watch her read on the couch. Reluctantly, he’d given in when she promised to text if she needed anything. Of course, that meant he didn’t hear from her all day. When he’d gone over there to check on her an hour before they needed to leave to go to the dinner party, her found her completely ready. Her exhaustion was palpable. The effort of getting ready had taken its toll on her so much he couldn’t even bring himself to berate her for not calling him to help.
But no more. He wasn’t going to sit by and let her get sick again. He planned to actually move in to her place tonight. No more going back over to his house for little things like showers. She’d just earned herself a new roommate; she just didn’t realize it yet. He’d save that little tidbit for on the way home tonight. No reason to have a fight before their evening out.
As he gave her his hand to help her out of the truck, he noticed her hands were freezing. The temperatures had been moderate for West Texas in mid-May when they normally would already be pushing up toward the century mark, but it certainly wasn’t anywhere even close to chilly out here. He examined her face and kept hold of her hand. “Are you okay? Your hand’s cold.”
When she directed her hazel eyes at him, he was struck by the golden flecks reflecting the evening sunlight filtering into the parking garage. Their gazes met and held. Something inside him melted. This woman meant so much to him. Why had things gone so wrong between them?
“I’m fine,” she said, her voice quiet with an unspoken emotion.
He stood there for a moment, refusing to relinquish his grasp on her hand as he examined her, looking for the truth in her words. Finally, he nodded, threaded his fingers through hers and tugged her toward the elevators up to Colton and Penelope’s loft apartment.
Penelope answered Chris’s knock on their door. The glow on her face told him that she was feeling much better today than the last time he’d seen her.
She gave him a grin before she drew Julie in for a hug. “How are you feeling? I hope this isn’t too much too soon for you.” She pulled Julie out of Chris’s hand and dragged her toward the couch. “I have a place reserved for you here for the rest of the night. You’re not to get up and do anything that one of us can do for you.”
Julie tried to protest, but Penelope wouldn’t hear of it.
He trailed behind them, smiling at Penelope. Watching her take care of Julie proved without a doubt she would make a wonderful mother. Colton stepped in from the balcony outside. “Hey guys. I hope you brought your appetites. We have steaks, baked potatoes, and vegetable skewers going on the grill.”
“Steaks?” Chris asked, looking over at Penelope, who was a vegetarian.
She smiled. “Don’t worry. There’s no way he’d ever let me starve. There’s a vegetarian chili to go on top of my baked potato.”
“If you’re eating chili, you must be feeling better.” Chris studied her, but the circles that had been present under her eyes the last time he’d seen her had diminished. If anything, she truly looked like pregnancy was good for her. She had a pink in her cheeks and a happy glow about her.
“Yeah, the morning sickness has relented for the last couple of days. I figure Junior’s hungry so my stomach is letting me eat.” Penelope lovingly patted her still-flat tummy. “Have you talked to Cassie yet?”
Chris nodded. “She called right after they landed to let me know they’d arrived, but Jake’s mom picked them up and wanted to hear all the stories about their trip so she just said we’d chat tonight. Regardless, it sounds like they had a good time.”
“Was there ever any doubt?” Colton asked.
“No,” Chris shook his head ruefully, “not really. They’re always happy as long as they’re together and I’m sure a European backdrop just enhanced that.” Jake and Cassie had traveled to Austria for their honeymoon.
Penelope started toward the kitchen. “Can I get you all something to drink?”
“Just water for me,” Julie answered.
“I’ll take a beer.” Chris followed her into the kitchen before turning back to Colton and glancing down at the bottle in his hand that looked to be empty. “Do you need a fresh one?”
About an hour later, Chris watched Julie laugh with Penelope on the couch.