spot where he imagined her baby growing. The way she’d stretched across the sofa, her belly appeared perfectly flat with only the gentlest slope to her stomach. No one would guess she was even a day pregnant. She must not be very far along. More than a month, since she’d already taken the test, but not much more. Maybe two.
The recesses of his brain started doing a little involuntary math, but he shoved the thought aside. She’d said it wasn’t his. She was letting him off the hook. That was enough. He didn’t want to be a dad and he sure as hell didn’t want to inflict himself as a father on any poor kid. It wasn’t just him she was letting off the hook. It was all of them. Until she was far enough along to get proof one way or another, he had to take her word for it anyway.
To distract himself from those disconcerting thoughts, he pulled the sketchbook out from under his arm and started flipping through it again.
“What is this?” he asked.
She opened a single eye to gaze at him. When her gaze fell on the sketchbook, she tensed for a second. Then she closed her eye and forced a breath that almost sounded relaxed. “Just doodles.”
“They don’t look like doodles. They look like jewelry designs.”
He held up the page to reveal a sketch of a necklace and earrings. The set was full of intricate curlicues and elaborate swirls in a style that managed to reference Victorian styles while still looking modern.
“It’s just something I drew up. It’s not even very original.”
“What do you mean?” He turned the page to look at the next design.
“I modeled it after some of my grandmother’s old jewelry. The ones I had to sell. Most of the drawings in there came from pieces of my grandmother’s. Aswirl here, a flower there. Just bits I combined together from one piece or another.”
He looked up from the drawings. Her free hand still rested on her stomach, but her fingers had started tugging at the knit. Normally Kitty’s innate confidence bordered on arrogance. If he didn’t know better he’d think she was fidgeting.
He flipped to the next page, staring at the image for a moment before turning the page ninety degrees to get a better angle. “Is this a case for an iPhone?”
She pulled in her legs, straightening. “You know not everyone likes their gadgets to look like gadgets.”
It was the same scrolling design as one of the earlier pictures, but this time the perfect size and shape to enclose a cell phone. The page held three drawings, one of the back; the second depicted elegant, tiny, clawed feet, which wrapped around the front of the phone; the third showed the delicate hinges along the side. He could imagine it in gleaming sterling. The overall effect was a brilliant merging of gothic Victorian and geeky tech. Between the clawed feet and the ghoulish tiny gargoyle face on the back, the piece almost had…a sense of humor.
Like the drawing of FMJ gobbling up Kitty.
“Did you think of this?” he asked.
“It’s similar to my great-grandfather’s cigarette case.”
“Wait a second.” He flipped back a few pages to the drawing of the earrings and pendant. He squinted at the scrawled writing he’d dismissed initially. In tiny letters he saw the words Bluetooth? and ear buds? “This isn’tjewelry, is it? These are gadgets. This isn’t a necklace, it’s a case for an MP3 player.”
She reached to pull the sketchbook from his hands. “You don’t need to poke fun at me.”
“I’m not.” He held the book just out of her reach. “I think it’s brilliant.”
Her gaze narrowed in suspicion as she stepped closer to him, still reaching for the notebook. “It’s completely unrealistic.”
“Says who?” he asked.
“Everyone I’ve ever showed it to.”
“Which is?”
“My father. The board of directors. No one’s gonna buy geeky jewelry.”
He scoffed, dismissing her concern. “Let me guess. Your father was one of those guys who thought iPhones would never sell,
The recesses of his brain started doing a little involuntary math, but he shoved the thought aside. She’d said it wasn’t his. She was letting him off the hook. That was enough. He didn’t want to be a dad and he sure as hell didn’t want to inflict himself as a father on any poor kid. It wasn’t just him she was letting off the hook. It was all of them. Until she was far enough along to get proof one way or another, he had to take her word for it anyway.
To distract himself from those disconcerting thoughts, he pulled the sketchbook out from under his arm and started flipping through it again.
“What is this?” he asked.
She opened a single eye to gaze at him. When her gaze fell on the sketchbook, she tensed for a second. Then she closed her eye and forced a breath that almost sounded relaxed. “Just doodles.”
“They don’t look like doodles. They look like jewelry designs.”
He held up the page to reveal a sketch of a necklace and earrings. The set was full of intricate curlicues and elaborate swirls in a style that managed to reference Victorian styles while still looking modern.
“It’s just something I drew up. It’s not even very original.”
“What do you mean?” He turned the page to look at the next design.
“I modeled it after some of my grandmother’s old jewelry. The ones I had to sell. Most of the drawings in there came from pieces of my grandmother’s. Aswirl here, a flower there. Just bits I combined together from one piece or another.”
He looked up from the drawings. Her free hand still rested on her stomach, but her fingers had started tugging at the knit. Normally Kitty’s innate confidence bordered on arrogance. If he didn’t know better he’d think she was fidgeting.
He flipped to the next page, staring at the image for a moment before turning the page ninety degrees to get a better angle. “Is this a case for an iPhone?”
She pulled in her legs, straightening. “You know not everyone likes their gadgets to look like gadgets.”
It was the same scrolling design as one of the earlier pictures, but this time the perfect size and shape to enclose a cell phone. The page held three drawings, one of the back; the second depicted elegant, tiny, clawed feet, which wrapped around the front of the phone; the third showed the delicate hinges along the side. He could imagine it in gleaming sterling. The overall effect was a brilliant merging of gothic Victorian and geeky tech. Between the clawed feet and the ghoulish tiny gargoyle face on the back, the piece almost had…a sense of humor.
Like the drawing of FMJ gobbling up Kitty.
“Did you think of this?” he asked.
“It’s similar to my great-grandfather’s cigarette case.”
“Wait a second.” He flipped back a few pages to the drawing of the earrings and pendant. He squinted at the scrawled writing he’d dismissed initially. In tiny letters he saw the words Bluetooth? and ear buds? “This isn’tjewelry, is it? These are gadgets. This isn’t a necklace, it’s a case for an MP3 player.”
She reached to pull the sketchbook from his hands. “You don’t need to poke fun at me.”
“I’m not.” He held the book just out of her reach. “I think it’s brilliant.”
Her gaze narrowed in suspicion as she stepped closer to him, still reaching for the notebook. “It’s completely unrealistic.”
“Says who?” he asked.
“Everyone I’ve ever showed it to.”
“Which is?”
“My father. The board of directors. No one’s gonna buy geeky jewelry.”
He scoffed, dismissing her concern. “Let me guess. Your father was one of those guys who thought iPhones would never sell,
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