Page 64 of Time Out

“Did you shower?”

“Quick one in the guest bathroom. Here.”

He slid a plate of buttered toast toward me with a can of Sprite. It was like the man had stocked his home with every possible craving any pregnant woman on Earth might possibly have.

I wasn’t complaining.

Grateful, more like it, as I popped the top on the can and took a first, testing sip. The bubbles slid down my throat and didn’t upset my stomach, so I took a bite of toast, and as soon as I had that smallest bite of food in me, I already felt better.

“I was thinking this morning,” I said, and tore off a chunk of toast while Davis was busy pulling fruit and a bag of spinach and a container of protein powder out of his fridge and cupboard.

“Yeah?”

He bent down on the other side of the island and reappeared with a blender in his arms.

“I was thinking my apartment isn’t so great. Not the safest, really, and it’s a lot of stairs.”

He’d been working on twisting the top of the protein powder, but as I spoke, he stopped moving. Blue eyes focused on me with such intensity I fought squirming beneath the weight of it. “Those are all true…”

“There’s not a lot of room there after the baby comes, either, so I’m going to need to save more money to get something nicer.”

“Okay…”

God, this was killing me. He told me I could set the pace, but I didn’t think he’d force me to drag it out like this. “So, yeah.” I swallowed another torn-off piece of toast. “I was wondering, if you know… that offer? It wouldn’t have to be forever…”

“Yes. If the offer you’re talking about is moving in with me, or at least into my home, then yes. Absolutely yes, it’s still on the table.”

I wasn’t really doubting it. Not after last night. Not after I was beginning to learn that he might not only be the sexiest man on the planet but also the most thoughtful. He might say he hated growing up with bossy older sisters, but I sure as heck appreciated them. Their mom and them had raised one hell of a good man.

“Okay then.”

His brows peaked, and his palms pressed to the counter, bracing himself. “Yeah? You mean it?”

The veins in his arms were pronounced. The smile on his face endearing. For a moment, I was speechless and nodded. Because this guy… so damn cute. Sexy. Perfection.

Davis pushed off the counter, smoothie concoction forgotten and stalked around the island slowly. I’d never felt the shivers from feeling like prey until that moment when he swiveled the barstool until I was facing him and his finger pressed to the soft flesh beneath my chin.

He tilted my chin up, that small pressure sending a racing heat through me. I licked my lips as his gaze dropped to them. “I really want to kiss you right now.”

He leaned in slowly, giving me time to move away, but I was arching, moving closer to him, aching for the brush of his warm, full lips against mine.

We connected, a soft press of his mouth to mine, and I inhaled the crisp scent of his cologne or body wash that smelled like lemons and mint and fresh air and peace.

“Thank you,” he rasped against my mouth. “It’s killing me knowing you’re in that building, and I really hoped you’d give me this chance.”

I leaned back on the stool, and his hand left my chin. The loss of his touch was a sharp ache in my chest, and I swallowed it down before I looked too much into it.

One night together months ago and a few days this last week meant it was too soon for me to be feeling such insanely deep reactions to him.

Wasn’t it?

Davis licked his lips as if sealing in the taste of me or craving one more and stepped back to his smoothie almost like nothing happened. A moment of disappointment arose before he threw his ingredients into the blender, slammed the top on it, and with one palm pressed to the lid, grinned at me.

“So, we moving you in today?”

Turned out, by the time we ate and I showered and got redressed in the clothes I wore to Davis’s home the day before, he was cutting it close to needing to get to the practice facility for a light practice and game film. He dropped me off at the door to my apartment, refusing to allow me to walk up alone. The elevator still wasn’t working, and the workers weren’t inside, and the clench of Davis’s jaw told me he wasn’t exactly thrilled to see either of those.

Fortunately, he didn’t say anything and promised to talk to me when he was done with practice.

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