CHAPTERTWENTY
Anne
I wanted to blame Bran for all the weirdness during those first few days living under his roof, but the truth was it was my fault. The guy had wormed his way into my life, and it was really hard to keep my distance.
He could still be demanding and broody, but most of the time he was nice, nearly laid back, sexy.
I definitely shouldn’t have had him start working out with me. He tended to exercise without a shirt, and it always distracted me to watch how his chest or back muscles moved. Once I dropped a weight, nearly breaking my toe and another time I tripped over an exercise step because I was too busy watching Bran do pull ups.
Two weeks in, I’d learned to live with the constant state of lusting after him, even when he was being annoying.
He’d abided by my terms of no sex and always acted professional, which wasn’t to say we didn’t ever just chat like normal people. There just wasn’t any innuendo or late-night naked swims.
Even so, I was tormented by him when he showed up in my dreams nearly every night. I was making use of the shower head in the shower and tub a lot. It was time for me to order a vibrator.
While things between us had settled into a regular routine, I was getting worried about meeting my end of the deal. Unless I misunderstood how tracking ovulation worked, I still wasn’t ovulating and now was the time I should have been. Bran knew it too, because of course, he insisted on knowing details like my cycle.
He’d made an appointment at the clinic for the procedure based on the dates he determined I’d be ripe for impregnation. I needed to tell him I wasn’t ovulating, but I was too nervous. I didn’t want to mess this up for him or me.
So, on the morning of the appointment, I showered and dressed, ate breakfast, and rode with him to the clinic, all the while trying to figure out a way to tell him that I wasn’t ovulating.
“I’m surprised we’re in your sports car,” I said, trying not to be distracted by how sexy he was behind the wheel. His blond waves blew in the wind making him look like the type of guy that didn’t have a care in the world.
“This will be the last time.” He glanced at me. “We’ve got to—”
“Keep me and the baby safe, I know.”
I laughed nervously, worried about his reaction when he learned we couldn’t do the procedure. At the same time, despite his over-the-top actions toward safety, it was clear that he already loved this baby, and it didn’t even exist yet. To be honest, I was a little jealous. I wished his desire to care for me was genuine and not just about the baby.
We arrived at the clinic and Bran escorted me in.
I smirked at him, needing for us to interact in our usual bantery way. “You’re not going to watch them do the procedure on me are you?”
He gave me a cheeky grin. “You know I’d love to. Not in a creepy way but I really want to be a part of every moment of my child’s life. However, I can respect your privacy if you want.”
I nodded, ignoring the pang of hurt that he always called the child his. Of course, he was. Having his child was what he was paying me for.
“You could watch me do my part,” he said, surprising me since he hadn’t said anything sexual to me since that talk in my bedroom.
The nurse called us back to the doctor’s office before I could reply.
We sat at Dr. Schorr’s desk and my panic built at my imminent reckoning.
“I’m assuming that you’re sure you’re ovulating, '' Dr. Schorr started.
I swallowed. I didn’t want to lie but I didn’t want to waste the doctor’s time or Bran’s money.
“Even so, we’re going to run a pregnancy test. Then we’ll send you, Mr. Erickson, to collect a sample of semen, and prepare Ms. Francis for insemination. Any questions?”
Bran sucked in a breath. He let it out and smiled at me. He was really happy today. His child was about to be conceived. I wondered if my father had ever been so happy about me. Before my mother died, had he been excited for my arrival?
“If you’ll go with Nurse Laymen, she’ll run the pregnancy test,” Dr. Schorr said to me. I followed the nurse out. She handed me a cup and led me to the bathroom. I peed in the cup, leaving it for her on the designated shelf, and returned to the doctor’s office.
A few minutes later, the nurse entered and handed the doctor a paper. He glanced at it and frowned.
“Is something wrong?” Bran asked.
I swallowed again. This was where I’d be outed for not ovulating.