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“I am.”
He clears his throat. “You been taking your birth control?”
“What are you saying?” I ask. I’m annoyed by his question, but at the same time, my heart starts to slam against my chest at the thought.
His lips curve up into a smirk. “You know what I’m saying, sunshine.”
Hendrick is leaning against the doorframe, his shoulder resting against the jamb as he watches me for a moment. He seems completely and totally unbothered by everything around him, including the idea of me being pregnant.
“Hendrick,” I exhale.
This can’t happen right now.
This is the exact wrong time for any of this to happen. Is there ever a right time? Well…. there probably is, but not for me. Never for me. Babies are for people who have their shit together.
They’re for Parker and Claire.
They aren’t for me.
I’m the fun aunt, the one with a drink in her hand. The one who is down for a good time with any guy who gives her a wink and a smile. I’m the girl who men have fun with. I’m not the one they marry.
And this situation is proof of that. Hendrick won’t marry me. Henry wouldn’t let him, and this man would never, not ever, go behind his father’s back about anything. He respects his father, his family, far too much for that.
Without his father’s approval, he wouldn’t even look sideways at someone, let alone marry them. So it doesn’t matter. If I am pregnant, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t affect him, and I’ll just have to figure out my own shit because he sure as hell won’t be getting down on one knee to make me his little bride.
“I’ll get a test,” he offers. “Better to know.”
“Why are you so calm?” I ask.
He grins as he pushes off the wall before he shrugs a shoulder. “It’s not something you can change, so there’s no sense in getting upset about it.”
Pushing off the toilet, I move toward the vanity and turn on the faucet. Cupping the water in my hand, I bring it to my lips and swish it around before I spit it out. I don’t bother looking at my reflection. I’m positive that I’m pale and that I look completely freaked out.
I turn around to face him. He is still standing at the doorway, his eyes still watching me, his expression still cool and calm. “Get dressed. We’ll go and grab all your shit from wherever you’ve been staying.”
The idea of Hendrick going to that place, to that motel, makes my skin crawl. He has little negative things to say about my apartment. He’s living this life in this fancy condo, with his expensive clothes and cars. I’m not that girl, never have been.
He’s going to judge me. I know he is, and it shouldn’t upset me because I was paying cash on the run. It’s not like I was living there and enjoying my best life. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t going to turn his nose up at the whole thing.
I should decline Henry’s offer. I should fucking run. I should take my baby and go. God, but then what do I do with my baby? A baby. Jesus Christ. I have nothing. I have absolutely nothing. Hendrick closes the distance between us, but I don’t realize it.
He wraps his fingers around the back of my neck, his eyes finding mine and holding them. “We’ll go and get your shit and bring it back here,” he repeats himself.
“What about my place, my store?” I ask.
“First, we figure out if you’re carrying my kid,” he says, pressing his palm against my belly.
Sucking in a breath, I hold it. And for a moment, something shifts inside of me. An idea pops into my head, and I have to wonder if I am completely and totally fucked up because that idea is completely and totally fucked.
What if I tell him that this possible baby isn’t his?
That would take away all his responsibility. That would make him hate me. That would give me the freedom to run. Shifting my gaze to the side, I slowly move it back to meet his when the fingers gripping the back of my neck flex.
“Shower. I’ll order breakfast, then we’ll go.”
His word is well… what we do. Because it’s Hendrick and he is completely and totally in charge of everything, always. Every single part of me when I stand in front of him. He slides his hand around my neck and presses it against the center of my chest.
Wordlessly, he drops his hand, then turns his back to me and makes his way out of the bathroom. I’m left alone, watching him go, and I wonder just how I’m going to get out of this. Because what is about to happen is going to make us both miserable.
