It wasn’t about that, though, I told myself. She was pregnant with my baby. She needed someone to look after her, and right now, that was me. I wasn’t so stupid that I assumed what she was going through was easy.
In fact, I knew it wasn’t. I could use Google, and I had used Google. I probably knew more than I should about the early stages of pregnancy, but I just wanted her to know that I really did care.
It was easy to say you cared.
It was a whole lot harder to show it.
I didn’t want Ivy to doubt me for a second.
I wrapped my arm around her and held her close to me. Her heavy exhales were hot against my chest, even through my t-shirt, and she nestled in even closer to me.
There was no way I could move her.
I was officially stuck here until she woke up.
Judging by the way she was now drooling on my shirt, it was going to be a while.
I reached out toward the coffee table. I was just able to touch the remote, so I nudged it until I could get a full grip of it to change the dumb girly movie.
I still had no fucking idea what was happening in it.
I flicked through Netflix until I found a sports documentary that was more to my liking and settled down to watch it.
Hopefully, Ivy would wake up soon.
If she didn’t, I sure as hell hoped she wouldn’t notice my boner in the morning.
CHAPTER SEVEN – IVY
I was lying on Kai.
The sleepy—yet shocking—revelation was enough to drag me out of the post-sleep haze, but it was the tell-tale sign of drool on his t-shirt that made this even worse.
Great.
Now he knew I was a drooler.
My bladder was also fit to burst.
Oh, God. I was going to have to wake him up.
I tilted my head back, careful not to dislodge his arm too much. He was completely dead to the world, and the sunrise that was creeping through the windows cast golden shadows across his face that made him even more handsome than he was usually.
Good God, this baby was going to be a beautiful one.
If it had even half of Kai’s good looks, that was. Maybe it would have his bright blue eyes, or his dark brown hair that had hints of gold in the sunlight. If it was a boy, would it grow up to have his jaw? His smile? Or would he have my slightly crooked nose?
What if the baby was a girl? Would she have his unfairly long eyelashes or my thankfully well-shaped eyebrows? Or would she have both?
Maybe she’d have neither.
That seemed to be how it worked.
Men got the beautiful eyelashes, and women had to pay a beautician a pretty penny to get them.
I sighed.
“Ivy, if you need to move, then move,” Kai muttered, not opening his eyes. “But stop staring at me like I’m a jar of pickles.”
“I need to pee,” I whispered.
“Then go and pee,” he whispered right back. “What time is it?”
“Sunrise.”
“I was hoping for a more exact time.”
“Too fucking early?” I offered, moving so that I was no longer lying on him.
He twisted his body so I had room to stand. “Does that mean I can finish my sleep in your bed? Don’t get me wrong, you’re a great hot water bottle, but your sofa is about as comfortable as a slab of rock.”
I wrinkled my face up. “I suppose it wouldn’t be fair to say no, since you’ve been my pillow all night. But keep your pants on.”
“Negative.” He got up, following me through the apartment. “I’ve already worn them for too long tonight.”
“Technically, it’s the morning.” I shut myself in the bathroom, cutting off whatever response he had, and peed like my life depended on it.
It damn well felt like it did.
God, pregnancy was so dramatic, and I was only a couple of weeks in.
I was going to be unbearable at the end, wasn’t I?
Ugh. Get ahold of yourself, Ivy. You’re not the first woman to ever be pregnant.
But seriously, the first pee of the day was so good.
Now three liters lighter, I washed my hands and quickly scrubbed my teeth with my toothbrush, then headed for my bedroom. As I’d suspected, Kai hadn’t listened to me at all, and I had to avoid stepping on his clothes as I moved to my side of the bed.
He was in his underwear, wasn’t he?
I crawled into bed. Immediately, I wrapped myself in the covers and curled up on my side.
The bed squeaked when Kai rolled over. He plastered his body against mine and threw one of his arms over me, locking me in place.
“What on Earth do you think you’re doing?” I muttered, not even bothering to open my eyes.
“Snuggling. Shh.” He moved in further.
“Kai.”
“Shh.”
I supposed I didn’t really have a leg to stand on here. I had, after all, been sleeping on him all night on the sofa.
And, God, it felt good. His body was large and hot, and there was something so comforting about having his arm wrapped around me. The last couple of days had been insane and uncertain, but now, lying here…
I shook off those thoughts. The last thing I needed to do right now was think about Kai like that. I couldn’t trust my thoughts right now. Was it hormones? Was it real? I certainly wasn’t about to pay any attention to post-pee, early-morning, half-asleep thoughts.
Nope.
Not a single one.
Not even if it was about how comfortable it was to be tucked against his strong body and wrapped up like a burrito in my blankets.
No.
Most definitely, absolutely, positively not.
Shit.
***
“What is that goddamn noise?”
Kai rolled over, leaving me noticeably cold, and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. “My alarm.
“Your alarm? I’ve been asleep for five minutes!”
“I know. You snore.”
“I do not snore!” I rolled over with a huff and glared at him. “If I snored, it’s because you were crushing me with your fat arms!”
Kai side-eyed me, but he was fighting a smile if the twitching of his lips was anything to go by. “Some of us start work early.”
“Ugh.” I rolled over and pulled the blankets over my head. “Sorry, we’re going to have to fake break up. This marriage already isn’t working for me.”
“We’re not fake married yet,” he reminded me, knocking his foot against mine before he got up. “We need to organize that, by the way.”
“Ugh. I don’t wanna.”
“What? You don’t want to be the fake Mrs. Kai Connors? My heart bleeds.”
I yanked the blankets down and glared at him, ignoring the fact he was shirtless and his abs were just begging me to touch them.
No, really, they were.
I could hear them.
Ivy. Touch us. Touch usssssssss.
See? Totally begging.
“I don’t need to be Mrs. Kai Connors, fake or otherwise,” I said, sitting up so the blankets pooled at my waist. “I’m already going to have your baby and that’s a longer sentence than a marriage.”
“A sentence? You make it sound like I’m going to imprison you in a nursery and force you to raise the baby alone.”
“I’d probably get a shorter sentence if I killed you.”