Wilde by Abby Brooks
Chapter Seventeen
Amy
Enjoying a last-minute lunch invitation at a local outdoor mall a week after our Collin West experience, I stare out the window, appreciating the beauty of the day as I suck down the last drops of my raspberry lemonade. May is giving way to June in a blaze of heat and I wish I’d ordered a larger drink. Silly me, pretending to be demure.
Leo pops the lid off his sweet tea and raises it to his mouth, downing the last gulp and shaking a few errant pieces of ice into his mouth. “Looks like I’m out too,” he says around a chunk of frozen water. “While you have an appetite, what else sounds good?”
Ever since the morning sickness faded, he’s made it his mission to fatten me up. “I am so full. Like too full. Mind if we wander around a little? See if we come across anything interesting?”
He nods as he stands and gathers the mess before walking our trays over to the trash and emptying them. Leo holds the door as I step out of the air-conditioned space into the blinding afternoon sun. “I’ll follow your lead, Skips,” he says, sliding on his aviators.
We walk for a bit, peering into window displays and chatting about what we see. The more he lets his guard down, the more he stops trying to push me away, the more I want to learn about him. It breaks my heart that his family doesn’t know anything about who he really is.
“Have you given any thought to trying to talk to your brothers?” The words come out hushed. I know what a difficult topic this is and his silence terrifies me. I look up and find Leo studying a crib through the display window of a high-end baby boutique. The signage over the door reads Babyer Verden. Zero freaking clue as to what that means. From the vibe in the window, it seems like the type of store whose cheapest stroller probably starts at seven hundred and fifty dollars—on sale—and goes up from there.
“What do you think?” he asks with a nudge and a smile. “Want to check it out?”
“Sure.” I bite my lip and grimace. “Honestly though, I haven’t even started thinking about this stuff yet. It still seems so far away.”
Leo stops in his tracks. “That doesn’t seem like you.”
“You’re right.” I huff a laugh. “I have a list of all the things I need, with the price of everything beside it. And the total at the end of the page? Terrifying. Since I’ve still not been able to find a job, I’ve just let that number sit there, getting scarier day by day.”
“Why haven’t you said anything? Even if we were still trying to pretend we’re only business partners, the least I could do is buy some gear. But now that we’re more?” Leo wraps an arm around my shoulder and shakes his head. “Let do some shopping, Skips.”
As we step through the door, I watch the salesperson look up and spot the hunk at my side—never even attempting eye contact with me, thank you very little—then crank her smile to eleven as she fluffs her hair and steps out from behind the counter. “Good afternoon. Welcome to Bab-yer Ver-den,” she says in the most pretentious, fake accent I’ve ever heard. “My name is Brie; what can I help you find today?”
With the friendliest smile I can muster, I shoot for common ground. “How do you pronounce it again? I couldn’t make that out.”
Her eyes don’t budge from Leo. She smiles, at him, then laughs, like he just asked something clever, and repeats the name. She licks her lips as she looks him over. “What brings you both in today?”
Finally—my presence has at least been acknowledged. Not by the common courtesy of looking at me or anything civil, but still it’s something. “Just some walk-by window shopping. We’ll be sure and find you if we have questions.” I snake my arm around Leo’s waist. “Thanks so much.” I cut off the conversation and direct him toward the other end of the store.
Does the fact that watching her smile deflate makes mine grow mean I’m a bad person?
When we’ve reached a respectable gossiping distance, I lean in and whisper. “Can you believe her?”
Leo looks over his shoulder. “Some people see beauty and appreciate it. Others get jealous.”
“She was definitely appreciating you.”
“I’m not talking about me, Skips. She saw you, felt threatened, and got jealous. Your beauty made her insecure.” He pulls me close, pressing a kiss into the top of my head. “I’d think you were used to it by now, looking like this.”
We look over a few cribs and changing tables, but nothing has its individual price marked. Instead, everything is sold in sets and the first price I find is for the ‘Haute Couture’ collection…for almost six-thousand dollars.
Holy hell, I’m never going to be able to afford this kid.
“Is that the one you like?” Leo asks, looking over my shoulder at the price.
“I was just doing the math in my head to see how many jobs I’d need to afford it.”
He flashes a smile. “No worries. If that’s the one you want, my treat.”
I feel myself blushing at the offer. “I couldn’t let you do that.”
He spins me around and places both hands on my shoulders. “Why not?”
“For one, it’s too expensive and I’d feel bad if you spent that kind of money, especially when I have a list of more price conscious choices on my phone.” I drop my gaze to my fingers as they tangle in the hem of my shirt. “But more importantly, aren’t you getting ready for a big move? Los Angeles, right? You’re going to need money for that.” Regret forces me to look away. Why’d I bring up the one topic neither of us has had the guts to mention in weeks?
Leo winces. “On that subject, I’ve been thinking.”
“How so?” Play it cool woman.Don’t go getting your hopes up.
“There’s kind of a lot going on right now.” He gestures at my belly. “Not the absolute best time to relocate and restart a business.” He pauses long enough that I wonder if he’s waiting for me to say something. “I’d reevaluate after the baby comes, of course,” he adds at last.
“Of course,” I parrot back with a bob of my head. Okay, so it’s not forever. Maybe for now is good enough. At least it means you’ll have help for the next seven-ish months. Don’t be greedy, take the win.
I wander over to another collection of furniture and pretend to give my attention to it, but my thoughts are racing, trying to decode what this new information means and how I’m supposed to feel about it.
“So, what do you think?”
When I turn back, I find Leo, still standing in the middle of the Haute Couture collection, arms out to his sides. Palms up.
Put on the spot, I want to answer honestly, while still being careful to say the right thing. “If that’s what makes sense for you…obviously I think it’s wonderful. It’ll be great to have you around—at least for a while.”
He bites his lip and smiles as I answer, further confusing me about everything that’s happening. When I finish, he walks over and wraps me in a hug. “It’s good to know you feel that way,” he whispers into my hair, “but I was asking if you wanted the furniture.”