She nodded and finished her pizza. “How disgusted would you be if I ate another piece of pizza?”
“Not at all. I would think you’re doing a good job at keeping the baby fed.” I grabbed another slice of pizza and laid it on her plate. “Eat up, Del.” There wasn’t a chance in hell that I would ever tell a woman she was eating too much. That wasn’t any of my business at all.
“I think the baby had no problem helping me eat up.” She finished her third slice of pizza then sat back in her chair with her hand on her belly.
“Full?” I asked. While she had chowed down on her pizza, I managed to shove two more pieces down so she didn’t feel like she was eating more than me. I wasn’t sure why I cared about that, but I didn’t want her to feel bad about eating in front of me.
“For now. It’s amazing how much I’ve been eating lately. I’m sure my doctor is going to tell me to start eating carrots and lettuce if I don’t want to gain five hundred pounds.”
I flipped the lid shut on the pizza and knew this was another moment I needed to be careful of what I said. “I’m sure it’ll be a good appointment.”
Delaney sipped on her milk. “I think that is the most politically correct response I have ever heard.”
I grabbed my beer and tipped it toward her. “Just trying to not get my balls kicked in.”
“Is that something you worry about often?”
“Only when I open my mouth.”
She burst out laughing. “At least you admit it.”
“I’m not as poised and smart like you, Del. My mouth has gotten me into trouble but it also happens to get me out of trouble sometimes.”
She scoffed. “I’m far from poised.”
That was a lie. “I could tell how together and smart you were when you were kneeling over me the other night.”
She flitted her had. “I’m good under pressure. That’s all that was.”
“I suppose that’s good for someone who wants to be a doctor?”
She finished her milk and nodded. “Comes in handy.”
“So what else were you planning on doing tonight?”
She raised her arms over her head and stretched. “I honestly was just going to veg out in front of the TV. I don’t have clinicals or have to work the next two days. Doing nothing is high up on my to-do list.”
“You got off Tuesday and Wednesday?” I thought I was one of the only ones who had weird days off from work. Roc had told us we could have Tuesday off and more than likely when we showed up to work on Wednesday, we would be out before noon.
“Yeah. Weekends are busiest at the restaurant and the doctor I’m shadowing took two personal days. His time off is my time off too.”
“Hold up.” I held up my hand shook my head. “You have two jobs?” Why the hell was she working two jobs when she was pregnant?
“Uh, I guess. Though I don’t get paid for my clinicals. I do those for experience.”
I blinked slowly. “You’re working your ass off and you’re not getting paid?” What in the hell was this shit? I wasn’t going to work for anyone without getting paid.
“That’s how clinicals work, Jay. Southern State is a teaching hospital that services the public so med students get experience and do hands-on procedure. I thought everyone knows that.”
“Uh, I barely made it through college working on cars, Del. I know absolutely nothing about being a med student.”
She stood up and grabbed the pizza box. “I go to school forever, work in the hospital for hands-on experience, and then, after about ten years, I can practice medicine on my own.”
“And how long away is that now?”
“Four more years,” she sang. She stuck the pizza in the fridge and turned back to look at me. “I’m watching cheesy movies on TV the rest of the night. You’re welcome to stay if you want or you can go.”
“Why would I want to go?” The only plans I had tonight were to worm my way into Delaney’s house. I was here, and I didn’t want to leave. At least, not yet.
“Didn’t know if you had other plans or something.” She reached over the sink and turned on the light above. She moved to flipped the kitchen light off and folded her arms over her chest as she stared at me.
“Why would I come over here if I had plans to do something else?” I could see the wheels in her mind spinning. Delaney had already formed an opinion of me, and I could tell it wasn’t a good one.
“I don’t know, Jay. I just don’t want you to think you need to be here.”
“So you don’t plan on holding me captive by cuffing me to the bed and playing doctor with me?”
Her jaw dropped, and her pretty eyes bugged out. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Sure? You could change your mind right now and say that is what you want.” I held my arms out in front of me. “I won’t put up a fight.”
“Are you serious right now?” she whispered.
I was on the borderline of pushing Delaney too far. “Yes, but you can pretend I didn’t say it.”
She blinked twice. “I think I’ll do that. At least, for now.”
“That mean eventually you’re going to want to visit strapping me to the bed?” I knew there was a physical attraction between us since we had wound up in bed before. I was hopeful it would happen again, but I knew it was way too soon to see if she was ready to revisit things.
She closed her eyes and shook her head. “It means I’m going to go watch TV and not think about you and…well…you at all.”
I stood up and pushed my stool under the counter. “Gonna be kinda hard to do that when I’m sitting right next to you.”
Her eyes snapped open. “I’m sitting in the recliner. You can have the whole couch to yourself.”
I held up my hands. “Whatever you want, Del.” I had definitely pushed her far enough.
“Follow me,” she mumbled.
It wasn’t like I needed her to lead me into the living room. The house was open so I saw the living room right when I walked in.
“You, there.” She pointed at the couch and snatched the remote off of the coffee table in front of it. She scurried over to the recliner.
“Del, you’re crazy, girl.”
She grabbed the blanket that was draped over the back of the recliner and laid it over her as she sat down. “Smart, Jay. I’m smart. I’ve already fallen for your charming ways.” She pointed to her stomach. “Need I remind you of the baby I’m cooking in my stomach right now?”
I grabbed one of the flowery throw pillows and stuffed it under my head as I laid down. “No need to remind me about it. It’s all I’ve been thinking about since you told me.” The baby and she were all I thought about.
She huffed and pointed the remote at the TV. “There’s a blanket over the back of the couch if you want one.”
“I’m good right now.”
She flipped through the channels, stopping every now and then to watch a show for a few minutes.
“Del, pick a damn channel already,” I grumbled. She had been flipping the channels for the past half an hour.
“I can’t find anything good to watch. What do you normally watch?”