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I hear him shaking out my pain pills from the bottle on the counter. I might as well get the conversation over with.
“Look, I wasn’t able to get to the doctor’s appointment today. I’ll reschedule as soon as I can.”
He doesn’t respond, so I wonder if he was able to hear me from his spot in the kitchen. I hear the tea kettle squeal and realize that he mustbe making me hot tea. With a pang, I realize he must’ve cared enough to notice my daily tea habit at the office.
Jake walks back into the living room and silently hands me the pain pills and the hot tea. Then he sits in a chair next to the couch that I’m lying on. He leans back and looks down at his hands.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
We sit there in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, neither of us knowing what to say to the other. The tension in the room is growing as we continue to avoid looking at each other.
I clear my throat uneasily. “Jake, I’m sorry. I wasn’t able to get to the doctor’s office. I will get a test as soon as possible. I can assure you, though, I am not pregnant. And even if I were, I’d take care of everything.”
His eyes snap up to mine. That seems to get his attention. “What do you mean?”
“I mean it wouldn’t be your problem. It would be mine.”
Jake leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he looks at me speculatively. His intense blue eyes are unblinking, locked on mine. “If you were expecting my child, I would never abandon you or that baby, despite what has gone on between us. And I most certainly would never leave you to ‘take care of everything,’ as you say.”
Shocked by the sudden fervor in his expression, I’m almost speechless. “Thankfully, we don’t have anything to worry about. I was telling the truth when I said I was on the pill. Contrary to what you may think of me, I would never lie about that.”
I hate that I can’t control the errant tear that falls silently. It hurts even now, weeks later. While I understand why he doesn’t fully trust me, it still stings. After all that has happened, his opinion of me still matters.
“Lana, I’m sorry for what I said to you at the office that day. It was uncalled for. I don’t really believe that you would try to get pregnant.”
His apology surprises me, but I can see that he means it.
“It was a horrible thing to say,” I agree. “But I’m sorry, too. None of this would have happened had I been honest at the beginning.”
“It took me some time, but I understand why you did it.” He leans forward and takes my hand. “I was hurt, and I overreacted. I should have given you a chance to explain. I hope you can forgive me.”
If only apologies could mend a broken heart. I hear the sincerity in his voice and see it in his expression, but unfortunately, it doesn’t change anything. Maybe, given enough time, I will be able to be around him without my heart clenching painfully in remembrance of what we had.
“Let’s just agree to forgive each other. It’s over and done, and now we can move on.”
Jake brings my hand up to his mouth and places a lingering kiss on it. “That’s exactly what I want, too. Nothing would make me happier than putting this all behind us and moving forward.”
The soft, sexy tone of his voice gives me chills as I begin to realize that we are not talking about the same thing. I’m trying to tell him goodbye, and it sounds as though he thinks we are going to pick up where we left off.
“I think you should probably go. Jess will be back home soon.”
“I’m not leaving you alone with a concussion,” he disagrees fervently while tightening his grip on my hand.
“I’m feeling exhausted. I think I need to get some sleep.”
Concern immediately flashes in his eyes. “Of course, baby, of course you do. Just take a nap, and I’ll stay quiet. I have some emails to send, anyway.”
“I really need to be alone right now.”
Ignoring me, he gently puts my hand back onto the couch. He adjusts the pillows behind my back, then sits back in the chair and pulls out his phone. I watch in disbelief as he starts scrolling through emails as though I never spoke. I’m tired and frazzled and feeling a little out of my depth right now.
“Jake?”
“Hmmm?”
“You’re still here.”
Without looking up, he shrugs his shoulders and continues scrolling through his phone. “If you really think that I’m leaving you here alone, you really don’t know me very well.”
