CHELSEA
“And then he kissed me,” Chelsea concluded.
Heather sat back in her seat, her eyes wide. “You’ve been a busy lady, Chels.”
“I know,” Chelsea said, shaking her head. “I can hardly believe how fast everything has happened.”
“I mean, I couldn’t even believe it when you told me you were having Silas Aspin’s grandchild.” Heather let out a low whistle. “You really took it to heart when I said don’t bother waiting to be married to have kids.”
“Yeah, I guess I did,” Chelsea agreed with a wry smile. “Although the Miles thing was… unexpected.”
“Do you mean having his baby or do you mean kissing him?”
“Absolutely both.” Chelsea raked a hand through her curls, which she had already done several times since this conversation had started. Her hair was in massive disarray, she was sure. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“Well, is he a good kisser?” Heather asked. “You have to tell me. My friend can’t date a celebrity without telling me if he’s a good kisser.”
“Okay, first of all, he isn’t a celebrity,” Chelsea said.
“Call it what you want. He’s a famous person.”
“Secondly, we’re not dating.”
Heather snorted. “An academic distinction, if you’re making out all the time and giving birth to his child.”
“We’re notmaking out all the time.We kissed one time, and that was just because we were caught up in the moment. The baby had just kicked for the first time.” Chelsea had to laugh. “It kicks me all the time now. If I had realized what a mundane occurrence that really was, I don’t know if I’d have celebrated in quite the same way.”
“But my question is still unanswered,” Heather pointed out.
Chelsea sighed, she could feel a blush rising in her cheeks. “Yes, he’s a good kisser. The best I’ve ever had, actually. It makes me wonder whether he’s any good at… anything else.”
“Oh, I’m sure he is,” Heather said. “But you should probably find out. You know, for science.”
“No, I shouldn’t,” Chelsea said. “That’s a horrible idea. I’m going to have his baby, Heather. The two of us are going to raise a child together. We need to be able to stay comfortably in each other’s lives forever. I can’t afford to hook up with this guy, because if I do, I don’t know what’s going to happen between the two of us. I don’t know if we’ll be able to be around each other after that. It’s not a risk I can take. I have to have a good relationship with mychild’s father. He can’t be some guy I hooked up with a few times while I was pregnant. I have to be more responsible than that.”
“You’re no fun,” Heather said. “I hope you realize that.”
“I just can’t afford to approach this particular relationship as if I’m doing it for fun,” Chelsea countered. “I have to take Miles seriously. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Heather was quiet for a moment. “Are you really worried that if you let something happen between the two of you, it would drive you apart?” she asked. “It doesn’t have to be that way, you know. You could just have a good time together. You could take these next few months to have a fling. As long as you both agreed on what you were doing, you wouldn’t have to worry about it going too far. You could just enjoy yourselves and part ways when it was over. And honestly, Chelsea, I think you should, because you missed out on all the fun of making a baby by doing it in a lab. You deserve to show yourself a good time.”
Chelsea shook her head. “It makes sense,” she said quietly. “The way you’re saying it, I could almost believe it was a good idea… but I can’t.”
“But why not?” Heather asked. “I mean, think about it. This is Miles Aspin. You would be able to say forever that you’d slept with one of the richest men in America.”
“That’s gross, Heather,” Chelsea groaned. “What do you think, that I’m keeping some kind of hookup bucket list and I need to checkrich guyoff of it? There’s no way I’m going to let that happen.”
“Look, even if you don’t want to get with him for the sake of being able to say you did it, it would be a good time for you,”Heather said. “You’ve just said yourself that he’s an outstanding kisser, and you want to find out what else he’s good at.”
“I didn’t say that.Yousaid I should find that out.”
“And I’m right.” Heather crossed her arms triumphantly. “You need to get the information while you have it available to you.”
“I’m not investigating a crime, Heather.”
“No, you’re having a baby with one of the most famous men in the world, and for the life of me I can’t figure out why you wouldn’t want to live it up with him while he’s yours!”
“Because he isn’t mine!” Chelsea burst out, the words she had been holding back finally spilling to the surface. “He isn’t mine, Heather, and he never will be, and I don’t think I’m capable of just having a fling with this man. If I get in bed with him, my heart is going to get involved, and I don’t know if I can survive that.”
