Doctor's Baby (The Billionaire's Secret Book 8)
By: R. S. Elliot“God, who cares?” I muttered to myself, feeling fed up with my own thoughts. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t my girlfriend, and I wasn’t looking to get involved with anyone, even with someone I clicked with so many years ago.
Whether I liked it or not, things just got complicated.
Chapter Four
Jenna
I quietly shut the door to Natalie’s room as she snoozed in her bed.
Her fever finally lowered late last night after she started taking her medicine. It seemed like she was starting to already get a little better with the help of the medicine, which I was so grateful for. It had been torture watching her suffer through this. At least she was finally starting to turn a corner.
Wanting to let her rest, I crept to the kitchen, winding around dozens of unopened moving boxes. Things had been so crazy with moving in here and taking care of Natalie that I hadn’t even been able to unpack all of the boxes yet. Hopefully, I could get started on that soon and make this place actually feel like a home for Natalie. Maybe it would brighten her spirits.
The early morning sunset streamed in through the kitchen window as I turned on the coffeemaker, brewing myself a strong cup of coffee to get me moving this morning. I didn't sleep much last night. I kept checking on Natalie. When I was in bed, I kept thinking about Aidan.
I couldn’t believe that I actually saw him again. It still blew my mind. It wasn’t like it mattered anymore, though. I didn’t plan on seeing him again. Things would just get complicated, and it would be hard to act normal around him when I was hiding such a huge secret from him. I felt bad about lying to Natalie and him, especially since he seemed so nice, but our lives had been fine while separated. Why mess that up?
Once I stirred some creamer into my coffee, I carried my black mug out to the front porch, sitting on the rustic bench that I had managed to set up yesterday. I still had a ton of decorations that I wanted to put up, but they were tucked away in one of the many unpacked boxes. I sipped on my coffee and gazed out at the morning sun, basking in the peace of our new neighborhood until I heard a door shut.
I turned my head to look at the house to my right. I hadn’t met any of our neighbors yet, but I had been meaning to try to be social and say hi. Maybe there were other kids Natalie’s age here that she could play with. I wouldn’t mind having someone to talk to either.
The energetic drone of my mind suddenly went silent as I watched Aidan walk down the steps of his front porch to head to his car parked in the driveway. A brown messenger bag hung from his shoulder as he carried a mug of coffee in one of his hands. It looked like he was on his way to work.
I stayed silent, unable to say hi even if I wanted to. I was pretty sure that wasn’t a good idea, but I couldn’t possibly hide forever. Eventually, he would see me getting out of my car or sitting on my porch and see that I was his neighbor. Then again, it wasn’t like he remembered me from the wedding anyway.
Aidan suddenly glanced over my way, freezing in place as he stopped near his car. He stared at me for a few seconds, eyes almost as wide as my own. He shifted on his feet before walking toward me. “How are you liking the neighborhood so far?”
I sat up on the bench, subtly trying to smooth down my tank top and fix my lounge shorts. If I had known that he was my neighbor, I would’ve changed out of my sleep clothes and fixed my hair. “It’s nice. I haven’t really gotten much of a chance to explore, though.”
Aidan stopped on the top step, giving me a polite smile. “You’ll really like it. I’ve enjoyed it since I’ve moved here.”
I forced a small smile and nodded. The small talk seemed forced, even on his side. I wondered if he just felt obligated to say hi since he saw me yesterday. We certainly could’ve skipped this awkward encounter.
“How’s Natalie doing?” Aidan asked me, breaking the silence that had settled between us.
“Oh, good! She’s doing good,” I told him with a genuine smile. The prescriptions he told me to get worked like a charm. Maybe I had made a good decision by bringing Natalie to the ER yesterday. I ended up overreacting, but as a parent, I felt like it was better to overreact than to not react enough.
