“To Harper’s place?” she asked. “I heard she’s just moved into a new apartment. Is she going to store everything there?”
He shook his head. “We’re going to store everything in my spare room for now. Harper’s still unpacking.”
“Oh.” His mom paused for a moment, then smiled. “She’s a very lovely girl, isn’t she?”
“Ah, yeah.”
“Have you thought about having her live with you after the baby is born?”
The bluntness of her question shocked him. “Ah…”
“I mean in the spare room,” she said quickly. “I wasn’t implying anything more than that. I know you miss Sara and Jacob very much.” She rubbed the top of his arm. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”
Yeah, it was none of her business, but he wasn’t planning on telling her that. Fact was, he had no idea what they were going to do about the future. That was his fault – he still couldn’t bring himself to tell Harper how he felt. Maybe he was too afraid of being rejected. Better to keep his thoughts to himself than open himself up to that pain.
“I should go over and say hi to Harper. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” Giving his mom a soft smile, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
She squeezed his arm. “Okay, honey. Take care.”
He took a deep breath, trying to center himself. Why was life so much easier when it was just him and Harper curled up in his bed? When her body was pressed against his. With her soft hair caressing his skin, it felt like he could take on the world. And he would, just to protect her from it. Her and their baby.
Ember said something, and Harper nodded. Slowly, she turned her head, a smile breaking out on her face as she noticed James standing across the room. She lifted her hand in a wave, and he smiled at her, walking over to where she was standing.
“Hi.” His voice was husky. He had to curl his hands not to touch her. “Did you have a good time?”
“Hey.” She lifted her head until her eyes met his. “It was wonderful. Thanks for coming. There are a lot more gifts than I was expecting.” She pointed over at the table, filled with gift bags and large boxes. She leaned forward to whisper in his ear, “Does a baby really need all this stuff?”
“Yeah,” he said, deadpan. “That’s why they had baby showers in prehistoric days.”
“My apartment isn’t that big. With all these things in there I’m going to end up sleeping in the bathtub. Do you think the baby will mind sleeping in the sink?”
He laughed.
“Harper, we’re heading out. Thank you so much for inviting us, and remember to send us all the deets when the baby is born.” A woman of around thirty leaned forward to hug her. “I can’t believe you’re gonna be a mom.”
“Thank you for coming all this way. It means a lot,” Harper said, hugging her friend back. “Um, this is James, by the way. The baby’s father. James, this is Monica. We met when I was working on Broadway.”
James blinked. For some reason being described like that rankled him. He wasn’t just the baby’s father. He was Harper’s lover, her friend. Why the heck wasn’t there a socially acceptable description of what they had going on?
Monica turned to look at him, her glossy black hair catching the light from the chandeliers. “Hi, James,” she said smiling. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“You, too.” He shook her hand. Harper was looking at him with the strangest of expressions. Was he still frowning? “I’ll start loading the car,” he told Harper. “Then we can head home.”
“To your home.”
“That’s what I meant.” Damn, he was terrible at this. Maybe he shouldn’t have come. Harper’s friends could have easily delivered the gifts themselves, or he could have picked them up in the morning.
“Okay. Thanks.” She was still gazing at him with concern. “Let’s get this thing done.”
21
“You okay?” James asked, turning over to look at Harper. She was turning from side to side in his bed, groaning as she slid her knees up to her bump and then back down again.
“No, I’m not. I can’t get comfortable. I swear this baby is practicing Tai Kwon Do in here.”
He smiled at her frustrated expression. “What can I do to help?” he asked softly.
“You can’t do anything; you’ve done enough already. It’s all your fault for putting her in there in the first place.”