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Melody shook her head. “I was supposed to today, but there never seemed to be an opportunity.”
“We all gave you plenty of chances,” Savannah pointed out.
It had been easy to isolate the pair several times over the course of the day, but neither Melody nor Kyle seemed at ease with each other. Three times Mia had watched them engage in awkward conversation before separating. Each time her heart had ached for the pair.
With Savannah gently pressing Melody about her urgent need to talk to Kyle, Mia’s own mouth went dry. She’d made a similar promise to herself about telling Nate that he was going to be a father. With all the drama surrounding Ivy, and the frantic meal preparations, it had slipped Mia’s mind.
She sipped from her water bottle to alleviate her sudden cotton mouth. Anxiety made her stomach churn. As soon as she told Nate he was going to be a da
d, her life would completely change.
Together they would have to decide how to move forward. Mia’s hands shook. Despite his declaration that he wanted them to be together, there was a huge difference between building toward a committed relationship and becoming parents.
Well, there was nothing she could do until everyone was gone. Melody was staying at her brother’s house while she worked on her album at Ugly Trout Records, and had ridden with them. When Kyle offered to give her a ride home, Mia and Nate exchanged a satisfied look.
It took an hour for Savannah to pry Trent away from the game. Dylan was sacked out in his father’s arms and she declared it was time to head home and put him to bed. As the door closed on Savannah, Trent and Dylan, Nate turned to Mia.
“And then there were two,” he said, his smile conveying both tenderness and desire.
Mia couldn’t resist the invitation in his eyes. She lifted herself onto her toes, but just as her lips made contact with his, her phone buzzed in her back pocket and she instinctively flinched.
“Ignore it,” Nate said, gathering her into his arms for a proper kiss that left her gasping for breath and aching for more.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and trembled as he slid his palms beneath her shirt and up along her rib cage to her breasts. Her nipples turned to hard buds as electric impulses sizzled and snapped along her nerve endings.
Her phone buzzed a second time. Nate dragged his mouth from hers and cursed.
“It might be my family,” she said, hope tugging at her voice. “Let me check.”
“Sure. I’ll meet you in the bedroom.”
She blew him a flirtatious kiss and went into the family room to shut off the television and close the sliding glass doors that led out to the pool. As she walked, she pulled her phone out and keyed her message app. To her disappointment, the text hadn’t come from her family, but Yvonne, Ivy’s stylist. The dire message had her clicking on the attached link. A second later, she gasped at what appeared.
For the last forty-eight hours Mia hadn’t had time to pop on to social media to see what her sister had been up to. And it had been a relief to be completely disengaged from all the Ivy drama. Nor had she felt any guilt, mostly because of the way her twin had behaved since the truth had come out about Mia’s songwriting.
Now, however, all it took was a single Instagram post and she was right back in the thick of the craziness. Mia stared at the picture on her screen. It was a photo of the contents of a very familiar tote. Hers. Including the positive pregnancy test. Also hers.
When had Ivy taken the picture? The answer came at once. The morning of the AMAs, after the television interview. Ivy had asked Mia to get her some coffee. She’d left her tote behind.
Mia’s skin turned to ice. All this time her sister had known? Why hadn’t Ivy said anything? Suddenly Mia couldn’t breathe.
“Mia?” Nate’s voice came from the direction of the master bedroom.
“I’ll be there in a second.”
Her attention returned to her phone. Suddenly, the screen lit up with her mother’s number, but Mia doubted she was reaching out to wish Mia a happy Thanksgiving. She let the call go to voice mail and blocked all incoming calls. Then she went back to staring at the picture.
Before she spoke with anyone, she and Nate needed to have a conversation. Ivy’s bid for attention on social media had highlighted that Mia’s secret was out of the bag. Was it in retribution for her belief that Mia had spilled Ivy’s own secret? If so, why not announce that Mia was pregnant?
Because this created a huge buzz. One that might distract everyone from the songwriting scandal and create confusion about the authenticity of all the latest Ivy Bliss stories.
“Mia?” Nate sounded closer.
She’d sat down at the breakfast bar when the room started spinning. Now she looked up and spied him standing a few feet away.
“Sorry,” she murmured, struggling to focus, with her thoughts in turmoil. “Did you say something?”
“I asked if you’re okay. You’ve gone awfully pale.”
