Jonathan shook his head. “Do you really think I’m the only person who noticed you and then Selena follow you up the stairs? Come on, Brandon. You’re usually smarter about these things. The merger is still going through the final approvals. You want a page six disaster at your own daughter’s big bash?”
“I don’t need a babysitter.”
“You didn’t even bother to lock the door. If I had been anyone else, you’d have been fucked. I mean, think about this. What if it had been Mel? Do you really want to have to explain to your ex what you’re doing or whatever the fuck you think you’re doing?”
I balled my hands up into fists at my side and tried not to let my temper rise further. It was a struggle. Part of me just wanted to beat Jonathan down for all his meddling, even if, rationally, I knew he was right. If it had been anyone else, both Selena and I would have been royally screwed.
Not in the fun way.
“I know, but we weren’t actually doing anything this time. I was trying to get her to open up to me.”
“I’ll say.”
I clenched my jaw and then spoke. “I’m serious. Something’s bugging her, and I almost had her ready to explain what it was. Then you burst in.”
Jonathan sighed. “I didn’t know that.”
“Well, no shit.”
“I’m sorry, but you had to let her go. Here, you’re just the CEO of the company she’s interning for and the best friend’s dad she’s only officially met once. You can’t let that façade fall. It’ll ruin you both if you do.”
Chapter Twelve
Selena
I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking. I’d scurried around the top floor of the mansion until I’d found a free bathroom, someplace I could lock the door behind me, slide in without anyone noticing, and pull out the pregnancy test. Peeing on the stick proved harder than I anticipated. It was a sloshing mess, and I’d been happy to wash my hands afterward. I mean, you’d think I could have control, but the truth was that I was a ball of anxiety. Seeing Brandon today had made me even more nervous. If that were even possible. I’d been tired, scared, and exhausted. Now, I realized that as much as I wanted to break things off with Brandon, do the right thing, even if I weren’t pregnant, then I wasn’t sure if I could.
It was like his very presence called to me, made my blood pound in my brain, and left me overheated and overeager. Being in that bedroom with him, I’d felt my heart thudding all over again. Even when I felt the deepest depression and fear of my life, I was still quivering underneath it all, still wet with need for him.
But it was all insane.
I glanced at my cell phone as I sat on the lip of the giant Jacuzzi tub. It was the longest five minutes of my life, waiting for whatever the test would tell me. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted. Obviously, if I had a child with Brandon, it would be a disaster. I could never think about getting rid of a child, but, at the same time, I couldn’t be public about it. Frankly, I couldn’t even finish college with a baby. I guess I’d run back home, tail between my legs, and be every bit the failure my mother was. Just another cautionary tale about not being careful while having sex.
What I couldn’t do was drag him down with me, ruin his reputation and make Tammy hate him. If I were pregnant, I didn’t think that Brandon could ever know.
I knew him now. He’d step up, do the right thing, but it could cost him his company, and Tammy’s love and adulation. I wasn’t about to ruin a family.
Then, as crazy as this was, a small part of me wanted to be pregnant, wanted to have that spark of life inside of me. A child with Brandon was an impossible clash of our worlds, but I knew it now, after over two months with him. I loved him. It was more than just the way he made my body feel. It was how he cared about my history; the life I’d had and struggled through before coming to New York. It was about how he seemed to know what I was thinking and feeling even before I did. The expert eye he offered on reviewing my pieces. If circumstances were different, we could be a happy family.
But they weren’t.
And everything standing between us was impossible.
My posture went rigid when the timer on my phone rang. God, the moment of truth. I inched over to the sink and stared down at the blue plus sign that was mocking me, that really only confirmed the changes I’d felt in my own body.
“Oh God.”
I was pregnant.
Jesus, God, what the hell would I do?
Tears stung my eyes, and I grabbed my purse. I could Uber home… Do anything to get out of here. I couldn’t hide the happy party façade when my very life and future was crumbling around me. As I reached for the positive test, the lock tumbled loose and the door open. I froze there, like a deer in the damn headlights, and gaped at the person before me.
Mrs. Stewart stood there with a triumphant smile plastered across her face. “I knew I’d find you here.” She eyed the test I hadn’t managed to grab yet. “I didn’t anticipate that but, knowing Brandon, I can’t say I’m surprised.”
My heart went cold as ice. “What?” I croaked out.
“He had mistresses during our marriage, but you knew that. I’m sure Tammy told you. I just never saw a little tramp like you working your way so close to our family to try and get Brandon’s money.”