Page 13 of Baby Daddy
“You think taking care of you means I think you’re weak?” he asked. Dani’s breath caught.
Jonnas leaned slightly closer, his voice lower now. “There’s a difference between helpless and cared for, baby girl.” Therewas that name again. Every time he said it, something inside her melted.
“You really need to stop calling me that,” she whispered weakly.
“No,” he whispered. Her thighs pressed together instantly. Jonnas seemed to notice the effect he had over her again, which was instantly humiliating. The temperature inside the SUV shifted immediately.
“You like it when I call you that,” he said softly. It wasn’t a question. Dani stared at him in horror.
“You’re not supposed to say that out loud,” she insisted.
His mouth curved slightly. “Why not?”
“Because it’s embarrassing,” she admitted.
“Why?” he asked.
She looked away from him. “Because normal people don’t react to things like that.” The second the words left her mouth, she regretted them. Jonnas went very still and then was dangerously calm.
“Who told you that?” he asked.
Her stomach twisted. “No one.”
“Bullshit,” he challenged. Dani swallowed hard. She hated this part because she hated talking about this. Telling another person what she liked and needed wasn’t easy and usually ended up badly for her.
“You wouldn’t understand,” she insisted.
“Try me,” he said.
She laughed nervously. “You really want to have this conversation in a parking lot?”
“If that’s where you need to have it,” he said. That answer hit her harder than it should have. Jonnas watched her carefully before speaking again. “You think wanting someone to take care of you makes you abnormal?” he asked. Tears burned unexpectedly behind her eyes because when he said it like that, itsounded so simple, so harmless. But every past experience she’d had told her otherwise.
“You don’t get it,” she whispered. “People hear things like that and think there’s something wrong with me.”
His expression hardened instantly. “Well, those people are idiots.”
Dani blinked at him. “What?”
“You heard me,” he growled. Warmth flooded her chest so fast it almost hurt. Jonnas reached over slowly, giving her time to pull away before brushing his knuckles lightly against her cheek.
“There is nothing wrong with wanting comfort,” he said quietly. “There is nothing wrong with wanting someone you trust to take care of you.” His words wrapped around her heart painfully, because that was the problem—she was starting to trust him. It was all happening way too fast, and that terrified her almost as much as how badly she wanted him.
Jonnas
Jonnas had spent the last three days trying to convince himself he wasn’t obsessed with Dani Hart, and he was failing miserably. It started with the pregnancy, and that part made sense. Any man would be concerned after finding out he was going to be a father. But this went beyond concern, because somehow he’d become hyperaware of everything involving her. Whether she’d eaten lunch during her shift, to how pale she looked during morning rounds. Or the fact that she rubbed her lower back when she thought no one was watching. And worst of all was the way her eyes searched for him now, like some part of her looked for safety before she even realized she was doing it. That part wrecked him.
Jonnas leaned back in his office chair, staring at absolutely nothing while replaying their conversation in the parking garage for the hundredth time. “There’s a difference between helpless and cared for, baby girl.” Jesus Christ. The second those words left his mouth, her entire body had softened, like she’d needed someone to say them to her—like no one ever had before.
A knock sounded at his office door before Elias walked in carrying coffee. “You look disturbed,” Elias announced.
Jonnas accepted the coffee. “Thanks.”
“That wasn’t a compliment,” Elias said. Jonnas ignored him, and Elias sat down across from the desk and studied him for a long moment. “Okay, what’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Jonnas mumbled.
“You’re lying,” Elias accused.
