“Well, I should get going,” I said, clearing up my trash.
At my car, I went to open the door when his hand grabbed mine, stopping me in my tracks and bringing my eyes to his. “Carina, I am sorry. I want to be there for you both, and I’ll prove to you that I can be. We’ll figure this out, and I’ll be there to do it.”
I wanted to give in to his words, but I remembered the twenty minutes I sat in a restaurant eating chips while he made out with some woman, and doubt held me back. I tried to give him some affirmations, but nothing was holding the doubt back from coloring my voice. “Okay, Ian. Night.”
His eyes slid closed as if he was in pain, but it wasn’t my job to make him feel better. He did this. When he opened them again, he tried for a smile, but it didn’t reach far. “Goodnight, Carina.”
He stepped closer and placed his hands on my stomach between us, leaning to press a soft kiss to my cheek. All the air sucked from my lungs at his touch, but he pulled back before I could do anything but barely register the heat that spread from his touch.
Just a single touch and my body burned for him.
Stupid hormones.
9 Ian
Ian: Craving anything??
Ian: I can have it here waiting for you.
Carina: I’m good. Thank you.
Ian: Sure?
Carina: Yes.
Ian: What about me? Are you craving me? ;*
Carina: *rolls eyes*
Ian: Ha! I don’t hear a no.
“Look at you, smiling like a fool,” Erik said as I strode into his office.
I flipped him off, but he wasn’t wrong. The past week Carina and I had been exchanging text messages. Well, I’d been sending them, and she’d been giving brief responses in return. But I was hopeful I’d break her down. I knew she had a wild side—I’d seen glimpses of it—but I knew she’d been hurt. It would take time to bring it out, and I was willing to be a patient man.
“Hey, Little Brandt,” I greeted Hanna, who was already sitting on the couch. “How’s life down in accounting?”
Bergamo and Brandt took up two floors of the sky rise, and Hanna was a floor below. Erik and I had claimed the two biggest offices, even though he won the better one. I tried to demand a rematch in Rock, Paper, Scissors every year but he never took the bait.
“It’s accrual world down there,” she responded with a smirk, standing to meet me halfway across the room. “But we do our best to be audit we can be.”
I laughed at her jokes, pulling her in for a hug. “Someone is full of puns this morning.”
“Better than dirty jokes like someone I know.”
“Whatever, you love it.” Pinning my arm tight around her, I held her close and gently rubbed my knuckles atop her head. She squealed in laughter at my soft noogie.
She broke free and brushed the dark strands out of her face, her green eyes sparkling with happiness, bringing forth my own smile. I did all I could to make Hanna happy. After what she’d been through, she deserved more.
Once her hair was clear, she leaned in for another hug. “I do love it,” she said softly.
A throat cleared behind me and I turned to find Carina standing proud, her chin lifted high, Jared next to her. He was rubbing the back of his head like he was uncomfortable with mine and Hanna’s affection. She was like a sister to me, and he was used to how we interacted over the years, which made me question his reaction until he glanced toward Carina.
Did Carina see it differently? Was she jealous?
She wasn’t even looking at me anymore. Instead, making her way over to shake Erik’s hand. She didn’t even care I was in the room—I highly doubted she was jealous of the noogie I just gave Hanna.
“Where’s Alexandra?” Carina asked.
“She had a study group she had to be at. So, we can go ahead and get started.”
The meeting moved quickly. Or it seemed quickly. Probably because I was stuck in a trance watching Carina move around her trifold posters. Her hands moved animatedly as she talked, taking moments to rest on her round stomach. I even caught her looking my way a time or two. She quickly looked away, but not before I gave her a knowing smile.
Before I knew it, we were all packing up, getting ready to go back to our own work.
“Hey, Ian. Do you want to grab some lunch?” Hanna asked, pulling my attention away from staring at Carina.
“No can do, Little Brandt. I’m going to try and talk Carina into having lunch with me. Maybe tomorrow?”
She looked down before returning with a smile that looked a little forced. “Yeah. Totally.” She hesitated, looking past me to Carina. “So…she’s really pregnant with your baby?”