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With my whole body in distress, I buck up from the mattress and run for the grimy attached bathroom. Now is not the time for this, but I can’t help my involuntary reaction.
With one hand, I lift the toilet seat. With the other, I brace on the lid as I fall to my knees and lose what little dinner I managed to force down earlier.
“Kristi?” Ridge hovers over me. The scowl on his face doesn’t convey concern, but his voice definitely does. He’s worried—and he doesn’t dare show it. “What’s going on? If I really thought you were in any way unwilling, I would never have…” He scrubs a hand over his face as I dry heave. “Oh, fuck. I’m so sorry. Really fucking sorry. Talk to me. Where did I hurt you?”
I shake my head. He’s beating himself up about the wrong damn thing. “You didn’t.”
He frowns. “Adrenaline crash?”
Damn it, this isn’t how I wanted to tell him, but this whole situation is screwed up and this might be the only time I get to come clean. “No. I’m pregnant.”
Ridge
At Kristi’s bombshell, my head gets fuzzy and my body goes numb. “You’re sure?”
She all but wilts against the toilet with a sigh. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to hold you responsible.”
“Why not? I’m the father.”
I know that for a fact. Before Rand and Sophie’s wedding, Kristi hadn’t had sex with anyone since her broken college engagement. They both told me that, and it explained one hundred percent just how tight she was. After the five steamy hours I spent in her bed, she was as wrecked as I was. No way she’s been fucking anyone else.
“Yes, but it’s not as if you ever returned any of my calls, so why would I think you give a shit?”
“Never mistake me being up to my eyeballs in criminals with me not giving a shit.” I curse. “When did you find out?”
“Three days ago.”
“Were you going to tell me?”
Kristi hesitates such a long time, I worry she’s going to say no. Finally, she closes the toilet lid and flushes. It’s a miracle, but there’s a bar of soap on the basin. She unwraps it and soaps up in silence.
“Well?” I prompt.
“Probably. I was still undecided, but I think, at some point, I would have swallowed my pride and asked Rand to reach out to you so we could talk.”
Yeah, I can see why that might not have been something she was eager to do. “He doesn’t know?”
“No one does.”
“Not even Sophie. Wow.” I don’t ask. If she knew, Rand would, too.
Kristi forces a smile. “I should look on the bright side. We’ll be pregnant at the same time and our kids can grow up playing together.”
Since they’ll be cousins. “Sure. This accelerates my timetable, but I’ll make it work.”
“What timetable?”
“Our first kid. I was thinking we’d work on that this fall. Winter at the latest, but—”
“What? You assumed after spending a handful of hours in bed with me that I’d just let you knock me up?”
I had a whole plan. Guess I should have filled her in. “Well, I figured if we’re going to spend fifty years together, we’ll have kids. I’d like four. Since I grew up with three older brothers, I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but if you want more, I’m open to that.”
“More?” She huffs. “You’re crazy, you know that? And that’s the second time you’ve said something about us spending fifty years together. How is that going to work? Someday, I’m going to want to get married.”
“Well, yeah. I figured we’d do that as soon as I got the hell out of here. I didn’t expect you to follow me into this shithole. But it’s good that we’re getting all this out in the open now.”
“You assumed I would marry you? Before we’ve even had a date? Without you even asking me?” She rinses the soap, flushes her mouth with water, then turns off the faucet and shakes her hands dry.
I lean against the doorway and watch her. It’s probably the wrong time to notice, but Kristi is adorable when she’s flustered. And she looks hot as fuck half naked. “If it will make you feel better, once we get out of here, I’ll take you out a few times, then ask you again.”
“No.”
Shrugging, I come closer. “You’re right. Why beat around the bush? I love you. I think you love me. That’s what your body says, anyway. Why don’t you marry me, Little Red? I’ll show you a good time…”
Her mouth purses tightly, but she’s fighting the urge to smile as she pushes past me and into the bedroom. “You already did, which is why I’m pregnant.”
“Another reason to get married.”
“Not in this day and age. We can share custody.”
“Nope. Ransom fathered a son as a teenager with his high school girlfriend. He and Lydia never got married. Probably better for Ethan, who lives with Ransom now, even though he recently turned eighteen. But my mother…”
