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"We should getyou some soup or something." Taking her hand, he led her back tothe bench, a touch of anxiety on his face. "There must be arestaurant around here-"
"Dion, I’mfine." She gestured to the sandwiches. "Just put them inthe car."
He did that and cameback immediately. "I used to love coming to the park when I wasa child. Even when I was grown."
"I’mbetting you are one of those who would feed the ducks."
"I would."She laughed in memory. "Lydia would scrupulously stick to therules, but not me. I always told myself they must be hungry."
Stretching his longlegs out, he draped an arm around the back of the bench and feltcontentment washing over him. He should be in the office dealing withimportant matters, but he wouldn’t have missed this for theworld.
"Something likethat." She gave him a sideways look and felt her heart pickingup at the sight of him. He was a handsome man and, before now, he’dalways been Dion. She now had a warm fuzzy feeling inside her justsitting here next to him. He’d held her while she puked and itfelt good. It didn’t feel as if she was a surrogate.
Steering her thoughtsaway from dangerous territory, she glanced back at the ducks and sawwhen one of them had wandered away, only to be brought back by theleader. They sat there in a few minutes of silence before they feltthe spatter of rain on their skin.
"Was it supposedto rain?" She looked up at the scattering of dark cloudscovering the sky in surprise.
"I didn’tcheck the weather." Taking her hand, he dragged her up and theyraced toward the car. By the time they got inside and closed thedoor, the downpour came.
"Thank you."Dion told her gravely. "For the afternoon and the news."
"You’rewelcome."
*****
She went home afterdropping him off and made herself some soup. The rain had eased alittle and the brilliant sunshine was out in full force. Dragging theelastic band out of her hair, she shook it vigorously.
She’dalmost suggested they come back here to celebrate, but it wouldn’thave been a good idea. She had to bear in mind that, yes, they werefriends, but this was simply an arrangement. Dion thought of her as afriend doing him a favor and papers had been drawn up by his lawyers.
Even though they werebest friends, she understood his position. He was heir to a fortuneand his name had been dragged through the mud several times. He hadto be careful and she understood. Not to mention, he was still hungup on that insane bitch. She’d be stupid to want to get in themiddle of it.
But there wassomething there. She’d always been honest with herself and sherealized that since the talk about being his surrogate, the tide ofthe relationship had changed for her. She was starting to think ofhim as a man, not merely as a friend. He was fractured and shesupposed she was as well.
Not to the extent ofhis own pain, but there was disillusionment, nonetheless. She’dblown up when the bitch called him and she’d wanted to find anddo some damage for the pain she’d caused him.
Today, at the park,it‘d felt right, being there with him and when he’drushed to hold her while she was puking, it had felt wonderfulleaning against him, feeling his strong arms around her. She’dwanted him to come home with her and the need had been enough tofrighten her.
She hadn’tbeen in a relationship for almost six months and had been so consumedby work that she hadn’t thought about it. She knew he had dramain his life and he didn’t trust anyone, but she couldn’thelp how she was feeling.
"Oh, Lord, helpme." She whispered as she stared into her soup. She wasdefinitely going to need divine intervention.
*****
"How are you?"
"I’m fine.Aside from having to use the blow dryer to get the moisture out of myhair."
"How’syour stomach?"
"Dandy. I madesoup and it eased it a bit. Were there any repercussions from missingwork a bit?"
"None." Hesettled into a chair by the fireplace, a drink cradled in his hand.He’d been so busy when he got back from his impromptu outingthat he hadn’t had time to check on her. "I happen to bethe boss."
"I keepforgetting. So, how do you feel?"
He considered that ashe took another sip of the scotch. "I’m still processingit. I’m going to need a bigger place."
She laughed and thesound caused him to smile. "I’ve seen the inside of yourloft and it’s pretty big.”
