“I’m sorry,” I repeated, and he gripped my arms, gently pulling me away. He dipped his head, forcing me to meet his gaze.
“Hey, there’s nothing to be sorry for. This isn’t your fault. These circumstances were out of our control.” His kindness and understanding only made me cry harder.
“Here, let’s sit down,” he instructed, guiding me to the living room. I sank down on his couch, and he sat next to me. He was close but not quite touching, and I instantly missed the feel of his strong body engulfing me in warmth and comfort. I wanted him to reach out and touch me, to pull me into his arms again or hold my hand. Instead, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together. He stared at the floor, clearly fighting whatever emotions threatened to take hold. After a moment, he lifted his worried gaze, and his dark eyes searched mine. His throat bobbed with a heavy swallow before he spoke again.
“Are you keeping it?”
I nodded, and he let out a relieved breath. He studied his hands for a moment, deep in thought.
“I know this is shit timing and you didn’t ask for this. I didn’t come here with any expectations.” His head snapped up, and his gaze turned stormy.
“You didn’t ask for this either. We’re both responsible here. Don’t think for a single second that I’m going to let you do this alone.”
“But you’re leaving,” I reminded him. He stood and scrubbed a hand over his face, crossing to the table where a stack of papers lay. He leaned over them, his eyes scanning the contents.
“I know,” he said, shaking his head. “We’ll figure something out.”
23
DONOVAN
Fuck. My. Life.
When I opened my door to find Emily standing there, I didn’t expect for her to tilt my world on its axis and upturn my entire life. But here we are.
I’m going to be a dad. That realization hit me square in the chest, and I had to take a moment to catch my breath.
Shit, maybe I was having a heart attack. I was in my early forties after all, and my dad had his first one at forty-five. The shock of learning Emily was pregnant was going to send me to the hospital.
Nope. I couldn’t do that to her. One of us had to hold it together, and she was clearly struggling with this new development. She’d been so afraid to tell me. It broke my heart knowing she feared I’d completely wash my hands of her and the baby and let her deal with this on her own. Obviously I’d done a piss poor job of showing her what kind of man I was if she thought that was even a possibility.
Sure, this complicated things, but I wouldn’t turn my back on her. We’d make this work. I would split my time between here and Boston as best I could, and she and the baby could come stay with me when she had time off. We could certainly co-parentamicably. But would I be satisfied with just co-parenting with her?
I’d been shocked and a little terrified when she broke the news, but I’d be lying if I said a small part of me wasn’t just a little bit hopeful. A picture of us as a family, Emily and me with a dark haired little boy catching fireflies in the backyard of a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence flashed in my mind. The image brought an unexpected surge of longing to the forefront, but it was quickly extinguished when I thought about the pile of unsigned paperwork still on my table. I had some tough decisions to make about my future.
But first, I had to tell my best friend I'd knocked up his sister-in-law.
Vance stared at me,blinking slowly like I’d just told him I was going to be the next Pope. Then he seemed to come to his senses. He ground his teeth together, and his hands balled into fists. Delilah, who didn’t look the least bit surprised, placed a comforting hand on his back and wrapped the other around his bicep. Like me, she seemed to anticipate him lunging at me and was prepared to hold him back.
“Vance, I’m so—” I began, but he held up a finger to silence me.
“First, you wait until you get the job offer to tell me you’re moving back to Boston when you’ve known for months it was a possibility,” he recaps, fury lacing his words. He’d been understandably upset when I told him about my plans and for how long it had been in the works. “Now I find out you’ve been sleeping with Emily this whole time, knowing you’re not sticking around. And to make matters worse, you got her pregnant.” Hekept his voice even, not raising it once, until he got to that last sentence. I winced at the rage burning in his eyes.
“It was never my intention to put her in this position. We took every precaution, but they all failed,” I explained, but he looked like he didn’t believe me. “We always used condoms, and she’s on birth control. It was just?—”
“I don’t need to hear anymore,” Vance cut in, holding his hands up in a pleading gesture for me to stop. He glared at me a moment, his nostrils flaring and reminding me of a raging bull. “How do you intend to make this right?”
“I don’t know yet. We’re figuring it out.”
“You better. Because if you hurt her, I will never speak to you again.” I gulped before nodding in understanding. He was like a brother to me, but Emily was family. He’d always been protective of his late wife’s sister. He was an only child, and he saw her as a sibling, not an in-law. It was understandable for him to worry about me hurting her.
But with the way she’d consumed my every thought, it was more likely I’d be the one who ended up getting hurt.
24
EMILY
Donovan’s head disappeared beneath my blanket as he kissed his way down my stomach. He stopped briefly at the barely noticeable bump under my belly button and pressed a long, lingering kiss there before descending to the apex of my thighs. He teased the edges of my panties, driving me wild. My pregnancy hormones made me insatiable, and he was happy to oblige.
