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Bracing herself for the conversation, she did her best to sound as calm as possible. "There’s nothing to talk about. We had an agreement—"
He stopped when he got within a few feet of her, and his brows furrowed. "You’re crying." Knox reached out for her, but she stepped back and crossed her arms. He put his hands in his pockets and took a step back. "I just… I thought that you’d be happy about this."
Laura felt herself smile and then cry some more. "I am. I am happy. And I’m also sad. It sucks."
"Why?" He shook his head. "Why are you sad?" This is what you wanted."
"No, it’s not," Laura blurted out. "Not like this. I didn’t even think that it was possible for me to get pregnant."
She hadn’t planned to make that admission, but her hormones were all over the place. And she figured, What the hell? What did she have to lose?
Knox blinked as if he’d heard her wrong. "What?"
"I have cysts on my ovaries. I’ve known that I’ve had them since my early twenties, but I was told then that they wouldn’t be an issue when I wanted to conceive. But the day of the speed dating event, I went to see a fertility specialist and found out that wasn’t the case. I was told the chances of me getting pregnant through intercourse was nearly impossible."
"So wait, why did you? Why did we...?"
Laura took a deep breath and knew that she owed Knox the truth. "I just wanted to have one last fling, one last hoorah, before I became a mom. I thought we would hook up for the summer; you would leave, I would pick a donor, and I would set a date for my IUI."
"IUI?" Knox repeated.
"Intrauterine insemination."
"So this was just…what? About sex for you?"
Laura could see that Knox was upset. Logically, she knew that he had every right to feel used. She’d entered into a relationship under false pretenses. But right now, all she felt was anger.
"Yes! That’s what it was supposed to be!" She took a step forward as her voice rose. "It was just supposed to be sex, but then you..." Her voice cracked; she tried to keep riding the righteous indignation train, but she felt herself pulling into guilt station. "Knox, I’m sorry that I wasn’t honest with you. But, come on, it’s not like you wanted any sort of commitment from me. I mean, what is the longest relationship you’ve had, not counting the Navy? Six months? Three months? Sex is all you wanted, too."
Laura could see that she’d struck a nerve. Knox’s jaw tensed, and he looked down at the ground. This was the most honest and real conversation that they’d ever had. Since it was probably the last conversation, she figured she might as well lay all her cards on the table.
"The reason that I freaked out that morning when you were making me pancakes was not because of the phone; it was because I realized that this..." Laura waved her hand between them. "Whatever this is or was, it meant more to me than just hooking up. I don’t know when it happened, but I fell in love with you, Knox. And I know that wasn’t part of the plan, and I know it doesn’t change anything. I didn’t mean to or want to fall in love with you, but it happened. Not that it matters. I want more. I want the commitment. I want the ring on my finger. I want forever. But that doesn’t matter. That’s my issue, and I’ll deal with it." Laura felt tears sliding down her cheeks.
"What if it does matter? What if I want those things, too?"
Laura’s heart felt like it was in a clothes dryer. And nothing has changed. She didn’t want to hear false promises. She lifted her hand to stop him. "Don’t say that."
"But—"
She put her hands over her stomach and backed away. "Knox, you didn’t even want one baby, much less two."
"Two?" he repeated.
"It’s twins."
He started walking toward her when she saw the red and blue lights flashing. Then an SUV pulled up, and Ethan, Jess’s husband, stepped out.
Shit. He must have tracked Jess’s car here.
"Ethan, hey!" Laura lifted her hand and tried to smile. "Sorry about Jess’s car."
"What’s going on here?" Ethan asked, his hand on his side holster as he walked toward Knox.
"Knox, um, borrowed Jess’s car. I left, and he was worried about me."
The last thing she wanted was for Knox to get in trouble for stealing a car. She still couldn’t quite believe that he’d done it.
"You stole my wife’s car?" Ethan turned his questions toward Knox.
