At home, Derrick dropped his briefcase in the study and went upstairs. The bedroom was silent, and the television mounted on the wall was on, but had been turned down to mute. After a quick sweep of the other rooms and not finding Eva, he removed his jacket and tie and went in search of her. He found her downstairs in the kitchen.
Standing at the door, he watched her at the counter as she ate some combination of food to satisfy her strange cravings. Her belly was a little more than seven months swollen—looking like an oversized basketball. She’d never looked more beautiful, and he’d never wanted her more. The feelings rushing through him were so fierce, he remained glued to the floor.
In that moment, he accepted what he should have known all along, what he’d refused to accept for fear of leaving himself wide open for hurt and possible humiliation.
I’m in love with her.
His throat constricted, as if someone were choking the life out of him. To breathe, he had to undo the top button of his dress shirt. The last thing he ever expected or wanted to do was fall in love with her. He’d fallen prey to the very thing he’d hidden from all his life.
“Hey, you’re home.”
The warmth of her smile filled her brown eyes and heated his soul. He still couldn’t move. He swallowed, exerting tremendous effort to clear the passageway in his closed throat.
I’m in love with her.
How could he not have seen it before?
Because he knew the danger of love—or the lack thereof. But it was too late. He was all in.
By loving her, he handed her the power to hurt him. The same as she’d done when she ended their relationship, though he hadn’t wanted to admit it at the time. The same as his father had done when he rejected his nine-year-old self. The same as his mother had done by endorsing his biological father’s decision to give up his paternal rights so another man could adopt him.
“Derrick, is something wrong?”
He shook his head and cleared his throat. “No. Ah, what are you eating?”
Her eyes lowered from his in embarrassment. “Raspberry jam and Nutella on crackers . . . with a sprinkling of salt.”
Derrick approached, eyeing her spread on the counter. “Well, at least you left out the bananas this time.”
“We’re out of bananas,” she said in a morose tone. She puckered her lips into a cute little moue of misery.
“That’s ’cause you ate them all.”
“You know I can’t help it. It’s the hormones.” She slipped another cracker into her mouth. Her hair fell into loose waves onto her shoulders. He lifted and fingered a strand before letting it fall back into place.
Perfect. The perfect woman, right under his nose.
“So when you mention hormones, it’s all good, but when I do, I get yelled at.”
Eva arched an eyebrow. “Do I really need to explain to you why?” she asked around a mouthful of food.
“Have a seat.” Derrick gathered up the two jars, the box of crackers, and the salt. He walked to the small table in the kitchen and took a seat beside Eva.
“You look tired,” she remarked.
“Nah, I’m good. I just have a lot on my mind.” Like how he’d managed to fall in love with a woman he’d blackmailed into marrying him. And how did she feel about him now that they’d been married for a while? “How are you feeling today?”
“Okay, although I felt a little pain around lunchtime.”
Derrick frowned. “How long did it last?”
“Don’t worry,” she said, spreading Nutella on a cracker. “It didn’t last long. Just a few minutes. If it happens again, I promise I’ll call the doctor.”
“You should have called the doctor today.”