AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Asshole,” I mutter. “I’m just checking to see if King Douche Bag is interested in coming to my doctor’s appointment this evening.”
“I will go and see.” Kirill saunters off, leaving me standing at the doorway with the vast no-man’s-land of gym equipment between us.
It’s a sad state of affairs when you need a go-between to speak to your baby daddy. From here, I can’t decipher Ruslan’s expression. The slight furrow between his brows persists through his entire conversation with Kirill. It lasts longer than I expect to. At one point, I wonder if they’re arguing, but when Kirill walks back over to me, he seems as good-natured as ever.
“He’ll be there.”
“Oh. Okay.” I sneak a glance past Kirill’s shoulder. Ruslan has moved on to the bench press and suddenly, Kirill’s cheeky suggestion from earlier doesn’t sound quite so bad.
Escape, girl,begs my inner wise woman’s voice.Get your horny ass away from the potential scene of the crime.
But those muscles hold me captive for a moment. He’s absolutely manhandling that barbell. Maybe I should offer myself up instead…?
Abort. Flee. Run for your life.
Kirill passes me a towel from a nearby shelf. “Here you go.”
“What is this for?” I ask as I take it.
“For the drool running down the side of your mouth.”
I fling the towel at his face and get the hell out of the gym before I embarrass myself further. I need to get on that special order of mine.
And fast.
* * *
“Is this your first?”
I blink up at the doctor. I haven’t been paying a whole lot of attention to this appointment so far. Mostly because of the surly shadow in the far corner of the room. I’m not sure why he decided to be here at all, because he’s spent most of the appointment on his phone. Apart from greeting the doctor with a curt nod, he hasn’t looked up once.
Never thought I’d be jealous of a screen.
“Sorry?”
When Dr. Owens smiles, his warm brown eyes wrinkle at the edges. He looks like he really means that smile.
“I asked if this is your first baby.”
“Yes. I mean, uh, no.” Dr. Owens frowns in Ruslan’s direction as though my distraction is his fault. Which it is, so the good doctor is right on the money there. “Well, technically, it’s my first baby. But I’ve got three other kids that I inherited from my sister.”
“Wow. Full house then.”
I try to concentrate on the doctor and ignore the fact that Ruslan just accepted a call. Right in the middle of my appointment. He doesn’t even bother to leave the room—just moves further into the corner and turns his back on both of us.
“I have five girls myself.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Oh, wow.”
“The youngest is seventeen. She’s leaving for Columbia next fall. Honestly, it’s making my wife and I wish we had more. You probably hear this a lot, but enjoy this time. It goes by fast.”
Smiling, I wonder how different my life would have been if Cedric Owens, MD, had been my father. He looks like the kind of man who wouldn’t care about your grade point average just as long as you were happy. Who’d brag about you just because you’re his kid, not because you’d done anything special. Who hates the idea of you leaving the nest, not because he’s losing control, but simply because he’llmissyou.
I wouldn’t know anything about a man like that.
He turns back to the monitor. “Well, back to business. It looks like everything is progressing beautifully. The baby is strong and healthy.”
My gaze flickers to Ruslan, wondering if he heard that. He’s still looking down at his phone.
