Love Expectations (Season 1 of Nata and Phillip's Romance) ✔️

22. 'Wouldn't it be awkward?'

Nata

Phillip must read the reaction on my face because he lifts his hand in front of him in defense. "Dad knows we plan to have a kid and wants to get to know the mother of his future grandchildren."

I rub away the tension in my chest. "Grandchild. Singular."

"You know my powers of persuasion are vast." Phillip reclines on the counter behind him and scrapes his top teeth over his bottom lip. Intentionally. Because his gaze is that smoldering version he turns on when trying to affect people around him.

Knowing what he is doing should protect me from reacting. Should, but doesn't. My blood turns into warm honey in my veins. The pulse skitters under my palm. My legs shake and my head swims like I just finished a marathon. What would happen when he runs his hands across my body? Or his lips over mine? The air thickens around us, and my skin heats. This is not what I should be feeling. I need to nip in the bud this erroneous idea my libido has. I have to eradicate from my mind the desire for anything more than the mechanical approach to what we will have to do. He was very clear about what kind of future he's after. A partner to have a child with. Not a wife or even a girlfriend. There's only one agenda we agree on. "Let's take one step at a time." My voice is lower than I want it to be. I square my shoulders. "I've only signed up for one kid."

He lifts an eyebrow and breaks the tension with a genuine grin. "Hey, I'm joking. One kid"-he circles his eyes around the room-"at a time." He nudges my arm with his finger. I hear sizzling in my mind and step away. He continues, "You said yourself you want more than one."

"I don't want a football team." I cross my arms hoping they hide my body's reaction to him.

"Fine." He chuckles. "Tell me when you can go meet Dad."

I take my phone out. "Next two weeks are packed. But maybe after the conference?"

"When's that?"

The three-day conference that I'm flying to San Francisco for to present my current research sits next to the purple blocks that say ovulation in capital letters. "Shit," I mutter.

"It's not urgent-"

"We have a problem." I run my hand over my face and cover my eyes. With all the calendars and keeping track of everything I do, how did I not notice this? My heart beats in my ears. The idea that I could avoid discussing this topic with him in person vanishes.

Phillip steps next to me, his arm touches mine, as he removes my fingers off my eyes. "What is it? You can tell me everything. We'll figure it out," he says in a soft, caring voice that makes what I need to say next even more embarrassing. "Nata?"

The concern etched on his face rushes the words out of my mouth. "Nothing bad, but it messes up our sex plans."

"We have sex plans?" He tilts his head, and the spark of fire reignites in his gaze.

"I was going to text you about that." The pressure in my rib cage mounts with every syllable on the subject. This is normal stuff two adults who want to have a child together the old-fashioned way discuss. No reason for me to feel flustered about any of it, so I spit it out. "My ovulation is supposed to happen in two weeks, which means we should plan to have sex at least once a day during that window."

"Matches with what my research on the topic said." He nods as he creases his brow and purses his lips at the same time. The look on his face only pretends to be thoughtful.

I narrow my eyes. "I'm serious. We can't have sex if we are in two different cities."

"We can, but-"

I open my mouth to protest.