Love You, Baby (Must Love Diamonds 3)

His eyes darkened as his lashes lowered, his attention zeroing in on her mouth. She realized she’d licked her lips at the same time the referee blew the whistle to start the game. She jumped about three inches, and heard Merit’s low groan as she turned to watch the kids run across the field. Ian’s team was in red and white, the opposing team in green and black.

Mae took a sip of her coffee, but it was too hot with the sizzling heat burning under her skin, so she held it out to the sexy devil beside her. “I probably shouldn’t drink any more of this. You want the rest?”

“Sure.”

The brush of his fingers against hers sent her pulse soaring again. As soon as he took the coffee cup, she stripped off her hoodie and fished a water bottle out of the cooler. After guzzling a quarter of the contents, it took effort to keep from pressing the cold plastic against her neck and into the V of her breasts.

Her nipples tightened, and she did a covert glance to make sure they weren’t poking out like little twin peaks. Nope, all good. Though, damn, her cleavage was way more pronounced in her top, her chest having already increased a cup size with the pregnancy.

She and Merit had only had that one night together, but she wondered if he’d notice. He’d seemed to really enjoy playing with her breasts, and had done magical things with his hands and his mouth—

Focus on the field, not the man next to you.

Focus on the kids.

K.I.D.S.

While she stared across the field, Merit sat forward to brace his forearms on his knees. “What number is Ian again?”

She pointed out his number four jersey on the opposite side, and then gladly answered all his questions about the rules in between calling out encouragement to the players and cheering when they made a goal. With Merit there, self-consciousness held her back a little, until Ian kicked the ball into the net ten seconds before half-time.

She jumped to her feet and put her fingers to her lips to blow a loud whistle. Ian had told her last year he could always hear her whistle so it had become their thing. Then she clapped and cheered, and lifted a hand to Merit for a high-five.

He slapped her raised palm with a grin. “You really get into this, don’t you?”

“That’s my kid out there,” she boasted proudly, sitting back down as the ref signaled for half-time.

“Impressive whistle you got there.”

“Thanks.” She craned her head to watch Ian run to the sidelines, then sat back in her chair and reached for her water.

“I want to come to your doctor appointments.”

Mae’s stomach flipped over at the sudden switch in Merit’s tone from teasing to serious. The unexpected subject change triggered an initial flash of fear about letting him get too close. But before her defenses soared sky high, she made herself pause for a beat.

Benefit of the doubt, remember? He’s here—and this is the second time he’s asked.

“Okay.”

He arched his brows as she took a drink of water.

“Yeah?”

She nodded. “My first one is scheduled for Tuesday at nine-thirty. I’ll text you the office address.”

“Right now?”

“Um…” At his expectant look, she pulled out her phone and sent him the info. A second later, his phone made a humming noise in his pocket.

“Thank you.” His chin lowered, his attention shifting toward her stomach. “It’s hard to believe there’s a baby in there. You don’t look pregnant.” He jerked his gaze up. “That’s not to say that I doubt you are. I swear, I didn’t mean it that—”

“Relax, I get what you mean,” she assured him with a soft laugh. “Give it a month or two. But right now, I’m at eleven weeks, so the baby is only about the size of a lime.”

“How do you know that?”

“I have a book that goes through the size from week to week.”

“Can I see it when we get back to your place?”