Page 41 of The Bartender's Baby

“Good. Because I have a list.”

I bit back a smile. “I love a good list.”

“I know you do. I have a list of things the baby needs and?—”

I coiled my fingers around his wrist, jerking on it so I could view his screen. “You have a list of things for the baby?”

He furrowed his brow at me likeyeah, obviously.

While that made me so happy my heart danced beneath my ribs, other discussions had to come first. “We need to talk aboutus.”

He set his phone down, and with his full attention on me, those soft blue eyes taking in every inch of my face as he patiently waited, I almost didn’t want to ruin the moment. In case the other shoe dropped. Like it always did.

I forced my question out. “With me here, what does that mean for us?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Are we…? Dating? Together? Still boss and employee?”

He shrugged, totally unfazed. “Well, you won’t be my employee much longer, so I don’t think you have to worryabout that. Plus, I am human resources, and if you have any complaints about your boss, you can direct them to me.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Besides, do you really want to be working at Walt’s that much longer? You can’t tell me you like being on your feet all those hours.”

“People have done more under worse conditions.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to. If you want to work for the next couple of weeks, fine, but I can already tell how you’re slowing down. The further along you get, the harder it’ll be.”

“I know,” I agreed eventually, hating to give up that part of me.

“I get it, though.” His hand found my knee under the table. “You’re independent and want to have your own money and your own thing. I’m sure it’s hard making these decisions, but I want you to know that you have more than one option of working until you’re in labor, okay?”

I nodded. If we weren’t eating dinner together after I’d spent the day moving all my stuff here, maybe I would be more worried. But I was here, at the kitchen table with Nate, and I didn’thaveto worry. I knew that much.

“Now, as for your question about us.” He slid his hand up to my stomach, to the spot Frogger liked to kick. They weren’t currently moving right now, so Nate smoothed his palm to my hip bone, his fingertips dipping under the elastic band of my leggings. “I want to be with you. Not for fun and not for a certain period of time or until the baby comes. I’m committed to you, tous, and I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to tell you. Toseeyou.”

“It’s not like I did anything about it either.”

“No. I should’ve…” He closed his eyes for a moment, jamming his thumb and index finger into them as if attempting to rid himself of a memory. “He’d come into the bar or I’d seeyou texting him, and I’d… I’d go out and find the closest woman to take my mind off of it. Of you with him.”

“Yeah.” I winced. “I remember when you’d started dating Denise. She came to the bar and…”

“Jesus,” he groaned, tossing his hands in the air. “She even looked like you! And I convinced myself that I wanted her, that I loved her. I was just so fucking desperate.” He reluctantly slanted his gaze to me. “I’m such an asshole.”

“So am I.”

“No, you aren’t.” He booped my nose. “You’re perfect.”

I thought back to Denise, the woman he’d dated for a few months about two years ago, when Nate had inadvertently become the other man since he hadn’t found out until the end that she was married. “I can’t believe you were so obsessed with her.”

He grimaced. “I know. But it should make you feel better that you drove me to her. Like some Shakespearean tragedy.”

“What would the name of that one be?”

He shrugged. “Ye olde pub and cuckold. I don’t know.”

I giggled, and his eyes lit up. “I love when you laugh.”

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