He patted her hand kindly as she was transferred to a bed in the darkened room, but his attention was already on the scanning machine, caught up in the routine of what he needed to do.
Susie was keenly aware of Sergio next to her as she was prepped for the scan. She had not allowed him to go with her to any of her appointments. She wasn’t sure why, but somewhere in the back of her mind she thought that it would have felt like another little surrender to the overwhelming love she felt for him. She had to keep some precious distance between them—had to preserve a little bit of neutrality or else get completely lost.
And she had always made sure to keep herself well covered. In fairness, she had increased in size, but not dramatically. But now, as her gown was opened so that the scan could begin, she was acutely conscious of the body she had so carefully hidden from him over the past few months.
She sneaked a glance at him and he caught her eyes in the darkened room and held them.
Now that she was lying on this bed it dawned on her that her pains had subsided considerably. Typical.
He leaned down so that he was speaking quietly into her ear. ‘Stop thinking and just focus on the scan, Susie.’
Susie reddened and looked away. She stared at the monitor and tried hard to ignore her protruding, rounded belly.
Sergio, his gaze firmly fixed on the screen which had now been swivelled in their direction, marvelled that he could counsel her to stop thinking when he himself was caught up in a series of unwelcome thoughts.
What the heck did she mean by telling him that it was perfectly okay for him to entertain another woman? Was it her way of reminding him that she, likewise, was entitled to the freedom to entertain other men?
His eyes dropped briefly to her stomach, his first glimpse of her changed body, and possessiveness ripped through him.
She wouldn’t look at another man now, but what about after the baby was born...?
She was swollen with his child—was she already contemplating the prospect of getting back into shape and meeting his replacement?
No. He refused to entertain that notion. Not here and not now.
He fixed all his attention on the picture presenting itself on the monitor and forgot all about the nagging anxieties playing at the back of his mind as the consultant took them through everything they were looking at—including the strong heartbeat which announced that everything was all right and there had been nothing to worry about after all.
‘Always a good idea to get to hospital if you feel anything out of the ordinary,’ he said kindly when, half an hour later, the lights were switched on and the gown, thankfully, was put back over her stomach.
‘I panicked,’ Susie confessed.
‘Perfectly understandable,’ the consultant told her. ‘But everything seems to be in order. I should take it easy for the remainder of your pregnancy, though. Is there anyone staying with you—?’
‘I’ll be there,’ Sergio interrupted, and Susie looked at him, open-mouthed.
He didn’t look at her. He didn’t have to in order to know exactly what she was thinking. That she wanted to preserve her independence and having him living with her under the same roof would be an appalling prospect.
Tough.
The consultant, already glancing at his watch, thinking ahead to his next appointment, was nodding and filling them in on the importance of making sure that she took it easy, didn’t do anything that required too much exertion. Telling them that everything was fine, but that the human body had a cunning way of letting people know when things might be wrong.
And then, as fast as they had been swept up in the drama of the moment, they were on their own—free to leave the hospital.
‘What did you mean when you told the consultant that you would be staying with me?’ Susie asked abruptly.
For a while, when she had been focusing on the grainy little image of the baby, she had been wholly consumed, but now she was back to her anxious thoughts. She folded her arms and stared at him.
He might not have found someone else yet, but he would sooner or later—and how was she going to build up the strength to deal with that if he now intended to move in? She needed respite from his suffocating presence! The last thing she needed was to have him around all the time, reminding her that their relationship was not really a relationship.