said, “I have a cookie that will make you happy to be alive.”
Ginny laughed. “That’d be great.”
“You sound American.”
He saw Ginny waver. The questions directed at her were hard for her to ignore. And the press began closing in on them. Even with his two bodyguards standing six inches away, the reporters and photographers bent around them, shouted questions and took pictures as Marco made Dom’s coffee, retrieved a bottle of water and wrapped a cookie in a napkin.
Dom took their items and turned to say, “Let’s go out to the deck by the dock,” but, as he turned, he saw her sway. Before he could blink, she began to crumble.
He dropped his coffee, the water and the cookie to the counter and just barely caught her before she hit the floor.
The cameras whirred. A gasp went up from the crowd. Dominic’s bodyguards turned to help him as Marco came out from behind the counter, broom in hand.
“Get out of here!” He waved the broom at the paparazzi. “Get out, you brood of vipers!” He glanced behind the counter. “Antonella. I chase them out. You lock the door!”
Down on one knee, holding Ginny, Dominic cast Marco a grateful look as the coffeehouse owner and Dom’s bodyguards shooed the press out of his shop and Antonella locked the door behind them.
Ginny’s eyes slowly blinked open. “It’s so hot.”
He sort of smiled. She was so fragile and so beautiful, and holding her again took him back to their night of dancing in LA and making love in her condo. A million feelings trembled through him. Brilliant memories. A sense of peace that had intermixed with their fun. The wonderful, almost-overwhelming sensation of being able to be himself because she was so comfortable being herself.
“You’re adding to the heat by wearing jeans.”
“Trying to look normal.”
Her skin was clammy. Her eyes listless and dull. His happy, beautiful one-night stand memories dropped like a rock, as his heart squeezed with fear. “We need to get you to the hospital.”
“You’re sending a pregnant woman to the hospital for fainting? You haven’t been around pregnant women much have you?”
“That’s all this is?”
She drew in a breath and suddenly looked stronger. “Heat. Pregnancy. Nerves. Take your pick.”
He said, “Right.” Then nodded at Marco. “Open her water.”
The solicitous shop owner did as he was told. He handed the opened bottle to Dominic, who held it out to her. She took a few sips.
Dominic sighed, grateful she was coming back but so scared internally that he shook from it. His heart had about leaped out of his chest when he saw her falling. “You should probably have a bite or two of the cookie. I told you to eat lunch.”
She smiled. “Wasn’t hungry.”
Antonella brought over the cookie. “You eat.”
Ginny sat up a bit and took the cookie from Antonella’s hands.
“Maybe we should get you to a chair?”
She laughed. “I feel safer down here. No cameras. No one can see me through the windows.”
He felt it, too. Behind the tables and chairs between them and the doorway, he felt totally protected from the press.
She ate a few bites of her cookie, drank the entire bottle of water and held out her hand to him. “We can stand now.”
“We’re going to have to go back to the car though a crowd of reporters and photographers who just saw you faint. If you thought their questions were bad before this—” he caught her gaze “—now they are going to be horrific. A tidal wave of jumbled words and noisy cameras. Are you up for this?”
“I’m fine.”
“Right. As soon as we get home, I’m having you checked out by the doctor.”
“I would expect nothing less from a man accustomed to bossing people around.”
His fear for her wouldn’t recede and she didn’t seem to be taking any of this seriously. “Stop joking. You fainted.”
“On a hot day, after not eating.” She smiled suddenly, pushed herself to her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “I’m fine.”
The unexpected kiss went through him like a warm spring breeze. He told himself not to make too much of it, but how could he not when color was returning to her cheeks and she was smiling, really smiling, for the first time since their argument that morning.
Wanting to get her home, Dominic said, “Let’s go.”
But before they could walk to the door, Marco hugged her and then Antonella hugged her. Dominic finally noticed the few stragglers sitting at the café tables, necks craned to see what was going on. One or two whispered, but in general, they’d given them privacy.
Leading her to the door, he addressed them, “Thank you all for your consideration.”
People nodded and smiled and a few said, “You’re welcome.” Then they reached the door. The lock clicked as Antonella sprang it.
He said, “Ready?”
Ginny nodded.
He opened the door to the whir of cameras and shouts of questions. “How are you?”
“Why did you faint?”
“What’s your last name?”
“Are you pregnant?”
Dominic’s steps faltered.
But Ginny slid her sunglasses on her face and smiled at them. “I didn’t eat lunch.” She turned to Dominic and entwined her arm with his. “Dom told me to eat lunch but—” She held out a leg. “Look at these jeans. They are to die for and I wanted them to fit.” She smiled again. “American girls, right? We love our jeans and we want them to look perfect.”
Then she turned them in the direction of his Mercedes. His bodyguards created a path for them to walk.
He opened the door for her.
She slid inside. Before Dom could close the door, she gave a final wave to the press. “I’m fine,” she called out to them. “And, I swear, I will eat before we come out again.”
Walking around the hood of his car, he heard the rumble of laughter. He peeked up to see the smiles of approval on the faces of those in the crowd. And why not? She was beautiful, approachable, likable.
But he also saw a few reporters frowning in his direction. He saw the ones on their cell phones talking feverishly.
He slid into the car. “You know your pregnancy’s out now, right?”
“Yup.”
