The Pregnancy Test (NY Girlfriends #1)(41)
Author: Erin McCarthy

When he pulled her nipple into his mouth and sucked, she gasped. "So, aren’t you going to stop?"

He shook his head and spoke over her flesh. "No."

"Really, Damien, it’s the middle of the day. We’re in your office…"

She did have a point. He let go, brushing his lips back and forth on her shiny nipple one last time. "So have dinner with me tonight."

"I have a fitting for my bridesmaid dress tonight. Caroline’s wedding is in three weeks."

"Lunch tomorrow, then."

"I have an appointment for my ultrasound on my lunch hour."

Fixing her bra back over her breast, he asked, "Where?"

"At the Downtown Women’s Health Clinic – Broadway and Prince Street – at one o’clock."

"Dinner tomorrow night, then? We’ll celebrate your healthy baby."

"Is that all we’ll be doing?" She adjusted the front of her dress and looked at him in question.

"I’m really hoping you’ll agree to come back to my place so I can make love to you all night long. But if not, I’ll settle for dinner."

His heart pounded and his cock throbbed as he waited for her answer. It meant a lot to him, more than he was willing to admit.

Something was happening to him, and he wasn’t quite sure what it was. The way he felt about Mandy was much stronger than…

"I’ll make sure I bring my toothbrush."

Relief flooded through him. Relief that Mandy wanted to spend the night with him, and relief that he didn’t have to admit to himself that he cared for Mandy way beyond like.

He had sworn never to love anyone again.

He wouldn’t, couldn’t, do that now.

And if he was lying to himself, there was no one to know but him.

Her bladder was going to burst. Mandy shifted in the waiting room chair and tried not to imagine her muscles suddenly giving way and wetting her pants right here in full view of twenty people.

If they didn’t call her name soon she was going to do something drastic. What, she didn’t know. Screaming seemed overdone. Going to the loo in defiance seemed like a bad plan since they would just make her reschedule her ultrasound. Which left her no options but to sit in silence and suffer, praying her bladder was resilient.

It would probably be a lot easier to handle if she had someone to complain to. But she had turned down Jamie and Caroline’s offer to accompany her. Even Allison had offered, though she’d looked a bit reluctant, which made it all the more sweet. Mandy knew Allison didn’t like anything that smacked of nature, including biological functions.

Mandy hadn’t wanted to bother any of them, and also didn’t want the situation to be awkward, since Ben had insisted he wanted to attend. She could barely handle him on her own. She didn’t think she wanted to chitchat through the tension as her overprotective friends glared at Ben.

Only Ben was a no-show. He was thirty minutes late, and unless he’d got lost or stuck in traffic, there was no reason he shouldn’t be there. Even if he was running late, he could call her mobile phone and tell her. The temptation to ring him was great, but she resisted it. She would not nag him or guilt him into participation in her pregnancy.

This had been his bloody idea to be involved. His idea to come to the ultrasound. And here she was sitting by herself.

On the verge of wetting her low-rise Old Navy maternity pants.

Not to mention that she was anxious – terrified that the test would show something wrong with the baby.

She grabbed the magazine next to her on the table and flipped through it to distract herself. It was a news magazine and showed graphic images of bodies littering the ground as workers shifted through earthquake rubble. Lovely.

Someone sat down in the chair next to her. Tossing the magazine, Mandy looked up to smile politely.

It was Damien.

Wearing his suit, carrying the jacket, tie perfectly straight, looking gorgeous and masculine and very, very close.

"Hi," he said, his shoulder brushing hers, and he took her hand, stroked it. "They didn’t call you in yet?"

Mandy shook her head. "What are you doing here?" She needed to tell him to leave. It wasn’t a good idea for him to be here. Anyone could see them together, get the wrong idea. Or worse, she herself might get the wrong idea.

"I just thought you might want some company. In case it’s good news or in case it’s not-so-good news."

Now damn it, just when she decided she should really send him packing, he had to go and say something lovely. His touch was reassuring, gentle, and she wondered how it was that he could so easily read into her fears and doubts and sympathize with them, ease them. Maybe it was because he had known pain, understood fear.

"It’s going to be good news, right, Damien?"

"Of course it is." He kissed her forehead, then smiled. "How’s your bladder?"

"At capacity."

"Mandy Keeling?" A technician stood in the open door with a file folder in her hand.

Thank God. "Yes." Mandy stood up and walked gingerly toward the door, afraid she might be sloshing.

"Dad can come, too." The technician smiled at her and gestured Damien forward. "I’m sure he doesn’t want to miss the show."

Now would be a good time to explain that Damien wasn’t the father, but she really didn’t feel like getting into it with the woman. Besides, she wanted someone with her. She wanted Damien with her.

"Do you want to come?" She turned back to him.

He was already standing and walking toward her. She’d take that as a yes. Mandy glanced at her watch. "I thought you had a one o’clock conference call. It’s twelve-thirty already."

"I moved it to tomorrow."

"Right in here." The technician stopped and let them move ahead of her into a darkened room. "My name is Cheryl, and I’ll be doing your scan. It takes about ten minutes, and then you’ll get to go to the rest room. I’ll give you some pictures of the baby and you’ll be on your way. The results get faxed upstairs to your doctor. This is your first baby, right?"

"Yes," Damien said.

Mandy frowned at him. "I think she was talking to me."

Cheryl laughed. "Okay, lie on your back on the table and roll down the waistband of your pants."

"You’re doing a transabdominal exam, correct?" Damien asked.

Mandy kicked her sandals off and stared at him. She was going to have to wrest that damn pregnancy book out of his hands.