He smiled, squeezing her fingers. “So you’re not here because you were afraid I’d tell him, which means—”
“It means I wanted to tell you in person that you should find yourself some scion’s daughter to marry you and have Sammy the Fifth because you and I aren’t going anywhere.”
He should have been mad, but she saw amusement in his eyes. “You named our son?”
Dammit. “Not our son. Your son. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going on the kid’s birth certificate.”
Cassie showed up with their meatloaf, then refilled their coffees, buying Paulie a few minutes of silence. Why wouldn’t the man give up? She couldn’t really make it any more plain.
After taking a bite of his dinner, he actually moaned. “I take back my crack about the condemned signs. This is the best meatloaf I’ve ever had.”
She could do without the sexy sound effects, thank you very much. It was hard enough keeping her mind on all the things wrong with their relationship without being reminded how good the sex had been.
“I’m never going back to Boston,” she said abruptly, just to remind him—and herself—where they stood.
“I didn’t ask you to.”
“You’re going back to Boston.”
He nodded. “I told you that. I’m leaving straight from here and I’ll be gone…a couple of months, I guess. Christmas season and then a trip to Europe for business. I need to wrap up some loose ends so when I come back here I can concentrate on this job. And you.”
His gaze met and held hers and she knew he meant it. He wanted her back, despite her objections it wouldn’t end well. “Maybe I’ll be gone when you get back.”
“This time, if you run, I’ll come after you.”
Would she have stayed and married him if he’d come after her? She didn’t know if it would have made a difference or not. It was her parents and Boston and the life she’d had to lead she was running from, not Sam.
“I’m going to call you while I’m gone,” he said.
“Texts are better,” she said. “Easier to deal with when I’m working.”
“Then I’ll text you.”
She should have told him she wasn’t interested in hearing from him at all. If she pushed hard enough, his pride would keep him from groveling and he’d walk away. But, even though she wouldn’t say it out loud, she was going to miss him, too. A text or two probably wouldn’t hurt.
***
As she walked through the front door of Jasper’s Bar & Grille after a long lunch and dinner shift at the restaurant, Beth heaved a sigh of relief. She was home.
It surprised her how, after just shy of six weeks, this was home in a way her former apartment would never have been, and if she wasn’t careful she might actually start liking the word. Besides the obvious lack of stale cat urine, there were the people. Paulie, who was fast becoming a very good friend. And Kevin. Despite the almost constant barrage of charm and sex appeal, she enjoyed their relationship a lot, too.
The rest of Jasper’s staff were warm and welcoming. She wasn’t sure what they’d been told about her. With no obvious signs of pregnancy showing, they might just think of her as a new tenant. Or who knew what Kevin might have told them.
Beth climbed onto her usual stool at the end of the bar and waited for Paulie to finish up with a customer. On her way over to say hello, Paulie grabbed one of the cans of cranberry-lime seltzer they’d started stocking for her.
Beth cracked it open and took a long drink. “Thanks.”
“No problem. You gonna eat something?”
She was going to be good and have a salad. “A side salad, with light dressing and…oh, hell, a side of bacon cheeseburger, please.”
Paulie laughed and went to give the order to the kitchen, leaving Beth with her seltzer and some kind of sports recap show on the television. Sports wasn’t really her thing, but her attention was caught when the show went to commercial—a blitz of Christmas sales.
Her comfortable mood dimmed as she wondered—for the umpteenth time—what she was going to buy Kevin for Christmas. Business at the restaurant had picked up as promised, so she’d been able to set aside some Christmas money as well as putting away money for future prenatal check-ups, but it wasn’t a lot.
She needed to find the perfect gift on a tight budget. Something special because he really did deserve it after stepping up to the parenting plate and being there for her in so many ways. But not so special he might mistake her intentions.
A few minutes later, Paulie arrived with her food. “You look a little stressed out.”
“Christmas is coming. Two weeks.”
“Ah.” Paulie set her plate down and leaned against the counter. “Nothing makes you crave the Pepto Bismol and Xanax like decking the halls.”
“Do you and Kevin exchange gifts?”
“Sure. What are you getting him this year?”