“I promise.”
“Okay. It sounds easier than trying to get my number switched over here, especially since I still have to deal with the landlord. Since I left without notice, I probably won’t get my deposit back.”
“Actually, we ran into your landlord downstairs while were carrying some bags down. Wanted to know who was moving. He wasn’t very happy, but Pop had a little chat with him about lead paint and other health hazards and he’ll be sending the check to this address. As soon as you get it and it clears, we’ll find out who does housing inspections and turn his ass in.”
She didn’t look quite as happy as he’d thought she would. “Thank you.”
“No problem. So, you want to go out and find some food? We could go downstairs and grab something or we could go somewhere else.”
“I don’t think so. I appreciate everything you did today—more than I can say—but I think I’ll stay in.”
“You don’t have any food. Nothing worth eating after a day of moving, anyway. And we could catch a movie, or stop by the video store and rent one.”
Judging by her expression, she was about to shoot him down. “Kevin, I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”
He couldn’t quite wrap his head around those words. “We’ll see each other all the time, since we live across the hall from each other now. Plus, there’s that whole you’re having my baby thing.”
She blew out a breath and folded her arms across her chest in a defensive way. “I mean, see each other like…a relationship.”
“You mean no more sex.” That sucked. Maybe it was a hormonal thing and she’d change her mind in five minutes. A man could hope.
“No.” She blushed and shook her head. “Well, yes, I mean no more sex. But more than that. No more dates. We’re just going to be neighbors who happen to be having a baby together.”
He was surprised by the disappointment that resonated through him. Most guys would jump at the chance to be off the hook with a pregnant lady. “I don’t get it. I thought we had a good time. And not just the sex part.”
“I did have a good time, but…I can’t explain it.”
“Can you try, because I’m not really sure what I did wrong here.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re just a little overwhelming. I know you’re trying to help, but…” She shook her head, as if struggling for the right words.
“You’re carrying my baby, Beth, and if you thought I was going to let you go through this alone, with nothing but a lumpy old mattress in a house that smells like cat piss, you don’t know me very well.”
“I don’t know you at all. That’s the point.”
“I still don’t get it. I think I’ve handled this whole thing pretty damn well.”
“You have. You really have. And now you’re trying to take care of me, but I take care of myself. I don’t really do relationships and you’re a little…suffocating.”
“Suffocating?” What the fuck was she talking about now? “How the hell does wanting you and the baby safe make me a bad guy?”
“You’re not a bad guy. You’re a great guy, actually.” Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled out onto her cheeks. She dashed them away with an angry swipe of her hand. “It’s just…too much and I’m so overwhelmed and I…I…”
“Come here.” He sat on the couch next to her and pulled her into his arms. “No kinky stuff. Just a neighbors–who-happen-to-be-having-a baby-together hug. See? Not even copping a feel.”
She laughed against his shirt with a hiccupping sound. “It’s just…you’re being so wonderful about this baby and you actually seem happy about it and you’re so together and I’m just a mess.”
“I am happy about it. But I’m not the one carrying the baby—you are. And maybe my life’s more settled and ready for a baby than yours is.” He leaned back against the couch, taking her with him. “I’m sorry I’m coming across as pushy. It’s just the way I am—if something needs to be done, I do it. If somebody in my life needs something and I can provide it, I provide it. But I’ll try to back off…some.”
“I think the most important thing for the baby is that we’re friends.”
“We are. And I think a friend, at a time like this, would order take-out for another friend as a housewarming gift.”
“Chinese?” she asked in a small voice.
He hated Chinese food. “Sure. Unless my mother threw them out, the second drawer down in the kitchen had a bunch of take-out menus in it.”
He let her go so he could check, and to give her a minute to wipe her face. The menus, collected by the various family members who’d crashed in the apartment, were still there and he sifted through them, looking for a nearby Chinese restaurant.