“Sort it out?”
“Yeah. You could always get divorced.”
“Whoa! What? Firstly, I’m not married. Not now, not ever. And just to put an end to this line of questioning, I don’t have a boyfriend, girlfriend, or a fuck buddy.”
“Thank fuck,” Jake exhaled.
The waiter delivered our dinner before disappearing as quietly as he’d come. I excused myself and dashed to the bathroom. I had to tell him. Now was my moment.
Standing in the restroom, I ran the cold water over my wrists and tried not to panic. I’d known this was coming, and even though I didn’t have the words, I couldn’t keep this from him. It was one thing not to tell him when he was living another life on the other side of the country, but it was completely different when he was right here.
“You’ve got this,” I told the woman staring back at me in the mirror.
Taking a deep breath, I blew it out before squaring my shoulders and heading back to the table to face my fate.
Jake hadn’t made a move to start eating, and as I approached, he stood and once again reached for my chair. Bending down as he pushed me in, he whispered in my ear, causing a shiver to race down my spine. “You smell amazing, Marshmallow. Like citrus and sex.”
His use of the word had me wanting to grab him by the hand and drag him back into the restroom. But not today. If he still wanted me after I imploded his world, then I wasn’t going to say no. I’m not that stupid.
“Jake,” I began, wringing my hands together under the table as nerves consumed me.
Sitting in front of me was a steak that looked mouthwatering, but the last thing on my mind right now was food. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep anything down.
“Yeah?” he asked as he sliced into his baked potato, a cloud of steam coming off it as the scent of cheese and cream reached me.
“I don’t have a boyfriend, and I don’t have a husband.”
“And I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I am,” Jake finished, setting his knife down and reaching for my hand.
“But I do have a daughter,” I forced out, holding eye contact with him. I waited for him to pull away, disgusted, but he didn’t flinch.
“You’re a mom?” he clarified, keeping his voice low.
“Yes.”
“Wow. Okay. How old is…”
“She’s almost three.”
“Oh.”
I could see the wheels in his head spinning as he tried to do the math.
“Wow. You have a daughter.”
Reaching for my glass of water, I took a sip before setting it out of the way. Gulping my overwhelming nerves, I said what I needed to. “Yes, Jake. We have a daughter.”
ChapterEight
Jake
“What did you just say?” I managed to choke out, pulling my hand back. I thought Kellie had just told me we had a daughter, but surely, I didn’t hear that right.
“I said,” Kellie began, taking a deep breath. “We have a daughter. Cassandra is almost three, and she looks so much like her daddy,” she gushed.
My head spun.
Grabbing my beer, I drained what was left before signaling for another.
