‘The doctor?’ When had he even called him? ‘Ari, I don’t need a doctor. I feel fine.’
He stood and stared at her for a long moment before he shoved his hands into his pockets. ‘I can send him away if that’s what you want. But I think we need to make absolutely sure that you’re not coming down with an illness. That is not negotiable. So we can do it now or we can do it tomorrow. Your choice.’
She gripped the covers, the feeling of hurtling towards the unknown growing by the second. But Ari was right. They needed to be sure nothing else was wrong before they went any further.
She nodded. ‘Okay, we do it now.’
He left the room and returned moments later followed by a tall, lanky man with brown hair and serious brown eyes. He proceeded to look her over and fire questions at her that made her cringe. Ari stood, hand in his pocket next to the bed the whole time, his eyes never leaving her.
‘The headache and fatigue worries me a bit, and your glands are slightly swollen,’ the doctor finally said. ‘My advice is to rest for a few days—’
‘Yes, she’ll do that—’
‘No, she won’t,’ she countered sharply with a frown which he returned twice as hard and twice as dangerous. ‘I’m not sick, Ari. Seriously, I’ll be fine by morning.’
The doctor looked between them, clearly sensing the undercurrents. ‘Or I can give you a flu shot just in case? Head it off at the pass?’
At her nod, he opened his bag and took out the needle. She tensed and tried to curb her nerves but Ari’s narrowed gaze told her he’d seen her reaction.
Rounding the bed, he slid in beside her and pulled her close, his warm, hard body a solid comfort. ‘You fear needles and yet you’re refusing the simple alternative.’
‘I’ll take a small prick any day compared to days lazing about in bed.’
The small charged silence that followed gave her time to hear her words echo in the room. Then a fierce blush washed over her face.
The doctor hid a smile as he focused on preparing the syringe. Ari’s mocking laughter lightened the tense atmosphere a touch, although she could feel his tension. ‘It’s not gentlemanly to laugh at a harmless double entendre. Especially when it comes at the patient’s expense.’
He blinked and his gaze dropped to her mouth.
This close, his designer stubble was within touching distance and the gold flecks in his eyes and the sensual curve of his mouth were even more mesmerising. The hand he’d slipped around her tightened, drawing her infinitesimally closer to his body. Heat oozed through her, breaking loose that wild yearning she seemed to be useless at keeping sealed up.
The doctor clearing his throat made her jump. The needle filled with liquid was poised against her skin. ‘Stop! Will this harm a pregnancy?’ she blurted.
Beside her, Ari tensed.
The doctor frowned. ‘Are you pregnant, Miss Lowell?’
‘It’s Mrs...actually,’ she murmured absently as her gaze swung and collided with Ari’s. In that moment, she knew.
And so did he.
The doctor moved. With a swiftness that stunned the breath out of her, Ari grabbed the doctor’s needle-holding hand and held it in a death grip. All without taking his eyes from hers.
‘So you’re sure?’ he rasped.
She nodded.
Wordlessly he let go of the doctor’s wrist. Lines of torment bracketed his mouth as he left the bed.
She was pregnant. With Ari’s child. The two thoughts tumbled over one another in her brain, one seeking dominance over the other and neither coming out the victor. Because both thoughts were equally mind-boggling.
Vaguely, she heard him dismiss the doctor and leave the suite.
But all too soon he was back. Tall, imposing, bristling with emotions she was too cowardly to try and name.
For several minutes, he paced the room. Then he finally stopped at the foot of the bed. ‘Did you know you were pregnant?’ His voice was gritty with emotion.
‘No, I didn’t. I didn’t even guess.’
‘Not even when you were late? How late are you?’
The date flared like a beacon in her mind. ‘Almost two weeks.’
He muttered a word she didn’t need translation for. ‘Theos!’ Running a hand through his hair, he resumed pacing. ‘And it didn’t raise any alarms?’
‘No. My period has always been irregular.’
She thought back to that night and felt shame crawl over her skin when she remembered she’d been so into it, too far gone with delirium that she hadn’t stopped to think about safe sex that second time.