Page 43 of Home Run

Tanner Simpson was far too handsome for his own good.

And then, out of nowhere, for the first timeever,I wondered if our baby would have his dimples, and his insanely blue eyes. Or my brown ones. My short legs or his Goliath ones.

I was still too far into my, franklyshocking,thoughts to notice him striding across the bathroom until he sat down on the floor in front of me.

“Mills?”

“Sorry, what?”

“Are you okay?” His head tilted to the side. “And why are you in the bath fully clothed?”

There was really no good excuse I could come up with, and my brain was too busy trying to imagine what our unborn child would look like to think quickly enough. So the truth it was.

“I wanted to try it out. Radley and I were choosing our rooms, and this bath was calling me. I’m going to sit in it later, eat ice cream, read my book, and watch the lights.”

“Oh yeah? Are you filling it with bubbles too?”

“Uh-uh.” I shook my head. “I’m more a bath salts girl.”

“I’ll remember that,” he replied, his eyes darkening. It was only for a split second, but plenty long enough to remind me of the last time I’d seen his eyes that particular color. The way his tongue licked along his lower lip didn’t help, because then all I could think about was what else that tongue had licked. What it was capable of.

Urgh, this baby was messing with my head.

The clearing of his throat brought my mind back to the present and out of the dark recesses where I stored things I really shouldn’t be thinking about. And from the way he was looking at me, IknewI hadn’t been listening again.

“Did you say something?”

“Yes. What flavor ice cream?”

“Oh, any flavor. Chocolate obviously, because that’s all this baby seems to want. But I’m not fussy. I’m open to all flavors.”

The way Tanner’s lips rolled as he held in a smile had my mind flicking back to that dark recess. “In case you were wondering, my favorite is lemon and marionberry.”

“Marionberry?”

“It’s kind of like a blackberry. There’s an ice-cream store out in California near where Holiday lives and they make it. I discovered it a few years ago and now have it shipped over here every month.”

“They have ice cream in New York, you know?”

I’d never seen such a serious expression on his face. “Not this one they don’t.”

“Hmm, well, I’ll have to try it.”

“Maybe I’ll share mine.” He grinned before his eyes dropped to my hand on my stomach. “Is everything okay?”

I nodded. “Yes, I just lie like this sometimes.”

It started a couple of weeks ago, the first time I’d really felt it soften, after our appointment with the doctor. It was comforting, settling almost, and helped me feel I was keeping my baby safe.Ourbaby safe.

His fist clenched, then opened again as his eyes darted back to mine. “Can I?”

“Sure.” I eased my hand away to make room for his to replace it.

Long, tanned fingers splayed over my skin. I don’t know why, but I didn’t expect his hand to be so warm, to feel the calluses on his palms, or for my heart to beat so erratically the moment he made contact.

“I can’t believe there’s a baby in there.” His whisper was almost reverential as he stared down at his hand. “I wish I didn’t have to be away for so long.”

“You’ll be back before you know it. And then we’ll have our ultrasound.”

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