Page 40 of By the Letter

“I think I am really interested and would love to come into the office to talk to you about it.”

“Perfect.” Her smile lit up her pretty face. “I’m so glad we ran into each other. This was fate, don’t you think?”

I couldn’t help smiling back at her. “I guess it was.”

She continued chatting down the hallway to Dr. Sharma’s office then abruptly cut herself off.

“Holy hell, what is he doing here?” she hissed.

I glanced from her toward where she was glaring, knowing who I’d see. Roman was waiting for me by the office door, tapping on his phone and pacing, therefore not noticing our approach. He, however, was impossible to miss, taking up more than his fair share of space in all directions. I often forgot how large he was until I was in his presence again.

“He’s here for me,” I whispered.

“What?” She frowned. “For you…? Oh, Shira, is he—?”

I touched my stomach once more. “He is. But don’t worry about calling him a bastard. He deserved it. Since then, he’s been making it up to me in pastries and cleaning my cat’s litter every day.”

“Oh.” Her shoulders slumped. “Okay, wow, I have to reframe everything.”

Elliot moved ahead of us, extending his hand. “Roman.”

They shook, and Roman greeted him, though his attention kept bouncing to me. It had been three weeks since we’d been face to face. During that time, we’d passed messages back and forth daily and texts on top of that, but seeing him in person after all the words we’d shared was somewhat disconcerting. He was suddenly more familiar yet still a stranger. I supposed that could have been said for the entirety of our relationship. This man had bent me over backward, and I was carrying his child, but I didn’t know his middle name or even where he lived.

“This is your doctor too?” Roman asked Elliot.

“Of course. She’s the best in Denver,” Elliot replied matter-of-factly. I guessed, to him, itwasa fact that he’d only bring his wife to the best ob-gyn in town.

“Ah, that’s good to know,” Roman replied.

Kit hooked her arm with mine and jutted her chin. “Are you surprised Shira picked a good doctor all on her own?”

Roman’s eyes widened, somewhat panicked, his gaze bouncing between us. “No. Of course not. It’s nice to see you again, Kit.”

She chuffed. “Sure it is.” Then she turned to me and gave me a warm hug, promising to call me later. Since Roman and I were early, we lingered in the hall after Kit and Elliot went in for their appointment.

He lowered his chin, giving me a long once-over. “How are you?”

“Really good. I haven’t been nauseous today. I’m really hoping this means I’m turning a corner.”

He rapped his big fist against the trim of the door. “Knock on wood. Let’s not test our luck. I can’t have you getting as sick as you were a few weeks ago.”

Something soft and fuzzy coated my skin at his vehemence. “Unfortunately, I don’t think you have a say in that.”

“Thatisunfortunate. If I did, you wouldn’t have been sick for even an hour. It’s utter bullshit you had to go through that.”

“That’s a nice thought.”

I tried to temper my reaction, but it was difficult when he was constantly examining me and openly displaying how angry my being so sick made him. I reminded myself Roman would have never spoken to me again if I weren’t carrying his baby. Our last interaction would have been him ripping GoldMed away from me. With that cold reality, most of my fuzziness evaporated.

Roman was here for Beanie—not me.

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t know you were friends with the Levys.”

“Elliot, not so much, but Kit, yes. We’re friendly.” I blinked up at him. “Why would you know that? You don’t know very much about me.”

His flinch was subtle but unmistakable. I hadn’t meant any harm, but it was true. We were diving into the deep end together and neither of us knew whether the other could swim.

“You’re right. I don’t.” He cupped his nape and shifted his feet. “We should probably remedy that, don’t you think?”

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