Million-Dollar Consequences

“Where did I take the tests? In your bathroom.” She frowned, misunderstanding him.

“No... Where did you buy the tests?” Had she ordered them online two days ago without telling him? Had she driven out of Dunn to a nearby town and worn a disguise? Or had she done the unthinkable, and purchased them here in Dunn, where any number of fans of the show could have witnessed her doing it?

“Oh. At the market.”

“The market in Dunn.” The numbness spread from his lips to his entire body.

“Yeah, so?”

“So?” He laughed, the sound half-crazed. He shot a glance over his shoulder and then hers to determine they were actually alone. “Who saw you buy the tests?”

“Uh...”

“Think. It’s important.”

“The important takeaway is that you and I are expecting, Isaac.”

“You’re wrong,” he snapped, even as he argued with himself that this wasn’t her fault. This was mostly his fault. He’d had everything under control until he’d had her naked and beneath him, which had led to an oversight that had changed everything.

“Why do you care who saw me?”

She wasn’t in the public eye. She didn’t know how ruthless the press could be. How social media could bury him before his publicist had a chance to control the spin.

“There are a lot of people in Dunn who are interested in the show and me. And you, Meghan. Because of who I am.”

“Isaac—”

“Have you checked the internet to see if you were photographed?”

“Why would I do that?”

“Everything we’ve worked for up until this point could be on the line.” He was fucked if he didn’t get control of how this news spread.

She grabbed his face, her palms on each of his cheeks, and forced his gaze to hers. “Are you hearing yourself? Screw the press, the show and the fans. Isaac, I’m pregnant. With a baby. That’s the headline here.”

He opened his mouth to say “I know” when the word baby ricocheted around his head. Meghan Squire was pregnant with a baby. His baby.

Holy hell.

He pushed his fingers into his hair, his eyes unfocused on the mountains in the distance. Then she said something that snapped him out of it.

“My entire life is about to change.”

“Not just yours.” He took her hands in his. “We’re in this together, Squire. Just like we have been from the beginning.”

“Back when we were temporary.”

That was true. They’d never been in this together permanently. From the beginning, it’d been an arrangement made with their careers coming first. When it’d turned physical, he’d convinced himself their shared attraction was a fun bonus. But now...everything had changed.

A baby.

He’d shot a scene today about not being able to conceive, and here Meghan sat, telling him she was pregnant. The truth really was stranger than fiction. His plans to move away and her plans not to come with him would need reevaluating.

He nodded, the unexpected news finally taking root. “There’s nothing temporary about a baby.”

“You assume I’m keeping the baby.”

He pulled her into focus, his heart aching. He had assumed that. It was the only assumption. “Listen, I hadn’t planned on becoming a father, and I’m sure you hadn’t planned on becoming a mother. This soon, anyway.” He cleared his throat, unsure how much to say but compelled to say it. “Meghan, I’m equipped to handle it. Even if I’m not exactly ready.”

Her smile was soft, her voice soothing as she touched his cheek. “I know you are. I can’t imagine not having this baby even though I’m shocked and unprepared.”

He blew out a breath of relief as a million questions swirled around inside his head. What did this mean for their future? Their careers? Nothing was certain from here on out. Their temporary fling for fun had suddenly become more than either of them had intended.

“What about the photographs?”

“What photographs?” he asked.

Her eyebrows lifted. “The ones that could have been taken of me in the market when I was buying the tests.”

Oh. Those. Funny how that’d been his first concern. He’d been in shock. In spin mode. He’d been troubleshooting. He’d cared about nothing but his own career for too long. Everything he’d done lately had been in service to Brooks Knows Best.Well, no more. He had more to think about than a TV show. He was about to have a family of his own.

That didn’t change the fact that the photos, if there were any, needed to be handled. They couldn’t ignore the press once speculation began, or the blowback that would inevitably follow.

“Unfortunately, we do need to talk about what to do if those photos exist. And probably make a statement of some sort.”

Meghan chewed her lip. Then she and Isaac concluded at the same time, “Kendall.”