“Get on the couch.” He jerked his chin toward the end of the couch and I scooched down. He was gentle when removing my socks and grabbing my feet. “Holy crap,” he said when he recognized how much water I was carrying in my ankles and feet. “It’s like you’re walking on little sausages.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t ever say that again.”
He laughed, then immediately got to rubbing. “I really am sorry.” He didn’t look me in the eye. “I don’t know what got into me. I just … it really bothered me.”
“Do you remember what happened that night?” I was honestly curious.
“Yeah.” He was rueful. “I didn’t at first. I mean … I remembered bits and pieces. It was just a hodgepodge of images. The thing I remember most is the laughing.”
“Me too. We laughed the whole way back to the casino.”
“The other stuff came back to me over the course of a few weeks. I’m pretty sure I remember it all now, though.”
“You didn’t mention that you’d started remembering.”
“I didn’t see where it was important.” He dug his thumbs into the arch of my foot, and I let loose an involuntary moan that had him smirking. “And yet something tells me you’ll remember this.”
“I would tell you to can your ego, but my feet haven’t felt this good in weeks,” I admitted. “I wanted to go to the spa for a foot massage, but I didn’t want them commenting on how swollen my feet were. It’s embarrassing.”
“How is it embarrassing when you’re pregnant?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I just can’t force myself to go.”
“Well, since I’ve been an ass, why don’t we make my penance that I have to rub your feet at least three times a week? How does that sound?”
Frankly, it sounded heavenly. I was suspicious, though. Who could blame me? “Why are you suddenly being so nice to me? Wait … is this the part where you tell me that you’ve fallen in love with me because I’m carrying your big-headed baby?”
Rather than laugh, his cheeks flooded with color. He looked as if I’d actually nailed his intentions. Wait…
“Ruby, we need to talk.” He moved his hands from my right foot to my left. “I know we agreed not to be romantically involved but … um … what if I want to be romantically involved?”
All I could do was stare at him.
“With you,” he added when I didn’t say anything. “What if I want to be romantically involved with you?”
I didn’t know how to respond. On the face of it, the suggestion was laughable. We didn’t have anything in common. Well, other than the baby. We worked together. We’d known each other since we were kids. It was never going to work.
Still, part of me wanted to say yes. My heart actually leaped when he said it. Why was I having that reaction? I couldn’t understand any of it. “Rex.” That was all I said. His name. I didn’t know what else to say.
“I know it seems weird.” He kept rubbing my feet. “It’s just … I feel things when I see you now. I can’t help it. I tried to deny it when your brother suggested I was feeling things, but he’s right.”
“Is this because you thought I was flirting with Link?”
He scowled. “I hate that guy.”
“I was getting moisturizer suggestions from him. He has beautiful skin, even in the desert.”
“I still hate that guy.”
Laughter bubbled up. “Well, you don’t need to. I have no intention of getting involved with anybody. If you’re worrying about somebody else raising your baby, you don’t have to. That isn’t even on my radar at the moment.”
He didn’t immediately respond. His forehead creased as he thought about what I’d said. I decided to push things even further.
“Have you considered that you only believe you have feelings for me because of this?” I gestured toward my stomach. “One of the books I read suggests that men feel powerful when they see women carrying their babies. Like … an ‘I did that’ thing.”
“Basically, you’re saying that I’m a macho asshole,” he deduced.
“Normally, I wouldn’t call you an asshole. Your behavior of the last few days has been a bit assholish, however. I knew you wouldn’t stay away forever if that’s what you’re worried about. You just get yourself worked up about things occasionally. It’s fine.”
