My child. Life had just gotten very real. I pressed my hand over my belly. How was I going to walk away now?
I hadn’t realized I’d fallen asleep until a knock on my door woke me.
“Anne?” Bran’s voice came through the door.
It took me a minute to fully wake and have the events of the day return. I was pregnant with Bran’s child not from a clinical procedure but from having sex with him. He’d also suggested that the child could be someone else’s, which hurt.
Did he really think I slept around?
“Anne? Are you okay? Look, I’m sorry about earlier.”
I wiped sleep from my eyes. “You can come in.” I couldn’t hide forever. Regardless of how I got pregnant, the deal we’d forged was now on.
The door opened and he walked in carrying a tray. “I brought you some tea.”
I wasn’t ready for him to be so nice yet. Remember, he’s doing it for the baby, not me.
He set the tray on the bedside table. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, taking the tea just so I could have something to occupy my hands. It was possible I’d reach for him, and I couldn’t do that. I needed to keep my distance, especially now.
“About earlier…I don’t know what I was thinking.” He shook his head. “That’s a lie. I know exactly what I was thinking. I was terrified that you’d been with someone else before we made our deal.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You know my doctor’s exam indicated I wasn’t pregnant.”
He gave me a sheepish smile. “I wasn’t thinking. I was…”
“You think I sleep around?”
His eyes widened.
“No. I guess I should have known the baby was mine. After all, we have had sex.” He stood and looked out my window. “I guess I was just shocked that it happened. A part of me finds it hard to believe.”
“Why?” I was growing angry again.
What sort of person did he think I was that he couldn’t believe he’d be the father after fucking me?
Did he think Mr. Joseph was the father because he was the only other man I’d been around the last month.
He turned to me. “I’m fucking this up. The issue is with me, Anne. The idea that I have it in me to create a life.”
I frowned. “What did you think would happen when you jerked off in a cup? The end result would be the same.” Keep telling yourself that, Anne. Maybe I could talk myself into believing that creating this child with him during sex was still a sterile and detached way of getting pregnant.
“I know I sound crazy.” He scraped his hand over his face.
“This doesn’t change anything.” Again, I was trying to talk myself into believing that. “The method may have changed, but the end result is the same.”
He studied me for a long moment, making me uncomfortable. Was what I said wrong?
Finally, he nodded. “I guess you’re right. Lucky for you, because you got pregnant so quickly, you’ll be here less than a year.”
His words were like a punch to the gut. A sure sign that I was way too emotionally involved with Bran.
I mustered a smile because this was what I signed up for.
He headed to the door. “Do you need anything else?”
I shook my head.