Page 55 of Love is a Drum Beat
She leaned her head back against the wall. “A friend.” She pushed out a breath. “I think I need you in my life.”
Dax didn’t know how to respond. His entire life had been about the music. Before Rockstars Anonymous, he didn’t have friends. But now… he couldn’t imagine Jo distancing herself once she had this baby. Would they go back to how they were?
“Friends.” He nodded. “I’d like that.”
The smile she graced him with made everything okay. A friend was what she needed, so it no longer mattered what he wanted.
At least not yet.
Jo’s phone buzzed, and she pulled it from her pocket. She grimaced when a name flashed across the screen.
“You okay?”
She shook her head. “I’m not. I think I’d like to go to bed now.”
“What about dinner? I could make actual spaghetti.”
“I’m not very hungry, Dax. But thank you for offering. Could you… help me up?”
He pushed to his feet and held both hands out. Jo latched onto him and with a dual effort they got her to her feet.
“Only another month of this.” Dax smiled.
Jo didn’t react. Whoever had called stole the light from her eyes.
And he was determined to get it back.
17
Jo
Whoever said no one could escape their pasts was right.
When Jo closed her eyes, all she saw was Blake and the desperation that led to the actions she could never take back.
She rolled onto her side, trying to get comfortable. At her appointment yesterday, Doctor Lawrence told her she was progressing well, but there was still a possibility they’d have to induce early. No, she still had a bit of time to go.
She wasn’t ready.
All the fears jumbled inside her, making it impossible to sleep. Reaching toward the bedside lamp, she turned it on. The voice-activated lights would have worked too, but they still weirded her out.
Sitting by the lamp was the glass of water she should have finished by now, and the blood pressure cuff, which she’d become a pro at using.
Wrapping her fingers around the sweating glass, she drank until she couldn’t anymore. Her doctor told her if she did all the right things and kept her blood pressure down, she might carry to term.
Might.
It was all a big guessing game, wasn’t it?
She slid her arm into the smart cuff and unlocked her phone, waiting for the readings to appear.
She stared at the numbers and blew out a breath. Normal. Well, slightly above normal, but not in the danger range the doctor told her about. Drinking the rest of her water, she slid from the bed and put the cuff back on the table.
She’d struggled with her sleep schedule, but it didn’t help that the minute she stepped out of her room, she heard him.
Dax.
Setting her glass on the kitchen island, she kept walking until she reached the open door to the deck. Dax sat on one of the deck chairs, guitar in his lap. But the real instrument was his voice.
