“Funny that you offer it to me now,” she said but didn’t move to accept it. “You don’t remember me, do you?” She shoved her hands deep inside the pockets of her coat, her voice flat.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I, um, I don’t.”
She blinked at me, and then tears started welling up in her eyes. If there was anything I couldn’t handle, it was a woman crying. I reached out and awkwardly patted her on the shoulder. Still, my mind was consumed with getting to the airport on time.
“My name is Mia,” she finally said, using her sleeve to wipe her tears. “We slept together after theVanity Fairparty for Fashion Week.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. I didn’t have a good feeling about this.
“Can we go inside?” She jerked her chin in the direction of the room from which I’d just emerged.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said in a firm voice, wary of her intentions. “I have a plane to catch.” I moved to brush past her, but she grabbed my arm.
“Wait, please.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “God. I didn’t think this would be so hard.”
I rolled my shoulders, wishing I could take off this damn coat. Did the hotel really need to keep the hall at ninety degrees?Fuck.
I was on the verge of telling Mia to spit it out when she blurted, “I’m pregnant.”
My eyes darted to her stomach, which was currently concealed beneath a large coat. She opened it, and sure enough, she was sporting quite the impressive baby bump. “Um, congratulations?”
What was I supposed to say?
“You’re the father.” Her words fell with a thud, and I tightened the grip on my bag. Hearing those words was like a punch to the gut.
But then I shook my head, gathering my wits. Yes, she was pregnant. Yes, I remembered sleeping with her after the party mentioned. But that didn’t prove I was the father. It didn’t prove anything.
“I always wear a condom,” I said, feeling calmer already. I took a step forward, as if that were enough to end the conversation. “And besides, weren’t you on birth control?”
Pretty much every woman I’d ever slept with was, or at least said she was. I wasn’t trying to be an insensitive asshole, but I wasn’t going to take her word for it. It was months ago. She could’ve slept with any number of guys around the same time. And when she realized she was pregnant, she could’ve decided that among the available options, I was the best choice. Not because I would be a good father—far from it. More that my father, my family, had wealth.
“I was.” Her voice wavered, and I really hoped she wasn’t going to start crying again. “I was, but I’d been sick around that time, and I was on antibiotics that decreased its effectiveness.”
Oh. Holy. Fuck.
I glared at her stomach, suspecting there might be a pretty decent chance the baby was mine. At least, considering the timing.
“Why now?” I asked.
She’d had months to reach out to me. Months to tell me she thought I was the father. Though, in all fairness, we hadn’t exchanged last names or phone numbers.
“I was traveling a lot for work, scheduling as many photo shoots as possible before I couldn’t hide it anymore…” She trailed off, glancing down at her stomach. “And then it took me a while to track you down.”
“What do you want?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.
She jerked her head back. “What do I want?” Her tone soured, and I brushed away the idea that I’d somehow insulted her.
“Yes,” I said, assuming that was the only reason she was here. I didn’t want to think of her as the mother of my child or even someone I’d slept with once. I didn’t want to think of her at all.
“I wanted to tell you. I thought—as the father—you had a right to know. I thought—” A lone tear streaked down her cheek. “I thought you’dwantto know.”
She was convincing, I’d give her that. Though I put some of it down to pregnancy hormones.
My phone chimed with an incoming text, and I jolted as if I’d been shocked.
Jim:Are you close? Snow is piling up.
Jesus,how long had I been standing here, trapped in this twilight zone?
