
“Yeah, but it’s starting to rain. Glad you didn’t have to.”
The tension in the air was thick as we stood across from each other.
He rubbed his hands together. “Did you have coffee yet?”
“I did. I’m good. I had breakfast already. You?”
“I already ate, too.” He examined my face for a few seconds. “So…tell me if it’s my imagination, but I feel like you’ve been avoiding me since you came back.” He flashed a crooked smile, looking so handsome in a navy V-neck shirt with rolled-up sleeves. A piece of his unruly hair fell over his eyes. For some reason, today he reminded me of the Archie from Whaite’s Island. His hair had grown out a bit, almost to the length it was back then.
“It’s not your imagination,” I admitted.
He ran a hand through his mane, his expression serious. “What’s going on, Noelle?”
“It’s nothing bad, Archie. I just needed time to think after everything that went down in New York.”
He blew out a breath. “Look, one of the things we haven’t discussed is what’s going to happen after the final attempt. We agreed to three tries of IUI, but should we be talking about next steps? Is that what this is about?”
I exhaled. “Originally my next step was to go back to New York and take a breather if it didn’t work out. But really, I need to return to New York for a while no matter the outcome. I have to tend to my neglected apartment. And I do occasionally have to go into the office. I can only go so long without checking in.”
Concern crossed his face. “You wouldn’t…consider moving out here permanently so we can keep trying?”
That wasn’t so simple. “I might be able to talk to the network about a permanent switch to their West Coast bureau, but there’s a lot about coming out here permanently that scares me.” You scare me. I wondered if he could read between the lines.
“Okay…” He nodded. “Maybe we shouldn’t overwhelm ourselves with decision-making right now. We don’t have to commit to any kind of plan right this second. We can just take this one step at a time and see how you feel at the end of number three.”
I nodded. “I think that’s probably the only way I can proceed at this point.”
“Understood.”
Adrenaline coursed through me. This was the hardest part. “I do think we should give number three…our all—try everything to conceive.”
Archie had been looking at the floor, but now his eyes lifted to mine. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
I laughed nervously. “I’m afraid to say it out loud, to be honest.”
“I will, then.” He moved toward me. “You want us to have sex.”
“I don’t want you to feel pressured into anything.” I fidgeted, growing anxious.
“Are you kidding?” His eyes went wide. “This entire time I’ve wished we could try the natural way. The fact that it’s been off the table has been very frustrating, and the only thing that stopped me from suggesting it was your boyfriend. But now that you don’t have one? Fuck.” He inched closer. “We definitely should.”
A mix of relief and arousal washed over me. “The doctor said we should do it the night of the IUI treatment. So maybe we plan for that.”
He cleared his throat. “Not before?”
“Well, I was reading up on it, and we’re definitely not supposed to do anything for two to three days before or right after the trigger shot.”
“But the rest of the time…we can?”
My body buzzed. “I suppose.”
“Just tell me when…” He grinned. “Unless you’re worried about taking that step?”
“I’m physically ready. Just not sure I’m mentally ready.”
He lowered his voice. “You’ve been physically ready?”
I closed my eyes a moment. “This hormonal medication they have me on makes me quite horny. I can hardly sit in a damn seat without squirming half the time.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
“What was I supposed to say? It wasn’t like you could’ve done anything about it.”
“I would’ve figured something out, believe me.” He took another step closer, causing my pulse to react. “You’re turning red. You were nervous about suggesting this. Is that why you’ve been hiding from me these past couple of days?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Why?”
“I don’t want to get attached to you in that way, Archie.” There was no other explanation.
