Make You Mine by Niobia Bryant

sure it’s your baby?” she asked, finally voicing a question that had been haunting her since his return. She chanced a look at him out of the corner of her ebony eyes.
    â€œHonestly?” he asked, as he turned the weighty vehicle right on Springfield Avenue.
    A pang echoed in her chest. “Yes. We’re both grown.”
    â€œI hardly know you so I can’t lie and say I don’t have doubts,” he admitted in a low voice that let her know he wished he hadn’t had to say that. “I’m sorry.”
    Caress nodded. “I understand your position. I watch Maury and all those talk shows. There are plenty of men being fooled…but please know that my last relationship ended months before our date that night. I hadn’t been intimate with anyone for months before that night, and for the life of me I’m trying to figure out why the hell I lost my mind that night.”
    â€œ We lost our minds, Caress,” Julius insisted in soft and husky tones. “We lost our minds together.”
    Caress closed her eyes as a wave of awareness shimmied over her body. She nervously licked her lips as her heart fluttered. Everything in his tone let her know that he hadn’t forgotten what they shared that night either…and that was dangerous. “There’s my doctor’s office on the right. You can just let me out and I’ll catch the bus back,” she told him, struggling to bring all of her senses and those physical cues of desire under control.
    Instead of pulling in front of the brick building, Julius turned into the fenced parking lot on the side. “Actually, I wanted to come in, if that’s all right,” he said, turning the car off like the decision was already made.
    Caress hid her surprise well. “Okay,” she agreed, picking her purse up from the floor to leave the SUV.
    Â 
    â€œHowdy!”
    Startled, Julius whirled around and eyed the short woman who walked into the examining room like a mini whirlwind. He hated to be rude, but a piece of him wanted to tell her to bring it down a notch.
    â€œAnd who is this?” Dr. Dillinger asked as she washed her hands, her short dreadlocks framing a pretty, round face and wide, bright eyes behind frameless glasses.
    From on the examining table, Caress glanced over at Julius standing by the window. He looked over at her too.
    Neither knew what to say.
    â€œHe’s a friend,” Caress answered, turning to look away.
    Julius tucked away the bit of annoyance he felt that Caress had just disclaimed him as the father. But what other choice did he give her when he wasn’t prepared to claim it himself…yet?
    â€œWell, welcome friend. I’m Doc Dillinger,” she said enthusiastically with a big grin that was hard for anyone to resist.
    â€œNice to meet you,” he told her in pleasant tones as he crossed his strong, chiseled arms over his chest in the suede blazer he wore well.
    â€œYou’ve had your labs drawn and so far everything appears within normal levels.” The doctor slid on a pair of gloves and sat down on a stool positioned at the foot of the table.
    Julius wondered if he should leave.
    â€œI’m going to examine you and then it’s…dah-da-dunda-da-dun…ultrasound time, Mommy-to-be.”
    His eyes shifted up to Caress’s face, and he didn’t miss the twinkle of excitement in her eyes. He bit his lips, feeling like he was missing out on something big.
    Since Caress didn’t ask him to leave and he didn’t necessarily want to, Julius remained by the window as the doctor examined her. Thankfully all of her private business was pointed in the opposite direction. Not that he hadn’t seen it, touched it, tasted it…dreamt of it for the last three and a half months.
    We both lost our minds, Caress.
    That moment in the car came drifting back to him. He’d have to be deaf and mute to miss the electricity that surrounded them. In