The Girl Next Door - Emma Hart Page 0,18

was already dark out.

I looked down at her.

She was so fucking beautiful.

I had no idea how I was going to make it through the next few months without falling in love with her.

It sounded crazy, but it was the truth. I already had these wild feelings for her, ones that just wouldn’t go away no matter how hard I tried.

Keeping those in check was going to be so hard. Especially if she kept doing shit like falling asleep on me.

I adjusted myself so I was almost lying on the sofa and gently raised my arm. Ivy whimpered as her head fell onto my chest, but it only took her two seconds before she wriggled and snuggled into me.

What the fuck was I doing? I needed to move away from her, not lie on her sofa and hold her against me like some lovesick fucking puppy.

It wasn’t about that, though, I told myself. She was pregnant with my baby. She needed someone to look after her, and right now, that was me. I wasn’t so stupid that I assumed what she was going through was easy.

In fact, I knew it wasn’t. I could use Google, and I had used Google. I probably knew more than I should about the early stages of pregnancy, but I just wanted her to know that I really did care.

It was easy to say you cared.

It was a whole lot harder to show it.

I didn’t want Ivy to doubt me for a second.

I wrapped my arm around her and held her close to me. Her heavy exhales were hot against my chest, even through my t-shirt, and she nestled in even closer to me.

There was no way I could move her.

I was officially stuck here until she woke up.

Judging by the way she was now drooling on my shirt, it was going to be a while.

I reached out toward the coffee table. I was just able to touch the remote, so I nudged it until I could get a full grip of it to change the dumb girly movie.

I still had no fucking idea what was happening in it.

I flicked through Netflix until I found a sports documentary that was more to my liking and settled down to watch it.

Hopefully, Ivy would wake up soon.

If she didn’t, I sure as hell hoped she wouldn’t notice my boner in the morning.

CHAPTER SEVEN – IVY

I was lying on Kai.

The sleepy—yet shocking—revelation was enough to drag me out of the post-sleep haze, but it was the tell-tale sign of drool on his t-shirt that made this even worse.

Great.

Now he knew I was a drooler.

My bladder was also fit to burst.

Oh, God. I was going to have to wake him up.

I tilted my head back, careful not to dislodge his arm too much. He was completely dead to the world, and the sunrise that was creeping through the windows cast golden shadows across his face that made him even more handsome than he was usually.

Good God, this baby was going to be a beautiful one.

If it had even half of Kai’s good looks, that was. Maybe it would have his bright blue eyes, or his dark brown hair that had hints of gold in the sunlight. If it was a boy, would it grow up to have his jaw? His smile? Or would he have my slightly crooked nose?

What if the baby was a girl? Would she have his unfairly long eyelashes or my thankfully well-shaped eyebrows? Or would she have both?

Maybe she’d have neither.

That seemed to be how it worked.

Men got the beautiful eyelashes, and women had to pay a beautician a pretty penny to get them.

I sighed.

“Ivy, if you need to move, then move,” Kai muttered, not opening his eyes. “But stop staring at me like I’m a jar of pickles.”

“I need to pee,” I whispered.

“Then go and pee,” he whispered right back. “What time is it?”

“Sunrise.”

“I was hoping for a more exact time.”

“Too fucking early?” I offered, moving so that I was no longer lying on him.

He twisted his body so I had room to stand. “Does that mean I can finish my sleep in your bed? Don’t get me wrong, you’re a great hot water bottle, but your sofa is about as comfortable as a slab of rock.”

I wrinkled my face up. “I suppose it wouldn’t be fair to say no, since you’ve been my pillow all night. But keep your pants on.”

“Negative.” He got up, following me through the apartment. “I’ve already worn them for