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“Thank you,” she whispers, taking them from me and ducking her head.
“I still have your dinner, if you want it.”
“I… I’m not hungry,” she says looking up at me. Her stomach takes that moment to gurgle loudly and I raise a brow. “Okay, I’m hungry but I…” Her cheeks get pink and I take a step closer to her.
“Don’t be embarrassed. One day you can tell me about it, but right now, I’d like it if you had dinner with me.”
“Are you sure?” she asks studying me.
“Absolutely.”
Nodding, she steps out of her apartment and closes the door behind her. I notice she’s slipped on a pair of flip-flops. Taking her hand, I lead her back up the stairs to my place then settle her on the couch before going to the kitchen to nuke her food and grab her a glass of orange juice. When I get back into the living room, I can tell she’s still nervous, but I know there is nothing I can do about that right now. It will take time for her to trust me.
“Tell me a little about yourself,” I say handing her, her food while setting her cup on the table.
“There isn’t much to tell.” She shrugs, but I know she lying as her hands fidget.
“How long have you been here?” I ask, setting my feet on the coffee table lounging back.
“About seven months,” she says between bites. “I was just nine weeks pregnant when I got here and now I’m almost due.”
“Where’s the father?” I ask quietly, and her bottom lip goes between her teeth and her eyes meet mine.
“Hopefully dead,” she whispers, catching me off-guard by the fierceness of that statement.
“Does he know?” I whisper back and her head shakes from side to side.
Studying her for a moment, I see that there is something there, something ugly and it takes everything in me not to drag her to my lap and hold her while she tells me about it.
“Eat babe,” I mutter nodding toward her bowl. “You can save that story for another day,” I tell her, and her chin wobbles as she nods and digs into her food.
Turning up the volume on the TV, I sit back and watch the show while keeping an eye on her.
“You are the king of Hamburger Helper,” she says and I turn my head to look at her and smile as she sets her bowl on the coffee table.
“My mom tried to teach me to cook, but the only things that stuck were that and mac and cheese with hotdogs. I suck in the kitchen otherwise,” I tell her, watching as she tucks her feet under her.
“My parents are Irish and they both love to cook. Thankfully they shared their talent with me.”
“Where are they now?”
“Vegas, well all of my family lives there. My mom and dad along with my brother and a few cousins.”
“You came to Tennessee alone?”
“Yeah, they didn’t want me to keep my baby,” she whispers, placing her hands over her stomach. “I hate her dad, but that wasn’t her fault. Plus, she’s half of me and innocent. It may sound crazy, but when I found out I was pregnant, I knew that regardless of how she was made, I loved her more than anything else in this world, and I would never let anyone take her from me.”
“You keep saying she, is she a girl?”
“Yeah, she’s a girl.” She smiles then reaches out and grabs my hand pulling it to her stomach. Letting her lead the way, her hand presses down on mine and I feel movement under her shirt as the baby undoubtedly moves around. Looking up at her, I feel my face go soft as I watch a beautiful smile spread across her face, and her eyes light with excitement. Without thinking, I use my free hand to push a piece of her hair behind her ear. Her sharp intake of breath has me leaning close enough to feel her breath against my mouth.
“I really want to kiss you, Aubrey,” I whisper and her eyes close briefly before she leans forward, resting her mouth against mine. Kissing her softly I pull away then slide my hand behind her neck, tip her head down and touch my mouth to her forehead.
Acknowledgments
First I want to give thanks to God without him none of this would be possible.
Second I want to thank my husband. I love you now and always.
To my editors. Kayla, you know I adore you woman. Thank you for all your hard work and for being an editing rock star. PREMA EDITING thank you for your hard work I can’t wait to work with you in the future.
Thank you to TRSOR you girls are always so hard working, I will forever be thankful for everything you do.
To every Blog and reader thank you for taking the time to read and share my books. There would never be enough ink in the world to acknowledge you all but I will forever be grateful to each of you.
