Page 41 of Rocky Mountain Home

They were in the elevator, rising to the third floor, when his nerves jagged out of kilter. He was headed to a prenatal checkup with the woman he’d spend the rest of his life seeing in some shape or form, and they were about to talk about a baby who was definitely going to be in his life forever.

Too damn grownup—he knew exactly what Dare was talking about.

The elevator doors slid open, and he followed her down the hall, pausing when she did.

Dare wrinkled her nose. “I…um…need to take a pit stop. If the doc’s going to push on my bladder, I need to be prepared.”

“I can see why.”

She eyed him, as if wondering if he was teasing, but she jerked a thumb over her shoulder down a narrow hall leading to two doors. “Bathrooms. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be right here.”

Dare shook her head. “Go check me in so I don’t lose my spot in the order, or we’ll be waiting until the cows come home to get in.”

“Meet you there, then.”

It was only two doors farther down the main hall. Jesse slipped into the waiting room, a half-dozen bored magazine-reading people lifting their gazes to take him in. The men immediately went back to reading, one of them sniffing loudly. His body jerked every time he sucked in, a wet, disgusting noise. Jesse made a mental note to not sit anywhere near that section of the room, and not let Dare touch anything that might have been contaminated.

Hell, the magazines were probably toxic cesspools. He’d have to bring sanitizer the next trip.

“Can I help you?”

The young man behind the desk was waiting expectantly, drawing Jesse’s attention from the women in the room looking his way. The guy wore a shiny plastic tag, with a Hello, my name is _____. I’m here to help you. He’d written in Scott with bright orange ink and added a half-dozen exclamation marks.

Jesse resisted making a smartass remark, choosing to answer softly. “Dare Hayes is here for her ten a.m. checkup.”

Scott leaned to one side, grinning cheekily as he peeked around Jesse as if Dare were hiding behind his back.

For fuck’s sake. So much for his resolve to be good.

“She’s taking a piss,” Jesse drawled. “She’ll be here in a minute.”

“Ah, yes.” The receptionist lost his smile. He marked something off in his appointment book and moved a file from one side of the desk to the other.

Jesse glanced over his shoulder to discover an older woman watching closely while other gazes darted away to pretend interest in their germ-laden magazines.

Scott spoke up again, and it seemed he’d recovered some of his enthusiasm. “Ah-hah. I see this is Ms. Hayes’s first prenatal checkup.”

Jesse swore he heard the heads behind him swivel toward their neighbour. Shit—this was the first time anyone was picking up that Dare was pregnant, and now the small-town theatrics could begin.

Scott made more notes, speaking without looking at him. “You are?”

“Jesse Coleman.”

The man raised a brow. “What relationship are you to Ms. Hayes? I need to know if I should put you on the file, or not.”

His name on the file. God.

Screw them. He focused on the eager fellow with his bright orange pen. “I’m the father.”

Scott tried again. “Relationship to Ms. Hayes?”

“Fiancé.”

The word came out a whole lot louder than the previous bits of conversation, and the silence behind him grew deeper. Like an inhale before the rapid-fire questions and speculating began.

Verbal wild fire igniting in three-two-one…