Page 118 of Nine Months to Love

“Of course. Good luck, Dr. Aster. Hope you find what you’re looking for.”

She hangs up and I stare at the phone in my hand. Natalia wants to talk to me. I should tell Stefan. I should go upstairs right now and let him know.

But something stops me.

If I tell him, he’ll try to stop the call. He’ll give me the obvious lecture: it’s dangerous, she can’t be trusted, I’m putting myself at risk, blah blah.

And maybe he’s right.

But I need to hear what she has to say. I need to understand her side of this story. If he won’t listen to her, I’ll have to do it for both of us. He said I’m too good for this world and that he’s too dark for it.

But what if the truth is somewhere in the middle? What if there’s a happy ending to all this bloodshed and madness that doesn’t require more lives to be lost?

If there is, I owe it to everyone—to Stefan, to Natalia, to myself, and to my baby most of all—to find that way through the woods.

I swore an oath to protect lives, after all. I meant it then. I still mean it now.

So I wrap the towel tighter around myself and go back inside.

Stefan is in the kitchen when I get there, true to his word. He’s standing at the stove, scrambling eggs. The smell of coffee fills the air.

“That was fast,” he says without turning around.

“I…”

Got a phone callis on the tip of my tongue. Honesty has been such a hard thing for us. Even now, I want so badly to commit to it. But I can’t. I just can’t.

“… got a cramp,” I say instead. “Guess I’m a little out of shape.”

He turns to look me up and down and grins. “I’d say you’re in exactly the right shape, in my opinion.”

I laugh and flick the wet corner of my towel at his ass. “Someone’s in rare horndog form this morning,” I say.

“It’s your fault,” he retorts. “If you didn’t look and smell that good, maybe I’d be able to keep my hands and eyes to myself. As it is… Well, you saw the outcome last night.”

My face goes beet-red as sex flashbacks hit me like a ten-car pile-up. “Are you just gonna flirt with me, or are you actually gonna feed me?” I sass back.

Right on cue, he hands me a plate piled high with toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon. “Ask and ye shall receive.” He makes me kiss him before I get my food, not that I mind that too much.

I settle at the kitchen island with my plate and watch Stefan move around the kitchen, cleaning up and wiping down the counters.

“This is really good,” I say after the first bite of eggs. “Though you shouldn’t get a big head about it or anything.”

“Me? Big head? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m the humblest man I know.” He smiles and takes a sip of coffee. “What do you want to do today?”

I pause with a forkful of eggs halfway to my mouth. “I don’t know. I hadn’t thought about it.”

“We could go into the city. Get lunch somewhere. Walk around.”

“That sounds nice.”

“Or we could stay here. Swim. Watch a movie. Do absolutely nothing.”

I smile. “That sounds nice, too.”

“Very helpful, Dr. Aster.”

I laugh and chew my bacon obnoxiously in his direction. “You’re the boss, Mr. Safonov. You decide what to do with me.”