“Sunshine.” His voice is warm — I can hear him grinning.
“Don’tsunshineme, mister!”
“You freaking out?”
“Yes, I am most definitely freaking out!”
“You gonna run again?”
I pause for a beat, then sigh in resignation. “No.”
“See you at home,” he says, clicking off seconds later.
I listen to dead air buzzing at my ear, and lift my eyes to Shelby.
“He moved me in, without even asking!”
She nods. “Sounds like it.”
“He is the most annoying, bossy, incorrigible, pushy, arrogant man I’ve ever met.”
Her eyebrows lift. “Anything else?”
I sigh. “And I’m totally in love with him.”
***
I’m driving back to Croft Industries when my cellphone starts to ring. Cursing, I press a button to toggle the speakerphone and slide my finger to answer the call.
“Hello?”
“Gemma!”
“Chrissy, I can’t really talk right now, but I promise to give you updates on the gala later tonight.”
“I need you to come over.”
“It’s not really a good time, Chrissy. I have to sort some things out with Chase and my father and my apartment—”
“Gemma!”
I blink, startled by the shrillness of her tone. “Yeah?”
“I need you to come over.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Mark’s out of town on a business trip, my parents are on a cruise in the Mediterranean, and Winston refuses to eat his Cheerios. Oh, and my water just broke all over my Pottery Barn sofa. But, other than that, everything’s just peachy!”
“Your water broke?” I shriek.
“Yep.”
“Are you sure?”
“Gemma, there’s a puddle of amniotic fluid on my living room floor. I’m sure.”
“But you’re not due for another two weeks!”