Page 127 of Pretend You Love Me

Shit.

I snap my eyes closed. Dizziness washes over me.

“Brooklyn, what’s wrong?”

I feel Kip’s hand grip my arm, hard. My legs wobble.

“Brooklyn,” he yells.

My knees buckle, and the lights go completely out.

Next thing I know, I’m in his arms. He’s rushing me toward the house. I blink a few times. My vision has returned. “Kip, put me down. I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine.” He strengthens his grip on me.

“Kip, you’re overreacting.”

He doesn’t respond as he climbs the stairs to the porch and barrels through the door.

“What happened?” Elizabeth gasps as soon as she spots us.

I’m about to open my mouth to saynothing happened, but Kip says, “She fainted.”

“Kip, put me down. I’m fine. I just got dizzy from standing up too fast.”

I’m squirming to get free.

“I’ll get the doctor,” Elizabeth calls and rushes away. The President always travels with a doctor. I groan a little. I don’t need a doctor.

“Put me down,” I protest again.

“No.” He completely ignores me and walks me into the nearest bedroom. He gently sets me on the bed and without a word kneels in front of me.

I suck in a quick breath, confused by what he’s doing. He starts untying my boots and gingerly pulls them off. Before I can say a word, he’s unzipping my big coat. Shivers ripple down my spine as I watch the zipper go down. He pulls the coat off my back and hangs it over the chair.

“Your snow pants.” He just points. I’m just blinking at him without responding. “They are wet too. We need to get them off.”

I look down. Everything feels in slow motion right now. He steps forward and grabs the zipper of the overall-style pants. I feel a wave of emotion crash over me as his hand starts to move down. I reach up and grab his wrist. “No.”

His eyes jerk up to mine.

“I can do it.” I lower the zipper and pull the straps off my shoulders. I feel his eyes watching my every move. There’s nothing about this that should be sensual, but everything about his presence feels sensual right now. I stand up to pull my snow pants down, and Kip’s hand is immediately on my bicep.

“I’m not going to faint again,” I hiss.

He just growls a little as I pull off the pants. I’m bent over at the waist to get out of one of the legs when I remember I’m wearing leggings and a tight shirt underneath. If he sees me, he’ll know immediately I’m pregnant. Instead of standing straight up, I step back until my butt hits the bed and then pull my legs up, so I’m curled into a ball. I wrap my arms around my legs.

“Cold?” He frowns.

“Yes. Can you get me a sweater?”

He nods and leaves the room. I let out a deep sigh.

I hear a soft knock on the door, and it cracks open just a little. Will pokes his head in the door. “Doctor’s here. Ready for him?”

I nod.

“Hi Brooklyn, I’m Dr. Fallows. I heard you fainted. How are you feeling?”