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In the kitchen, she sorted the whites from the colors and loaded her tiny washing machine. She had to do several loads because of the basin’s size. If she had a baby, the labor would increase. On top of the laundry, she would need more space as her apartment accommodated her but would never be sufficient for a child. She chewed her lip thinking about her budget. The new position came with a raise, but not that much, especially with her sister calling every month for financial help because of this and that reason. Things would have to change.
Wait, does that mean I’m keeping it?
She glanced down at her stomach, soft and somewhat round, but that was because of her extra pounds to start with. She hadn’t noticed any weight gain y
et. While she tried to imagine her stomach protruding at nine months, her cell phone rang. “That better be Zerita.”
She punched the button without consciously registering the name. The deep familiar voice took her by surprise. “I hear congratulations are in order.”
Tae blinked at the stark bitterness and unmistakable anger. “What?”
“You’re pregnant,” he growled across the line.
Tae dropped the shirt she’d pulled out of the basket and sank to the floor next to it. Her breath caught in her throat, and her eyes burned. She shut them, sagging forward, trying to think what to say to him. Daniel had claimed she had his word, but he lied, the bastard. Zerita certainly hadn’t spilled her news—one because she was still trapped in her meetings, and two, she just wouldn’t betray Tae’s trust. Tae had thought Daniel wouldn’t either, but she was wrong.
“Nothing to say?” Jax demanded. Odd, she had rarely seen Jax angry, and it had never been aimed at her. Not that she’d ever done anything to piss him off. She knew he was mad now because he had to hear about the pregnancy from someone else.
She switched the cell phone from one hand to the other and rubbed a clammy palm over her pant leg. The movement drew her attention to the waistband of said pants, and she wondered how long she would fit into them.
“So Daniel told you,” she said at last.
He swore. “At least you had the decency to tell him.”
Tae frowned. “Okay, lose the attitude, Jax. Now you know! I didn’t go about all this the right way, but I expected Daniel to keep my secret more than a freaking day to give me time to get my head on straight.”
“Let’s get this straight. My buddy did not betray your trust.”
All kinds of insinuations permeated his words, as if she were the one to betray trust. Like she’d spread her legs and knocked herself up, all while disappointing the great Jaxon Hart, who had nothing to do with it. “Then why don’t you tell me how you knew then?”
“Alise.”
Tae’s jaw fell open. “Daniel told Alise?”
“Of course not! You and Daniel were too busy arguing on the street to realize Alise was there. She heard everything, and she came to me devastated.”
Tae blinked. Why would Alise be devastated? Tae’s pregnancy had nothing to do with the woman. Did her drive to be the center of attention in Daniel’s world make her upset that Tae had confided in him? The possibility wasn’t unreasonable. No woman wanted another woman to use her husband as a confidant. At the realization, guilt rolled over Tae, and she rubbed a hand across her forehead, which had begun to pound.
“I’m—” she began.
“You’re what?” he interrupted. “Sorry for trying to destroy a marriage?”
“Excuse you?”
“I knew you still loved him, but I never thought you would seduce him after he married Alise. Guess I had you pegged wrong, didn’t I? How many times was it before it took?”
Dawning realization hit Tae hard. Alise hadn’t heard everything like she claimed. She’d only heard enough to know Tae was pregnant, and she had jumped to the conclusion the baby was Daniel’s. That didn’t even touch on Jax’s opinion of Tae.
She squeezed the cell phone in her hand until she heard a crack and hoped it was the cheap case and not the phone itself. “Why don’t you come out and say it, Jax? I mean you’re accusing me of being a scheming ho, aren’t you? Like I got pregnant to try to get Daniel back? Never mind that I haven’t tried anything in the last three years or that we barely saw each other more than a couple times a month.”
“A lot changes when a man is about to become unavailable.”
“You know what? Fuck you!” She took the phone away from her ear and stabbed the Disconnect button. A few minutes passed while she sobbed into a T-shirt, and then she scrubbed her face and dialed Daniel. He answered on the first ring, which did nothing for her guilt. “Daniel, have you talked to Alise today?”
“Ah, this morning when I left for the office,” he said, confusion obvious. “Why?”
“She thinks my baby is yours.”
“What?”
