Page 91 of Dreamboat

He nods. “Even when you went on that damn cruise. I missed you, Delia.I was worried about you being out on the water all alone.”

“I wasn’t alone,” I whisper.

He laughs. “I know. The cruise is filled with people and staff, and I’m sure you made some friends, but still…”

“Donovan was on the cruise,” I blurt out.

His brows pinch together. “Donovan? Donovan Hunt? My boss?”

I touch my lips briefly before my hands fall to the front of the dress I’m wearing. They hover there, over my stomach. “The father of my baby.”

His gaze drops to where my hands are trembling. “Delia.”

I swallow hard unable to find words.

When he looks back to my face, I see tears in his eyes, too. “You’re pregnant?”

I swipe the back of my hand over my cheek. “I’m pregnant, and I’m in love. I’m so in love, Matthew.”

“With Donovan?” He shakes his head. “Holy shit! You’re in love with Donovan?”

I nod. “I love him so much.”

“And he loves you?” he asks. “Does he love you, Delia?”

“More than I ever thought a man could love me.”

He reaches to take my hand in his. “Why am I just hearing about this now? How long have you two been…how long, Delia? When did it start?”

“On the cruise,” I admit without hesitation. “We hit it off. We had fun. I didn’t want to continue when we came back home because of you.”

“Wait!” His hand drops mine and leaps into the air. “What do you mean by that? You didn’t want to continue a relationship with him because of me?”

“Yes.” I suck in a deep breath. “I was scared that when things ended, he’d fire you.”

He lets out a hearty laugh. “He’d never fire me. He’s like a brother to me, Delia.”

A sob escapes me. “That’s how you see him?”

He nods. “He’s my fucking mentor. He’s never steered me wrong.”

I stare at him, stunned by that admission. “You always talked about what he did outside the clinic.”

“He had fun with a lot of different women.” He realizes what he says as soon as it leaves his mouth. “I didn’t mean that. It’s more of an assumption based on how often he pushed the on call shit on Carolyn and me and sometimes women would come into the clinic looking for him after…”

“You also made an assumption about him at Roman’s apartment,” I say, not needing or wanting to hear more about what other women have sought out the man I love.

He straightens his shoulders. “I did. Did you talk to him about it, Delia? Do you know what he’s been doing in Boston for the past few days?”

I won’t get into the details of Donovan’s short trip back home last night, but I nod. “I do know what he’s been doing there. I know why he keeps going back there.”

I expect him to ask why, but that’s not what my brother does. “You trust him. I see that, so I do, too. I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong.”

I’m intuitive enough to know that Donovan won’t mind if I share his truth with my brother, so I do. “He’s in Boston right now trying to repair his relationship with his brother.”

“He has a brother?”

“An identical twin brother.”

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