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He looked up and saw the two long-haired felines who were both lounging on the back of her sectional sofa.
"Hello, ladies," he greeted them.
Both cats rolled over and stretched their arms over their heads.
"This is the guest bath." She waved her arm toward a small bathroom off the hall. The shower had white subway tile, and there was a floating oak vanity similar to the bathroom in the apartment.
Laura opened the door at the end of the hall. "The master bedroom."
He only got a quick glimpse, but it looked warm and cozy, just like the rest of the house.
"And this is the guest room." She flipped on a light, and he saw a queen bed against the wall with a dresser, a small desk, and a full-length mirror.
"So, is this going to be the baby’s room?" Knox always thought that awkward situations were made less awkward if you spoke about the elephant in the room.
The elephant in this room being that he was at her house to knock her up, which meant they were going to be having sex.
The reality of showing up here was not what he’d expected it to be. It was much less sexy and much more anxious than he’d imagined.
Laura stared at him blankly for a moment before shaking her head. "Oh, um, no. When, or if, I get pregnant, I’m moving back home. To Destiny Springs. To be close to family."
"What about the Snack Shack?" Knox asked.
"I love my business, but it’s just that." Laura shrugged. "It’s a business. I want my child to be raised around family. All of my sisters and a lot of my cousins have kids, and I want my child to be raised around them."
Knox knew it was none of his business, but for some reason, it didn’t sit well with him that she was going to give everything up and move. Logically, he understood it. But he’d seen her at the shop. She loved her work and was proud of what she’d built.
"Don’t you see them every Sunday?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "I do. But that’s not enough. Besides my child being raised with their cousins, I also want the support of family around. What if I get sick or need help?"
"What if you were married? Would you still move?" Knox wasn’t sure where that question had come from or why he’d asked it. The sane part of him knew it was none of his business; unfortunately, Laura brought out another side of him that was less than sane.
Laura crossed her arms in a defensive stance, and the volume of her voice rose. "Why do you care, Knox?"
It was clear that he’d hit a nerve and stepped over a boundary. He felt like shit for upsetting her and knew that he needed to shift things back in the right direction or she was going to make the next appointment for the sperm bank.
Which, again, was none of his business and shouldn’t upset him. He could lie to himself and say that he’d volunteered for this mission purely for selfish reasons. That he’d wanted to act on the obvious chemistry that the two of them shared. But if he was being honest with himself, it was more than that. He didn’t like the thought of Laura carrying some stranger’s baby. Hell, he didn’t like the thought of Laura carrying any man’s baby other than his.
That should have scared him enough that he got out of Dodge, but instead he was here.
"I was just having a conversation. It’s none of my business."
"No, it’s fine... I shouldn’t have..."
"Snapped at me?" he finished.
Her response was a side-eye and half-grin. He’d win her over with his charm yet. This woman might just be the death of him, but damn, what a way to go.
* * *
Laura had no appetite as she pushed the chicken around on her plate. For some reason, she’d thought that the two of them having dinner together would be an icebreaker, but why she’d thought she’d be able to eat was beyond her. Maybe it was guilt.
Even though Kennedy had said that this arrangement was exactly what Knox would want, she couldn’t help but feel like she was being deceitful in her tactics.
"I have to tell you something," she blurted out.
Her statement startled Knox, whose head jerked up. He sat patiently waiting for her to continue; his coffee-colored, earnest eyes bore directly into her soul. She wasn’t sure if it was the tingles that his stare caused to stir in her lower region or just the embarrassment of the entire situation, but for whatever reason, when she opened her mouth to confess that she couldn’t actually get pregnant the old-fashioned way, instead she said, "I told Kennedy about us."
