Page 31 of Dangers of Love

“Still.” Her skin was soft beneath my thumb. “Something else should have been the first thing out of my mouth, no matter what I was feeling.”

“I’m listening.” She gave me a sweet smile.

“I’m here. You’re not going through this alone.” I reached out and brushed some hair out of her face. “No matter what the blood test shows or what you decide to do, I’ll be with you. Iwantto be with you.”

I wished I could’ve said something more than that, but I wasn’t ready to saylove. Not when I still wasn’t entirely sure how to define what was between us. And I was pretty sure that a declaration of love in a situation like this wouldn’t have been taken seriously anyway.

“It’s okay,” she said.

“No, it’s not. I was shocked, but I could’ve handled it better.”

“Thank you.” She leaned forward and gave me a soft kiss. “Now, it’s water under the bridge.”

I cupped the side of her face, and she leaned into my hand, her eyes closing. Brushing my thumb back and forth across her cheek, something settled on me, something I couldn’t place right away. When she turned her head and kissed my palm, I realized what it was.

Peace.

I’d had moments where I hadn’t been in actual conflict with anyone and plenty of times where I’d been having fun. I had happy memories too. But I’d never had anything like this. She made all the noise in my head go quiet and still.

Right then and there, I understood Alec’s advice in a way I hadn’t when we’d talked earlier. This was what he had with Lumen. It was what I couldn’t lose.Shewas what I couldn’t lose.

A sliver of panic tried to rise up, reminding me of all the people I’d already lost, but I pushed it down. I didn’t need to be afraid because I was with her, and I wasn’t going anywhere. I’d keep her and the baby safe. And it started right now.

“Your appointment is tomorrow morning, right?”

“Yes, Dr. Rhimes cleared some time for me.”

“I’d like to come, if that’s okay with you. I can drive you and take care of whatever else you need me to do.”

“Thank you. I’d like that.” She wiggled a little closer. “I haven’t told anyone else, not even Martina, and I wasn’t really looking forward to going alone.”

I was a little surprised she hadn’t told her parents at lunch, especially since this sort of thing seemed like prime mother-daughter stuff, but then I remembered why Aline had left her parents’ house in the first place.

I’d bet anything that she hadn’t told them because she was worried they’d think she’d fucked up. I felt a flicker of anger toward them. If they said one word to her like this was her fault, I’d have a few things to say to them about how they treated their daughter.

I didn’t tell her any of that, though. She didn’t need one more thing on her plate.

“What time should I pick you up?”

“My appointment’s at nine-thirty, so nine o’clock in case there’s traffic?”

“All right.” I took out my phone and set the alarm so I’d be sure to hear it. “Now, since I interrupted Martina’s workday and your nap, how about you two let me order in for all of us?”

“That would be wonderful.” Aline’s smile lit up her face.

“What do you want?” I asked.

A slight stab of guilt jabbed at me for the one reason I hadn’t given when I’d told her why I wanted to order dinner. Yeah, I felt bad for bugging Martina when Aline was okay, and for waking Aline from her nap, but I’d had another motive too. If I ordered food for all of us, I could stay for dinner without being rude and inviting myself. I wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to Aline, even if I’d see her again tomorrow morning.

I was in deep with this woman…and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

Eighteen

Aline

I didn’t knowif I’d thrown up fifteen minutes ago because I had morning sickness or if it’d been nerves, but either way, it hadn’t been pleasant. I’d been able to force down some crackers, and they’d helped with my upset stomach, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to completely quell my anxiety until I had the results of the blood test. Even if I was pregnant, the waiting was far worse than either answer would be.

Eoin seemed to share my sentiments as he arrived nearly twenty minutes early, and apart from the drive, hadn’t been able to sit still. Even in the car, he’d been moving, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel or on his leg, flipping through radio stations, that sort of thing.

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