TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 155

One hundred and fifty five

Lisa POV

My eyes snapped open as my body shoved me out of sleep. A sharp pressure in my belly told me I had to pee. I sat up, feet on the cool floor, waiting for my balance before standing.

Halfway to the bathroom, something inside shifted, pressed outward, then stopped, like testing the waters. It made me stop moving. My hand flew to my stomach. I waited, and at the same time, my mind raced to worst-case scenarios.

Was the baby okay?

It came again, clearer this time. A little push from inside.

I needed backup. Waking Mom felt bad, considering she slept late, but it was better than lying awake spiraling. I padded into the hall, past the dim wall lights, to her door.

Her voice cut through. “Lisa?”

“I’m coming in,” I said, pushing the door open.

She sat up, eyes sharp on me. “What happened?” I could hear the nervousness in her voice.

“I felt something move low in my belly, like a push. It wasn’t painful.”

The nervous look disappeared, followed by a tired smile. She patted the bed by her side. “Sounds like the baby.”

“Are you sure something isn’t wrong?”

“It’s normal at this stage, honey,” she said, lifting my shirt and placing a hand on my growing stomach. “It starts small, then gets clearer. Your body’s just tuning in.”

I sank onto her bed, and I suddenly felt a steady urge for Cameron to be the one rubbing my stomach. I didn’t need to explore further, but the connection formed on its own in my head, as though my body had found a rhythm it recognized. I needed him, but more than ever, I needed to keep my head clear. This situation was already complicated to add more layers to it.

“Lie beside me,” she said. “You need rest.”

I lay back and pulled the pillow close. In minutes, Mom was fast asleep. My hand moved to my stomach, and I waited.

Nothing.

Dr. Harry arrived earlier than I expected because he had a surgery to attend to at noon and needed to be at the hospital before ten a.m. for prep. Everything felt slightly sharper, like my body had decided to keep reminding me of what had happened the night before.

He had informed me the previous day, so I was already downstairs when he came in, the living room quiet except for the faint sound of movement from the kitchen where my mother was. He greeted her first, then turned to me, his attention settling in a way that felt familiar now.

I mentioned the movement from last night and adjusted on the couch, pulling my shirt up slightly. The room stayed quiet as he set things up.

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hundred and fifty fiver

+15 BCAUS

I let out a small breath. “I thought something was wrong at first.”

“That makes sense, given what you’ve been through. Your body is responding. The baby is active, and that’s a good thing. It confirms stability. The strong chap survived whatever toxin was ingested into your blood.”

“That’s good,” I said, even though I wasn’t fully listening anymore.

The rest of the conversation felt routine until I became aware of how close we were sitting. It didn’t make me uncomfortable, but I was aware.

The reminder sat there quietly.

He fumbled with his stethoscope and then looked squarely at me, making me a tad uncomfortable.

“Is there something on my face?”

He shook his head. “There are boundaries in situations like this.” He paused. “And I’m aware of them.”

“You’re doing that thing again.”

“What thing?”

“Saying things I don’t understand.”

He seemed like he was holding himself back but eventually spoke. “Alright. Let me be clear. I like you,” he said. ” That’s the simplest version of it.”

No surprise there.

“And this is the part where you tell me you’re still going to behave professionally,” I said.

“Yes,” he replied. “That doesn’t change. But it doesn’t erase the fact either.”

The silence that followed sat there, waiting to see what either of us would do with it.

“You picked a complicated situation,” I said.

“I didn’t pick it,” he replied. “It was already here.”

“You know this doesn’t go anywhere,” I said.

“I know it doesn’t go anywhere right now,” he corrected.

I let out a small laugh. “That sounds like you’re negotiating with the future.”

“I’m being honest, Lisa,” he said.

I looked at him. “You’re a doctor. You should know better than to wait on something uncertain.”

He was a good option. He made sense. He was stable, and that should have been a good thing. But it wasn’t enough.

“If this was simple, this would work,” I managed to say.

“And it doesn’t feel that way?”

I shook my head. “Unfortunately not.”

The answer sat there, plain and unavoidable.

“What does it feel like, then?” he asked.

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ghway to say it without saying too much.

Both of theth akt

sgismissing,” I said. “I’m not exactly in the right frame of mind for a relationship. At least lead “That’s rotat

ytfungimaining ukw. I just didn’t want to pretend it wasn’t there.”

csosuud closed it.

the altoriaidowed to think about what happens after this situation with you and the alpha.”

ently.

ndbackat backathe empty space in front of me.

eed to thudcobbink about right now,” I said.

ed.tbifive thonthesmonths, you will be free. You don’t have to answer me now. I’m not asking lay.” today.”

abled. “You say Ybatshite hatsike this is something that can be scheduled.”

ught throughrough

uncomfortable becaise acause lie wasn’t forcing anything.

ave had murky emotions with asphalt Alpha Cameron, but I know how situations like this cleanly. Someone always takesyd makes ithe hit insituations like this.”

bything happening between the epithe alpha and me.”

It doesn’t make it true. You knowowowwhat makes this worse? You already know the cost. ut loud. An alpha doesn’t get to’nute qualquietemistakes. Whatever he does doesn’t stay get involved. Lines get drawn: And by, thed by elic’ time it’s obvious, it’s already too late to pull it

ard, trying to keep them from spilling qulling outyin awry I couldn’t control. Before I could

without warning and Cameron walked inalked in.

him, already scanning the room in than quittavayle way he always did. Cameron’s presence ately. His gaze moved from me to Harry, denbachay back again.

se,” he said.

et Cameron’s gaze.

Harry replied.

ou consider your job.”

e she’s fine,” Harry said.

vel of comfort?” Cameron asked.

“It is when it can interacts withers

The silentbuy

Cameron gaye

“You’re getting

“I’m getting sexi

“That’s not what

“It looks the sain

Franklin stepped

“There’s no need

That got Cameron

“That could have just the two of us

“Lisa, please don

I frowned. “Shifti

“You know what

“That doesn’t ina

“It doesn’t have t

now. I don’t have

The car honked an

Franklin glanced

The door closed a

not because I did

Harry made sense all of it, being tol

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ediately. “It requires consistency.”

into the room. “It requires structure.”

any further. “There is no problem, Alpha Carneron. Dr. Harrycaine scarpe as expected.”

Com

hunted and fifty five

Both of them looked at me.

“That’s not your call,” Cameron said.

+15 Benus

“It is when it concerns me. You’re trying to control him beyond what’s necessary. You don’t get to decide who interacts with me.”

The silence that followed shifted the balance of the room. Harry picked up his things, turned to Cameron. “Alpha.”

Cameron gave a short acknowledgment but said nothing else.

“You’re getting comfortable with him,” Cameron said, visible lines on his forehead.

“I’m getting used to people not treating me like a possession,” I replied.

“That’s not what this is.”

“It looks the same from where I’m standing.”

Franklin stepped in before it escalated further.

“There’s no need to argue,” he said.

That got Cameron’s attention. He looked between both of us, then turned and walked out.

“That could have gone worse,” Franklin said, as though scolding me. Then he leaned to whisper, as if it wasn’t just the two of us in the room.

“Lisa, please don’t push him away right now,” he said. “Not when he’s already shifting.”

I frowned. “Shifting into what?”

“You know what I mean. He’s struggling, and for some reason, you’re the one he settles around.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“It doesn’t have to. I’m asking you not to ruin something we might need. Just don’t fight him like that again. Not now. I don’t have the full picture, but I know enough to tell you that you matter to Cameron.”

The car honked outside.

Franklin glanced toward the door. “I have to go. He needs you.”

The door closed again, and this time the silence stayed. I stood there, replaying everything that had just happened, not because I didn’t understand it, but because I understood just enough for it to feel incomplete.

Harry made sense. Cameron complicated everything. Franklin made it worse. And somehow, I was in the middle of all of it, being told not to step away.

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