Читать книгу The By Request Collection - Kate Hardy - Страница 19

Nine

Eve rolled over in bed, glanced at the clock and closed her eyes again.

Wait. She jerked up in bed and stared at the glaring numbers. How did it get to be so late? Sleeping in had never been an issue for her. She always showed up before anyone else and got a jump start on her day. At this rate, she was never going to make it into the office on time.

The sudden jolt of movement had her morning sickness hitting her fast. She rushed to the en suite bathroom and fell to her knees.

She’d had worse mornings, but still, she didn’t like this feeling one bit. How could she remain professional if she was showing up late and looking like death?

Once she was done, she wiped her face with a cool, damp cloth and realized two things: one, it was Sunday so she wasn’t late for anything. And two, there was a glorious smell coming from the kitchen and overtaking her home.

Surprisingly, whatever that scent was, it didn’t make her more nauseous. If anything, her stomach was ready to go. This roller coaster of emotions and cravings was extremely difficult to keep up with.

Eve thought back to last night when Graham had made a simple grilled cheese sandwich and cut up an apple for her. Then he’d practically patted her on the head and sent her to bed, saying he’d lock up.

So, either he’d stayed and that was him in the kitchen, or one of her sisters was here. She highly doubted Nora or Grace had come by just to do some cooking, so she had to assume Graham had made himself at home.

Considering that she’d just tossed her cookies, so to speak, she opted to brush her teeth before heading down. By the time she hit the bottom steps, her mouth was watering. The magnificent aroma filled the entire first floor. Suddenly her belly growled and she had no idea how she could go from sick one second to hungry the next. Pregnancy sure wasn’t predictable.

Heading down the wide hall toward the back of the house and the kitchen, Eve tried to figure out what to say to Graham. She’d seriously had a meltdown last night. He’d been so concerned about the baby, about her. But she hadn’t been able to control those insane emotions.

Years ago when she’d thought herself in love, she’d have given anything for her boyfriend to have cared about her, about their baby. But she’d endured the first trimester and part of the second alone. Then she’d struggled through the miscarriage, the D & C, the grieving. All of it on her own. She’d pushed her sisters away because nobody could fix her broken heart. Nobody could bring back her baby and she wanted to be left alone.

Graham was most likely worried about his place in their child’s life. He wasn’t the type of man to sit back and let someone else raise his child. Still, the fact he’d stayed last night showed the type of man he was. He could’ve walked away.

So what did this mean? Did he want more than just shared parenting? Did he want to try at a relationship?

Good morning, shoulders.

Freezing midstride, Eve stared straight ahead to the sexiest cook she’d ever seen. She’d seen Graham countless times with nothing on, but finding him in just his jeans standing at her stove was like some sort of domestic porn. Seriously. This was calendar material. Forget the firefighters, sign Graham up. The way those back muscles flexed and relaxed as he did...whatever it was he was doing.

There was a man cooking in her house. The sexy, hot father of her baby was cooking in her house.

This sight alone was enough to make her want to strip and see if they could make use of that kitchen island, but she’d promised herself no more. She needed to focus on so many other things and her sex life was going to have to take a backseat for a while. What a shame, when she was facing such a delectable sight.

“You’re just in time.”

He didn’t turn around as he spoke, just continued to bustle about getting breakfast ready as if this were the most normal thing in the world. As if he belonged here.

Eve couldn’t move from the doorway. Between last night and this morning, she had no clue what Graham had planned next. Not one time did he try to get her undressed. Maybe he didn’t find her as appealing as he used to. Perhaps pregnant women were a turnoff. Granted, it wasn’t like she felt sexy at the moment.

No matter, she wasn’t looking for more. At this point, her only hope was that she could keep the peace in her family when they found out she was carrying a Newport’s baby.

“Why did you stay?”

Graham froze, plates in hand. Throwing a glance over his shoulder, he held her with his intense stare. “Because someone needs to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”

“So you’re my keeper now? I’m old enough to take care of myself.”

She didn’t mention the fact that he was younger than her. There was no need to state the obvious. But the fact that he’d stayed out of pity didn’t sit well with her. Maybe she’d gotten her hopes up too high to think he’d stayed simply because he cared.

“I’m not saying you can’t.” He dished up some type of casserole and...was that fried apples? “It’s the weekend. I wanted to stay and make you breakfast, so I did.”

She wanted to argue, but the second she took a seat at the island and he placed that plate in front of her, she had no idea what they’d been on the verge of bickering about.

Eve stared down at her plate of food, which looked like it came from some cooking magazine—not the kind featuring light cuisine, either. Then she glanced at Graham, who was scooping up his own servings.

“You cook?” Okay, that was a stupid question. Clearly elves weren’t involved. “I mean, this is more than just oatmeal or cereal for breakfast. Where did you learn this?”

Graham set his plate down and went back for two large glasses of orange juice. After putting everything on the island, he took a seat on a stool next to her.

“My grandma Gerty taught us all about cooking. It may have seemed like punishment at the time, but looking back I can see she did it out of love, and as a way to bond.”

The wistfulness layered with the love in his tone told her this grandmother was one special lady. Eve pierced one gooey apple with her fork. The buttery, cinnamon sugar flavors exploded in her mouth. She prayed this food stayed with her. This was definitely too good to waste.

“Tell me about Gerty,” Eve said, forking up a bite of some egg, sausage and cheese casserole. “Is she still alive?”

Graham swallowed and shook his head. “No.”

That one word, full of sadness, had Eve pausing with her fork midway to her mouth. “Oh. Um...sorry. I didn’t think.”

Graham barely spared glance look her way. “No reason for you to be sorry. She passed away several years back. But she was like a second mother to us. Mom met Gerty at a coffee shop. Gerty was retiring, but she’d already taken a liking to Mom. The two were close and Mom moved in with Gerty because she needed help.”

A single, pregnant woman. Eve’s fork clattered to her plate as she thought of the parallel between Graham’s mother’s situation and hers. Did he see it? Is that why he was so adamant about helping her? Did he want to make up for the sins of some faceless man? Graham was so loyal, so noble where his family was concerned.

“Don’t go there.”

Eve jerked her gaze to Graham, who had shifted on his stool to face her.

“Don’t let your mind betray you,” he added. “I’m not pitying you because of my mother’s circumstances. I’m sure she was scared being single and pregnant, but that’s not why I’m here.”

Resting her palms on the edge of the counter, Eve tipped her head. “Why are you here? What do you want, Graham? Just say it.”

His aqua eyes sparkled, and his lips pursed just slightly, reminding her of what she’d been missing out on the past few days. “Maybe I want to get to know you more. Maybe I think you need to know me better, as well. We need to be strong together, for the sake of our baby and our families.”

Eve couldn’t agree more, but the way he looked at her said he wanted more than just pleasantries. Could she deny him? Probably not, but she did wholeheartedly agree with him that they needed to work together.

“Then you’ll have to stop eye-flirting with me,” she told him, resuming her amazing breakfast.

“Eye-flirting?”

“Yes.” She stabbed another apple with her fork. “You look at me and I can see you undressing me in your mind, but you haven’t made any attempt to do so. I can’t figure you out, but I can’t be on the receiving end of that stare anymore.”

Eve froze midchew as Graham’s fingertip slid along her jawbone. Quickly, she finished her bite so she didn’t choke. Her body responded instantly and he’d barely touched her. Why did she have to still want him? Why couldn’t she get him out of her system?

“I’ll strip you right now and take you on this counter.” He turned her head toward him, his eyes darting to her mouth. “Say the word.”

Oh, she wanted to say the word. Any word. Anything that would turn this passion into action. But she had to think straight...didn’t she? She’d told herself not to fall back into the pattern of sleeping with him. That would be all too easy...and all too amazingly delicious.

No. She couldn’t. They couldn’t work as a team to figure out how to deal with the pregnancy and their families if their clothes were always falling off.

“Oh, my word, that wind is...”

Eve and Graham jerked their attention to the back door where Nora stood, her hair blown around her face, her mouth wide, her eyes even wider. There was a toss-up as to who was more shocked.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Nora finally stated, shaking her long hair away from her face.

There was no reason to deny anything. Seriously. What could Eve say? Graham was sitting right here, shirtless, and Eve had clearly just crawled out of bed. Denying anything at this point would only make Eve look like a fool and insult her sister’s intelligence.

“Plenty of breakfast if you want some,” Graham supplied with that darn sexy grin. Clearly he was going the hospitable route instead of the awkward one.

Eve couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her.

Nora’s eyes narrowed on Graham before she turned to Eve. “You think this is funny? I thought you two were done...whatever it was you were doing.”

Eve started to stand, but Graham put a hand on her arm. “We’re not done, as a matter of fact.”

Eve cringed. If he said anything about the baby, there would be nothing to stop Nora from telling Grace. Eve really needed to be the one to tell her sisters...and not in front of Graham. This was definitely a private matter she needed to handle on her own.

“Eve, come on.” Nora stepped into the kitchen, her eyes locked on Eve’s. “They’re trying to destroy Dad’s name, his reputation. You of all people should get how damning that could be, not only to our family, but to the company. They think he’s hiding secrets, but he’s a dying man. Why would he keep secrets at this point?”

Nora had just wrapped up and delivered the crux of the entire situation in that one question. Why indeed? That the matter was out of her control made this whole pregnancy even scarier. There had to be a way to keep this baby safe from family backlash.

“You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know,” Eve replied, purposely keeping her voice calm, though her heart was pounding hard in her chest. “Graham and I are keeping everything private.” For now. “So this doesn’t need to go any further.” Also, for now. “Did you need something from me?”

Nora blinked, then shook her head. “Seriously? You’re going to brush this off?”

“There’s nothing to brush off,” Eve corrected. Now she did slide out from beneath Graham’s touch so she could stand and approach her sister. “What Graham and I are doing, or not doing, is really only our business.”

Was she honestly going to put Graham above her sisters’ feelings right now? Eve was dangerously close to relationship territory, to an area neither of them ever wanted to be. But he’d stood firm against Brooks regarding the media backlash; that much was obvious from the pullback in the coverage. Perhaps they had already crossed that line and that was something she’d have to think about later.

“Eve wasn’t feeling well last night, so I stayed to make sure she was okay,” Graham chimed in. “Then I made breakfast and was going to head home after we ate. Now that I know she’s feeling better, I’m comfortable leaving.”

The weight on her chest vanished as she realized he wasn’t about to share their secret.

Nora gave him a suspicious look. “You mean you stayed and took care of her because...why? You care about her? Eve, come on. You have to see he’s using you. He’s using you to get closer to Dad.”

The accusation hurt. She knew for a fact Graham wasn’t using her. He wasn’t. He wouldn’t take what they shared and turn it against her. Just because he hated her father didn’t mean he’d be so cruel to her. And she hated that her sister didn’t think someone like Graham would want to be with Eve simply because he found her attractive.

“I’m not using her. In fact, I asked Brooks to retract the media statements he made regarding your father.”

Nora’s eyes narrowed once again. Eve couldn’t blame her sister for being so skeptical. Eve would feel the same way if the roles were reversed. Nora wouldn’t understand there was much more to Eve and Graham than met the eye. And Nora wouldn’t understand because Eve didn’t fully understand it herself.

Another wave of nausea swept over her and Eve swayed on her feet. She gripped the stool and closed her eyes. Instantly Graham had his strong hands around her waist.

“Eve? What?”

She squeezed her eyes tighter, willing the unwanted nausea away. She couldn’t answer for fear of getting sick right here. She hoped staying still for just a moment would help...

“Eve, talk to me,” Graham urged. “Is it the baby?”

“Baby?” Nora exclaimed.

Suddenly Eve’s fear of getting sick wasn’t the issue. Now her sister knew and there was nothing Eve could do to stop this train wreck.