“What’s that?”

I take a deep breath. “How some pregnant women get super horny.”

He curses under his breath. “And are you?” The deep timbre of his voice makes heat sear between my thighs, and I clench them together. Well, I am now, Ice.

“Um. Kind of. Although I’m not sure that’s entirely due to the pregnancy or whether it’s remembering the dauphinoise incident.”

He hums, low and sexy. “That was some night, huh?” His tone is softer now, and it’s tinted with regret.

“It sure was.”

His voice drops another octave. “So what exactly are we going to do about this situation, Mel? I mean, as the baby’s father, I’m supposed to take care of all of your needs, aren’t I?”

Damn right. But before I can reply, a soft voice calls out in the background. “Nathan, we need to leave if we’re going to get there on time.” My breath stalls in my lungs like someone just punched me in the solar plexus. He has someone with him? “Who is that?”

He clears his throat. “She’s a colleague. We have a charity event to attend.”

“Together?”

“Yes, together.” He sounds exasperated now.

“Is she at your penthouse?”

“She’s an old family friend, Mel.”

So she is at his penthouse. I swallow down the giant sob that wells in my throat. God, I’m so stupid. Thinking he was flirting with me when he was getting ready for a date with another woman. I’m such an idiot. “Well, have a wonderful night,” I snap, before ending the call and tossing my phone onto the bed.

“Asshole!” I shout, wishing there was someone here to hear me.

“Ow!” I yell, sitting up in bed and clutching my abdomen.

I blink in the dark room, trying to get my bearings, and another sharp stabbing pain lances through me.

No, please not again! I reach between my thighs and feel the warm wet patch on my pajamas. Tears leak from my eyes, and I turn on the lamp to see the blood on my fingers. No, no, no. This can’t be happening. I did everything right. I took my vitamins. I didn’t stretch too high or carry anything heavy.

“I did everything right!” I scream into the darkness. Pain and anguish crash over me in a long, never-ending wave, pulling me under until I can’t breathe. Tears race down my cheeks, and I curl into a ball and sob, wrapping my arms around myself as I will my body not to betray me again.

Chapter

Fifty-Seven

NATHAN

Iend the call with a sigh, not bothering to leave a voicemail. Mel is pissed at me because of last night. Not that she has any reason to be. But I guess if I heard some guy in her apartment, I would have lost my shit and gone straight over there to find out what the fuck was going on, so I can’t exactly blame her.

I’ll go to her work during lunch and explain. It will give me a chance to make sure she takes a break and is eating properly too. I’d rather she didn’t work at all right now, but I get that she can’t—and won’t—just up and quit her job. Plus, the doctor said there’s no reason at all why she shouldn’t work.

I glance at my laptop and then at the painting on my wall. It’s my most treasured possession. I should keep it at home, but I spend more time at work than I do at my penthouse, especially now that Mel is no longer there. Her absence makes the place seem emptier than it’s ever been.

I lean back in my chair and wonder what she’s doing. If she ate breakfast this morning, if she felt sick at all. Whether those ginger cookies I gave her are helping with her nausea. I hate that I only get to check in with her by phone, hate the thought of her doing this all alone. I should be there, holding her hair back when she’s sick and rubbing her swollen feet.

Tyler will be home in a couple of weeks, and I guess she’ll have him then, at least for a week or so before he leaves again. But I’m not sure if I feel better or worse about that. He’ll be the one who gets to feel our baby kick for the first time and see her bump grow every day. The one who will hold her hand through it all. Envy burns through my veins.

She should be living with me, at least until she has the baby. Tyler is rarely ever home. She needs someone to take care of her. She needs me. The memory of our phone call last night plays on a loop in my head, particularly the direction it was headed before Sapphire interrupted.

I googled pregnant women being horny, and apparently it’s a thing. I’ll be fucked if I let anyone else scratch that particular itch for her.

The sound of my office phone ringing snaps me from my thoughts. I press the button, and Helen’s voice fills my office. “It’s someone from Jasper Hospital on the line, sir.”

My heart rate doubles. “About who?”

“Mrs. James.”

The breath leaves my lungs like someone sucked all the air out of them with a straw. I place my hand on the table, grounding myself to the solid wood, and stare at my mother’s painting, hoping to channel some of the peace I usually feel when I stare at it. “Put them through.”

A few seconds later, a doctor whose name I wouldn’t remember if someone put a gun to my head tells me that Mel is in the hospital and that she lost our baby. I don’t remember ending the call. I don’t recall half of what she said. My soul cracks in two. She lost our baby. And she was all alone when it happened. Did she call out for me? Was she in pain?

Tears burn behind my eyes, and I rub my knuckles into the sockets. Tears won’t help her right now. The only thing I can do is get to her as fast as possible.

I race through the hospital, frantically looking for the suite where my wife is lying all alone. When I get there, a blond doctor is waiting outside the door. “Mr. James?” I recognize her voice from the call earlier.

“Yes.” I look behind her, through the crack in the door where Mel lies on the bed, curled in a ball.

“I’m sorry. There was nothing anyone could have done.”

I blink at her. “But what happened? I spoke to her last night, and she was fine. How did she get here? Who brought her?”

“She came in a cab. She was already bleeding heavily, and she passed the embryo in the night. These things have no rhyme or reason, Mr. James. They just happen.”

I glare at her, waiting for another platitude, but she doesn’t offer one. Instead she gives me a sympathetic smile. “I’m so sorry for your loss. Your wife can go home when she’s ready.”

“So she’s okay? Physically, I mean?”

“Yes. She should expect a little more bleeding for the next few days, much like a period, but other than that, she’s perfectly healthy. I’m sure she’ll be more comfortable at home.”

I thank her and burst into the room. “Mel.” Her name is a plea, but she doesn’t look up.

Dropping to my knees at her bedside, I wipe away the tears streaming down her cheeks, but they’re quickly replaced with fresh ones.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, and my heart fractures into a thousand tiny pieces. I would lay them all bare at her feet if I thought it would bring her any comfort.

“No, corazón. You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” I assure her, aware of the tremor in my voice.

She stares past me, unblinking.