“Not that I’ll be any good for the next few weeks. I’m on location in north Queensland, scouting things out for when filming commences.”
“That’s fine. I don’t have any tests or anything scheduled, just my first appointment with an ob-gyn.” She hesitated, and he glimpsed uncertainty in her eyes. “Exactly how involved do you want to be? Do you want to come to appointments like that? To ultrasounds? And because of my age I’ll probably need to have an amnio. Then there’s pre-natal classes . . .”
She huffed out a breath. “I’m exhausted already.”
He chuckled and reached out to snag her hand. “I’ll be as involved as you want me to be. No pressure. Whatever you want.”
She nodded, her lips curved in gratitude. “Let’s just play it by ear, okay?”
Whatever that meant. The enormity of the situation, that he’d be helping support a child with little money and no clue, meant he should be glad she wasn’t pressuring him. But he’d always liked clear-cut guidelines: for refining his speech, for dealing with his father, for everything.
So he blurted what he’d been contemplating the last few hours before their meeting.
“We should get married.”
Her eyebrows rose above wide eyes before she laughed. “Well, that’s just about the most romantic proposal I’ve ever heard.”
Rueful, he swiped a hand over his face. “We should. It’s the right thing to do for the baby.”
She leaned over and tapped the side of his head with her finger. “Hey, you in there. This isn’t the fifties. It’s no big deal to have a baby without the parents being married.”
He grinned and swatted away her finger. “I know, but I grew up without a mom. Wouldn’t it be nice for our kid to have us together?”
The amusement in her eyes faded, and she slid her hand out from his. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made light of your proposal. That must’ve been hard growing up without her.”
She didn’t know the half of it. But now wasn’t the time to tell her about his dysfunctional upbringing.
“It was, but that’s not the only reason I proposed.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “I like you. We’re good together. Our kid will be lucky to have parents like us.”
The corners of her mouth curved into the smile that kicked him in the chest every time. “Again, not the most romantic proposal.”
When he opened his mouth to respond, she held up her hand. “You’re a great guy, but I’ve already got one marriage under my belt. I’m not going to enter into another for the wrong reasons.”
It made sense, and relief filtered through him. He didn’t want to get hitched, not really. But among the relief, a small sliver of disappointment pierced him.
Under different circumstances, even if they were madly in love, would someone like her say yes to him?
The closer they got, the more his flaws would be revealed. His inherent insecurity couldn’t be denied.
He wasn’t good enough for her.
“Hey, you okay?” She touched his arm, and he nodded.
“Yeah. My bruised ego will heal.” He winked. “And I know just the way to soothe it.”
She laughed, not responding when the waitress deposited their coffees on the table, waiting until she’d walked away.
“As much as I’d love to spend the afternoon in bed with you, I have to get back to work.”
She tipped a sugar into her coffee and stirred it, staring at the swirling spoon as if hypnotized, but not before he saw the concern return to her eyes. She was thinking about Pia.
“So you haven’t sorted things out with your cousin yet?”
She shook her head as she raised her gaze to his. “I’m going to catch up with her after work tonight.”
“Does she know this?”
“No, but it’s been long enough. We need to get past this, and I’m taking over the management next week while she’s away, so we have to at least talk before then.”
“If there’s anything I can do . . .” He sipped at his coffee, wishing he didn’t feel so out of his depth around her.
Samira never brought up the age difference between them, and it didn’t register with him, but at times like this, he wished he had more experience with women so he knew what to do to make things easier for her.
He cared about her. Seriously. And even if there wasn’t a baby involved, he knew that the longer they dated and the closer her time came to return to LA, the harder it would’ve been to say goodbye.
“Thanks, but this is something I have to do,” she said, placing the spoon on the saucer but making no move to pick up her coffee. “Want to catch up at my place tonight?” She grimaced. “Though if things go badly with Pia, I can’t promise I’ll be good company.”
“Maybe I can cheer you up?” He trailed a fingertip down her bare forearm. “I’ve been told I’m very good at it.”
“You are,” she murmured, eyeballing him. “Just for the record, pregnant women have very high libidos.”
“Is that a fact?”
“It is, one I can prove to you tonight.”
He grinned, loving how they could switch from earnest to lighthearted so easily. He’d never had a serious relationship, and he’d never imagined it could be like this. Being with Samira was . . . easy. Maybe that was an age thing too; she was mature and self-confident and didn’t feel the need to play games.
She would be a good mom.
“Hey, I’ve just realized something,” he said.
“What?”
“We’ve never been on a real date.”
“Sure we have. That day we spent together in Dandenong.” She pressed a hand to her heart and pretended to swoon. “Our first date. How could I forget?”
He chuckled at her theatrics. “I was thinking along the lines of something classier, more elegant.”
She smiled. “I don’t need all the bells and whistles. I just like spending time with you.”
“Yeah, but I’m going away for a few weeks. I think it would be nice for us to go out tonight.”
Joy sparked her eyes. “You’re a romantic. How quaint.”
Embarrassment heated his cheeks. “I’m about the least romantic guy ever, but you’re special, and I want to do this.”
A soft smile curved her lips. “It’s a date.”