“I wanted to tell you something this whole time, but not in front of Annmarie.” She pulled him farther away, almost right up to the door. Her eyes lit up with excitement. “Um . . . my period was due two days ago. And I haven’t gotten it.”
His eyes flew wide as they locked on her. “Whoa. That’s . . . do you think . . . ?”
“I don’t know,” she said, “but fingers crossed.” She practically bounced on her toes as she added, “I’m giving it another couple of days, and when I’m a full week late, I’ll take a test.”
“I . . . wow. You really think it could’ve happened that fast?”
“Why not?” she said with a dazzling smile. “We certainly had enough sex at the right times, all month. See? This is why the home method is so much better than a clinical setting.” She slid her arms around his waist and held. “I can’t lie, I’m really, really hopeful. I’m never late, so . . .”
“That’d be wonderful,” he murmured against her hair. He hugged her tight, even as the searing feeling in his chest spread to his limbs. “My fingers are crossed for you too.” Jesus. She could be pregnant. A flare of primal masculine pride burst deep inside him. He’d gotten her pregnant, she might be already carrying his baby . . . no. No, her baby. This was her baby and hers alone. He had to rein it in.
“I was wondering . . .” Tess pulled back to look up into his face. “Eventually, I’ll start showing . . . Once I’m pregnant, are you going to tell your mother about the baby?”
He huffed out a heavy sigh and scrubbed his hand over his face, then dropped his voice to a whisper. “Yeah, but . . . I’ll have to figure out how. I don’t ever want her to know we were lying to her. It’d do much more harm than good. I’ll . . . I’ll figure it out.”
“It’s totally your call, of course,” Tess said. “Whatever you want to do. I just was thinking . . . that maybe it’d be great for her to have some happy news. She always wanted this for you, right? Well, what if it made her want to start fighting again?” She gnawed on her lip, a heart-wrenching gesture of sudden and unusual uncertainty. “I don’t mean to sound insensitive. You always hear stories like that, how people hold on . . . I just thought . . .”
“I appreciate the thought,” he said. “I know what you’re trying to say. But yes, when”—he made sure to emphasize with sureness—“not if, but when you get pregnant, because if you’re not now, we’ll try again in March, and as long as it takes . . . When you are, I will tell her. She’ll be over the moon about it.” Even though his mother was sleeping in the next room, he still kept his voice at a low murmur to add, “She never needs to know about the deal, or the papers I signed, any of that.”
“Right, of course not. As for our ‘relationship’ . . . we’ll just keep it going as long as she’s . . . As long as we need to.” Tess’s gaze sobered a bit. “I keep my promises, Logan. I’ll be your girlfriend and play this out as long as necessary. I . . . I want her happy too. She’s come to mean a lot to me. I also don’t ever want her to find out about our arrangement. We’ll work out the my-being-in-New-York part and the baby part as they come. Okay?”
He stared down at her. She had no idea what her words meant to him. She had no idea he was already crazy in love with her. So much so, in fact, that for the first time ever, the thought of having a baby didn’t feel like a noose around his neck. It didn’t feel like something he could possibly lose, and another loss that would destroy him. His and Tess’s baby . . . It felt like sweetness and love, and even something like hope for the future instead.
Oh God, he was so supremely fucked. He really was.
He caressed her soft cheek, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and managed to whisper gruffly, “Sounds good to me.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
A week later, Tess walked into her house in an idyllic daze. The appointment with Dr. Fuller had confirmed it: She was indeed pregnant. It was very early, but her biggest dream had come true. She’d have a baby of her own to love. She wouldn’t be alone anymore. She’d have her own family.