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My eyes trace the curve of her cheeks, the sharp blade of her jaw. Her cheeks are too hollow. Would she go to lunch with me, if only so I could make sure she eats something?
“I heard you’re moving out of your place,” Lily says, eyes tilting back up to the sky.
I huff a laugh. “Those old ladies love to talk, don’t they?”
Lily turns a smile on me, and it stops my heart dead. She shakes her head. “It’s out of control.” She pauses. “So you’re really getting rid of that house?”
I shrug. “I’m in real estate. The market’s up, and I just finished fixing it up. Makes sense to sell.”
She nods. “It’s a good little house.”
“I knocked down a few of the walls on the ground floor,” I tell her. “It’s more open plan now. I put in a powder room downstairs too, but I kept that office as-is.” The office where we worked alongside each other, where I felt at home in that house for the first time. “New kitchen too,” I add, and it comes out as a hoarse whisper.
A touch of color stains her cheeks, and I wonder if she’s thinking of the time I crowded her against the counter and kissed her like she belonged to me. She looks anywhere but at me, and it makes me want to haul her onto my lap and crush my lips to hers.
I’m not over her. Not even close. I haven’t even thought of any other women since she walked into the bookstore and asked me for recommendations last summer. The only face I think of when I’ve got my hand wrapped around my cock is hers—but it’s more than just sex. I want to be beside her. I want to be the one she leans on, the one she asks for help. I want to wake up next to her every morning and see that sweet, sleepy smile on her face.
I want her.
Lily groans, shuffling forward on the bench before bracing herself. “Standing up is getting more difficult every day,” she says with a rueful grin. “Can you believe I had to ask my mother to tie my shoes yesterday? And I have seven weeks left of this crap.”
I laugh, catching her arm to help her stand.
Then her brows tug, and she puts a hand to her stomach.
“Lily?”
“I—” She leans forward, gasping.
White-hot fear arcs through me, cutting a sharp line of pain through my chest. “Lily, talk to me.” There’s an edge to my voice, because I can see the pain twisting her features. She’s clutching her stomach and taking short, sharp gasps. “Lily, what’s going on? Talk to me, baby. I’m here.” I put a hand on her back, my other hand wrapped around her arm to support her.
“Something’s wrong,” she squeezes out between breaths. “Something’s wrong with the baby.” A stain appears between her legs. She’s wearing dark-gray maternity leggings under her jacket, but I can still tell the stain is red.
Pure, ice-cold panic jets through my veins, and then I’m moving. As gently as I can, I haul Lily into my arms. My heart hammers as I carry her out of the garden and onto the street.
I pause at the entrance to the garden as Lily lets out a whimper that spears me right through the chest. She’s hurting. My woman is hurting and I need to get her help now.
Hospital. I need to get her to the hospital.
My mind whirls. Taxi? Or do I call 911 right away and wait for an ambulance?
Lily’s nails dig into my neck and she lets out a pained cry that cuts me like a knife.
I’ll drive, I decide, because there aren’t any taxis in view and my car is only four blocks away, parked outside my office building.
Four blocks. I can carry her for four blocks—but will she be okay? Trying not to jostle her, I take a step, then see my cousin Jared exiting one of the shops on Cove Boulevard. His eyes widen as he takes me and Lily in, then waves me forward, clicking a fob that lights up a car on my side of the street.
“Put her in there,” he calls out, waiting for a car to pass before jogging across the street toward us.
I put Lily down as gently as I can, too tense to reply to anything my cousin says. She leans against the side of the vehicle as I move the passenger seat as far as it will go and lean the seat back until it’s almost fully reclined. Then I help her in, clicking the seatbelt over her bump.
Jared appears at my side. “You going to the hospital?”
I nod, then wrap my fingers around the keys he’s extending toward me. I don’t have time to feel surprised that the cousin who’s always hated me is giving me free use of his car without question. “Thanks,” I say, voice harsh.
“I’ll go to the café and find her sister.”
“Good.” I’m already sliding behind the wheel and putting the key in the ignition. Jared is hustling toward Four Cups when I glance over at Lily.
