Catch 'n' Kiss (Are You Game?) (26 page)

Dan crossed his arms and waited him out.

“Sorry.” Luc sucked in a breath. “Man, you really fucked that up, didn’t you?”

Dan sighed. There was no avoiding it. “Yeah. I might have fudged the delivery of my proposal but my intentions are serious. She thinks it’s because of the baby, and she’s partially right, but the baby isn’t the only reason I want to marry your sister.”

“Does she know the other reason?” Luc asked. “Do you?”

“You know I do.” He wasn’t about to declare his love for Jody to her brother. No. The first person to hear those words from him would be the woman he’d fallen in love with. Only she wasn’t ready to hear them. “Look, I know I’ve got some ground work to do and not all of it is to repair the damage I’ve done. In fact, most of it is because some arsehole took her love and her trust and crushed them under his feet as he was walking out the door.

“Is that fair? Fuck no. But it’s the way it is and it’s my reality and hers. Now I have to work out how to show her I’m serious and ready to stand beside her every step of the way, so what I need from you is support. As a friend and her brother. Can you do that?” Dan asked.

“All I want is for Jody to be happy. If that’s being with you then I’m all for it, but I don’t see how I can help you prove you’re serious about her. I couldn’t convince her not to marry Colin all those years ago, so even if I want her to marry you—which I will admit I’m leaning towards—she isn’t going to listen to me sprouting off your virtues.”

“Okay, maybe support is the wrong word.” Dan scratched his chin. What was he asking Luc for?

“How about I agree to stay out of it?” Luc asked. “I won’t offer advice to either of you or interfere.”

“Thanks.” Dan held out his hand. “I appreciate your understanding. We need to work this out between the two of us.”

Luc shook his hand. “I’ll be honest and tell you I think you’re good for both her and the girls. And you’re a thousand times a better man than Colin is or was. As stubborn as my sister is, my money’s on you.”

Dan smiled. “Let’s see if you still think that way in a few weeks.” He turned to go but then remembered something he wanted to ask. “Hey, you didn’t tell the girls about the baby did you?”

“And risk my sister removing any future chance of me having babies of my own? Not on your life.” Luc shuddered.

Dan had to laugh. The idea of this six-foot-five-inch solid wall of muscle being frightened of his much smaller sister was ludicrous. “Good. Although I’m not happy with her decision to keep quiet about the baby, I see her point in not telling anyone until she’s further along.”

“Me too. But they’re asking questions—lots of them—so expect to be subjected to their brand of the Spanish Inquisition the second I bring them home.”

“We’ll let Jody handle it. I’ll let you know when we’re back at her place. I’m expecting around five, so if you guys want to stick around we can order pizza for dinner.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you then.” Luc waved before he headed across the street to where he’d parked.

Dan waited until Luc was out of sight before heading back inside. He’d left Jody’s room about thirty minutes ago. She’d been napping on and off all morning, and he wasn’t sure how she thought she was going back to work on Monday, but he’d let her think whatever made her happy for now. Cassie had already decided she wasn’t going in. Of course, Dan had to be the bearer of that news flash. He figured he’d wait until Sunday night to let that piece of info out.

When he made it back to the room, Jody was out of bed, the IV had been removed and a nurse was helping her get ready to shower.

“Looks like I made it back just in time,” he said as he walked over with the bag of clothes. “Here, I got Luc to bring you some clean clothes.”

“Really?” Jody’s face lit up and the smile that stretched her lips made him smile in return.

“Yep. I didn’t check what he brought, but anything would be better than what you came in here wearing yesterday.”

“Oh my God, yes. I was contemplating going home in a hospital gown. The idea of re-wearing the clothes I’m sure I wore for three days straight is too repulsive to think about, never mind do.”

He leaned over and planted a kiss on her forehead. “Good thing you’ve got me around to think of these things then, isn’t it?”

“I wish my man was so thoughtful,” the nurse said. “Come on. Let’s get you in the shower so you can go home with that gorgeous man of yours.”

Jody frowned but Dan smiled. He couldn’t have paid the woman to sing his praises better. Now all he needed was for Jody to see those good points and realise they weren’t booby trapped.

Jody wasn’t ready to go home with that gorgeous man of hers. For a start, he wasn’t hers. And
he
was the reason she’d ended up in here. Okay, that wasn’t fair. If anyone was to blame for this accidental pregnancy, it was her. He’d accepted in good faith that she was safe and look where that had gotten him. A father-to-be. She was the one who’d proven untrustworthy, and yet not once had he uttered a word of blame in her direction.

The nurse made sure she was all right before leaving her in the bathroom to shower. It felt good washing away four days of sweat and sickness. She remembered showering Tuesday night after Dan left, but everything else was a blur except sending the girls off to school on Wednesday morning. Lord knows what they’d been doing while she’d been so sick. Or what they’d been eating. Another wave of guilt swamped her. She’d left the girls to fend for themselves. Anything could have happened to them while she’d been out of it.

She ducked her head under the water to wet her hair then grabbed the little bottle of shampoo the nurse had left her. It didn’t smell the best, but anything would be better than the foul odour emanating from her hair right now. Lathering up, she scrubbed at her scalp with her nails before rinsing and repeating. A palm-full of conditioner left her hair silky smooth and she made quick work of washing the rest of her body. She’d been in here a while and the last thing she wanted was for Dan to come in to check on her.

Jody stepped out and used the scratchy hospital towel to dry off then pulled out the clothes Luc had brought over. She was surprised her brother hadn’t come in to see her. Then again, he probably didn’t want to for fear they’d end up in an argument about being stupid and getting pregnant again. When she’d conceived Leigh he’d been so angry, but that had been nothing compared to when she’d told him she was marrying Colin for the sake of their baby. He’d exploded. They’d had a huge argument and the result had been months of not speaking to each other. Jody could only imagine how pissed off he was that she’d managed to do it again.

Shaking off the memories, she got dressed, gathered her things and left the bathroom. Dan waited in the chair next to the bed. He was flicking through a magazine he’d picked up for her last night. Jody didn’t think there was anything appealing in the gossip mag for him to read, but there wasn’t anything else for him to do while he waited for her.

He glanced up. “Ready? The nurse dropped off your paperwork.” He pointed at the bed.

She picked up the bundle of papers and tucked them into the backpack. “So I’m clear to go then?”

“Yep. We just have to buzz the nurse and she’ll bring a wheelchair in.”

“A wheelchair? I can walk.” The idea of being pushed out of here grated. She wanted to walk out. Probably a trivial thing, but she needed to be in control of something right now.

“You can argue with the nurse over it.” Dan leaned over and pressed the call button.

A nurse arrived within a minute, a wheelchair leading the way.

“I’m not getting in that thing.” Jody didn’t wait for the woman to get all the way in the room before voicing her protest.

“You think you’re up to walking out?” the nurse asked.

“Yes.”

“Okay, but I’ll still have to come down to street level with you. Hospital policy.” She pushed the wheelchair off to the corner.

“Let’s go then,” Jody said.

“In a hurry?” Dan asked.

“Aren’t you ready to get out of here? And you didn’t even have to stay. You chose to be here overnight.” Jody shook her head. She still couldn’t believe he’d spent the night in the recliner in her room. And now that she looked at him, she realised he looked a little worse for wear. “You need a shower.”

Dan laughed. “Thanks. I’ll grab one when we get home.”

Her heart skipped a beat. Going home with Dan was the last thing she wanted. She wasn’t ready to face the future. The stay in hospital might have been uncomfortable—and annoying—but at least she’d been able to avoid the whole Dan and baby situation to a certain degree.

“C’mon, I thought you wanted out of here?” Dan stood in the doorway, the nurse already out in the hall.

Jody had been too busy thinking about something she had no power of stopping instead of paying attention to what was going on around her. “Sorry. I was just wondering what to cook the girls for dinner,” she lied.

“Already sorted. We’re ordering pizza when Luc and Cassie drop them off.”

He held out his hand, and without thought she closed the distance between them and slid her hand into his, weaving their fingers together instantly. And didn’t that say it all about their relationship. When she didn’t think, when she went on gut instinct, she walked straight towards him. It was only when her brain—her wounded heart—got involved that she ran in the opposite direction out of fear.

Chapter Twenty

“Dan!” West clicked his fingers in front of Dan’s face.

“Shit. Sorry. What?” He’d been doing that a lot in the last few weeks. Ever since he’d taken Jody to the hospital, he’d pretty much spent twenty-four hours a day awake.

“You look like crap man. Are you sleeping at all?” West’s face creased in concern.

“Yeah, a few hours a night.”

“You can’t keep this up. Something’s got to give.”

Dan agreed. “I know, but Jody’s barely tolerating me as it is. The only way to get more sleep is to leave her to take care of herself and the girls every night after she’s been at work all day. And there’s no way I’m doing that.”

“Running yourself into the ground won’t help anyone either,” West protested.

“I know, and I’m working on solving the problem.” And he was. It was just taking a lot longer than he thought it would to win Jody over.

“Jody seems to have taken Cassie’s change to her hours okay.”

Dan laughed. If only. “Ah, yeah, no. I thought Jody was going to pop a blood vessel when Cassie said she was changing her to nine to five, Monday to Friday. Of course, Jody blamed me for that and let me know it.”

“Surely she’s happier not working weekends. She gets to be at home with her girls. Which reminds me, does anyone know she’s pregnant yet?”

Dan had confided in West weeks ago, but other than Cassie and Luc, Jody’s pregnancy was still a state secret. He shook his head. “No. She wants to wait until the twelve-week mark to tell Leigh, Amy and her parents. Of course, that means I haven’t been able to tell my family either. I’m not looking forward to the earbashing I’m going to get over that.”

“They’ll get over it. C’mon, let’s get this food loaded so you can get on your way.”

Glancing at his watch, Dan saw he’d be late if he didn’t get a move on. “Shit. I seem to be constantly running five minutes behind.”

West smiled and handed him a cooler box of food. “Better late than never.”

“Can’t be late. This stuff has to be there by eleven-thirty ready for lunch.”

“You’ve got plenty of time. Traffic isn’t bad this time of day. You’ll be across town and back again before one.” West picked up a crate of drinks.

“I know, but I was hoping to have enough time to duck home to Jody’s and check on her before I came back to the warehouse.”

“Everything okay? She’s not sick again is she?”

“No. She’s doing really well actually, but that’s what worries me. Yesterday I found her up a ladder dusting the ceiling fans.” Dan shook his head. “A picture of her sprawled on the floor flashed in my mind and I yelled at her, which of course made her start and the ladder wobbled…took ten years off my life.”

West frowned. “She’s pregnant, not a cripple. Surely she’s capable of climbing a ladder and cleaning the fans.”

Dan slid the cooler into the back of the van with a sigh. “Yeah. She is. It’s me that isn’t capable of seeing her do it.”

“Ah, I see. You need to go home because you’re in the dog house again.”

“I’m always in the dog house.” Dan laughed as he headed back to the kitchen for the second cooler of food. “But I figure if she’s seeing me she can’t forget about me.”

West chuckled. “I doubt that’s possible, mate. She’s carrying your kid. Kind of hard to forget you when she’s feeling sick every day.”

One more strike against him as far as Dan was concerned. Jody had told him she’d breezed through her other pregnancies without so much as an up-chuck. His baby, however, was determined to make his mother throw up every damn day. At least she was only sick first thing in the morning now. And once that initial wave of nausea passed, it was smooth sailing for the rest of the day.

“Not exactly an endearing effect though,” Dan said.