Page 40 of While We Waited

She rolls her eyes. “I’m not going to call you for every single little thing.”

“Little thing?” I motion to the room. “Look at where you are at.”

Her cheeks flame. “I overreacted again. The medical personnel are probably making fun of me.”

“No one will make fun of you.”

“What are you going to do? Be my bodyguard wherever I go and make sure no one speaks to me in a manner you don’t approve of?”

I scratch my neck as I consider the matter. I have the perfect solution but Nova is not going to like it.

She slaps my chest. “You are not shadowing me the entire time I’m pregnant.”

I shrug. “The idea has merit.”

“Do you know what a boundary is?”

“The football field has boundaries.”

“A personal boundary,” she corrects.

If she’s worried about personal boundaries now, she’s going to lose her mind when I tell her what I have planned. Nova is going to kick my ass. But I don’t care. Her safety, the baby’s safety, is more important.

The nurse bustles in carrying a bundle of papers. “The doctor says you’re free to go.” She stumbles to a halt when she notices me. “I thought you said you didn’t know who the baby daddy is.”

I growl. It’s one thing not to call me. It’s an entirely different thing to pretend I don’t exist.

“The baby is mine,” I growl. “As you very well know.”

There’s no way the news of Nova carrying my baby escaped her. Smuggler’s Hideaway is a bed of gossip. News spreads faster than my brother Owen can sneak out of the house on this island.

She giggles. “This is going to be fun.”

Nova signs her release paperwork. “I’m ready to go.”

I help her out of the bed and into a wheelchair.

“I can walk.”

“But you’re my queen and I’ll push you.” I push the wheelchair before she has a chance to protest again.

When we reach the exit, I aim the wheelchair toward my truck.

“My car is on the other side of the parking lot.”

“Give me your keys and I’ll have someone pick it up for you.”

“My keys? I don’t need to give you my keys. I can drive myself.”

I stop the wheelchair next to my truck and kneel in front of her. “You are not driving home.” She opens her mouth to protest and I hold up a hand. “You rushed to the hospital because you were sick and worried about the baby. I’m not letting you drive.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “Not letting me?”

“Let me re-phrase. I would be honored to chauffeur you and make sure you’re safe.”

She sighs. “Fine.”

I don’t give her a chance to change her mind. I open the door and lift her into the passenger seat. I reach over her and secure her seatbelt before shutting the door. I hurry to return the wheelchair since I wouldn’t put it past Nova to sneak off on me.

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