“Uh-huh.” Bella didn’t trust herself to speak — she was worried she’d start crying again. She simply pulled up her shirt and let Luke fix the band across her stomach. His hands were gentle, his fingertips barely brushing her skin, and it reminded her of how he’d held her during their night together, as though she were precious.
This wasn’t the same, though. He was probably this gentle with all his patients, since he was clearly a good doctor.
“That looks good.” He stepped back and flipped on a monitor. For a few minutes, he focused on the rhythmic peaks of a heartbeat on the screen. While he did so, Bella took the chance to look at him.
He looked… calm. In control. He looked like he dealt with situations like this every day, while Bella was a complete mess. No wonder he didn’t want anything to do with her.
“The baby is fine,” he said, still with his back to her. “You were just having Braxton-Hicks contractions, like we discussed before. You do need to take it easy, though, because working hard and being stressed could lead to more of these contractions, or to worse complications. Like I said before, two weeks of rest would be a good start.”
Then he turned back to her. In an instant, his professional doctor veneer faded and something flashed in his gray eyes. He grabbed the stool and sat next to her again, his gaze not leaving hers. Bella could feel the change in the air, like a storm coming, and she braced herself.
“I didn’t want to ask. I wanted to respect your wishes — obviously I did. But I can’t do it. I’m sorry, Bella.”
“What do you mean?” Bella bit her lip.
“I mean, I have to know. You’re six months pregnant. We slept together six months ago.” The silence stretched for a long minute before Luke leaned forward and asked, “Is that my baby?”
He didn’t look like a calm, collected doctor anymore. Instead, his brow was pinched, and he was gripping the edge of the bed so tightly that his knuckles were white. Bella’s heart skipped a beat. He did care. He did. Maybe he just cared about her lying to him or about what she expected from him, but still, he cared.
And now, she had a very difficult conversation ahead of her. Bella lifted her eyes to Luke’s, her hands still holding very tightly to the thin sheets of the hospital bed.
“Yes,” she said, simply. “The baby is yours. Ours.”
Luke’s eyes widened, and he sat back. He didn’t get up to leave, though. He didn’t yell. He didn’t do anything. Instead, he just looked at her intensely for one long moment, not blinking, as though he could find all the answers he sought somewhere in her eyes. Bella didn’t look away, either.
This was the moment. Luke would either tell her he didn’t want anything to do with the baby, or he would get angry with her for not telling him sooner. Or both. Bella braced herself. This had already been a disaster of a day, and it was about to get a whole lot worse.
This was all her fault, because she was so sure she could do everything on her own. Maybe she couldn’t.
CHAPTER 13
LUKE
Luke wasn’t sure what to say. A million things raced through his head, from “Why didn’t you tell me?” to “How wonderful!” to “I’m really going to be a father?” Until now, he’d worked so hard to stay professional and respect Bella’s privacy, but seeing her lying in that bed, her face pale, her eyes a little red from crying, he hadn’t been able to hold himself back. She was upset and scared, and he’d needed to know.
Now he did, and he didn’t know what to say. He was still trying to find his voice when Bella spoke.
“Are you angry?”
The question was so unexpected that Luke’s brow furrowed. “What?”
“Are you mad?” she repeated. She looked away, down at the monitor across her stomach. “That I didn’t tell you?”
“I…” Luke paused before shaking his head. “No. I mean, we were just a one-night stand, right? It didn’t… we didn’t… no one made any promises.”
“I know.” Bella met his eyes again. “And there’s no need for any promises now. I know we’re practically strangers to each other, and I’m not about to ask you for money or anything.”
Luke’s mouth fell open. “Is that why you didn’t tell me? Because you didn’t want me to feel like I had to give you money?”
Bella nodded, tears gathering in those soft green eyes. “We don’t know each other. I didn’t want you to feel like you had to support me or the baby, and I didn’t want you to feel like you had to become a dad if you didn’t want to.” She looked away, and Luke’s heart shattered.
“You’re right,” he said quietly. She looked back at him, and one tear spilled from her eye. Luke realized what she must be assuming — that he was saying she was right about him not wanting anything to do with her and the baby — and quickly corrected himself. “You’re right that we don’t know each other that well, because if youdidknow me, you’d know I would never get anyone pregnant and leave them on their own.”
“I want to be on my own,” Bella said softly. “I’ve always been on my own. Even since I was a kid, everything I’ve ever wanted to do, I’ve had to do on my own. I had to figure it out for myself. I built my catering business on my own, with no help. That’s the same way I got into college, found scholarships, and flew across the country to move into my dorm — on my own. And it’s the same way I rented my first apartment, got my first car, and made a life for myself. On my own. So why should this be any different?”
Luke’s heart ached for her. He wanted to comfort her, to say something to make this feel better, but he got the feeling she had more to say.
Bella shook her head. “The worst part is that things are falling apart, and maybe Ican’tdo this on my own. You told me I need to rest and not work so hard, but I can’t do that. I got an awful review today from the woman whose wedding I walked out on. I need to work harder than ever if I’m going to get my business back on track — yet I’m also supposed to be on bed rest? The business I’ve spent years building is going under, and there’s nothing I can do about it. And if I don’t work, how will I afford to have a baby?”
