Page 22 of Masked Indulgence
A smile curled my lips, realizing Nix had already had something sent up for me to wear since my clothes had been pretty much destroyed. He really knew how to take care of a girl. I had to count myself lucky that I’d gotten myself knocked up by him and not some low-life.
The bathroom door opened and steam poured out of it, shrouding a hulking figure. Nixon stood there with a towel wrapped around his waist as he used another one to dry his hair, rubbing his head. “Hey, pretty lady. Glad to see you up. Wanna go grab some breakfast?” He jerked his head toward the garment bag. “I got you something towear.”
Climbing out of bed, I took the sheet with me to wrap around myself. The weight loss had me feeling self-conscious about my thin body. “I’ll get showered and dressed so we can headout.”
He stepped out of my way but reached out to me, grabbing the top of the sheet. “Why are you hiding behindthat?”
Ducking my head, I mumbled, “I’m nothiding.”
He let the sheet go and took me by the chin. “You’re not happy with your weight, areyou?”
I shook my head. “Notreally.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re well taken care of now. We’ll find a doctor in Los Angeles to help you feel better.” He kissed my forehead. “I’ve got you. Don’t worry about athing.”
“I already feel a lot better,” I admitted, looking into his green eyes. “Your support means the world to me. I know this wasn’tplanned…”
He put his finger to my lips. “Hush. I want you to know something. It doesn’t matter that this wasn’t planned. I’m over the moon about this baby, and I can’t thank you enough for making this all soeasy.”
I couldn’t believe what I heard coming out of his mouth. He was over the moon? “You’re a surprising man, Nixon Slaughter. It’s been less than a day since you found out about this baby, and already you’re stepping up to the plate much faster than I’d ever thoughtpossible.”
“Yeah, well, what’s done is done. Why fight it? Might as well enjoy this as much as a real couple would, right?” he asked, then walked away fromme.
“That’s a great attitude to have,” I said as I went into thebathroom.
As great as his attitude was, what he’d said hit me harder than it should have. Maybe it was the hormones, I couldn’t tell, but I felt tears welling up in my eyes, and they fell down mycheeks.
We weren’t a couple. We were hardly more than strangers. And we had been pushed together by this pregnancy. How’d I ever gotten myself into such an awkwardsituation?
How would a child fare with parents who didn’t even love oneanother?
I stepped into the shower, letting the water wash my tears away. My hands trembled as I moved them over my flat stomach. There was something growing inside of me, a tiny human that would grow bigger and bigger with each passing day. And the father and I barely knew oneanother.
Trying my best to pull myself together, I tried to stop thinking such thoughts and concentrate on the fact that I had someone who’d be by my side through all of this. Granted, I had no real idea how helpful Nixon would prove to be, but what he’d said told me he’d be great. Having him would be a hell of a lot better than doing this all on myown.
A knock on the door jolted me out of my internal thoughts. “Hey, if you don’t feel up to going out, I can order room service. It’s all up toyou.”
“If you want to order in then you can do that,” I called out, and then finished rinsing myhair.
He opened the door and stepped inside. “I want you to decide,Katana.”
“It doesn’t matter to me.” I moved back a bit, hoping the water hitting the clear glass shower door would distort my image somewhat. My hipbones jutted out, and I hated the way theylooked.
“Pick,” he said, undeterred by my lack of an answer. “There’s a breakfast buffet going on in one of the cafés downstairs. Doesn’t that soundgood?”
I could see he wasn’t going to make the decision so I made one. “Yeah, let’s do that. I’m getting outnow.”
“K.” He walked back out, leaving the door wideopen.
As I dried off, I thought about how nice Nix was. Things might really work out with us. Not that I expected him to fall in love with me or anything like that, but it would be nice to get along well with him. I might be living with the guy for the next eighteen years or so, and getting along would make thateasier.
Wrapping the towel around myself, I went to grab the garment bag and saw him watching television. “How are youfeeling?”
“Pretty good,” I said, taking the bag of clothes and heading back to the bathroom to get dressed. I found another very expensive dress in the bag and pulled on the dark blue knee-length dress. It zipped up the back, and I couldn’t seem to get it all the wayup.
Doing the best I could, I headed out and asked him to zip me the rest of the way up. I slipped on the flats and we headed out. His hand on the small of my back felt nice. The way people looked at us as we came into the breakfast area had me smiling as they gave us polite nods and morninggreetings.
It was very unlike the way people had looked at us when we’d come to the same place nearly a month ago. Now we were seen differently than we’d been before—something closer to a couple than a dirty one-night stand. And it made me feel evenbetter.
