by Kendall Ryan
“Don’t worry about it, really,” I said before he could get going with the platitudes and false promises. That was the last thing I needed. “It’s probably a false alarm, but if not, you know, I know where to find you, so…” I let out a humorless laugh as I turned around and ripped off my robe before shoving my shirt over my head. Now that I stood before him, completely covered, I almost felt better. But nothing short of getting the hell out of this tiny, suffocating room would help me draw a normal breath again. “Please, just pretend I was never here.”
His mouth came unhinged again. I seemed to keep striking him speechless, and I prayed he’d remain that way while I emulated a magician and disappeared. I slipped through the door, nearly sprinting for the lobby with sure, purposeful steps.
Before I reached safety, that deep voice halted me in my tracks.
“Bren, wait. We need to talk about this.”
My feet seemed to have become cemented to the floor. Why couldn’t I just be rude and leave? Shove him firmly in my past again like I did before? Something about the man caused me to act so out of character, I barely recognized myself. He awakened too many feelings in me that I wanted to stay dead and buried.
“I’ll deal with the consequences myself,” I said in a low voice, not turning. If I looked at him, I’d stay. So I tamped down the desire to fling myself into his strong arms and stepped from the room and into the wide linoleum atrium outside the door. I could almost feel his breath grazing the back of my neck.
Why won’t you just give up?
Before I could reach the sidewalk, he reached out and turned me around, forcing me to look at him.
“Running isn’t an option anymore. Whatever this is, the lab already has your specimen sample from when the nurse took your blood. The results are coming, and when they get here, I won’t let you face them alone. No fucking way.”
Chapter Five
Mason
I could tell by the tight line of Bren’s mouth that my expression had turned into a scowl. Her hands trembled, and emotion practically poured from her eyes.
Of all the doctors in the city, how in the hell had she ended up in my exam room for a pregnancy test? Damn. It was right what they said about Karma being a bitch and all that.
I racked my brain, reliving every single second we spent together, realizing I never told her my actual profession. Not wanting to sound like an arrogant douche, I rarely led with that in a bar or club. Besides, being a doctor with my own practice made me a moving target for gold diggers and clingers, so I was absolutely positive I hadn’t told her who I was.
My fingers itched to reach out and gather her into my arms so I could wipe that heartbreaking look off her face. But I didn’t move because I was still a little pissed that she’d ghosted me after the best night of my life.
Her eyes gazed into mine, seeking something. Something I couldn’t yet give. Promises I couldn’t make. After staring for several strained seconds, she took a step backward.
“Can we please go talk in my office?” I asked, my voice slightly more controlled.
Becoming agonizingly aware that we were still standing in the lobby, I took a deep breath and tried to compose myself. An older woman stared slack-jawed at us, and a young mother rocked a newborn in a baby carrier, trying hard to ignore the spectacle in front of her.
My gaze passed over the decaf cappuccino bar that Trent had promised would soothe our patients, making them more comfortable once they got to the exam table. Suddenly, I wished my life was as simple as deciding between the salted caramel or mocha syrup. I let out a long breath, calmed my temper, and turned back to face Bren. A woman running from me caused a pit to form in my gut because it felt like the worst kind of rejection, especially when I’d done nothing to deserve it.
“I’m sorry. I can’t. I have to get back to work.” Before the last syllable left her mouth, I knew she was lying to me. Any woman as upset as Bren looked in this moment was headed for a phone call with her bestie and a pint of Chunky Monkey. All I wanted was the gym and a drink. Only the sting of serious liquor would help sweep the memory of what just happened from my mind.
Pregnant.
With my baby.
The implications weren’t lost on me. Bren could have life growing within her womb as we stood here not talking. Even though our interactions had been brief and physical, I could sense her independence. She probably didn’t want to be saddled down with responsibility and tied to a man who just a while ago had been a perfect stranger.
Bren’s face turned white as a sheet, and she sucked in a huge breath. “I feel like I’m going to be sick.”
I grabbed her elbow and pulled her toward the door emblazoned with gold lettering that read Ladies as she rushed for the toilet bowl.
She heaved once, twice, but the contents of her stomach stayed put. As Bren turned her head toward me, I knelt down in the tiny stall beside her, my hands sweeping her hair into a makeshift ponytail.
When she stood, I took a step back. “You all right?”
She nodded and swiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. “False alarm, I guess.”
“Have you been getting sick?” I asked, suddenly more worried than I had been.
She lifted a shoulder. “Just a little nausea.”
“You sure you should be going back to work?”
Come back to my place. Let me take care of you.
As she stepped out of the stall and washed her hands, I didn’t speak the words that popped into my mind before any others. Once I got back to my office, I’d sink into my buttery leather chair and consider how much I wanted this woman and our unborn child playing a starring role in my future.
“I may just head home. The day’s almost over anyway,” Bren said, backing away from me almost as if she thought I’d corner her in the ladies room.
“And you’ll be okay to drive?”
“Yes. I don’t live far from here.”
“Okay.” I rubbed one large hand across her shoulder, and she took another uneasy step back. The physical rejection stung worse than a hornet’s bite. I really didn’t want her driving home in this condition, but I couldn’t think of a rational way to get her to stay or let me put her in an Uber.
Of their own accord, my facial muscles tugged downward, but I dropped my hands to my sides in defeat. I almost felt like grabbing a few paper towels and waving them in the air above us like a white flag. “I’ll call you later. We need to talk about this.”
“All right. My cell number is on the form I filled out.”
My hands clenched into fists at my sides as I felt completely frustrated and incompetent. If I couldn’t protect the mother of my unborn baby, what good was I? But I picked myself up by my bootstraps and followed her to the door.
“Talk to you later, then,” she said and pushed open the door, her feet carrying her like a crazed stalker was on her tail. I watched Bren’s rigid and retreating back until her body became just a speck of nothingness off in the distance. My heart throbbed like someone had cracked my chest open without the benefit of anesthesia.
After Bren’s blood draw earlier, the lab would take twenty-four hours to get the test results back. I’d be on pins and needles until the results were in. Which meant I had a full twenty-four hours to ruminate about Bren.
Leaden feet led me back to my office where I shut the door and inhaled. Focusing on paperwork helped, so I shuffled through a pile and waited a few hours to call her so she could have time to process and calm down.
I knew I’d be useless until things were settled or at least discussed between Bren and me, so I suggested dinner. How emotional could she get in a public place? Once I got her on the line, I could tell by her hesitation she didn’t want to see me. Too damn bad. So I pushed.
“Sure,” she mumbled, giving in.
Glancing at the clock on my desk, I blew out a frustrated breath. I still had an hour before we were supposed to meet. Plenty of time to go to my apartment to shower and change. This was going to be
the longest twenty-four hours of my entire life until those test results came in.
In the meantime, I needed a plan. I needed to push everything else out of my mind so I could focus on Bren and getting to know her. Make her want to know me.
I tented my hands and touched my fingers to my lips.
You can run, Bren Matthews, but you can’t hide.
Chapter Six
Bren
I didn’t go back to work. Couldn’t, because then I’d have to tell Mandy what happened, and I figured if I didn’t say anything—out loud, to anyone—I could pretend for a little while longer that this whole sordid afternoon was a grainy figment of my sleep-deprived imagination.
I didn’t want to have a random stranger’s baby growing in my belly, didn’t want to be saddled down with responsibility and tied to a man I didn’t even know. What if he didn’t like romantic walks on the beach and candlelit dinners? What if he was a typical workaholic and every night he came home dead tired, after hitting the gym and then collapsed onto the couch with the remote control in his hand?
What if he tried to rein in my freedom?
When the phone rang a couple of hours later, I about jumped out of my skin. Even though he’d said he’d call, I’d been consumed with my jumbled emotions so hadn’t really been expecting it, or his invitation to join him for dinner. I tried like hell to think of an excuse. But I wasn’t good at lying on the spot, and so I’d mumbled a weak “Sure.”
Glancing at the clock above my kitchen sink, I blew out a frustrated breath. I still had an hour before we were supposed to meet at the restaurant. This was going to be the longest twenty-four hours of my entire life. I wanted to hit my knees and pray for a negative result. If I wasn’t pregnant, I could get rid of him and his unwelcome effect on my equilibrium. Trying to push the pending results out of my mind, I stood in front of my walk-in closet, gazing at the endless options I had hanging inside. Wearing stained khakis and my assigned polos to work every day meant I liked to splurge on girly things like handbags and sandals and dresses from time to time.
But now I was surveying my closet for an entirely different reason—since I only had a one bedroom apartment, this is where the baby would sleep. I’d have to have it remodeled to accommodate a crib and changing table and all the other unknown essentials a tiny human required.
Finally deciding on a skirt and cardigan combo, I headed toward the front door, steeling my nerves for what was sure to be an awkward date.
I couldn’t shake from my mind the memory of the slashes of Mason’s dark eyebrows pulled into a scowl this afternoon. I’d never expected to see him again, especially not with such an irate expression on his face. But his angry expression wasn’t what had shaken me to my core.
No.
It was unexpected, but that wasn’t what had me so shaken.
I couldn’t believe that of all the doctors in the city—Mandy had sent me straight into the stirrup-laden clutches of the one man I’d been trying so hard to forget. And during all the time we’d spent together, Mason had never mentioned what he did for a living. Even worse than the shock and awe was his massive effect on my already shaky body. Every line of his handsome face, every plane of his chiseled body, slayed me right through to my soul.
Those sapphire blue eyes framed in dark lashes had blazed on mine, and I’d been at my most vulnerable, unable to steady myself, wanting more distance between us. As if widening the physical gap would sever the magnetic pull I’d felt from the moment our eyes had locked across a crowded club. Even after I’d dressed and fled to the lobby, he’d given chase. A sturdy, square jaw dusted with stubble, and powerful shoulders that jutted out wide, then tapered down to a trim waist. The man was perfection, and that was without allowing myself to remember what was beneath those baby-blue scrubs. Placing my hand on my belly, I said a silent prayer that I could make it through this evening without succumbing to his charm.
I’d been through too much and couldn’t go down that road again. He may have missed the neon sign on my heart practically flashing Closed, and it would be my job to remind him. I wasn’t looking for anything. We’d had one night of fun, and now look where I was. I’d just have to put on my big-girl panties and deal. Like I always did. Ridiculously hot doctor be damned.
Chapter Seven
Mason
I didn’t feel right not picking her up and driving her to the restaurant like a gentleman. Hell, Bren could be the mother of my unborn child. But then, of course, nothing about this whole situation felt right—not my clothes, not the way it happened, and certainly not the way it might end up. But then, well, maybe it really was fate.
I glanced at my phone, knowing it wouldn’t tell me anything my internal clock hadn’t told me already.
Bren was late. Which left me to sit here, wondering if I’d been stood up.
When I’d called her earlier today, she’d sounded willing enough—no doubt she wanted to plan out what would happen if the results came back the way she expected them to…the way we both expected them to.
But then, on some level, I thought we both already knew the answers. I would be there with her, take care of our baby, and make sure her delivery went as smoothly as it could. I would help her and I would love our child. There was no question I would be there for my baby in every way I could.
What was less certain was how she and I would do. How we would get along aside from our one night of hot, passionate sex. Even though my gut told me it was right, I had to admit I didn’t really know her at all. I knew her body well enough. But I needed to get to know the woman attached to it.
Before this baby came—if it came at all—I wanted to get to know her. Wanted to see if the reality lived up to the fantasy I’d built up in my mind about who Bren could be to me.
The one.
My phone buzzed on the table in front of me and I glanced at it. When I saw it was from Bren and read the word “here”, I breathed a sigh of relief. Glancing around, I spotted her standing in the bright sun pouring through the glass doors. I waved her over to the table I’d requested near the wide bay windows overlooking the water.
She offered me a nervous smile, then headed over, hitching her purse on the back of the chair before settling into the seat opposite me. “Fancy place,” she said.
I nodded. “Hope you don’t mind. They have the best Arnold Palmers here, and since you’re probably not drinking, I thought…”
She bit her bottom lip, a soft pink glow taking over her cheeks. “Thanks. That was thoughtful.”
A long silence stretched between us, and I glanced out at the water just as a fish jumped into the air and splashed back down.
I know how you feel, buddy. Less than five minutes and I’m already floundering…
My mind raced, searching for the right words to say to fill the awkward pause. Something that wouldn’t give her any reason to want to run away from me. Bren dug through her big bag and pulled out a stack of crisp white papers. “Look, uh, I know this is weird, but I drew up some ideas for custody and—”
I took the sheets and set them aside. “I get that and why you want to do it, and if it turns out that’s necessary, I promise I’ll look at them. But it’s jumping the gun, to say the least. I don’t want to talk about the elephant in the room,” I said. “We had a good first date—let’s consider this the second. I just want to have a nice dinner and get to know you.”
Bren’s wide eyes conveyed her surprise. Maybe she thought we’d get right down to business. Surprise. Bet you didn’t consider that I wouldn’t allow you to build another wall between us.
“We didn’t do much talking that night once we left the bar,” Bren murmured, though her shoulders seemed to relax a bit as she settled more deeply into her chair. “But sounds like a good plan anyway.”
A waitress came by and took our drink orders, and as Bren perused the menu, I grabbed a roll from the basket between us and began to apply a liberal amount of butter. “So, you know I’m a doctor.”
Sh
e let out a little yelp of laughter. “That became pretty obvious when you walked into the exam room when I had my legs in the air.”
I grinned, stunned at how warm that little laugh made me feel inside. “Yeah…that was regrettable.” She’d discovered I was a doctor when I had my fingers inside her. “But anyway, what do you do for work?”
She glanced at me over the menu. “You don’t want to get me started on it.”
“Why? Are you a secret agent? If you tell me, you’ll have to kill me and all that.”
She chuckled, and I caught a flash of her pretty white teeth. That smile. Dammit, it might be the death of me because I felt heat tingle from my scalp to my toes as I stared at her mouth. “No, my friends just always regret asking me about my job because I never shut up about it, so I’m warning you now. Back away while you still can.”
“I’ll consider myself warned. Now, what do you do?” I asked again, even more interested now that I knew how passionate she was about her work.
“I’m a conservationist at the zoo here in the city.” She beamed, finally loosening up and giving me a glimpse of the real Bren. The one I wanted to get to know better. “It’s the best job in the entire world.”
Her enthusiasm was infectious, and I found myself grinning back at her again like a fool. Jesus, this woman did something crazy to my insides, and I sure as fuck didn’t hate it.
“That’s sounds like a really awesome job. Tell me more.”
She nodded, her hair falling over her face as she popped a chunk of bread in her mouth and chewed before continuing. “Mostly I work in the cheetah enclosure. They’re fascinating animals. You know, we pair them with dogs because on their own they actually get really lonely, so it’s this precious thing where the dog thinks he’s the alpha and he eats before the cheetah and almost leads his buddy, and the cheetah and the dog become like besties. It’s amazing.”
