Elijah’s stomach lurched. “He waspayingyou to do this?”
“Elijah, please listen to me. It hasn’t been like that for a long time. I went to his office before any of this started to try to get a loan from him for my company, that’s all it really was. He refused me. But then he said if I spent time with you he would reconsider the loan. It was an exchange of favors, it wasn’t… it wasn’t like he was paying me to go out with you…”
Elijah was on his feet, pacing back and forth. “And the baby?”
“What about the baby?” she whispered, her hand moving protectively to her stomach.
“Was that part of it? Did my father tell you to?—?”
“No! Of course not, Elijah, you don’t really think I would do that, do you?”
She was trembling. She wasn’t crying anymore—she looked beyond tears. She sank back into her seat. So much of Elijah wanted to go to her and comfort her, put his arms back around her and reassure her that everything was still going to be fine and that of course he knew she would never go so far as to get pregnant on purpose to try to trap him or trick him.
But the sight of his father’s name in her inbox kept flashing through his mind.
Could he ask her to show him the emails? He couldn’t do that, could he?
I think I’d have every right to. But I would never be able to un-know what I might find out—and I’m not sure I’m ready to see what’s in those emails.
“I have to go,” he said, his voice short.
“Elijah.” He could hear the tremor in her voice. It cut at him, sharp as a knife.
“No, I need to go,” he told her. “I need some time, Stephanie. I need to think about this.”
“Will… will you call me?”
“I will,” he said. Of course they would have to speak again, at least one more time. He couldn’t just never talk to her again. He had a responsibility to that child, even if…
His mind couldn’t finish the thought.
He turned toward the door and hurried out.
CHAPTER 20
ELIJAH
“You haven’t been out with us in ages,” Jeremy said, pushing a glass of scotch down the length of the bar. Elijah caught it, took a long swallow, and nodded thanks to his friend for buying the round.
“Of course he hasn’t wanted to come out,” Marco said. “He’s been busy with that girlfriend of his. You didn’t really think he was going to have time for us anymore once he started up with her, did you?”
“She’s awfully hot,” Jeremy agreed. “The picture of her that ran when you first started dating—how’d you pull a woman like that?”
“I go out with women all the time,” Elijah murmured.
“Yes, but not like her,” Jeremy insisted. “The women you date—I mean, forgive me, I’m not trying to insult anyone, but you’ve always had a type, and it’s sort of… plastic.”
“That’s true,” Marco said. “I bet this one has no surgical enhancements. She’s all natural. What’s her name again? Sarah?”
“Stephanie, and don’t talk about her like that,” Elijah growled. He threw back the rest of his drink in a single swallow and held the empty glass across the bar in the direction of the bartender, seeking a refill. The man nodded.
“Why are you being so defensive?” Jeremy asked. “We’re saying she’s hot. You should bring her out with us sometime.”
Not very likely.It was impossible to imagine being out with these two and Stephanie at the same time. He was a different person when he was with her—calmer, happier, more at peace. And maybe all that was gone now, because maybe the Stephanie he had thought he’d known had never been real at all.
The bartender approached and refilled Elijah’s glass. Elijah took a savage swallow and relished the burn of the liquor. It hurt going down, and that was good.
“You’re drinking like you owe someone money,” Marco said. “What’s the deal here? She break up with you or something?”
