AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey, Mom. I need some advice.”
Thirteen
Luca
Something was wrong with Em.
I wasn’t sure what it was, but for the past few days she’d been with me, spending time with me when I was home, loving on Noa, and going to bed with me at night. With me…yet, she wasn’t with me.
The distance was opening between us like an unbreachable chasm. I wasn’t sure if it was because of us crossing the line from employer-employee to lovers or if it was something else. I could almost see the problem rolling over in her thoughts, but I hadn’t been able to prod the issue out of her.
Unable to stand being away from her, maybe because of the unsettled air between us, I’d taken her and the baby into the office yesterday, so she could see operations and meet people. For no good reason, I just had this fear I’d come home and she’d be gone. Not that she’d kidnap Noa—I didn’t think that—just that Em would leave us.
I didn’t like it. This was my first serious relationship, but I knew the fear wasn’t normal. I hated this feeling. Of course, I did. Em was mine. I wouldn’t let her go. I’d chase her. I’d make her see she and Noa were my world. That compulsion drove me to take my little family to work with me. I wanted everyone at Demi-Tech to meet my girlfriend and our baby. There had been speculative looks. I didn’t care. Em was mine and I wanted the world to know—especiallymyworld.
“Em…” I ventured while we sat on the deck and sipped coffee before I had to leave for work. Noa had been up for an hour around four a.m. and was back down to sleep. So it was just us for a few quiet moments. I wished I had time to carry Em back upstairs to make love. We had no problems there. Our bed was the one place no walls loomed between us. But in a half hour, I needed to leave, so I could get to a morning meeting with some doctors from the University of Michigan. I sensed whatever Em had to say was more important than a potential contract, though. Whatever she told me would shake my life harder than the “big one” on the Richter scale.
She startled when I said her name then glanced over at me as if she’d been deep in thought and forgot I was there.
“I can’t stand this.” Probably not my best opener. Her eyes widened at my words, and I rushed on. “I can tell something is wrong. Something is bothering you. Are you… Are you unhappy with me? With us?”
That wasn’t what I needed to ask, but I couldn’t force myself to ask if she planned to leave us.
“No. I love Noa with all my heart!”
Noa. Not me. And yeah, it was wrong to be jealous of my kid, but fuck! Was she only here for the baby? For now?
“Do you know why I left my last placement?” she asked, slashing a knife through my heart when she answered my unspoken questions with her own question. Shewasleaving us. No. Sheplannedto leave us. I wouldn’t let that happen! Em didn’t realize it, but I would chase her from one end of the country to the other and back, if I had to.
“No,” I replied carefully. “You never said, other than mentioning the placement had ended.”
“They moved. From Michigan to Texas.”
“And they didn’t want you to go with them. That’s crazy—”
She shook her head, grimacing. “I didn’t want to go with them. To move across country.”
I stared at her, the bomb sinking in as I absorbed what she wasn’t saying. She didn’t want to be in California.
“You’re planning to move back here,” she said before I could say anything. “You haven’t told me that explicitly, but it’s obvious. You’re company and staff are here. The home you own is here. So many of the people you need to network with arehere.Even Noa’s birth mom is here, if she ever wants to see her. I’m sure you have friends here, too. Everything ishere.”
But she wouldn’t be if I couldn’t rope her in, convince her that I’d make her life perfect with us. She’d leave a huge hole in my heart if she walked away.
“It’s my home,” I murmured.
Em nodded, her eyes pinned on her lap, her lips rolled in as she pressed them together. “I know. And it’s not fair of me to ask you not to. You haven’t done a single thing wrong. This is all me and my messed up priorities, the things I’ve determined for how my life will go. I’ve been turning it over and over in my head. Trying to figure out…things. You are—youand Noa are—so important to me. And I…” She inhaled deeply. “The agency has a replacement for me. She can be here next week—”
“Em! No.”
She shot to her feet, and as if signaled by the movement, we heard Noa start fussing through the monitor. Tears shimmered in Em’s eyes, her bottom lip trembling. Her head gave a tiny shake, the movement enough to dislodge a tear that rolled down her cheek.
“Leave the baby for a second. Talk to me.”
She didn’t listen. I watched in despair as Em practically ran into the house. And away from me. I was losing her when all I wanted was to give her me and the best life we could have together.
Fuck. No. This wasn’t how things were going to happen.
I shot to my feet and followed after my woman.
