much. On top of that, the solitude of her pregnancy was really starting to weigh on her.
She’d wanted to tell one of her friends, but they’d all been so busy lately that no one had time to meet in person. She’d known that hadn’t been personal. They had their own lives to tend to. Still, like everything else at the moment, their absence cut particularly deep.
Pulling out a chair from the kitchen table, she took a seat and rummaged through her supplies bag. It was time to start thinking about color. She’d sketched a few variations, with each drawing focusing on a different hue.
“Where is it?” she muttered. Finally, her fingers closed over her sketchbook.
It must have been because she was so engrossed in her drawings. Or maybe he’d intentionally opened and closed the door softly. At any rate, she didn’t know Kai was in the apartment until he spoke from the doorway.
“Wow.”
Diane yelped and dropped her sketchbook. It hit the floor with a loud smack.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to spook you.”
“It’s okay.” She knew her face was red and didn’t want him to see it. She turned away from him to pick up the sketchbook, but somehow he was already there.
Scooping up the open book, he extended it to her.
“Thanks,” she mumbled, closing it up. “Why are you home this early?”
He cocked his head. “I’m not. This is my usual time.”
“What?”
She turned to the window, shocked to find it was nearly sunset. Since the lights in Kai’s place were on a timer, she hadn’t noticed the day slipping away. Not only that, but being absorbed in her work probably had something to do with it.
“The outline looks amazing,” Kai said.
“Yes. I mean, thank you.”
She realized she had a death grip on the sketchbook. It was the first time she’d been in Kai’s company since their breakup, and her body was doing all sorts of things. Not only was she burning to touch him, but she was also experiencing an extremely strong case of fight or flight. Her pulse roared like there was a lion on her heels.
Kai walked closer to the wall to inspect the detail on a tree trunk. “You did this all today. Wow.”
She shrugged. “I got here pretty early.”
Five past seven, to be precise, since she knew he would be gone by seven at the latest. She’d worked tirelessly, only pausing to go to the bathroom and scarf down some lunch. Apparently, she should have set an alarm to signal when Kai would be on his way home.
“It’s amazing. Thank you.” He turned to her. She was already standing up and shouldering her supplies bag.
“Will you stay for dinner?” he asked.
Diane opened her mouth, hating that she had to say no.
“Just dinner,” he said. “To thank you for a great job today.”
“That’s all?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, looking put on the spot. “Okay. And because I miss you, Diane. I understand what you said about dating me, but I’m really hoping we can be friends. Even if you don’t have time for a relationship, maybe you can find some time for hanging out and shooting the breeze. Hopefully?”
She looked at the floor at the same time her stomach growled loudly.
“I think that’s a yes,” Kai said. “I was going to make pizza from scratch.”
“You make your own dough?”
“I made it last night. It’s in the fridge now.”
She looked at him. Looked at her bag. And then, even though she knew it had to be the worst idea she’d had in years, she put the bag down.
“Dinner sounds good.”
His face brightened. “Great. Have a seat and get relaxed. What would you like to drink?”
She slowly followed him to the center of the kitchen, where she slid onto one of the island’s stools. “Water is fine.”
“No white wine?” he asked, referencing what he knew to be her favorite drink.
Nope, on account of my being pregnant with your baby.
“No.” She fussed with her hair. “Thanks. I’m not in the drinking mood.”
“Got it.”
He poured her a glass of water, and she reached out to accept it. Everything about their movements felt stiff, and she hated it.
Staying for dinner was a bad idea. She had to be short a few brain cells.
The memory of the first time she’d sat in the kitchen hovered over her. It had been easier to ignore it while she was busy with the mural, but now it commanded all of her attention.
Kai turned away and busied himself with pulling balls of dough from the