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“What about it?” His hand gently rubbed my belly. “Whatever you need, I’ll provide. If you’d let me, I’ll raise it as my own.”
Oh god. The guilt was going to crush me. But along with that was a powerful emotion. If I wasn’t already in love with him, I’d have fallen right then. It was time to tell the truth.
“Kade, I need to tell you — ” Out in the hall, I heard my mother stirring. I froze. Please don’t open the door and find me naked in bed with Kade, I repeated like a mantra in my brain.
He kissed my neck again. “We can finish this conversation later.” Slowly and quietly, we got up and dressed. I peeked out my door just in time to see my mom’s room door close again. She must have gone to the bathroom.
I turned my head back toward Kade, putting my index finger over my lips in the universal sign of be quiet, and then went into the hall. I led him to the front door.
When we arrived, he had a boyish grin on his face. “Sneaking out of a girl’s bedroom. I haven’t done that in a long time.”
I laughed. “Having to sneak a boy out of my room is a first for me.”
He wrapped his arm around my waist and tugged me close. “I like that I’m part of so many of your firsts.”
It was sweet and sexy, and reminded me how I didn’t deserve him.
“Think about what I said, Morgan. This is more than casual to me.”
I wanted to tell him yes. That it was more than casual to me, too. I wanted to tell him about the baby and have him be so happy he twirled me around in joy. I wanted him to take me away from the stress of not just my life, but my mother’s as well. But fairy tales didn’t come true for people like me, so I just nodded.
When he left, I went into the kitchen. I had a few minutes to whip up some food my mom could eat later before I had to head back to the restaurant to prepare for the dinner crowd.
I was mixing up a rice and veggie bowl for my mother when my phone rang. The caller ID said it was Beth.
“Hi, Beth,” I answered.
“Hey. I haven’t heard from you in a while. Are you okay?”
“Yes, just busy.” I finished putting the vegetables in the bowl, snapped on the lid, and set it in the refrigerator.
“What’s this big confrontation I heard about at the Rookery?” she said, referring to Raven Industries’ office building.
“No big confrontation. I just fired my general manager for being a conniving asshole and told Kade I was going to do what I wanted.”
She laughed. “God, I’d have loved to watch that.”
“It felt good,” I admitted. “I won’t let you down, Beth. I promise.”
“I know you won’t honey, but listen. Plans need to be made about the baby. Trust me when I say it will be hard to build a business with a little baby.”
“I have a new G.M.,” I said, trying to avoid sounding defensive. Throughout history, women have toiled carrying babies on their backs. It might be hard, but I could do it too.
She was quiet for a moment, and I had a sense of dread at what she was trying to gear up to say. “Hunter told Ash that Kade had asked for his advice. It seems he’s in love with a woman who is pregnant.”
Oh, god.
“Ash wanted to know if that could be you. I told him I didn’t know, and I don’t, which is why I’m calling, but I suspect it is.”
I didn’t say anything.
“And I suspect he’s the father of said baby and doesn’t know it.”
“Why would you think that?” My voice was unsteady.
“Listen, men can be a little slow on the uptake about things like this. I think it stems from their ability to live in denial a lot. But eventually, they catch on. Unless you’ve never slept with Kade, at some point he may put two and two together. Trust me, that’s not a good moment.”
I still couldn’t talk.
“Kade might be a little abrupt, but he’s a good guy. He’ll do what’s right. I can’t imagine you’d have slept with him if you didn’t think that about him.”
“Maybe it’s someone else’s.”
I heard a tsk from Beth. “Honey, he might believe you’d do that, but I know you. You don’t have it in you to sleep around. To be honest, I’m a little disappointed you didn’t tell me you finally lost your virginity. We used to talk more.”
“You were getting married and having your own life.” I wiped away tears, feeling so emotionally raw at the moment.
“That doesn’t mean we’re not friends or that I don’t have time for you.” When I didn’t reply, she asked. “Do you love him? Or at least care for him?”
