I thought I might pass out. The room started to spin, and I had to grab onto Rush’s arm to steady myself.
“Gia? You okay?”
When I opened my mouth to speak, a burn traveled up through my throat, a prelude to what I feared might be vomit following behind. I slapped my hand over my mouth, and somehow managed to mumble a coherent word. “Bathroom.”
Rush guided me to a bathroom down a long hallway and tried to come in with me. He looked as nervous as I felt. I put my hand on his chest, stopping him from crowding into the little room with me. “I’m fine. Just give me a few minutes alone. It’s just the morning sickness and my nerves.”
“You sure?”
I nodded and forced a half-assed smile before locking myself into the bathroom. Sliding down the closed door, I sat on the floor with my head in my hands and started to hyperventilate.
It isn’t possible.
My eyes are playing tricks on me.
Hormones. It’s definitely the hormones.
I’d only seen Harlan that one night—months ago now.
But Rush’s brother looked so much like him.
Those green eyes.
Perfectly tanned skin.
Square jaw.
Impeccably coiffed hair parted to the side.
But he wouldn’t have been at The Heights.
Rush and his brother despise each other.
There is no way that he came to hang out in the Hamptons.
And…the guy I’d been with was named Harlan, not Elliott.
Although…
I’d always felt like it was a distinct possibility the guy had lied about his name. Something about the way he’d said Harlan struck me as off for some odd reason—like it hadn’t rolled off his tongue as it should have. His speech pattern had been smooth, just like his lines, when he’d walked over and sat down beside me at the bar. But when he’d said his name, it came out with almost a bit of a stutter.
I suppose Elliott could have come out to the Hamptons to speak to his brother that night. Although there was definitely no sign of Rush when I’d met my one-night stand. And Rush is not the type of man I’d forget seeing.
The longer I sat on the floor, the more I made my head spin. I flipped back and forth from of course it’s him to it can’t possibly be him two dozen times in the span of five minutes.
A soft knock made me jump and hit my head back against the door.
“Gia. You okay, babe?”
The tenderness in Rush’s voice made the tears start to flow. God, what the fuck? This couldn’t be happening to me. It was bad enough that I got myself pregnant with a one-night stand—it couldn’t be that man.
Thirty seconds passed, and he knocked louder. “Gia?”
I had no doubt he would break down the door if I didn’t answer immediately. “I’m good,” I squeaked out. “Just a little nauseous. I’ll be out in a few.”
Over the next five minutes, I talked myself into believing that I had been wrong. Elliott wasn’t Harlan. That would be ludicrous. I’d had a drink or two that night. It was someone who looked like him—from across the span of a wide room. Once I got up close, I’d realize he looked nothing like the man I’d slept with.
There were no other options to believe in here.
Eventually, after two more check-ins from Rush, a silent cry, and washing my face, I opened the door. Rush’s hair told me he’d been yanking at the strands with worry. I reached out and patted the pieces down that stuck up.
“I’m okay. Sorry. That…just sort of came out of nowhere.”
Rush breathed out a sigh of relief. “I’m going to be fucking useless in the delivery room. I can’t even handle that you feel sick because I’m so worried that something is wrong.”
My heart twisted in my chest. “You…you want to be in the delivery room with me?”
Rush’s brows drew down. “Of course. I guess I just assumed I would be.”
I looked back and forth between his eyes and felt myself getting choked up again. This time for a totally different reason. The man standing before me was truly amazing. He said the most beautiful things without even knowing it. Rush didn’t give his heart easily, but when he did—he gave a hundred and ten percent. He really was in this with me.
The pad of his thumb gently wiped away a tear that slipped down my cheek. “I don’t have to be if you don’t want me to be. Don’t cry.”
I threw my arms around his neck. “No. No. I want you there! I want you everywhere I am. I want you next to me through this entire thing. I just…I love you so much, and I guess I just realized for the first time that when you said you wanted to be with me…you really meant it. With me, with me…not just with me.”