Desperate Times (Boys of Silver Ridge 2)

She smiles. “Well in that case, my car is kind of old.”

I blink. And then blink again. Is she—no, she can’t be. But yet…what? “You bought it two years ago. I went with you.”

“Yeah, but it was used and only seats four.”

I open my mouth only to snap it shut. Even if she had twins, they’d fit in the backseat.

“And I was looking at safety ratings and there are a lot safer cars out there. I assumed you’d want what’s best for you child.”

What the fuck am I supposed to say? Of course I want what’s best for my child. “I do.”

“Your car is nice. BMWs have good safety ratings. I’d love to have an M6 like you,” she giggles and inches closer, reaching out to touch my arm.

“It…it’s a really nice car,” I say slowly, eyes darting behind her to the hallway where the elevators are located. I got annoyed when Rory told me Stacey was nothing more than a gold-digger because I took it personally, like I was stupid for falling for her act. But if she’s seriously asking me to buy her a car that cost over a hundred-thousand dollars…

“But something like an X3 would be fine too. I’ve done my research. They have great safety ratings.”

“They do,” I echo, still in a suspended state of shock. I don’t know how to react to any of this. I don’t wish anything bad on Stacey, but simply want her out of my life so I can build one with Chloe…which is kind of hard to do if Stacey really is carrying my child. I need her to get a paternity test as soon as possible, yet I know Stacey and have a good guess how she’ll react when I tell her we need to have one done.

“I’d love one just like that. For the baby. I’d be a stylish soccer mom.”

“It’ll be a few years before the baby is playing soccer.”

She flattens her hand on my bicep, laughing. “True, and good point. I’ll want something newer by then. And who knows, maybe we’ll have another in that time."

“Stacey.” My brows furrow and I step back. “I told you. I’ll be there for the child, if it’s mine, but me and you…we’re over.”

“If it’s yours?” She purses her lips and puts her hand on her hip. “I told you, the timeline matches up.”

“I believe you, but I know neither of us were exclusive at the time, and I think—”

“I wasn’t sleeping with anyone else in June,” she snaps. “And you called me to come over for a late-night booty call, remember?”

My eyes fall shut and the world spirals around me. Chloe is upstairs in my apartment waiting for me. She’s everything I ever wanted, the only woman I’ve ever truly loved. She’s a quick elevator ride away and yet here I stand, in the lobby of my apartment building, with the stark reminder that no matter what I do, I fuck things up.

“I know.” I let out a breath and look Stacey in the eyes. “It doesn’t hurt to be sure, does it? That way there’s no question.”

She casts her eyes down, lips tightly pressed together, as she quickly shakes her head. “You’re really questioning me?”

“I just want to be sure. There’s a paternity test you can do before the baby is—”

“Aren’t those dangerous?” she rushes out. “They stick a needle in…ughh.” She puts her hand over her stomach and shudders.

“No, this is a different kind of test. I don’t know much about it, but all you need is a blood sample and a saliva sample from me. There’s no risk to the baby at all. I’ll pay for it.”

“Sure, I guess. So we can do it at the end, right?”

“We can do it now. You’re far enough we can do it now. I had a whole three minutes to Google this between surgery today, but all you need is an ultrasound to make sure you’re not carrying twins.” I look past her at the elevator again. “I know some OBs don’t order one until you’re twenty weeks or so, but we can get one done before.”

“Abusing your doctor status?” She giggles again and moves closer.

“No, I’m not going to order one. I meant we could go to one of those places that does ultrasounds for non-medical reasons.”

“Oh, right. My cousin had a few of those 3D ones done. The baby looks freaky.”

“Yeah. Rory had one done,” I mumble, not sure what else to say. “We should, uh, find a time to sit down and talk about everything. We can find a time when we’re both free to schedule an ultrasound. I want to go.”

“We have plenty of time.”

“The time will pass fast,” I say and feel like I’m going to throw up. Fuck. “You should be due the first week of March.”