Page 42 of Never Yours

She checks her tablet. “Thank you, go ahead inside.”

Caleb opens the door for me, guiding me in by the small of my back. The simple touch lights me up, as it always has—or maybe that’s just the pregnancy hormones talking. We check in at the desk and take a seat. Caleb takes my hand, interlaces our fingers, and brings my knuckles to his lips.

“Fuck, I’m going to miss you,” he whispers.

I rub my other hand over his smooth cheek. “I miss the beard,” I tease, hoping to lighten the mood.

“I’ll grow it out again, as soon as we’re back home.” He smiles widely. Fuck, I’ve missed that smile.

“About that… I’m staying at your place?—”

“Our place,” he corrects with a side glance at our shadow.

“Right. Well, I’m staying there, but I was offered head writer for the Maybe in Fifty mini-series for Romance Flix. They want me in Los Angeles in January.”

Caleb pulls me in close and kisses my temple. “Fuck, that’s amazing! I’m so fucking proud of you.”

“Did you just skip over that last part? I’m moving in January.”

He thinks for a moment before responding, “I’ll be starting my shore duty in January. I’ll see about being stationed in San Diego, so I’ll only be two hours from you. Unless…”

“Unless, what?”

“Stay on base with me? I can probably look into what family housing is there, but we would have to”—he kisses my cheek and whispers—“get married for real.” My body stiffens. While I see myself marrying him one day, I’m not ready.

“Lawrence. Rogers,” a woman calls from the side door next to the reception desk. Caleb and I stand and walk in, his hand never leaving mine. “We’ll start by getting height and weight.” She checks both, and we continue down the hall into a small examination room. “Your doctor will be in shortly.”

The man who has been following us since I got here tries to enter the room too. “I’m sorry, I know you’re trying to do your job. But could we please have a moment alone when the doctor comes in?”

“I’m afraid I can’t allow that.”

“My wife deserves her privacy,” Caleb growls.

“If you need time alone with the doctor, Rogers will need to exit with me.”

I squeeze Caleb’s hand and tell the man, “No, it’s fine. It’s just a little embarrassing discussing prenatal testing with a stranger. I suppose you’re used to your medical records being out in the open?”

The doctor enters. “Good afternoon. We’re here for paternity testing today?” She glances between Caleb and our stalker-bodyguard. “Oh, I’ll need to grab more swabs.”

“No,” I laugh. “Just Caleb.”

Not pressing any further, she instead goes on to tell us that she’ll be testing for blood type and a variety of conditions like anemia. She then collects blood samples and cheek swabs from Caleb and me. When we’re done, she jokes, “Are you sure you don’t want to test this one?” She gestures with her thumb, and Caleb and I laugh.

“No, thank you though.”

“Great. You’re free to go, we’ll send the results in a few days.”

As we leave, Caleb stops me in the waiting room, takes me in his arms, and kisses my temple—just another thing I’ve missed—then reminds me, “It doesn’t matter.”

I don’t know why I keep fighting this. The most amazing man I’ve ever known is telling me he would spend the rest of his life raising a child who might not be his. I know in my heart it is, but seeing it in black and white will help my nerves about all of it.

The damn shadow clears his throat. “We need to get back if you want to say goodbye to your sister and father.”

Caleb keeps me close and tells me softly, “When I’m back in December, we’ll figure everything out, I promise.”

We return the same way we came to find Pop and Cass. Once we reach them, Cay hugs them both and assures them he’ll be safe. He then wraps an arm around me and leans me back, pausing before kissing me. I let out a full laugh at his ridiculousness until his lips crash into mine in a searing kiss, and I moan on contact.

“Your dad is right there,” I mutter against him.

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