She shrugged. “Louise is fine. I’m used to it now. Plus, they said I needed to keep my cover.”
“Louise.” His gaze searched her face, lingering on her mouth. “I want you to know you’re safe. The person responsible for the price on your head is dead.”
“Dead?” The enormity of what he said stunned her stupid. “What happened? You?”
“Bon and I. It’s done.”
He’d killed for her, again. Put himself in danger, again. What the hell could she say? “Um, thank you. But Adam, you could have been hurt.”
“I’m fine and now you’re safe. Though it’s probably best if you stay out here on Esther.”
“I have no intention of leaving. This is my home now.” Or more specifically, he was home. But she couldn’t exactly tell him so after all the lies, after she’d nearly gotten him killed. “I wanted to tell you about all of it…”
The words dwindled away to nothing. It wouldn’t be enough. Most likely nothing ever would be. No amount of “I love you” or “I’m sorry” or anything else she could possibly come up with would cut it. So selfish of her to even try.
Slowly, Adam stood and walked over to her. Coming close but not touching. She clenched her fists to keep her fingers from grabbing at him, holding on to him and never letting go. If she could just make it through this first meeting without losing it completely, it would be fine. No falling to her knees and begging. No flooding the room with tears. Things would get easier once they got past this first time. They could even be friends, maybe. Or they could try to be.
“You look tired,” he said. “Have you eaten?”
She gave him a reluctant smile. “You too…”
“Me too, what? You haven’t been eating?”
“I’m eating plenty,” she protested, fingers twisting through one another. Nerves were getting the better of her. “Really.”
But he obviously didn’t believe her. He grabbed the lapels of her brown woolen jacket and pushed it back off her shoulders. It caught on her elbows and hung there. Adam just looked at her, stared. It seemed his jaw dropped open of its own accord. “Holy shit.”
“I haven’t put on that much weight.”
He snapped his mouth shut and his nostrils flared. “Princess, you’re pregnant.”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “We’re having a baby, Adam. It’s what happens when you go crazy with the unprotected sex.”
But the look on his face… The man looked pale, startlingly so. His eyes were unusually round. For a moment he almost seemed to sway on his feet, as if he might faint.
Oh boy. “You didn’t know? The chief didn’t tell you?”
He shook his head. His face appeared to have frozen. “No. No, he didn’t.”
“You look horrified.”
“No. I’m just…” He gingerly reached out and pushed up her T-shirt, exposing the swell of her belly. She resisted the urge to tug it back down. The look on his face didn’t change one iota. “Wow. We’re having a baby.”
“Yes.”
“Wow.”
“You said that already.”
The side of his mouth kicked up and suddenly life returned to him. Color flooded his face and he out-and-out grinned at her. “I love you.”
Her heart stuttered in a way that couldn’t be healthy. Also, there didn’t seem to be any air left in the room. Her shoulders rushed up and down. “Because we’re having a baby?”
“No. Because I love you.” Adam got to his knees and pressed his forehead against the almighty bump. “This is amazing.”
“But I lied to you.”
“You had reason. Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” he asked, then winced. “Ugh, I shouldn’t call the baby ‘it’. That’s awful.”
“A girl. I nearly got you killed.”
“You nearly got yourself killed. That doesn’t happen again. I hated leaving while you were still in the med unit.” Tenderly, he placed kisses all over her swollen tummy. The beard tickled her skin, sending shivers down her spine. Adam shaped his hands to her belly with an expression of open wonder. His smile split his face. “A baby girl? That’s wonderful. How about names? Have you thought of any?”
“It’s not so simple, Adam.”
“Well, no. But we can start a list. Your breasts are fantastic, by the way.” He eyed her up with a heated gaze. “Princess, look at them.”
Her hands flapped uselessly beside her, still caught up in the coat. Fear and frustration filled her completely and he was licking his lips and staring at her boobs as if dinner had been served. It made no sense and they really needed some sense in this situation. “Adam, focus. I don’t mean naming the baby—I mean us. I messed everything up.”
Adam gazed up at her for a moment, then rose to his feet. And his eyes…he had the most exquisite blue eyes. He cupped her face in gentle hands and leaned in to her. The heat of his body warmed and soothed her straight away. His mere presence made everything scarily better, like sunshine and rainbows and sparkly stars. “No. You were put in an impossible situation. We were married for eight days. There wasn’t time for you to learn to trust me. Not with something so big.”
“You’re not mad?”
With a pained sigh, he puckered his lips. “I was. I got over it. Bon helped.”