sp; “No.” But it was probably going to be his last.
At least until he could get his severe attraction to her better under control. If he didn’t know so well what he was missing...if his body didn’t know exactly what hers would do to him...
But it did. And he had to get down that hall and behind his door.
“Can I ask you something?”
Now? He wanted to let out a little whine but said, “Of course.” Concentrate. Sutures. Blood. Broken bones.
“What’s #2?”
Seriously? She was playing childhood games with him? Number one was pee and...
“On your note,” she continued before he completely humiliated himself. “You said #2.”
Ahhh. He smiled. “The dog,” he said. “I vote for #2 on your list.”
Her smile lit up the gloom. He could see a hint of teeth, see the glistening as her lips moved. And turned without thinking. “He’s a poodle mix, so no shedding and no dander, in case the baby’s allergic. And small enough that we won’t have to worry about him knocking the baby over, and it says he’s good with kids.”
She’d come closer. And was staring downward.
Thinking of broken bones hadn’t had enough time to do its job. He’d barely made it to considering a simple fracture before she’d grabbed his attention back.
“And he’s only two, so we’ll have a lot of good years with him,” he continued talking, though he could hear the strain in his voice, and didn’t have much hope she’d missed it. “You’ll...” he corrected. “You’ll have a lot of good years with him.”
Cup in hand, she’d stopped walking. “You’re planning to remain an active part of our child’s life,” she said softly, sounding more like herself even as he heard himself sounding less and less composed. “So you’ll be around him, too. And...thank you. I’ll call the shelter in the morning.”
So that was it. She could see the evidence of his severe desire for her and she was going to pretend it wasn’t there?
“Let me know if you want me to go with you to eventually pick up the dog,” he said, though why she would, he had no idea. He just kind of wanted to go. The dog was going to grow up with his kid.
“We’re doing the right thing, Greg. We made the right choices.” She hadn’t even had a sip of that tea, but appeared to be noticeably calmed by her decision. “It’s hard, going from what we were to what we are, but we both need it to be this way.”
Her matter-of-fact tone and words did what broken bones had not. His body shrank, settled.
And he knew she was right.
“Sleep well,” he told her.
“You, too. And Greg?” He stopped, again—as he figured he was always going to when she called out to him.
“Leave your schedule on the refrigerator and I’ll fix up the shelter appointment for a time you can make.”
She smiled at him.
He smiled back.
And figured the evening had turned out all right after all.
* * *
Strangely enough, Elaina slept well that night. And for several nights after that. Knowing that Greg wanted her, that she wasn’t alone in her fight against physical attraction, was a strange kind of comfort.
Having him in the house...even more so.
She knew she couldn’t get used to having him there. It wasn’t like he was going to spend the rest of his life down the hall from her, staying celibate. And she had to live solidly on her own feet, not go around feeling good because she had a man in the house again.
But getting her rest was paramount for the baby’s well-being, so she allowed herself to feel thankful. Until one Friday night, two weeks after the first ultrasound, when she was suddenly lying wide awake at two in the morning.