“I’m sorry …” She moved to get out of bed, perhaps to retreat to her spot and another movie, who knew, but I grabbed her back into bed.
“No, I’m sorry. Please get back into bed. Go to sleep … and we’ll keep working into this. I know I’ve been extreme, that’s me. Take or leave it … wait, no. Take it, for at least a few months … please.” Fuck, that desperate feeling was back.
She turned to me and didn’t say anything, just quietly got back into bed. In that small gesture, there was a tiny victory. Sleep came easily for her. It felt awkward to service myself beside her, so I just did all I could to deflate my erection. Thinking of the potential mistake I’d just made did the trick. I struggled to sleep and tossed for a long time before the sun came up and abandoned the effort. In my sleep-deprived state, I completely regretted what I’d done and was starting to think of ways to wiggle away from the nightmare I’d just created.
Chapter 21
Kylie
I woke up, and Alec was already out of bed. I lifted my head to look for him and found he was sequestered in his corner working at the computer. It gave me comfort to be alone since I was feeling peculiar and rather nauseous. He intensified my feelings. I tried to get out of bed as quietly as I could, but apparently, I was not quiet enough. Like a wild cat sensing its prey, his eyes darted to mine. I flashed him an awkward smile and ran to the bathroom.
The sudden upward motion of my body made a swirl of hell blow up in my belly. I barely made it to the toilet to barf. I hated morning sickness. As mortifying as it was to see him beside me while hunched over his toilet, I also kind of appreciated him being there. He smoothed his hand over my back, helping to ease the tension the barfing was causing. Heat coursed through my body, but not the sexy kind. My flush was caused by the unsteadiness that had me wanting to pass out again. Having Alec’s strong body near me assured me that I wouldn’t be diving headfirst into the floor tiles.
“You’re okay,” his soft voice crooned. “I’m right here.”
“I’m sorry,” I rasped after the first wave of gacking had ended.
“No worries, it’s a part of the package, no extra charge.”
For whatever reason that made me laugh.
“Lucky, you,” I managed to say. “You pay upwards of a million dollars and you get a moody barfing roommate for six months of hell. And if you play your cards right, you might also have the opportunity to stay up all night with a little crying hellion spawn who craps all over your white palace in the sky.”
“Sounds like fun. Money well spent.” God, he was being nice.
Much nicer than when I’d first met him. I wondered what had changed. I didn’t have too much time to think about it because another wave of nausea hit me, and I was over the toilet again. As before, he stroked my back. When I was sure that everything but my guts was in the bowl, I flushed and stood up, very woozy and shaky. His hand steadied me.
“Okay, brush your teeth and back to bed.” He shuffled me to the sink, put toothpaste on my new toothbrush that just showed up out of nowhere and then lifted me into his arms.
“I can walk, King Kong,” I teased.
“I can carry you, Fay, you’re pregnant.” He whisked me into the bed, and I wasn’t too unhappy about that since I was so off-center. “You have nothing to do today, and we shouldn’t really be seen in public.” He seductively winked. “I’m supposed to be ravaging you. According to the media, I literally swept you off your feet, and we are officially sequestered. Our first official outing is a building inspection of the Every Dream site, lunch in Central Park, and then the opening of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new musical gala thing with you wearing Vera Wang maternity. I know, it’s premature, but Maralis insisted. That’s in two days, so you can hang out here. I’m going into the office for a few hours, but I’ll be back to go over the contract with you.” He was all business again.
“This is so crazy, Alec.” I tried to stop him.
“Yes, I’m well aware of how insane this all is. I’ve been up all night thinking about what I’ve gotten myself into.”
“What you’ve gotten us into,” I corrected.
“I’m usually an extremely logical man,” he started.
“Who likes to eat ice cream off of people,” I attempted to tease.
“Yes, who also has peculiar sexual fetishes perhaps, but even with all of my pondering, I can’t think of a better way to do this. It makes us both look like heroes; we build our businesses, you get lots of attention for your non-profit. I can be a good guy, a very rare opportunity there, and you shed your bad girl image so you can be a good mom. I don’t see the downside. You and I will learn to co-exist. I’m not too terrible despite the rumors, and as evidenced by you last night, we certainly can find a way to be alone together.” This seemed to upset him some.