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“I guess that means she told you about this situation.”

“The pregnancy? No. She didn’t tell me. I already knew.”

“How?”

“Lucy, I love you. I’ve loved you for longer than I even realized. This isn’t about the baby. This isn’t about obligation or doing the right thing or any of that bullshit. I loved you before I knew you were pregnant.”

“Jeremy—”

“Let me finish.” He grabbed my hands and squeezed gently. “Please. I’ve been rehearsing this speech for a long time, and if I don’t get it out now, I’m going to lose my mind.”

I nodded because I couldn’t speak if I wanted to.

“When I found that note, I felt like someone had ripped my heart out of my chest. I couldn’t understand why you’d leave without talking to me. Without giving me a chance to explain. And then Bernadette told me what she suspected, and suddenly it all made sense.”

“Bernadette knew?”

“She recognized the symptoms. She said she’d had the same ones when she was pregnant.” He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Everyone figured it out except me. The one person who should have been paying attention.”

“I was going to tell you,” I whispered. “Eventually. I just needed time to figure things out.”

“Why?” His voice cracked. “Why did you need to figure it out alone? Why did you run instead of talking to me?”

The tears started then. I’d been holding them back since he walked through that door, but I couldn’t anymore. They spilled down my cheeks.

“Because of what you said in that interview.” I pulled my hands free so I could wipe my face. It didn’t help. The tears kept coming. “You said you couldn’t imagine settling down. I understand your career is important. And it’s taking off. That’s a big deal. You’re not ready for a family and, well, this is happening sooner rather than later.”

“It is happening and I’m here for it.”

My heart broke. “I couldn’t watch you give up everything you’ve worked for because you felt obligated. The thought of you looking at me and seeing a mistake was too much. I didn’t want you to look at me and see the woman who ruined your life. You’d resent me.”

“That’s what you thought?” He looked devastated. “You thought I would see you as a mistake? Our child is not a mistake. I can’t believe you would ever believe that.”

“What else was I supposed to think? You literally told a journalist that you didn’t want kids. You said your career was more important. I was sitting right there, Jeremy. I heard every word.”

He reached up and cupped my face in his hands, his thumbs wiping away the tears that wouldn’t stop falling. The damn hormones. His touch was tender. The way he’d touched me in Switzerland before everything fell apart.

“I appreciate that you were looking out for me,” he said softly. “That’s what you do. You’re an incredible agent and an even better manager. You’ve spent years protecting me from bad decisions and worse press. But, Lucy, you couldn’t have been more wrong about this.”

“How was I wrong?”

“I said what I thought I was supposed to say.” He shook his head, frustration in his expression. “That interview wasn’t me being honest. It was me playing a part. The charming bachelor who’s too busy jet-setting around the world to think about settling down. It’s the persona I’ve cultivated for years. The image that sells campaigns and magazine covers.”

“So you didn’t mean it?”

He took a breath. “For a long time, I didn’t think I wanted to settle down. I watched my brothers fall in love and start families, and I thought that wasn’t for me. I was the fun uncle. The one who showed up for holidays and birthdays and then went back to my exciting, uncomplicated life.”

“What changed?”

“You.” The word was simple. Direct. It washed over me like a warm blanket. “Watching my brothers with their wives and seeing how happy they were, I started to wonder what that would feel like. And then things between us started to shift. After Alaska and then Thanksgiving with your grandmother and my family, things changed. I started thinking about a future that included more than just photoshoots and campaigns.”

“You did?”

“I started thinking about a future with you.” He took a deep breath. “Before I knew about the baby. I was already imagining what it would be like to wake up next to you every morning. I imagined us traveling together. Not together like we always do, but us. You are the only person I want to be with.”

I couldn’t speak. That damn lump in my throat was like a boulder now. The tears were still falling, but they’d shifted from grief to something else. Something that felt dangerously like joy.

“I don’t want the life I described in that interview,” Jeremy continued. “I don’t want to be forty and alone, still chasing the next campaign. Fame and success are not enough for me. I want you, Lucy. I want this baby. I want the complicated reality of building a family with someone I love. I’ve seen my brothers do it. I want that.”