What the Lightning Sees: Part Three Read Online Free

into the kitchen. “Where’s Luke and Ash?”
    “They left about half an hour ago. I’m just finishing clearing up. Do you want a drink?” She held up a glass she had taken out of the dishwasher.
    I shook my head but took the glass, placing it in the cupboard behind me. It was only a few minutes past nine. They must have left to give Haven and me alone time and I was grateful. I’d been dreading meeting Millie and now all I wanted was Haven. I watched as she continued to unload the dishwasher. How did she make the mundane look so graceful?
    “So, how was it?” she asked.
    I was relieved she was the one to bring it up. I didn’t want to hide anything but I didn’t want to be the one always introducing the subject. “Weird. Transactional. I thought her sister would be there, but she wasn’t.” It was true. I hadn’t felt anything when I saw Millie again, not even a hint of affection. It was as if Haven had rendered my previous relationship history completely inconsequential. It might be different once there was some physical evidence of my child growing within her, but I’d had no emotional reaction to seeing her at all.
    “Did you go to her place?”
    “Yeah. I wasn’t there long. About thirty minutes, that’s all. I guess I was trying to be polite by going to see her face-to-face, but I’m not sure I needed to. We didn’t really have anything to say to each other.” I wanted to reassure her that there was no connection between Millie and me.
    Haven chewed the inside of her cheek. I moved toward her and brushed her face with my thumb. She slid her hands around my waist as I pulled her toward me. “I want to tell you everything, but I don’t know what you want to know. I have nothing to hide.”
    “Is she going to take the test?” she asked, her voice vibrating against my chest.
    I liked that she was asking questions. Somehow it felt as though she was invested and that had to be a good sign. “She said she’ll talk to the doctor about it. She has her first ultrasound coming up, so she’s going to bring it up then.”
    “Are you going?”
    I kissed the top of her head. “No. She’s going with her sister. I offered. She said she didn’t want me there. She was pretty pissed I asked about the test.” Pissed was an understatement. Once she’d realized I wasn’t going to back down on getting confirmation of paternity, she’d been furious. I hadn’t bothered arguing about going with her to the ultrasound.
    “Does she want to get back together?”
    It was the question I’d been waiting for. Haven had asked before, and I’d brushed it off. But seeing Millie again made me think differently. My gut said that she wanted more from me than just to be her baby daddy. She liked my money and she was pregnant and alone. But she hadn’t done anything specific. “She offered to cook me dinner and she was quite tactile, but I don’t think so. She’s worried I think.” I wasn’t exactly lying; I just wasn’t telling her my suspicions.
    “How tactile?” she asked.
    “She didn’t grab my junk or anything, but she was a bit touchy.”
    She grasped her cheek in her teeth again. “I want you to promise me something.”
    “Anything,” I replied.
    “Don’t say that. Not until you know what I’m asking.” She was serious and I wanted to be able to see inside her head. To know what was coming and predict how I was going to react.
    “It doesn’t matter what it is,” I tried to reassure her.
    “Well, that’s a ridiculous thing to say. If I said, ‘promise me you’ll stab yourself with a carving knife,’ are you going to do that?”
    I smiled. “No, but you’re not going to ask me to stab myself with a carving knife.”
    “I might. The night is young.” She squeezed her eyes half shut in a mock threat.
    I grasped her face in my hands. “You’re getting kissed for that,” I said and I pressed my lips to hers softly. She didn’t resist and smoothed her hands up my back. “What do you want