Page 87 of Set Me On Fire

“Ohhh…” If Millie thought to throw Judy off the scent, she failed. Officer Hops smiled slowly as she looked from one to the other of them. “That so? You never made me any tea when I was yacking my guts out early in the pregnancy.”

“Knew it caused reflux,” came Knox’s short reply. “Didn’t want to make things worse.”

“Right, so did you guys want to grab your uniforms now?” Millie’s voice was perfectly even, but she shot us a meaningful look. “Less shirts for me to put away later.”

“Ye—”

“Sounds good.”

My jaw tightened as Knox cut me off again.

“OK, this way.” Millie turned on a heel, marching down the hallway, leaving us to hustle to keep pace with her. It wasn’t until we were well and truly out of earshot that she turned to hiss at us. “What was that? I thought we agreed to keep things on the downlow?”

“I agreed to looking after the mother of my child.” I settled against the door frame of the storeroom. “There’s dry crackers and ginger ale in there. Supposed to be the best thing for nausea in pregnancy.”

“These wrist bands are a new thing, but the chemist swears by them.” Knox rummaged around in his bag, thrusting the box her way. “And there’s some ginger lollies. She said if you suck on them all day, it can help.”

I watched Millie blink, then take a step back, wondering who the hell the guys were that she dated before. These were just small things, but she seemed completely overwhelmed by the gestures. I watched her blink, blink, then moved closer, not sure what she was feeling, when Gareth appeared at the doorway.

“Got any of those new shirts in 2XL, Millie?” he asked her.

“Sure do.” Her tone was chipper and she spun around, scanning the boxes before pulling several shirts free. “Here you go.”

“Thanks, love.” Men used that as a generic form of address for all women and girls, so there was nothing personal in it, but I was forced to shove my hand in my pockets, lest Gareth see them form into fists. It wasn’t hard to see it, Dave creeping forward, intent on doing god knows what to Millie. What the hell would’ve happened if she hadn’t got him square in the nuts? “So, Knoxy, you getting that report done today…?”

I pushed forward and into the room, away from Gareth and Knox as they talked shop. They weren’t what mattered.

“I included something else in there,” I told her, pitching my voice low, but somehow that just made this all the more exciting. I’d intended to ask Millie out today, but the prospect of getting caught? Yeah, I liked it a lot. “Something sweet. I wasn’t sure if you liked chocolate.”

“I love chocolate.” She breathed that out, her eyes flicking past my shoulder to the guys, then back again. “I’ve eaten my body weight in Tim Tams since I did the test.”

“Tim Tams, noted. Double coated ones?”

“Oh my god, they’re the best,” she moaned and that had me smiling.

“I’ll make sure to have a box of them for you tomorrow,” I said.

“We better get you your shirts otherwise Gareth’s going to wonder what you’re doing in here.” Her words came out in a rush. “What size are you?”

“Hard to say. Uniform sizing changes with each supplier. Think you’re going to have to measure me.”

“I’m not—” she whispered.

“Alright, send me the report over when you’re done,” Gareth said, then held his shirts up. “Thanks, Millie.”

We all let out a breath when he turned to walk away.

“Oh my god,” she hissed. “What part of keeping this quiet did you not get? Appearing at my office with gifts is not being discreet.”

“You’re the one who wants to hide things.”

For a moment I thought I said that, but nope, that was Knox. He stepped forward, an intent look in his eyes that I knew well. I was feeling the same, unable to stop myself from staring at Millie. Watching her walk around the station was pure torture after what had happened between us, but now I knew the truth? It felt like I could take a full breath, and I wanted her perfume in my nose when I did. Her lips parted and I followed that movement.

Noah had it right.

If her child was mine, I wanted to step up and be a good father, take a key role in making sure they grew up right, but it was more than that. Millie wasn’t showing at all, but the idea that there was something of mine inside her, growing? That satisfied a need I didn’t even know I had. I wanted her, wanted the child, wanted every damn thing she could give and more, and right now I needed to tell her that.

“Maybe we need to meet up again. Tonight maybe? Just to go over the rules. Wouldn’t want anyone catching on before you win the permanent position here.”

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