Page 106 of Irresistible

“I haven’t been with anyone but you. It’syourbaby.” She bites her bottom lip and it trembles when she frees it from her teeth.

“We’re having a baby.” The words sound foreign when I say them.

She nods reluctantly, a few more tears dripping over my thumbs.

A laugh bursts out of me, and I say it again. “We’re having ababy?”

She gasps and it sounds more like a sob. She nods again.

I gulp and lean in, kissing her face, before suddenly pulling back again. “Wait, why would I be anything but ecstatic over this?” I ask.

“You’re happy?” she squeaks. Her eyes squeeze shut and she lifts her hand up to her nose. “I’m sorry I can’t stop crying.”

“You’re not happy about it?”

“It’s…more that…I’m freaked out about it. I was terrified of telling you, of what you’d think…of how I’m just repeating the same—” Her face breaks and she leans her forehead on my chest. She’s there for a few minutes while I try my best to console her.

A baby. I can’t believe it.

“I will never think of Dakota or this baby as a mistake,” she finally gets out. “But I was trying to get our lives together here, make a new start, and the timing feels…not great. It’s a pretty big speed bump, to put it mildly. I’d understand completely if you didn’t want to be part of the ride.”

“I can’t believe you’d think I wouldn’t want to be part of all of this,” I say, tilting her chin up to look at me.

She’s never looked more beautiful to me than she does right now, her watery eyes, red nose, and puffy lips tugging at my heart.

“It’s so soon, and we haven’t even told Dakota we’re a couple yet, or—” She shakes her head as her voice tapers off.

I lean in and kiss her. Hard. When we finally come up for air, the words rush out of me. “Thank God you’re not sick. My thoughts were going to the worst place. You scared me to fucking death, Little Rocket. Fuck.A baby. I can’t believe it. I can’t think of anything better, except thatI love you, Marlow. Before ever hearing this news tonight or-or knowing whether you feel the same for me or not, I know without a doubt that I love you so goddamn much.”

Her breath hitches and she takes a shuddery breath.

“I love you too,” she whispers.

“And if a baby managed to be conceived through all the obstacles we’ve put in its way, it’s a fucking fighter and meant to be…to hell with the timing.”

Two ladies walk in and pause when they see us sitting here.

“We’ve gotta tell Dakota before I can start announcing it to everyone, including these strangers, right?” I double-check with Marlow before broadcasting the news.

“Yes, please,” she says, laughing.

“Sorry, I’ll be leaving now,” I tell the women, standing up, and they laugh nervously, holding onto each other’s arms like I might harm them.

I look at Marlow. “Do you need a little more time in here?”

She stands up and takes my hand. “I think I’m ready…for anything,” she adds.

We walk out of the restroom and I hug her once we’re in the hall.

“So you haven’t been feeling great?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “Mostly just exhausted, but tonight, I think the nerves got me…and something I smelled on one of the plates being carried to another table.”

I wince and then am grinning in the next second. “This is gonna be so fun. I mean, sorry”—I put my hand on my forehead—“not you getting sick or any of that, but…everything else.”

“I didn’t know you wanted a baby so bad,” she says.

“I didn’t. Not until you said you were pregnant. And then the way you looked so guilty—I thought you must’ve lied to me about not being with Cash…but that didn’t really deter me.” I shrug slightly, lowering my head and taking her hand in mine. “I already wanted to help you raise Dakota before I knew about this baby,” I say quietly.

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