Page 16 of Be My Baby

A deep chuckle sounded behind her. “I hope that’s not because of me?”

Millie spun in place, surprised to see him. “You’re finished? So fast? Or…” She shut up at the flush rising in his face.

Good God, Millie. Good job.

“I’m so sorry, Max. I didn’t mean—”

Amusement sparkled in his baby-blue eyes. “It’s okay, Mil. I, ah, thought happy thoughts. It’s surprising how fast things work when there’s a distinct lack of a sex life.”

She let out a loud laugh and shook her head. She stood up and moved around to his side of the plush lounge suite. Without her ever-present high heels, she noticed their disparity in height even more. She was lucky to be five foot five. Max was an easy six-three, and broad shouldered. She noted the lack of the plastic sample vial.

She looked up at him, one eyebrow raised.

He motioned behind him and rubbed his neck. “I left it in the bathroom. I wasn’t sure if you’d want it out here, or…”

Millie hurried off down the hall, into the bathroom. Max had left it sitting on top of a neatly folded tissue. She picked the sample vial up, and did a double take, nearly dropping it. Her heart thundered at the thought, that he’d have to do it all over again if she’d spilled it, and that they’d have to clean up the resulting mess. Her cheeks burned and she couldn’t look at him.

“What’s wrong?” Max asked, his brow furrowed.

The heat in her face increased exponentially. “I, um… It’s warm.” She wanted to fall into a deep, dark hole. Right now. She couldn’t look him in the eye so she focused on his shoulder instead. “I mean, of course it would have to be, but I didn’t think… I mean…” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Just ignore anything coming out of my mouth right now.”

She couldn’t handle the outright hilarity on his face at her ridiculous blunder, so she closed her hand around the sample vial and hurried out of the bathroom to her bedroom where she had set up the rest of the items she’d need.

She spun in place in the middle of the room when she realised that Max had followed her. He stood in the doorway looking so out of his depth that she instantly felt sorry for him.

“I can do this bit on my own.”

Her attempt at humour hit the mark, but he didn’t react as strongly as she’d hoped.

Was he rethinking it?

“If you’re having second thoughts, you really need to tell me now,” she said quietly.

Please don’t be having second thoughts, please!

Max blinked in what looked like surprise. “No. It’s not that. In the paperwork you gave me, it, ah,” he scrubbed at his jaw, that sexy flush back on his cheeks. “It said that for the best possible chance of conception that the woman should orgasm immediately after inserting the semen. Or before. There was conflicting data about that.”

He took a breath and straightened. His gorgeous blue eyes were darker in the dimmer light of her bedroom. Unreadable. So darned sexy they took her breath away.

“Would you, do you, I mean… do you need me to help with that? I can, ah…” He waved his hand at her and, if it hadn’t been such an important conversation, Millie might have given in to the insane urge to laugh.

Max Jameson offering to feel her up.

To touch her…there.

After she’d…

She stepped up to him and turned him around, pushing him toward the door, her own cheeks flaming. “It’s okay. I’ve got this covered, Romeo. You don’t have to be scandalised any longer.”

Although, she had the distinct impression it was she who was more scandalised. She shoved him into the hallway and held on to the edge of her bedroom door like a lifeline.

“If you’d lock the front door behind you, that would be awesome.”

Max stood in her hallway, blinking like a rabbit in headlights. He nodded, looked up the hallway, then glanced back at her.

“You said we might need to do this more than once each cycle. Do you need me again tomorrow?”

Millie nodded. “I’m not one hundred per cent certain of my window, so it would be best? Or possibly the following morning, just so we can cover all bases? Can I message you?”