I shook my head and motioned for Rain to sit on the couch. “I’m sorry about my sister. She can be a bit overprotective. Can I get you something to drink?”
Rain perched on the edge of the leather sofa and shook her head. “No, I don’t want anything from you but an explanation of why you would do something like this to Kami. And be forewarned, that my bullshit detector is a lot more sensitive than hers.”
I sighed and sat down. I was going to tell Rain everything and hold zero back. I couldn’t let anything stand in the way of winning Kami back.
“It’s true that I have been talking to women on Matched Solid, but I swear to you, I have not been sleeping with any of them. I haven’t even met any of them.”
She regarded me with an air of disbelief, and so I continued.
“The site is owned and operated by my best friend Hazen. He needed some help boosting traffic on the site and he asked me to help him out. The job was that I would send messages to newcomers as well as the women who weren’t getting as much attention, to keep them coming back.”
“So you were baiting them?” she asked, her lip curled in disgust.
“Yeah, I guess I was. But I swear to you, that’s all it ever was. I came across Kami’s profile the very first day I started helping out. I thought she was beautiful and had actually seen her at her coffee shop months before. I sent her the standard welcome message. I never expected it to go anywhere further, but then she responded and we actually started to talk. That’s the truth.”
“So you did all that for your best friend, just as a favor?” Rain asked unconvinced.
“Well, that actually leads to another topic.” I took a deep breath before continuing. “I have a hefty family inheritance, for which I will only be given the lump sum if I’ve settled down and conceived one heir by my thirty fifth birthday.”
“So you used the dating site to find the girl you planned to knock up, and my best friend was one of hundreds of girls you flirted with before you found your perfect baby mama?”
I cringed, hating how that sounded. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. Listen, I know how awful that sounds, but the minute I actually spoke to her and got to know her, I was committed. I will swear to you, to her, to anyone who will listen, that I never met up with or did anything with those other women. It never went past a few harmless messages. I love her, Rain. I love her more than I’ve ever loved anyone.”
“You can see how your reputation makes that a little hard to believe, right?” she asked me.
I sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’m the first to admit that I’ve been a dog in the past. I’ve been selfish and immature and stupid before, but all that ended when I met Kami. I want to be the best person I can be for her. I want to be the man she deserves.”
“I’m not sure that even exists,” Rain said softly. “She deserves the world.”
“I know. And I promise to spend the rest of my life to give it to her. Do you think she could ever forgive me?”
“I don’t know,” Rain admitted. “And I don’t know if she should.”
I got up and went to my room, returning with my laptop and a folder of papers with the terms of my inheritance. I handed all them to Rain.
“Go ahead, look through it all.”
After about ten minutes of reading and poking through my computer, Rain looked satisfied. “Ok, I believe you.”
My heart swelled with hope. “You do?”
“Yes. You made her happy, Tate. Happier than I’ve ever seen her. You’re going to have to do a lot of work to get that back.”
I nodded my head vigorously. “I know and I’m willing to do whatever it takes. Will you help me?” I asked, hopeful.
Rain regarded me with a look before finally nodding her head. “I’ll see what I can do.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE – KAMI
“Kam?” I heard footsteps approaching as I rolled over, still in bed. After I’d looked at the date on the calendar, I’d run to the drugstore and got a test, which confirmed my worst fear. I was pregnant with Tate’s baby. Those two unprotected times were all it took to change my life forever.
I never expected to get myself knocked up by a man I’d fallen so deeply in love with, only to have my heart smashed into bits by him.
I’d cried myself to sleep again afterward. That weekend had been filled with so much hope and love, and now I was left with a permanent reminder of it. I found myself totally lost.
Rain sat down on the edge of my bed and smoothed my hair away from my face. “Are you still sick?” she asked, feeling my forehead?
I shook my head, and the motion made me queasy all over again. I bolted up and out of bed, slapping my hand over my mouth as I ran to the bathroom. Rain followed me and held my hair as I puked, then offered me a cool cloth for my forehead.