To keep his mind off the pending noon deadline, he perused the financial section of the paper while he ate. Sleep had evaded him for much of the night, making way for plans and strategies he imagined implementing at HLC. In the early morning, he’d finally fallen asleep, only to awaken with a stiff erection, which further mocked his decision to stay at the villa. An erotic dream about Eva had been the culprit.
Once he’d eaten and had a couple cups of strong coffee, he should be able to tackle anything that came his way, including Eva’s decision. She still had time to make the right one.
A motion beside the table made him look up. When he did, he saw Eva standing there. For a split second, his fingers tightened around the fork to counteract the involuntary jolt seeing her caused to his body.
“I went by the villa, but you weren’t there, so I came here to look for you.” She spoke quietly and looked as if she wasn’t sure she’d be welcomed.
This morning her appearance had improved. Her hair brushed her shoulders in a neat style around her face. The makeup was no substitute for the glow he was accustomed to seeing on her chestnut-colored skin, but compared to her drawn appearance yesterday, it was an improvement. It added an attractive color to her cheeks and lips and emphasized her long lashes.
“May I sit down?”
“Of course.”
Right away he stood and went over to her. As he reached out to help her into the chair, she withdrew from him and seated herself across the table from where he’d been sitting. The small act of rejection created a twinge in his chest.
In the past, she would have pressed her soft body against his with a warm smile on her face. She loved to tease him in public, flirting and batting those incredibly long lashes at him. He remembered several times rushing through a meal so he could get her alone to make love. On her back, on her stomach, it didn’t matter the position—
Derrick slammed the brakes on his out-of-control thoughts and dropped into the chair across from her.
Don’t go there.
Eyeing her across the table, he noticed how the green top accentuated her dark coloring, just as he couldn’t help but notice how good she smelled. Because of mild allergies, she was very picky about fragrances and seldom wore perfume. She used organic soaps with ingredients like carrot and honey or peppermint and oatmeal. Today was a carrot-and-honey day. She smelled so good he wanted to lick her.
A sip of the black, bitter coffee redirected the path of his thoughts.
“I thought about our conversation yesterday, and I brought something for you,” she said. She offered him a large manila envelope. He reached for it and pulled out the contents: a few grainy, yellow-toned photos. “Those are the pictures of an ultrasound I had this week.” He didn’t need an explanation to understand what he looked at. “That’s your daughter.”
Daughter. His gut tightened into a knot at the word. His daughter. His flesh and blood.
He flipped from one image to the next in silence. The detail was remarkable. Though slightly distorted, there were distinguishable features in the ghostly-looking photos. “Is she healthy?” he asked.
“They haven’t detected any problems,” Eva answered. “So far, so good.”
Derrick let his finger trace the outline of the figure’s body in the 3-D image, over the closed eyes and the tiny hands, amazed he had been a part of creating another life. While being a father had always been a distant thought in his mind, the pending birth of his child became a reality he looked forward to with surprising anticipation.
“I shared these with you for two reasons.”
He lifted his gaze to hers.
“I wanted you to understand what you were asking me to give up. But it also made me realize what I was asking you to give up, too. I know you feel strongly about being a good father. I don’t want to keep you from doing that.”
He anxiously awaited her next words, not daring to believe she would say what he wanted.
She swallowed. “I’ll marry you.”
He couldn’t move for several seconds, stunned into disbelief and an overwhelming sense of relief. Remaining motionless, he withheld the true extent of his feelings.