Page 75 of Slide

Chapter Nineteen

An uncomfortable feeling settled low in Adam’s gut.

Did she respect him? She’d thought he was a manwhore, an asshole, out for what he could get with no interest in more than what went down between the sheets. Jesus, was that how she saw him still? And how could he blame her if she did? That’s what he put off, all to avoid a deeper connection with anyone who might try to get close.

God, he hated it.

He didn’t want Lucy to think about him that way anymore, but if that’s what he wanted, it would mean telling her the truth, the real reason he’d never even allowed himself to imagine having more—a relationship, a family.

He shook off his thoughts. This wasn’t about him; this was about Lucy, and whatever he could do to help her.

“Do you want me to talk to him?” He was using the word “talk” lightly. He’d be more than happy to convince this asshole to back the fuck off with his fists.

Lucy stilled. “I can handle it, Adam. Thank you, though.”

“Ignoring his calls and texts isn’t handling shit.” He lifted up so he could see her face, but couldn’t help shifting his hips against her soft heat, keeping her thighs open and wrapped around him. “Not to mention his wife. She’s directing her anger at the wrong person. You should go to the police. It’s harassment, Lucy. It needs to stop.”

She shook her head, her sexily rumpled dark hair falling over one side of her face. He brushed it back before he realized what he was doing. Her throat worked, eyes getting glassy. Shit, was she going to cry?

“Luce?”

“No, I’m not doing that. She has a right to be angry. I—”

“Yeah, she does. At her goddamn husband.” He cupped the side of her face. “He doesn’t deserve her and he sure as fuck never deserved you.” He shook his head. “You need to drop the guilt, baby. It’s not doing you any good. He’s taken enough of your time and energy. It’s time to let it go, and the only way to do that is to make the calls and texts stop.”

“You’re right. I’ll change my number again. Someone gave it to him the last couple times, but I’ll be pickier about who I give it to from now on.” She bit her lip and dragged in a sharp breath through her nose. “I’ve got this under control, Adam. You don’t need to do anything, okay?”

There was more to this. She was keeping something else from him—he could see it in her eyes. The damn shutters had come down. That wasn’t Lucy. She’d always worn her heart on her sleeve. Everything right there in her eyes for him to see, killing him every damn time he looked into them and saw the way she truly felt about him. Or at least the way she used to feel.

Not now, though. She was holding back, hiding something, something big.

“Is there another reason he’s so desperate to talk to you?”

“No.” She couldn’t hold his gaze.

What the hell was going on? “I’m not letting you leave this bed until you tell me the truth, and right now you’re lying through your teeth.”

She paled before his eyes, her distress obvious. He didn’t want to cause her pain, at least any more pain, but he wouldn’t back down either. Whatever that asshole wanted from her was enough for him to call and text her twenty fucking times a day. That was the actions of a man either obsessed, desperate, or both. The idea of someone in that frame of mind having Lucy in his sights did not sit well with him. In fact, it scared the shit out of him.

He cupped her jaw and made her look at him. “I’m not backing down, not until you tell me what this is really about.”

She must have seen the determination in his eyes because he felt her body deflate beneath his. She looked away and when she looked back a tear streaked down her cheek.

Fear sliced though him. “Jesus, Lucy. What’s going on?”

Her gaze shifted, focusing on something over his shoulder. “The reason he keeps calling is he…he thinks I’m lying to him.” She swallowed hard, more tears rolling down her face.

“You’re scaring me here, Luce. Please, baby, please talk to me.” Watching her like this was destroying him.

She blew out a shaky breath. “Not long before I learned he was married, I…I found out I was pregnant.”

Everything inside him seized to a halt. It felt like his fucking heart stopped. Taking a breath felt impossible. She was pregnant…with another man’s baby. His Lucy. His fucking woman was going to grow round and soft with some other man’s child. Something tore wide open inside him. God, it was selfish, and he hated that his first reaction was to think about himself, but he was jealous, so fucking jealous it felt like someone had sliced him from throat to gut and everything spilled to his feet.

Lucy had her hands over her face and she wasn’t just crying now, she was fucking sobbing. Every protective instinct inside him roared to the surface. He realized in that second that he wanted to be the one to take care of her. To be there for her. Shit, he wanted to be the father to her babies.

Those thoughts, feelings, set like cement. In minutes, everything had changed for him.

Moving to the side, he sat against the headboard and dragged her into his lap, gently pulling her hands away from her face. “I’ll take care of you, Lucy, you and the baby. I promise you that.”