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“But only if the baby is yours.”
“Yeah, of course.”
I wasn’t a part of the equation. I shouldn’t be hurt by that notion.
But it did hurt.
“Is that all right with you?” he asked.
“I guess. I don’t have much of a choice—”
“I will take care of you both,” he promised, and the seriousness of his tone and the look in his eyes gave me pause.
“You don’t have to.”
“I’m going to.” He rose, grabbing his coffee. He refilled his mug and turned to me. “Want another cup?”
“Sure—”
“Too bad.” He grinned over the rim of his mug. “Just a cup per day, right?”
I frowned at him but the teasing tone and smile had that heavy tension between us lifting in an instant.
“If you’re really going to be paying for everything,” I teased, “I’ll be sure to need a pint of expensive ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
“I’ll give you whatever you want,” he said wryly, the rim of his mug pressed to his lower lips. His voice was as smooth as fine scotch and full of smoke.
My body reacted without my permission. Heat blossomed in my core and rippled over my thighs as I squeezed them together. I held his gaze and raised a brow at him, wondering if he meant it to be as… suggestive, as he’d made it sound.
He arched a brow in answer, and a momentary standoff ensued. It became clear that neither of us were going to take this teasing any further unless the other one acted first.
And so, the moment died, and I instantly filled with regret.
“There’s something we have to do that I don’t like, and I don’t think you’ll like it much either.”
“If we aren’t going to like it, why do we have to do it?”
He sighed and leaned his weight against the kitchen island, his arms crossed over his chest. “My friend, George, and my sister will need to… meet you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re having my kid—”
“According to you that’s still a maybe.”
“Regardless,” he ground out, waving a hand at me in dismissal, “we need to tell them what’s happening. Everything.”
“Everything? Why?”
“Because if your fiancé comes to town and starts asking questions, word is going to travel fast. I’d rather be ahead of the shit storm coming your way, and Keely, George, and the Hallstons have sway in town.”
“I don’t see why that matters—”
“Small towns, sweetheart,” he said with a boyish grin. “Like I said, word is going to travel fast.”
“And what exactly are they going to be able to do about it?”
“Not they, but we.”
