My eyebrows arch. What? That makes even less sense. Has he gone mad since I last saw him?
“What do you mean?” I ask him. “Are you saying that the baby contract was your way of asking me nicely, and since I turned you down, now you’re going to kidnap me and force yourself on me?”
“No,” Ethan answers as he takes another step forward. “I’m asking you to come back.”
No way.
“And if I say no?”
“I’ll keep asking until you change your mind,” Ethan answers. “I’ll prove to you that I deserve you. I’ll show you that you and I belong together.”
Cocky.
“How?” I ask him.
“I’ll do whatever it takes.”
He takes another step forward. I take another back but find the door behind me. I’m cornered.
Ethan looks into my eyes. “I’ve missed you, Stella.”
His words and his gaze send my pulse pounding, but I suppress my excitement. And my hopes. I promised myself I’d be smarter, stronger. Besides, he hasn’t said the words I want to hear the most.
I hold my chin high. “You just miss having sex with me, don’t you? Isn’t that why you wanted to have a baby with me? Just so you could have sex with me?”
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the sex, but that’s not why I want to be with you.”
I ignore him. “Or maybe you just don’t want another man to have me?”
“Of course not,” Ethan admits. “Is that so bad?”
“You just want to keep me on the bench.”
“Bench?”
“You’re greedy. And you’re selfish. And you’re…”
I stop talking because he’s so close to me now, so close I can smell his cologne. I can’t breathe.
“Why?” he asks. “Would you rather be with another man? Didn’t you say you were in love with me?”
I was hoping he wouldn’t bring that up.
“I did,” I admit because I’m not a liar. “But I’m not anymore.”
“No?”
Alright. Maybe I am a liar. And a bad one, I think, because Ethan doesn’t look at all convinced.
Who am I kidding? I’m not the kind of person who just falls in love with someone and stops loving him a few days later. I don’t even know if that’s possible.
Ethan leans forward. His face is just inches from mine.
“Look into my eyes and tell me you don’t love me.”
His deep voice sends a shiver down my spine. His black eyes seem to peer into my soul. I swallow the lump in my throat.
“I…”
I can’t. I can’t tell him I don’t love him.
He keeps staring at me, waiting. My heart hammers inside my chest, which feels like it’s being ripped apart and closing in around my heart at the same time.
“I…”
“Yes?”
“I can’t do this.”
I place my hands on Ethan’s chest and push him away so I can get room to breathe. I succeed, but at the same time the paper bag from the pharmacy that I have tucked inside my arm falls to the floor. One of the blue pregnancy test kits spills out.
My jaw drops. Shit.
I rush to grab it, but Ethan picks it up first. His eyebrows furrow.
“A pregnancy test?” Then he looks at me with wide eyes. “You’re pregnant?”
“No.” I take the box from his hand. “I mean, I don’t know.”
“But you think you might be?”
Isn’t that obvious?
“You should go,” I tell him.
“No,” he says firmly.
I look into his eyes and see the cold steel of determination there.
“I’m not going anywhere until I know the result of that test.”
Of course. He wants a baby, after all. He was willing to pay me a quarter of a billion dollars for one.
“Fine.”
I slip past him and go inside the bathroom. Once inside, I pause for a moment to take a few deep breaths.
Now, I can breathe.
But I still feel restless, more so since I know Ethan is just outside waiting to find out if I’m pregnant or not. As much as I’d like to keep him waiting, I don’t think I can stand the suspense much longer myself.
I open one of the kits and follow the instructions. Then I put it next to the sink and wait, using the timer on my phone as a guide. With each second that passes by, I feel my heart beating faster. My anxiety rises. I fidget with my hair and tap my foot on the floor.
Please… please…
Wait a second. Am I hoping for a positive result? But if I’m pregnant and Ethan finds out right now, doesn’t that mean I’ll be forced to have him in my life? I’ll be bound to a man who doesn’t love me.
Just then, the timer beeps. I turn it off, draw a deep breath and look at the stick.
I see two red lines forming a plus sign and the word Pregnant right next to it. I guess that’s as clear as it gets.
Just to be sure, I take the other test. The result is the same.