Page 51 of Secret Baby for Mr. Grump

He glanced down at my hands, and I followed his gaze, noticing that I was squeezing the life out of them. He frowned disapprovingly, and I managed to unlace my fingers.

“Good girl,” he growled, and I would be lying if I said it didn’t send a tiny thrill throughout my body.

This wasn’t the time to be thinking about that, though.

Although that was a solid way to distract me, so I let the memory flow back.

After Marcus and I slept together, a part of me was scared that he would change his mind in the morning. Like the last time. I thought maybe that sense of whatever-it-was would kick in, and he would tell me that we couldn’t do this again, that he wasn’t right for me. He would give me all the other excuses he gave me last time for why we couldn’t be together. I didn’t know what I would have done then. Probably accepted it while having my heart broken.

Yes, I’d pretty much fallen in love with him again. But I never claimed to be smart.

And had he rejected me, I would have been hurt, but I would have accepted it.

But he hadn’t denied us.

Instead, he stuck around the next morning. He announced that he got us into an appointment with the psychiatrist, and I had no clue how he did it on such short notice because, according to what I knew, the guy was pretty much booked out for weeks. But he assured me he’d gotten it done and that we were going to see him together.

We. As a family.

It was a strange feeling. Even with Ken, I hadn’t felt this supported, and I wasn’t sure exactly why or how this felt different.

All I knew was that it did.

Although I still wasn’t sure exactly where this was going or even who he was now. I didn’t know what had changed him.

Because when I’d tried to ask him about what he did when he was in New York, he’d only said, “Work.” He didn’t talk much about his time there, but I got a feeling that it hadn’t been pleasant. Like it jaded him.

And, of course, there was that phone call during our date that I couldn’t forget.

I took a deep sigh, letting it out and clearing all the worrisome thoughts bouncing around my skull. I was going to make myself sick worrying about all this now.

In any case, we were here now.

There was nothing else to do but observe him and make sure he was still a good man.

I didn’tthinkhe was dangerous, but I couldn’t be led around by just my feelings.

I would never be one of those mothers who exposed their children to dangerous men out of love. And while I mostly believed in Marcus, I had to make sure of it. Because Caleb couldn’t afford more trauma on his plate.

I sighed and turned my head, startled to find that Marcus was still watching me.

While I tried not to show it, I got the sense that he knew all the thoughts running through my head. At the very least, he could sense my caution, but his expression didn’t get defensive or even annoyed.

He didn’t seem offended by the fact that I was still cautious around him.

Maybe he understood,I thought, even though I felt guilty because I was treating him with the same damn suspicion that everyone in this town treated him with.

I was just as bad as the rest of them.

I rubbed my temple, feeling an ache starting.

“Hey,” Marcus said softly, drawing my eyes back to him. “Don’t worry. It will be fine. Everything will be fine.”

I doubted it, but his soft tone made me feel like, at that moment, it just might be.

Just then, the door clicked open, and we both rose to our feet in unison as the doctor walked out with a somber-looking Caleb. My son walked straight to me and immediately buried his head in my thigh, wrapping his hand around my waist. Then, he turned to look at the doctor reproachfully.

The elderly man smiled at both of us.

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