“How did you know I was watching you?”
His eyes were still closed but a smile crept up his cheek, popping a dimple. “Trade secret.”
He opened his eyes and braced up on his elbows. “Good morning, by the way. What time is it?”
“Seven-thirty.”
“Hmm. I think we’re both running late.”
“Seems like.”
He rolled to his side and under the covers, found her hip with his fingers. He kneaded gently. “You okay?”
Sometimes he was so considerate. “Yeah, I’m okay. You?”
He grinned. “You have to ask? I’ve been thinking about that since the first morning when I woke up and you were gone. You can’t believe my relief to find you still here this morning.”
“You thought about me...that way?”
“Are you kidding?” His eyebrows went up. “Of course I did. I planned to ask you out again except you took off and I really didn’t know where to find you.”
His fingers continued to knead at her hip. “Liz, I’m not a one-nighter kind of guy. I’m starting to think that fate maybe had a little part in bringing us together.”
What surprised her was how she wanted to believe him. Over the past few weeks she’d found herself thinking not about visitation schedules and a congenial coparenting relationship, but what it would be like to be...closer. Wondering if they could make it work between them. She hadn’t had a serious relationship since she’d started working full-time. The few dates she’d been on had been with men more interested in her last name than in her.
But Chris hadn’t even known her last name. And yesterday he’d said he’d liked getting to know her better.
“So,” he said, leaning in, “let me ask the question I would have asked almost three months ago. Where do we go from here?”
She blinked. “You’ve got to understand. I’m afraid that if we start something, and it doesn’t work out, that it’ll make things unbearable when the baby comes.”
“Honey, I think we’ve passed the ‘start something’ stage.”
She couldn’t help it, her lips curved up just a little. “Ha ha. But you know what I mean, right?”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” He propped his head up on an elbow.
“You wouldn’t have moved to Dallas if I hadn’t gotten pregnant,” she pointed out.
“I might not have stayed with AB at all,” he mused. “Part of my year off was to decide what I really wanted to do. If I even wanted to be an engineer anymore.”
Her heart sank. He’d made life changes for her unborn child and big changes at that. How could they possibly make it work? She could just imagine a year, two years, five years down the road. Would he blame her for him being stuck in his job? Resent her? He’d deny it now, she knew that for sure. But it was a long time to spend in a job you didn’t like.
“You could still change your mind.”
“Working in my current job is the best way to provide for my kid,” he said simply, and she got it. It was pride. She had her own fair share and so did her father.
“Okay,” she said softly. “But what about us?”
He reached out and brushed a piece of hair off her face, tucking it behind her ear. “We could take it slow. Do you think you could be open to...exploring whatever is between us?”
Open to it? She was already contemplating it. “I think I might...if we laid out some ground rules.”
He smiled again, and pushed himself up into a seated position, the comforter resting loosely at his hips. “Ah, yes. The rules. Very important.”
She nudged his arm, silently chastising him not to be a brat. She ticked off items on her fingers. “We take things slowly,” she began. “We both reserve the right to back off at any time if it’s not working. We agree to keep things friendly no matter what.” She looked into his eyes. “We put our baby first in all things.”
His gaze clung to hers. “I can live with all those conditions.”