Exposed (Ethan Frost 3)

“But what about Frost Industries? You have to be here—”

“Again, it’s an hour plane ride. And, in case you’ve forgotten, I’ve got my own plane. And my own helicopters. I can fly down here a few days a week and still be home for dinner.” He leans forward, presses a long, lingering kiss to my mouth. “If you want to go to USD, I’m totally on board for that. But if you want to go to Stanford, then I’m up for that, too. I’ve already gotten my degrees and, in case you haven’t noticed, my career is doing pretty well. So I’ve got no problem working around your school for a few years if it means you get what you want instead of having to settle. You deserve that.”

I can’t help it. I burst into tears, wild sobs that shake my whole body and send tears pouring from my eyes.

Ethan’s own eyes widen with alarm. “Whoa, hey. I wasn’t trying to upset you. I was trying to set your mind at ease. But if you don’t want to go to Stanford—”

“I love you,” I tell him, throwing myself against him so hard that I nearly knock us both to the floor. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you, but I’m so grateful that you’re mine. I love you so much.”

He pulls me onto his lap, runs a soothing hand through my hair as he gently rocks me. “I love you, too. More than anything, ever.”

When I finally stop crying enough to make some kind of coherent sense, I lean my forehead against his and say, “I’ve got something to tell you. I’ve been trying to find the right time for weeks now, but things have been so messed up—”

“I’m sorry—”

“Don’t apologize! Don’t you dare fucking apologize to me for what happened or how you feel about it. He was your brother—”

“He ra—”

“We’re not doing this anymore.” I slam a hand down over his mouth before he can say anything else. “The past is over and we’re not going to beat ourselves up over it one day longer. I’m not having it. Not anymore, not ever again. And certainly not right now, when I finally get to tell you this.”

“Tell me what?”

I take his hand, press it against my stomach. “We’re going to have a baby.”

His eyes—those beautiful indigo eyes of his—go wide. “You’re…” His voice trails off and he swallows, hard. “You’re pregnant?”

I nod.

“A baby,” he says again.

“Yes.”

“We?

?re going to have a baby.”

“Yes.”

He looks so shocked that I’m beginning to get a little nervous. He has to have thought about it, right? I mean, more than once, we’ve been somewhere and not used protection. This can’t really be that big of a surprise, can it?

“Ethan,” I start cautiously as he just continues to stare at me with wide eyes. “Are you okay with this? I mean—”

Suddenly, he’s kissing me. Over and over and over again. Slow, sweet kisses on my lips. Fast, sweeter kisses on my cheeks, my eyes, my forehead, my neck. “We’re having a baby,” he repeats between the kisses. “You’re having my baby.”

I laugh, because how can I not when I’m this happy? When life is this good? “I am. I’m having your baby.”

He jumps up then, spins me around. “You don’t have to worry about anything. We’ll find a sitter who can watch the baby while you’re in school. Or I can work from home while you’re in class. Or bring the baby to the office. Or—”

For the second time today, I press a hand to his mouth. “I’m only two months along,” I tell him softly. “We have plenty of time to work everything out.”

“Two months,” he repeats. “So, it’ll be a March baby.”

“That’s what the doctor tells me. March fifth.”

He frowns then. “You’ve already been to the doctor?”

“Just to confirm. My first obstetrics appointment isn’t for two weeks.”