‘And it was … mine?’
His question made her hackles rise slightly. ‘Of course it was yours.’
‘But how do you know for sure?’
‘How do I know?’ She stared at him feeling dumbfounded. ‘Because you were the only guy I’d slept with.’
‘You were a virgin?’ He sounded horrified.
‘Would you keep your voice down?’ she hissed, noticing an older couple at a table nearby had stopped talking and had their heads tilted their way. ‘No, I wasnota virgin,’ she snapped, almost whispering. ‘You were the only man I’d slept with in months.’
‘Holy shit,’ he said, slumping back in his chair, staring at her.
‘Look, I’m not telling you this because I want anything from you. I’m only telling you because I have no other choice, now that I know who you are.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘It means that I couldn’t, in good faith, discover who you are andnottell you that you had a child. I’m not going to live with that kind of guilt for the rest of my life.’
‘Does she know about me, then?’
‘How could she know about you?Ididn’t even know about you until the other day.’
‘I mean … does she know she has a father? What have you told her about me?’
‘She knows she has a daddy who doesn’t live here. She hasn’t really asked too many questions yet.’
‘I can’t believe it. It’s a lot to wrap my head around,’ he said after a few moments.
‘Yeah, I remember that feeling.’
He swore lightly, shaking his head. ‘I can’t even imagine how that must have been.’
His compassion threw her slightly. She’d been expecting angry denial, and maybe watching him storm out in a rage.She swallowed hard over a lump of emotion his softening expression had evoked.
Forcing a smile to her lips, she took a deep breath and regained her composure. ‘It all worked out. So, now you know why I didn’t want to keep you and Sasha as clients. I panicked. I didn’t know what to do. You and Sasha came to me ready to start a new life and get married, and I didn’t want to be the one who messed that all up.’
‘You could have just not said anything,’ he pointed out.
‘Is that what you wish I’d done?’
He paused, eyeing her silently. ‘In all honesty, my first thought is yes,’ he said, then sighed. ‘But I think that’s the shock talking. I don’t really knowwhatto say.’
‘You need time to process it all. I get it.’ She bent down to pick up her bag.
‘No, stay. Please,’ he said, an edge of desperation to his voice. ‘I didn’t mean to chase you away.’
‘I really do have somewhere else I need to be,’ she said with a wry smile. ‘I’m sorry I’ve dumped all this on you and now have to run. If you want to talk later, once it’s all sunk in,’ she said, ‘let me know.’ She reached into the front pocket of her bag to withdraw a business card, and wrote her mobile number on before sliding it across the table. ‘I completely understand if you’d rather not. Like I said, I don’t want or expect anything from you. I just needed to let you know.’
She smiled sadly at the completely sideswiped expression he wore, and really did feel bad about it, but was also glad that her part was over. She rose from the table, gave him a nod andwalked away. If he wanted to take things any further, though part of her sincerely hoped he wouldn’t, that was up to him. For Poppy’s sake, she probably should have been hoping he wanted to be part of her life, but there was a part of her—the protective mother in her—that didn’t want him to intrude in their lives. She felt guilty for being selfish.
For a long while, Kenzie sat in her car and stared through the windscreen. Relief was probably the most notable emotion, but there was also an undeniable dose of apprehension. What if he tried to take Poppy away from her? How was Poppy going to cope with getting to know a complete stranger? What if Sasha didn’t like Poppy and made her life miserable whenever she stayed with them? That was probably unfair. She didn’t really know Sasha—at least, not well enough to make her into an evil stepmother—but shehadseen enough of her to realise she was spoiled and used to getting her own way. It was none of her business, but she had a feeling things weren’t going to be particularly pleasant for Ewan once he broke the news to her.
She hoped Ewan managed to smooth things over, and her business wouldn’t become a casualty of this whole mess. With a quick glance at the dashboard clock, she shrugged off her troubled thoughts and started the car. She still had a business to run—while she still had a business to run.
Ewan felt as though his entire world had just turned upside down. Which was because his entire world had just turned upside down. He’d walked into this cafe thinking he was prettymuch in control of his life, only to now be walking out of it feeling like he was a stranger.
I have a kid.
