Page 73 of Daddy's Unexpected Gift

“Come on, let’s get out of here. Let’s go home,” Sterling said.

I pulled the towel I had wrapped around my hair off and wiped my face. “I still need to quit my job.”

“Call them from the road,” Sterling said. It was a logical choice.

“I should give them back the keys.”

“Keys?”

I nodded. “To that apartment. If you and Georgie want?—”

“No, we’re staying with you.”

“But I need to drive my car back. There’s no reason to wait for me,” I said.

“Do you think I’m letting you out of my sight now that I have you back?” He stroked his knuckle down the side of my face. “We can go get breakfast. I’ll drive you in to the office. I’ll wait for you if you don’t want me by your side when you hand the keys over, and I will reluctantly drive you back to your car so that I can follow you back to Dallas.”

I sighed. Yeah, back to Dallas. “And what happens then?”

Sterling’s brow crinkled up and he gave a quick shake. “We go home. My home, our home.”

“Do you think I could swing by my apartment to pick up some other clothes? I’m getting so sick of the same outfits day after day.” And these clothes were starting to get uncomfortable. Not tight or snug, but I had this building fullness in my lower stomach and it made certain clothes not feel very good.

I needed to tell Sterling.

“That all sounds good.”

“Let’s get out of here.”

It didn’t take very long to gather our items and check out of the hotel once I was finished getting ready. I didn’t bother to dry my hair. I just braided it and let it air dry. And since I wasn’t going to stay at work once I got to the office, I changed out of the skirt and top and put on leggings and a tunic. I was much more comfortable.

We stopped for breakfast at a diner. Georgie was a happy baby, and I was going to be her mother, or her guardian, or… My heart could hardly contain the emotions that stirred up in me. I may not have had the words to define what we were going to be, but family was the word that felt the most right.

My phone rang, and I looked at the caller ID. I shrugged and returned to eating my omelet. It rang again.

“Do you need to get that?” Sterling asked.

I shook my head. “It’s work. They are probably wondering where I am. If I answer it, they’ll pretend to be concerned, but when I get in, they’ll threaten me with—” I started laughing. “They’ll threaten to fire me. It’s such a stupid threat. I mean, it’s just a job, and not a very good one at that. No wonder someone sabotaged their servers before I started working there. They treat everyone like crap.”

Sterling shrugged. “Yeah, I can see that.”

He paid the bill and tipped handsomely to make up for the mess that Georgie made. More of her food seemed to be on the floor than I think made it into her mouth.

My nerves were on edge the entire drive to the office park where work was located. The flips in my stomach were either breakfast not sitting well, or anxiety, or… “Pull over!” I yelled.

“What?”

“Pull over, now.” I convulsed with the need to throw up. Sterling stopped the car, and I vaulted out my door and doubled over. I lost my breakfast completely.

“Cecelia?” Sterling came around the side of the car and put his hand on my back. He handed me some napkins.

“Do you have any water in there?” I asked, waving at the car.

He nodded and pulled a water bottle from the back. “I started keeping a full diaper bag’s worth of all the extras in the car.”

I cracked the lid open and swished my mouth out with the first sip, spitting on the ground. I then took slow, careful swallows.

“This job has you all wired up. I never realized how upset it made you. I should have paid better attention, should have offered to help you out so you could quit earlier.” He looked concerned as he ran his hand up and down my arm.

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