She thought this was about Jared. Apparently he had not made it abundantly clear how badly he wanted her last night. Their tryst on the couch was nice, but it was just an appetizer to take the edge off three years apart. He wouldn’t allow himself to fall for Sabine, but he wasn’t going to deny himself the pleasure of making love to her. “Who said anything about Jared? I was thinking about you and me. Someplace dark and quiet with no kid’s menu.”
“That sounds lovely,” she said, “but Jared isn’t a puppy. We can’t just crate him while we go out.”
“I can arrange for someone to watch him.”
A flicker of conflict danced across her face. She wanted to go. He could tell. She was just very protective and worried about leaving their son with a stranger. Hell, she hadn’t even wanted to leave Jared with him.
“Someone? You don’t even know who?”
“Of course I do. I was actually considering my secretary, Marie. She’s got a new grandson of her own that she fawns over, but he lives in Vermont, so she doesn’t see him nearly as much as she wants to. I asked her this morning if she was willing to watch Jared tonight. She’ll even come out to your apartment so you don’t have to pack up any of his things and he can sleep in his own bed when the time comes.”
Sabine pursed her lips in thought and flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. “So you were so confident that I would go to dinner with you that you arranged a babysitter before you even bothered to ask if I wanted to go.”
Her dream last night had tipped her hand. “Your subconscious doesn’t lie.”
Her cheeks flushed red against her pale complexion. She turned away from him and focused her attention on the television mounted on the opposite wall of the waiting room. “What if I have plans?”
“Do you have plans?” he asked.
“No,” she admitted without facing him. “But that’s not the point. You assume too much. You assume that just because we have a child together and we went too far last night that I want—”
“Brooks!” The nurse opened the side door and called out their name to come back.
Sabine’s concerned expression faded, the lines disappearing between her brows. She seemed relieved to avoid this conversation. He wasn’t going to let her off that easily.
“To be continued,” Gavin said, looking her square in the eye. She met his gaze and nodded softly.
He climbed to his feet and offered his hand to help Sabine up. They made their way back to Dr. Peterson’s personal office and sat in the two guest chairs across from his desk. It didn’t take long before his physician strolled in with a file in his hands.
Dr. Peterson eased into his seat and flipped open the paperwork. His gaze ran over it for a moment before he nodded. In that brief flash of time, Gavin had his first flicker of doubt. Jared looked just like him. There was no real reason to believe he wasn’t his son, but Sabine had seemed nervous in the lobby. He didn’t know anything for certain until the doctor told him the results. He hadn’t even wanted a son a week ago, and now he would be devastated to know Jared wasn’t his.
“Well,” the doctor began, “I’ve got good news for you, Mr. Brooks. It appears as though you’re a father. Congratulations,” he said, reaching across the desk to shake his hand.
“Thank you,” Gavin replied with relief washing over him.
Dr. Peterson pulled out two manila envelopes and handed one to each of them. “Here’s a copy of the DNA report for each of you to give your lawyers.”
This apparently was not the doctor’s first paternity test rodeo. “Thank you,” he said, slipping the envelope into his lapel pocket.
“Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck to you both.” Dr. Peterson stood, ushering them out the door.
They were back in the lobby of the building before they spoke again. Gavin turned to her as she was putting the envelope into her purse. “Now about that dinner. You never answered me.”
Sabine looked up at him. She didn’t have the relieved expression he was expecting. She seemed even more concerned than she had going in. “Not tonight, Gavin. I’m not much in the mood for that.”
“What’s the matter?” he asked. Some women would be leaping with joy to have scientific evidence that their child was the heir to a multibillion-dollar empire. Sabine was a notable exception. “This was your idea,” he reminded her.
She sighed. “I know. And I knew what the results would be, but I wasn’t prepared for the finality of it. It’s done. Now the wheels start turning and the child that has been one hundred percent mine for the past two years will start slipping from my arms. It’s selfish of me, I know, and I apologize, but that doesn’t make me leap for joy.”