Justin picked up the room service menu and glanced at it. They had salmon in a tarragon cream sauce, but it was probably not what she wanted. He didn’t know if the kitchen had anybody who could make decent seafood. Vanessa was undoubtedly spoiled by her brother’s chefs. He dialed and placed their order, instructing them to prepare Vanessa’s fish lightly without the cream sauce. He added an order for extra bread and hung up.
“That was a pretty picky order.”
He sat next to her. “So? It’s their job to make you happy.”
Wordlessly, she rested her head on his shoulder, and he put an arm around her. Peace settled over him. He’d been on the edge ever since Vanessa had left Chicago the week before. Even though she’d agreed to the marriage, he hadn’t been completely sure she’d show up on Friday. Over the ten years they’d spent together, she’d been fickle in her affections, changing her mind frequently about their relationship.
But now she was officially his.
* * *
Some time later their room service arrived. Justin got up to sign for it, and Vanessa sighed, missing him next to her. The server disappeared, and she moved over to the table to have dinner. She wasn’t that hungry, but she knew she had to eat for the sake of the baby growing in her womb.
The table was beautifully set with two red roses in the center. She picked one up and inhaled. It smelled fr
esh and dewy.
Then she suddenly stopped, feeling Justin’s gaze on her. She raised an eyebrow, but he merely gave her a devilish smile.
They sat at the table. Justin had ordered a steak for himself. He looked at her salmon and asked, “Let me know if you don’t like it.”
She took a bite of the firm orange flesh. It was moist…and perfectly seasoned and prepared. “Mm. Good.” She smiled, her fingers toying with a glass of mineral water. “It’s so weird to eat without any wine.” Unless she was working, she always had a glass of wine. “You should’ve ordered some champagne.”
“Let’s wait until the baby’s born. Then we can enjoy it together.”
Her smile faltered. It seemed unreal, both to think about the baby’s birth and the idea that Justin would be with her till then, and that he would want to drink champagne with her. That was a long time to be committed to a woman. She’d seen some associates at her firm who’d gotten huge during pregnancy. Would he still find her attractive? Or would he want somebody who didn’t waddle?
If one of her friends had been having the kind of doubts she was having, she would’ve told her that any man who didn’t worship the body of the woman who was pregnant with his child was a worthless jackass. But she couldn’t seem to muster the same certainty for herself. What a hypocrite, she thought.
She made a mental note to talk with Mark’s fiancée, Hilary Rosenberg. Out of all the women close to her, Hilary was the one who would know what Vanessa was going through the best.
“So. Living arrangements,” Vanessa said as she broke off a decent-sized chunk of fish with her fork. “Where do you exactly plan to live in L.A.? Have you found a rental?”
“Nope. I plan to stay at your place.”
“Justin… People are going to notice and talk.”
“I doubt it. I checked out your building already. It’s mostly occupied by young professionals. Lawyers, doctors, consultants and so on.”
“You checked it out.” She had an image of him lying on the roof of the building across the street, with a telephoto lens and access to a private detective. “Okay, so what if you did?”
“When was the last time any of your neighbors said hello to you?”
She thought back. “I don’t know. Maybe a few days ago when I ran into Sarah?”
“Uh huh. And how often do you run into someone?”
“Not that often,” she admitted. Being a young professional meant long hours. When she’d moved in, probably half a month had gone by before she’d met anyone in the building.
“Right. So, no real issue. And if anybody sees me at the airport or anything, they’ll just assume I’m in L.A. on business. But I doubt it’ll be a problem. L.A. isn’t interested in me. Too preoccupied with Hollywood.”
That was true enough. The media had better stories to chase.
“Don’t look so serious. Besides, if you want a pregnancy buddy—do women have those?—you can always ping Kerri. She’s expecting, too.”
“Really? I had no idea.” Vanessa had been to Kerri’s wedding at Barron’s invitation. The Sterlings were family friends, but she’d never been overly close to Barron’s granddaughter. They lived too far apart, and Kerri had been out of the country for most of her life. But now they were cousins by marriage.
“Barron told me last week. You two are at about the same stage, too. I think she’s six or seven weeks along now. If her kid’s anything like her, it’s going to drive her insane.” He smiled as he dragged his knife through the meat. “Don’t worry. I was a complete angel.”