that last. He didn’t want to think about what she’d looked like when it was heat filling her eyes. Desire. Need.
Not when she was standing within the circle of his arms as he told her everything was going to be fine. When she needed reassurance. Not the muscle memory of some residual attraction she wouldn’t be able to ignore springing to life between them.
But, she was so soft and warm and lush and…all the things he didn’t want to notice. Shouldn’t remember about the last time he felt her against his body, beneath his fingertips.
Setting her back a step, he walked to the door, not meeting her eyes as he spoke over his shoulder. “Why don’t you take a few minutes and then meet us downstairs? Get that tour underway.”
* * *
It wasn’t as though Darcy had thought Jeff would be moving in, too. She’d known he was simply dropping her off and then returning to the life he led in the city. They weren’t together. They weren’t a team. They weren’t going to get through all this together.
They were two people, who were going to be sharing a child.
She understood it and had every intention of adhering to those mutually agreed upon limits.
It was just that in a day filled with so much uncertainty and upheaval, he’d made her feel safe. A little less alone.
And for a few minutes, she’d clung to that.
But now, Jeff was leaning in to kiss his mother’s cheek. He’d already made certain Darcy had a list of two dozen phone numbers to use in case of emergency. And after a moment’s hesitation when he didn’t seem sure of whether to hug her or pat her arm, he leaned in and kissed her cheek, too. And then he left.
And Darcy stood staring at the closed door he’d walked out of, next to a woman she didn’t know, in a house she didn’t belong in.
Gail rested a hand at her elbow, offering a sympathetic look. “Are you all right with Jeffery gone?”
“I’ll be fine. Honestly.” It was so difficult to know what to say, circumstances being what they were. But meeting Gail’s eyes she got the sense Jeff’s mother was someone who appreciated the truth. “We hardly know each other.”
Gail looked toward the door. “Give it time. You’ll get to know each other, and figure out how exactly you fit into each other’s lives.”
The way the older woman said it, Darcy wondered if she was holding out hope for a more traditional outcome for their relationship.
“Until then, you can take my totally unbiased opinion as gospel. Jeffrey is a wonderful man, who is going to make as wonderful a father as his was to him. And in case you haven’t figured it out already, he’ll do just about anything to make sure his child has a stable, happy home. You’ll have everything you need. He’ll see to it. And so will I. So…” She leaned in with a conspiratorial wink that was so very Jeff, Darcy almost did a double take. “Would it help even the playing field a bit if I started telling you stories about all the times Jeffery lost his lunch as a boy?”
* * *
“In what universe are we living that you, a guy who makes me look like a pauper, would move your pregnant non-girlfriend into your parents’ spare room? You could buy the building next door to your office tomorrow. With cash. What the hell, man?”
Jeff gripped the wheel with fingers long gone white at the knuckles. “Give me a break, Connor. She’s staying in your old room, so it’s not like we’re talking about some hole down in the basement with a moldy futon. She’s got the entire west wing of the house to herself. She doesn’t even have to use the same door.”
“Glad to hear you aren’t trying to smuggle her in and out through the basement window, but seriously, your mom?”
Connor chuckled from across the miles, his voice going muffled as he invariably filled in his new wife, Megan, on the details. Then he said, “Megan wants to know if your mom is making her pizza puffs on demand.”
“Ha-ha. Megan’s a laugh a minute.”
“Man, I know it. She’s great.” Then quieter, as though there were a hand almost covering the phone, Connor said, “Come here, sweetheart… Great, see you in a few hours, gorgeous.”
When Connor’s attention was returned to the call, Jeff let out a tight breath. “It was the first thing I thought of. She wasn’t going to budge on the job thing. So I found her a job.”
“Working for your mom? And Darcy’s okay with it?”
“Not really. But for now, she’s agreed. So it’s a start.”
“So what happens once she realizes Gail doesn’t actually need any help with anything, from anyone—that if she wanted, she could probably add your job and mine to her mix of charitable foundations without breaking a sweat.”
Jeff stared out the windshield, toward a sea of congested taillights. “I’m hoping Mom can keep her highly efficient tendencies under wraps for at least a couple of months. Long enough to give Darcy a chance to get some rest and me a chance to come up with my next game plan.”
CHAPTER TEN
DARCY WOKE TO the unfamiliar and yet totally identifiable sound of lawn mowers from beyond her window. The sun shone in through the shades she’d neglected to close the night before, casting the room in a warm, golden glow she might have lingered in if not for her standing appointment with morning sickness.
Once taken care of, she showered, and then slipped into a pair of yoga pants and a thin, long sleeve T-shirt before heading downstairs. Gail had been gone when she woke up yesterday and only stopped in for a few minutes around late afternoon before disappearing through most of the evening, which had given Darcy the bulk of the day to familiarize herself with the house. She’d met the two housekeepers, Nancy and Viv, who had been incredibly warm and welcoming, right up to the minute she’d asked if she might help them out with anything. At which point those warm smiles had turned stern and she’d been pointed toward the couch and handed a glass of juice. Apparently, Jeff had spoken with them.
The break had been nice, but so much free time left her at loose ends, and she was looking forward to sitting down with Gail and finding out what her temporary position would entail and how quickly she could get her hands into something. Anything.
Stepping into the kitchen she found Gail standing at the farmhouse-style table a china cup in one hand, a tablet in the other. Stacks of folders spread out in front of her.
She looked up at Darcy’s entrance and smiled her son’s genuine smile. “Wonderful, you’re up! Sleep okay?”
“I did, thank you. How about yourself?”
Gail nodded, quickly, then flapped her hand at the air as if to brush aside the morning pleasantries. “I’d like us to be friends, Darcy. Real friends.”
“That would be nice,” she answered.
“It would. So in the interest of friendship, I suggest we make a pact to be honest with each other. Truthful. Up-front. So we always
