by Maya Banks
“Anything you want me to help you with?” he asked, as they made their way into the kitchen. He sniffed the air appreciatively. “Smells good.”
She smiled again, and his eyes roved over her glowing skin. Pregnancy definitely agreed with her. Her skin was positively lickable. It was a tempting idea to keep her pregnant all the time once they were
married. He smiled at his arrogance. He was sure she wasn’t going to refuse.
He put his arms around her while she stirred at the stove. Quite simply he couldn’t keep his hands off her. He loved the feel of her in his arms. He’d never considered himself to be an overly possessive person, but what he felt around Toni defied reasonable explanation. He wanted to spend the rest of his life taking care of her. Loving her, laughing with her, making wicked love to her.
She turned in his arms and kissed him lightly on the lips. “You can set the table if you like. Supper will be done in a few minutes.”
“You mean you aren’t on the menu?” he murmured as he kissed his way down her neck.
She laughed, though it sounded forced. Her eyes skirted away from him briefly. “Is something wrong?” he asked.
“No, not at all,” she said brightly. “Go on and set the table. I need to take the rolls out of the oven.”
He collected two plates from the cabinet then retrieved forks and knives from the dishwasher. After he set them on the table, he poured two glasses of tea. “Here, let me,” he said, taking the heavy pot from her. He carried it over to the table while she collected the colander to drain the pasta.
They settled down at the table and served up plates of spaghetti. He barely managed to suppress a smile at the thought of presenting the ring to her. After supper, he told himself. They could cozy up in the living room, and he’d pour out his heart to her.
As he helped her clear away the dishes, he sensed she was on edge. “Go on in the living room. I’ll finish up in here,” he said, rubbing her shoulders.
As he watched her go, he experienced a moment of unease. Why was she so uptight? It could be a pregnancy thing. Maybe her back hurt. Whatever the case, he hoped his proposal provided a quick fix.
Toni escaped to the living room nearly in full-blown panic. The evening had been perfect. Just perfect. Too perfect. And now she was going to ruin it by giving Simon the shock of his life.
She paced back and forth as she waited for him to make an appearance. Her stomach was in knots, and she feared she was going to have to make a dash to the bathroom to puke. God, why had she ever gotten herself into this mess? Why hadn’t she confessed what had happened the very next morning?
She looked up in dismay when Simon walked into the living room, a gentle smile on his face. He walked up to her, his eyes glowing warmly. She nearly melted in a puddle at his feet when he took her in his arms and kissed her lingeringly. “Supper was fantastic,” he murmured. “But now that it’s over, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
She gave a nervous laugh. “How funny because there’s something I wanted to talk to you about too.”
“Me first,” he said.
She gulped and nodded. He led her over to the couch and sat down beside her. He collected her hand in his and pressed a kiss to her upturned palm. “I love you, Toni.”
His blunt statement made her jaw drop. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. How she’d dreamed of him saying those words. And here he was, holding her gently, gazing at her in adoration and saying those three little words. And she felt like the biggest heel in the world.
“I think I’ve loved you for a very long time,” he admitted. “But it took you trying to get my notice that made me examine my feelings for you. And then at the hospital when you told me you loved me, it made me
realize how
lucky
I was. And how stupid I’d been not to have made you mine a long time ago.”
A single tear slipped down her cheek, and he thumbed it gently out of the way. She wanted to squeeze her eyes shut, look away, anywhere but into his eyes. If someone had laid a cement block on her chest, she couldn’t feel any more weighted down. She didn’t deserve him.
“But I want to rectify that Toni. I want to take things to the next level. But before we do that, there are things we need to talk about. Things we need to get out in the open.”
She looked at him with all the weight of her guilt bearing down on her harder all the time. Soon she’d be unable to breathe at all. She opened her mouth to speak, but all words fled her like a speeding bullet.
“Toni,” he prompted gently. “I need to know about the father of your baby.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
She felt very close to fainting. Simon must have registered the shock she was feeling because he leaned forward, framing her face in his hands. “Don’t be afraid, sweetheart. We need to talk about this though. Get it off your chest. We need to determine how this affects our future. I’m not going anywhere. But we need to get this out in the open.”
She closed her eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks. After everything it had come down to this. The man she was desperately in love with was sitting in front of her prepared to propose, and she was set to drive a knife in his back.
“I don’t even know how to tell you this,” she said choking back a sob.
“Honey, you need to calm down. I had no idea this would upset you so badly. This isn’t how I pictured the evening going at all.” He paused a moment and ran a hand through his hair. “Would you prefer we talk about it another time?”
“No! I mean…no. I had planned to tell you tonight anyway. It’s why I invited you over.” She sucked in her breath until it made her feel light-headed.
She was too close to him. She stood up, his hands dropping from her arms. A few steps away from the couch, she turned around, daring to look at him. His eyes were alight in confusion and intense curiosity.
“Do you remember the night you and Starla broke up?” she asked.
Surprise registered on his face. “Yes, of course.”
“You came home upset. You’d had something to drink. Then I sat up with you while you got drunker.”
“Yeah, I remember,” he said, looking away. “Not the proudest moment of my life.”
“Nor was it mine,” she whispered. “We had sex that night.”
She watched disbelief then shock creep across his face. “Are you saying…are you saying I put a move on you?” he asked hoarsely. “Oh my God,” he whispered before she could answer. “Are you saying I took advantage of you when I was drunk?” Self-loathing clouded his voice, his anguish her undoing.
“No!” she sobbed out. “That isn’t the way it happened. Simon, I wanted it to happen. I encouraged you. I kissed you and it went from there. I knew you had no idea what you were doing. I had this fantasy built up in my mind. I knew exactly what I was doing, and I seduced you.”
He sat shaking his head in utter disbelief. Then he paled, all the color fading from his face in a rush. “The baby. It’s mine?”
She shook her head miserably.
He stared at her in horror. “And you never told me? You let me go all these months and the baby is mine?”
Again she nodded, unable to speak. Her hands shook violently as she awaited the explosion.
“How could you?” Revulsion twisted his face. “Jesus. I can’t believe it. Not you, Toni. I trusted you. Tell me you didn’t do this. Didn’t keep something so important from me.”
She pressed her knuckles to her mouth unable to hold back the sobs any longer.
He waved his hand in front of him. “This game. This charade you put on. The flirting. The effort to make me jealous. Was it real? Or did you
just fear you wouldn’t have a father for you baby? Damn it, Toni. Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice rose and he stood up, his fists clenched by his side. “Has this all been just one gigantic joke to you? Have you been laughing at me behind my back all this time? You despise Starla so much, but you’re no better than her. My Go
d, I
trusted
you.”
