The next afternoon, she’d flown out for an assignment down in Virginia. I’d lightly suggested that she reschedule the interview, but Bianca had said she needed to work to make the time pass or she’d go crazy. I could understand that, but I hated that she would be sitting in a hotel room hundreds of miles away for two nights, thinking the worst was going to happen. Not to mention that two nights away from her seemed like an eternity. And while we spoke on the phone every morning and evening, I felt her slipping away from me again. Physical distance made her overthink things. Her voice was sad when I called to check in on her that afternoon.
“How did your interview go? Did you get everything you needed?” I asked.
“I think so.” She sighed. “To be honest, I don’t have any idea. Thankfully, I grabbed my recorder at the last minute before I left—something I never really use—because I’m pretty sure everything he said went in one ear and out the other.”
“It’s to be expected. You’re under a lot of stress.”
“You want to know something funny?”
“I could use funny right about now, yes.” I leaned back into my office chair.
“I woke up in the middle of the night with a mini panic attack. I couldn’t fall back asleep right away, so I got out my Baoding balls while my mind was racing over everything from the last week.”
“I might have laid in bed last night playing with my own stress balls and thinking of you, too. Let me ask you, have you ever tried inserting them and wiggling around? I think that might go a long way toward stress reduction.”
I heard the smile in her voice. “You’re such a pervert. And I wasn’t done with my story, you know.”
“Go on. I’m curious to see if your ball massage session finished off as well as mine did.”
“Anyway,” she continued, “I massaged my stress balls for a while and still couldn’t go back to sleep, so I decided to turn on the television. Take a guess what was on at three in the morning?”
“What?”
“Cleopatra.”
As insane as the entire situation was, I was glad the two of us could still laugh at our own expense. Although Bianca’s voice was more serious when she spoke next. “My sister went to the lab you set up for us today.”
“Oh yeah? How’d everything go?” I’d arranged for my father to go to the same chain lab facility in Florida the day he got back from his vacation. Bianca and her sister only had to give their case number when they went in for a quick swab. I didn’t want either one of them to have to go through explaining everything at the lab.
“Brian went with her, and my mom took the kids so they could have a night alone.”
“That’s good,” I said.
“It’s the least my mother can do.”
“Did you make an appointment yet?”
“Tomorrow afternoon. Three o’clock.” I heard the dread in her voice.
I’d been tossing around bringing up something that was on my mind for the last two days, but now that her appointment was tomorrow, we didn’t have much time left…
“What time does your flight land tonight?”
“A few minutes after eight, I think.”
“I’ll pick you up at the airport.”
“Are you sure? I can just grab an Uber.”
“I’m sure. I miss you. And I want to talk to you before tomorrow anyway.”
“Oh God. The last few times you had something to talk to me about, you admitted you were Jay, told me my mother was a cheater, and then told me we could be siblings. I’m not sure I want to have any more talks with you.” She was teasing. Well, sort of.
“I have no more bad news. I promise.”
“Then why did you sound so serious?”
“I just think we should talk. In person. Tonight.”
“Dexter Truitt. I’m going to get kicked off the plane for screaming at the top of my lungs and chiming my balls if you don’t tell me what’s on your mind right now. I can’t travel home wondering what you’re going to spring on me next.”
Shit. I should’ve just told her that I’d missed her and left it at that.
“I just want to talk about you getting your DNA test done.”
“What about my test?”
She wasn’t going to stop until I said what was on my mind. I’d be making her head spin whether I told her or not. “I’ve been thinking…what if you didn’t get the test done?”
“Tomorrow? I can go another day if you need me for something.”
“No. I meant…what if we didn’t find out at all?”
Dex was standing in baggage claim waiting when I came down the escalator. We’d locked eyes the minute my foot stepped on at the top, and my stomach did all sorts of flip-flops the entire ride down. God I’m so crazy about this man.
He was dressed casually, in a pair of jeans, dark t-shirt, and running sneakers. Yet there was nothing casual about the way he looked. Dex had an intensity on his face that made my skin tingle. He stayed still, except for his eyes following my every step. When I reached the bottom and walked toward him, I could actually feel my pulse quicken.
“Give a girl a ride?” I flirted.
He grumbled something I think might have been, “You have no fucking idea the ride I want to give you,” then hooked one arm around my waist, pulled me flush against him, and kissed me with a passion that felt almost desperate. Any certainty I had that I should have the test done tomorrow and stay away from him until after we get the results, went flying out of my head faster than the jet I just took home.
“Get the thought out of your head,” Dex said against my lips when our kiss broke.
I was breathless. “What thought?”
He arched an eyebrow. “The one where you question if this is a good idea. If we should be together in this way.”
How did he know? “I wasn’t…”
He shook his head with a knowing smirk and took my overnight bag from my hand. “Do you have any other luggage?”
“No, just this.”
“Then let’s get out of here.”
During the short ride back to my place we made small talk—how was my flight, what was my next assignment, even a nice chat about the market fluctuation that day. Anything and everything but the elephant in the room. But that came to an abrupt end shortly after we settled into my apartment. I’d done a quick unpack while Dex poured wine and then the awkwardness set in.
Dex was sitting on the couch across from me and leaned forward, placing both of his hands on my knees. “I don’t want to risk losing you by having the test done.”
“Dex…I’m not sure I could function not knowing.”
“Eventually we’d move past it. If we made the decision never to find out, I think after some time, we’d be okay.”
“What if…we stayed together?”
“You mean if we wanted to have children someday?”
I nodded my head.
“We could agree to adopt. I’d be fine with that. There are plenty of children who need good homes.” I had looked away, and Dex squeezed my hand to get my attention back. “Look at how good we did adopting Bandit.”
I snorted. “I don’t think deciding not to have children naturally should be based on how things have gone with Bandit.”
He cupped my cheek. “Maybe not. But if the choice is possibly losing you or adopting instead of having a biological child, there is no choice.”
I looked into his eyes. “Wouldn’t you always wonder?”
“I’d get over it.”
“Dex…”
He leaned in and kissed my lips. “Think about it. Just think about it some more.”