Читать книгу The Makeover Takeover - Sandra Paul, Sandra Paul - Страница 13

“Yeah, it’s me.” She looked surprised to see him, Rafe noticed. He could understand that. He was pretty surprised himself that he’d ended up on her doorstep this evening.

He stared down at her as she stood half-hidden by the door, her slight figure silhouetted by the light behind her. All day he’d told himself he wasn’t going to come over here again—that he wasn’t going to ask her a damn thing. Because even after seeing those baby bottles on her list, he still didn’t believe Lauren was the woman Kane sought. That she’d deliberately get pregnant like that.

But then he’d realized that maybe it hadn’t been deliberate. What if some guy—like this Jay character—had taken advantage of her? Gotten her into trouble? What if she’d accidentally gotten pregnant that way?

The more he’d thought about it, the more the evidence had added up. She’d been sick this morning—and had admitted she’d been ill all week. She’d also been awfully anxious not to let him into her apartment. Why, she’d practically raced to her bedroom to pull the door closed. He’d thought at the time she was embarrassed to have him see her clothes lying around, but maybe what she’d really been trying to prevent was him seeing someone else’s clothes in there. Like a man’s shirt. Or shoes. Or pants. That seemed a definite possibility.

But even more compelling was the feeling he’d been having lately; the one that until today he’d chalked up to his imagination. The feeling that Lauren was hiding something from him.

She wasn’t as confiding as she’d been when they’d first started working together. More and more often, she’d have a shuttered, closed expression on her face when she looked at him. As if she had a secret she was determined not to share.

Not, Rafe reminded himself, that it was any of his business if Lauren didn’t want to tell him about her personal life. She might be more naive than most women he knew, but she was still an adult, capable of making her own decisions—stupid though they might be.

Like unlocking her door without a moment’s hesitation. That wasn’t any of his business either, yet he couldn’t help asking, “Don’t you think you should check first to see who’s out here before opening your door?”

“I usually do,” Lauren said, tucking back a strand of hair that had fallen along her cheek. “But I was expecting someone.”

“Jay, I suppose,” he drawled.

She nodded. Even though Rafe had suspected as much, her ready agreement caused a spark of irritation to flare inside him. Not that it was any of his business who she hung out with on her time off, of course. Not at all.

“Is there something wrong? Do you want to come in?”

He glanced down at her again. She was staring up at him with a puzzled, slightly worried expression. “Did you come over for anything special?” she added.

“I just stopped by to see how you were doing.”

Her face lit up with shy pleasure, and she hugged the door a little closer. “I’m fine now. I don’t feel sick at all anymore.”

“That’s great.” Rafe shoved his hands into his pockets. “Glad to hear it.”