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“Yes.”
“Too bad. Not going to tell you.”
“Then why’d you ask?”
He shrugged. “I love being the bane of your existence,” he answered with a shit-eating grin that she secretly found adorable. The bastard. He climbed to his feet. “I’m going to shower. We leave in fifteen minutes.”
“Make it thirty. I need to shower, too.”
“Nope. Fifteen. Get your ass in the shower with me to save time.”
She arched her brow. “Can you keep your hands to yourself?”
“Woman, I’m not Superman. I don’t think I could get it up again so quickly if I tried. You should be safe.”
“You’re so full of crap. You have the stamina of a seventeen-year-old boy,” she returned wryly and he grinned. “Okay, I’ll meet you in the shower. Give me five.”
“I’ll get the water going.”
Boston pushed out of the chair and sauntered into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
Julianna yawned and stretched, wondering where he was taking her, when suddenly she felt incredibly queasy. Ughh…she stopped and bent at the waist waiting for the wave of nausea to pass. Her mouth watered and she quickly straightened as the horrifying realization followed that she might need to vomit. Had she eaten something bad? She thought of what she’d eaten this morning and couldn’t think of anything out of the ordinary. Did food poisoning come on this suddenly? But just as she thought she was going to need to sprint to the bathroom to barf, the need passed and she was left shaky and weak. She walked into the steamy bathroom and climbed into the shower with Boston. Boston turned with a lascivious grin until he saw her frown. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I just got really sick all of a sudden but now it’s gone. I don’t know, it was weird.”
“Are you coming down with something?” he asked.
“I don’t know. At first I thought food poisoning but it went away and now I just feel shaky and tired. Maybe I am coming down with the flu or something.”
“Do you want to stay home?” he asked and she was inordinately warmed by his concern. She shook her head. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, no, I’m fine. It’s probably just low blood sugar because I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
Boston soaped up a fine linen washcloth and began slowly washing her front. “I’d hate to cancel the trip but I’m not sure if I’m down with a vomiting partner.”
She scowled and pushed his hand away. “I think I can handle the washcloth on my own,” she said, grabbing the cloth and turning away from him. “Don’t worry your little sex slave will be ready to perform as required.”
“Oh, now who’s being sensitive?” he teased and slapped her behind lightly. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
She ignored him and continued to wash up. The fact was for a split second everything had felt normal and natural and that was bad. Nothing about their arrangement was normal or natural. She’d been playing the part for a month now and it would do her some good to remember that he didn’t love her and never would — and for that matter, she didn’t love him either. But she sorta liked him. She definitely liked having sex with him and she really enjoyed that he spoiled her endlessly.
Julianna rinsed under the multiple jets and left the shower, leaving him behind. He called after her, “Are you really mad?”
And she didn’t know how to answer. She kinda was mad. Not sure why. She wouldn’t blame him if he called her bi-polar because she probably deserved it. “I’m fine,” she forced herself to say. Better to lie than to try and decipher where her head was at the moment. She felt out of sorts — almost as if she were about to start her period. Oh! That’s it. Duh. She was due to start her period any day. She tucked the towel around her and grabbed her phone to check the calendar. Hmm…she should’ve already started.
Actually…she should’ve started last week.
She was never late.
Ever.
She had the internal female mechanism of an atomic clock — precise and exact.
A flush stole over her body and she sat heavily in the window chair. What the hell? Was she in a parallel universe where the crazy insane stuff happens because there was no way in hell she was sitting there afraid to acknowledge the most obvious reason for a late period.
He said he couldn’t have kids.
That’s why they hadn’t used protection.
He promised her he was sterile.
A tight, squeezing feeling made it hard to breathe and black dots swam before her eyes. Was this truly happening? Now she was about to pass out? Oh holy hell…what a Twilight Zone episode.
The last thought tumbling through her mind as she slid from the chair in a boneless heap was…he motherfucking lied to me.
And then she was aware of nothing.
#
Boston stared hard at the emergency room doctor, nearly boring holes in his white lab coat. “Are you sure?” he asked with barely contained rage. “I need you to be sure.”
The doctor looked at Boston quizzically. “Yes, I am positive. She’s six weeks pregnant.”
Pregnant? Julianna was pregnant? “Are you sure about how far along she is?” he pressed, hating the sick feeling lodged in his gut. If Julianna was pregnant it could only mean one thing — she’d been fucking someone else. And the idea of someone else putting their hands on his girl was enough to make him want to bury his fist in a wall. “Are you sure, doctor?” he asked again brusquely.
“Is this an unexpected pregnancy?” the doctor asked with a modicum of sympathy.
“You could say that,” Boston answered. “Can I see her?”
“Yes, she’s resting. She’s going to need some prenatal care. She may have been anemic before the pregnancy or at the very least low in iron and the pregnancy just made it worse but she needs to supplement to sustain the pregnancy. I can give you the name of a few quality OB-GYNs who are accepting new patients, if you’d like.”
Boston shook his head. Everything was moving too quickly. His head was jammed with rage, questions, and pain. She’d obviously cheated on him. How could she? Because she doesn’t love you and never will. He hated that fucking voice in his head but he couldn’t deny the truth staring him in the face. She hated him anyway. What better way to bury a hatchet in his back than to get knocked up while she was still shacking up with him? Seemed a perfectly executed plan. He accepted a business card from the doctor and stalked away, going straight to her room.
She looked up and he was surprised to see a mirror of rage in her eyes. He tossed her the business card. “You might need this. Seems you’re anemic and you need to supplement for your baby.”
“My baby?” she hissed and tossed the card back at him. “You’re a fucking liar. You told me you couldn’t father kids. Is this some kind of joke to you? I don’t appreciate this underhanded trick to get me pregnant.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he shot back, confused and pissed as hell that she would try and throw this back on him. “Do you hear yourself? I told you that I can’t have kids and that wasn’t a lie. If anyone is lying it’s you. Obviously, you’ve been cheating on me!”
Her eyes widened and she shook her head, both outraged and equally confused. “I haven’t slept with anyone but you, asshole. You’d better get your balls checked again because you put this baby in my stomach and no one else!”
Julianna’s eyes flashed with real indignation and he didn’t know what to think. Was it possible? But how? “I was told by multiple doctors that I couldn’t father children,” he said stiffly. “So if you say that I got you pregnant, against all fucking odds, you won’t mind a paternity test.”
“Bring it.” She scooted up and met his gaze with a hard one of her own but he detected a subtle glitter in her eyes that made him wonder if she was telling the truth. “And when it comes back that you’re the father, I’m going to shove the results up your ass!” The air between them crackled with tension and it seemed neither would b
