Fake Marriage Box Set

“You keep insisting that she's our child, but you haven't given me any proof of that! I don't run a charity, and I'm not going to give handouts to every woman who comes here claiming that I've gotten them pregnant. Not that that's ever happened before. It was easy enough to get you to go to bed with me, so why should I assume that you keep your legs closed for other people?”

I glowered at him. “Want to know how I know it's your child? Because unlike you, I don't sleep around with hundreds of people. In fact, I haven't slept with anyone since you and I slept together. And before that, well. Let's just say that all the evidence is there. You're the one who got me pregnant.”

It was silent in the room.

“This righteous indignation is refreshing,” he told me, surprising me. “I don't think I've ever been slapped by a woman before.”

“You deserved it,” I muttered petulantly, but the so-called righteous indignation was quickly disappearing, replaced by tears. “You don't know how hard it's been.”

Andrew rolled his eyes. “You should have known it was going to be difficult before you had the kid,” he said. “Why didn't you put her up for adoption if you didn't think that you could handle it? Or better yet, you could have gotten an abortion and saved yourself all the trouble.”

“I didn't realize how hard things were going to be,” I told him. “And I'm not just talking about Emma.” I took a deep breath, knowing that I had to tell him the rest of it, to explain why I had really come. “I was fired from my job at Albright.”

“Because you were pregnant?” Andrew asked, raising an eyebrow at me. “That's not legal.”

“Not because I was pregnant.” I paused. “Orinoco decided to pass on the acquisition deal. My bosses at Albright thought I, and that one-on-one insurance meeting that you and I had, had something to do with it. Or rather, they needed a scapegoat. They needed to explain to everyone at the company why those big bonuses that everyone was expecting weren't actually going to happen. And they chose me as their scapegoat. I was an easy target.”

“So, they fired you,” Andrew said. “And you decided to be lazy and stay out of work so that you could take care of your daughter, rather than doing what every other working mom in your position would have done and gone out to find a new job.”

I gave an incredulous laugh. “You don't know me at all,” I snapped. “How dare you make accusations like that.”

Andrew gave me a mild look. “Then please do tell me why things have been so difficult for you.”

“They blackballed me,” I told him. “I haven't been able to get any work at any decent companies since I was fired by Albright, no matter how hard I try. And believe me, I've been trying. I've sent my application out to hundreds of companies since I was fired. Not just for insurance analysis positions, either. I've worked as a waitress, a retail seller, a secretary, and really anywhere that would give me a job. But being a single mom and holding down a full-time position is impossible.”

“Hire a nanny,” Andrew suggested.

“I don't know what you want me to tell you. There are plenty of mothers who do it every day. Maybe your attitude needs to change.”

I sobbed. “Oh, really?” I asked. I shook my head, pressing my fingertips to my eyes and trying to quit crying. I needed to hold on to that anger for a little while longer.

“Why are you here?” Andrew asked, sounding aggravated. “You want me to be part of Emma's life? You want her to know who her father is?”

“Actually, neither of those things,” I told him. “If I had my way, you wouldn't even know about her. And I definitely don't want a cold asshole like you being involved in her life. But I'm desperate, and I need your help. Ever since I slept with you, it's just been one long string of bad luck that I can't seem to recover from. I keep expecting that the worst is over, but things never seem to turn around. You're the last person that I wanted to ask, but I need your help. Please. For Emma's sake.”

Chapter Ten

Andrew

I knew deep-down, judging by the looks of the kid, that Emma must be my daughter. She looked too much like Katherine for that not to be the case. And to be honest, that scared me. Having a daughter had the potential to disrupt my entire life. I'd grown accustomed to living my life however I pleased, to having my life be all about me and no one else.

Having a daughter would mean responsibilities. It had the possibility to disrupt the good thing that I had going with Renée. It would mean that my life had to be about someone other than me.

And already I was having feelings of guilt, watching Lexi crying in front of me. There was definitely a part of me that wanted to insist that she was just being lazy or that she had brought this upon herself. There was a part of me that wanted to insist that I didn't owe her anything and that if she thought otherwise, she was crazy.

But I couldn't get that little girl's face out of my mind. The way that she had looked solemnly up at Janice, the enthusiastic nod when Janice suggested peanut butter crackers for a snack. She was cute. And she looked like Katherine.

Between that and the tears, it made me want to agree to whatever Lexi was here to propose.

It was a strange feeling to have. After all, it wasn't as though I'd never had a woman come crying to me before. But they'd never been in this situation.

Still, the whole thing seemed strange. Why hadn't she told me when she first found out that she was pregnant? Why tell me now? If I believed what she'd said, she'd been fired by Albright nearly three and a half years prior to that. None of this made sense.

And somewhere deep down, I was still reeling at the thought of having to deal with the responsibilities that came along with having a kid.

I shook my head. “As I said before, I don't like it when people try to take advantage of me,” I told her. “You've clearly figured out a way to survive for the past three years, so I suggest you keep doing that. Rather than taking the lazy way out and coming to me, expecting me to solve all your problems.”

Lexi gaped at me for a moment, a fresh wave of waterworks threatening in her eyes. She turned her gaze away, staring down at her hands as she twisted her fingers together. “Why are you so sure that this is just a scheme?” she asked. “If this was a scheme, don't you think I would have come here a long time ago? I'm only here now because I'm desperate.”