The Girl Next Door - Emma Hart Page 0,35

of the baby.

Which is why I was a little pissed Anna had spilled the beans entirely about last night and about how upset I’d been that I couldn’t get hold of him. He had no obligation to drop everything every single time I felt unwell, especially not time with his friends.

He had his own life, and not every second of it had to revolve around me.

Not now, not ever.

Another check in the ‘dating obligation’ checkbox.

But still, nobody else was knocking down my door, and I really did like Kai. Too much, I thought sometimes. And he really was the best cuddler I’d ever met in my life. Curling up against him at night wasn’t exactly a hardship, especially last night.

When he’d thought I was asleep.

When he’d whispered how sorry he was.

When he’d whispered how much he cared.

When he’d whispered how crazy he was about me.

I dropped down to my bed. Sometimes, it felt like it was all too much. Like my life had been twisted and turned upside down in the space of a week.

How long had he been hiding those feelings?

As long as I’d been hiding my own attraction to him?

Was that possible? Had we really lived opposite each other for this long without either of us ever coming clean?

Was Vincent’s party, the night we slept together, the night he wanted things to change?

Who was I kidding? Of course it was. That was obvious. He’d even had a conversation with the old man about asking me out, and I’d brushed it off like it was nothing.

Why wouldn’t I? I’d seen Kai flirt with tons of women—after all, our friends were in similar circles—and I had no reason to believe his interest in me was anything more than superficial.

Until now.

Until last night when he’d whispered into my hair right before he’d kissed the top of my head.

Three times.

You didn’t kiss someone’s head three times unless you really cared about them.

But for now, I had to figure out what to wear to a mini golf date.

Oh, fuck me. This was so stupid. It didn’t matter what I wore. We’d cooked breakfast together while I was wearing an old hockey t-shirt of his, for goodness sake, and that had only happened a few hours ago.

That t-shirt was now mine.

At least it was in my laundry basket, so that meant it was mine.

I wasn’t going to give it back willingly. It was soft and large enough that it would cover my stomach at the grocery store. A fact that was surprisingly important—I didn’t want all the pensioners in town cooing over me.

If they couldn’t see my growing stomach, they couldn’t coo.

Not that it was growing right now. I liked to kid myself it was, but it was really just bloating.

That was what I got for eating seven slices of bacon at breakfast.

I didn’t see anything wrong with that, for what it was worth.

Sighing, I moved to my dresser and pulled out some skinny jeans. I probably wasn’t going to fit into these for much longer so I was going to make the most of it while I still could.

I combined them with a loose, flowy shirt and some white ballet flats, then brushed my hair so it resembled something a little less than a rat’s nest.

But only a little, so I pulled it up into a ponytail before twisting it into a loose bun.

There.

That was better.

I hesitated over makeup before applying a little mascara. It had the desired effect, and I nodded at my reflection.

At least my complexion no longer resembled that of a ghost.

Three knocks sounded at my door before it opened, and I walked out to see Kai letting himself in.

“Come on in,” I teased, brushing a few wayward baby hairs from my eyes.

He looked up with a grin. “Thanks. I thought I would. Are you ready?”

“Do I look ready?”

“I don’t know. I’m not a fashion expert.” He hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his own jeans. “So are you?”

“Ready to get stopped by every single person in town to be asked endless questions like, “When’s the baby due?” or, “I didn’t know you were dating!” or, “Where’s your wedding ring, Ivy?”” I wrinkled my nose. “Sure. Can’t wait.”

“Well, I can’t help you with the first two, but I have a solution for the last one.”

“If you propose to me, I’m going to whack you with a cucumber.”

“A cucumber?”

I pulled one out of the fridge. “Yes, a cucumber.”

He blinked at me for a moment before he shook his head. “You’re