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“How—” Fuck, she seemed to be struggling to string two words together. She cleared her throat. “How far along are you?”
“Around nine weeks is my guess.”
So, this happened before they broke up then. Licking her lips, she added, “And Beau knows?”
“Oh, yes,” Lisa replied, that smile still in place. “I told him last week. I thought he would’ve told—”
“What the fuck are you doing, Lisa?” Beau demanded, his voice too loud and reverberating through Evangeline’s skull. Her gaze found his, but she saw nothing of the man she loved in his face. He was enraged, his anger directed at Lisa.
Lisa rounded on him. “I’m telling her the truth, Beau. If she is your girlfriend, she should know your time will be divided from now on.”
“Her name is Evangeline,” he ground out.
“Oh, I know it is,” Lisa replied, clearly baiting him.
Evangeline stared at Beau, watching how he reacted. He knew she was pregnant, yet he hadn’t bothered to tell her. They’d promised they’d be honest with each other, but this wasn’t honesty. This was deceit. This was betrayal.
This could not happen to her again.
“Excuse me,” she breathed, turning around and returning to the sanctuary of her office. She was hiding, she knew that, but she also had no desire to go out there and face her staff and customers while her whole world imploded for the second time in her life.
A father.
He was going to be a father.
To a child with his ex-girlfriend.
“Vee?” Beau called through the door. “Vee, let me in.”
Oh, she would let him in so she could tear shreds off him. Like a raging storm, she yanked open the door, fisted his shirt, and dragged him inside.
“She’s pregnant and you knew?” she asked, her voice bordering on a shriek. He nodded. “You knew, yet you didn’t tell me?”
He reached for her, but she stepped away, hissing, “Don’t you dare touch me.”
Putting his hands up in surrender, he murmured, “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“How long have you known about it?” She asked this because if he lied to her now, she’d know he could be lying about other things too.
“A week.” He slumped down into the chair opposite her desk. “She turned up at John’s place a week ago, in hysterics, telling me she was pregnant and that she wasn’t going to keep it.” Looking up, his blue eyes pierced through her. “If this is my kid, I wouldn’t want that to happen.”
She edged around her desk. “So, what, you’re going to stay with her now?”
His head jerked up. “Fuck no, Vee. If she is carrying my child, I want to be there to support her, but that doesn’t include a relationship or any emotional support. I want you. I wantthiswith you.” He blew out a breath, saying softly, “This was supposed to happen with you. If I hadn’t fucked it up the last time, this could be my reality and I would’ve been so insanely happy right now. Instead, I’m scrambling to figure out what to do, how to stop you from leaving me.”
Yes, she had thought about that too. What would their lives have been like if he hadn’t pushed her away all those years ago? Would they be married, have a house, have kids? Her heart ached a little at thewhat-ifs. She was being foolish though. Beaudidpush her away and they weren’t even close to marriage or houses or children. And now…
And now she wasn’t sure they’d even be friends after all this.
“What’s going through your head, Vee?”
She glanced up, not realizing she’d been staring so hard at her hands. “I think you need to leave.”
“Vee, please don’t do this. Lisa did this on purpose.”
“Did what? Tell me the truth?” She scoffed. “It’s more than you told me. Now get out of my office before I call Rich to haul you out on your ass.”
22
