My eyes flutter, an unbidden action at looking at him and acknowledging just how handsome he is. I’ve thought it before. Heck, I’ve tried to keep myself from thinking it about a hundred times in the last twenty-four hours, but I’m never able to shove it completely away.
His bicep flexes as he lifts a bottle of water to his lips, an easy smile on his face, eyes the most exotic blue I’ve ever seen. I don’t know what he reads on my face when he looks in my direction this time, but it’s enough to make him shift his gaze away from me and redistribute his weight on his feet.
I don’t realize how much I hate not having his attention on me until I lose it. I never got that from Cory. He never looked across the room, his eyes searching for mine. He never checked on me to make sure I was okay, and that’s just one more thing I shouldn’t have ignored. It’s one more difference between a boy thinking he’s a man and an actual man.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Nate will take care of me. I knew he was a good man before he said the words in the room earlier. I don’t think I’ll ever doubt it either.
“Hey.” I jerk at the sound of his voice, once again getting lost in my own head and not paying attention to what’s going on around me.
“Hi,” I chirp, a shy smile on my lips. “What?”
I look down at his proffered hand and back up to his face, confused.
“I want to take my girl on a date.”
All the women around me sigh, hands covering their hearts like his words are the sweetest thing they ever heard. Their joy at our fake arrangement makes me feel sick to my stomach, but I’m also not fool enough to tell them otherwise. Nor will I turn down the chance to get a little breathing room. Feeling like a fraud around such genuine people is utterly exhausting and being pregnant hasn’t exactly left much spare energy to begin with.
I think the kiss he presses to the back of my hand when I stand is a little overkill, but I don’t pull away from him. I allow the man to guide me out the front door of the clubhouse and down to the same SUV we took yesterday.
“This is a really nice vehicle,” I tell him, rubbing my hands on the soft leather at my hips as he climbs inside. I feel like words are needed as a distraction from how he made me feel when he once again lifted me into the vehicle like I weighed nothing.
“I probably need to get my own vehicle,” he says as he turns the ignition over.
“It isn’t yours?”
“It belongs to Cerberus. We have free access, but we probably need something of our own going forward, especially after the baby is born.”
“You have one of those bikes?” I point to the stunning row of motorcycles out the front windshield.
“That purple one there in the middle is mine.”
“I’d love to go for a ride sometime.” Actually, the thought of climbing on one of those machines scares the daylights out of me, but if I’m going to be a biker’s wife, then maybe I need to get over it.
“Not while you’re pregnant,” he says automatically.
“Are you that bad of a driver?” I tease.
“I’m an excellent driver, but I can’t control everyone else. I’d never put you and our—the baby in danger like that.”
My heart starts to pound uncontrollably with his little slipup, but he seems determined to just gloss over it, so I file it away for later.
“You met Camryn. She’s an OB/GYN. Because of her direct connection to Cerberus, she doesn’t take on patients from the club, but her best friend, Dr. Charli Parker does. All the girls use her. We can see if she has an appointment next week. Kincaid already said he’ll submit the paperwork to have you covered on my insurance just as soon as the officiant signs the forms, so there won’t be any delay in treatment and services.”
“Okay,” I agree.
The drive into town is spent in surprisingly comfortable silence, and I’m happy to enjoy the warm breeze coming through my open window. Nate stops by a fast-food place when I tell him I can’t imagine eating anything but French fries right now. He orders himself the biggest burger I’ve ever seen and two milkshakes. I stick with water, remembering that I never mentioned getting a job yesterday after leaving the clerk’s office.
“So,” I say, picking up a hot fry from the cardboard container after he parks the truck in a community park.
“So?” He smiles, lifting that massive burger to his mouth.
No words come out as I watch him sink his teeth into his burger, a low moan of satisfaction from the taste escaping his lips.