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“You don’t have your car here.”
“I’ll get a ride.”
I pulled back the covers on her bed, and a fresh, clean smell drifted out from the pale pink bed sheets. Charlotte kicked her shoes off and climbed in, still wearing her clothes.
“Don’t get a ride from my brother,” she murmured.
“Ah, no. Definitely not.”
“We can’t tell him.”
I sighed and kicked off my own shoes. “He’ll find out eventually.”
“I can’t think about it right now. I haven’t even told my mom yet.”
I took my shirt off and tossed it to the floor. After I’d reached for the button on my jeans, I glanced at Charlotte.
“You mind if I take these off?”
She laughed and met my eyes. “A little late for that question, isn’t it?”
My cheeks warmed as she looked me up and down. I could tell she liked what she saw. “I just mean . . . I’m not trying to get with you right now or anything.”
“Yeah, that’s not even possible. I’m completely exhausted. My misdemeanor call was huge today, and I hardly even got to sit down. So much walking up and down the courthouse stairs because the elevator’s broken.”
I climbed into bed beside her and she switched off the bedside lamp.
“Have you been to the doctor?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’m definitely pregnant.”
“I figured, but . . . is everything good? With the baby and all?”
“Yes. I’m reading a book about pregnancy, and it says some people think the sicker you are, the healthier your baby is. If that’s true, this baby’s in great shape.”
I could hear how worn down she was in her soft, sleepy voice. I wanted to reach out and hold her, but I kept my hands to myself.
“I’m sorry you’ve been sick,” I said.
There was a pause, and I thought she’d fallen asleep, but then she spoke.
“Thanks, Bennett.” Another pause. “For everything.”
“I’ll be gone ’til Sunday afternoon on my road trip. Will you text me? Let me know how you’re doing?”
“Um . . . sure.”
“What?” I asked, not liking the uncertainty in her voice.
“Can you leave me your number?”
With a single note of laughter, I asked, “Didn’t I do that already?”
“I . . . threw it away.”
I blew out a breath and rolled my eyes up toward the ceiling. So I wasn’t just having a kid with a woman I hardly knew, I was having one with a woman who hadn’t planned on talking to me ever again after our one-night stand. Great.
“Yeah, I’ll leave it again.”
